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New site found near Stonehenge LONDON — Archaeologists have discovered a smaller prehistoric site near Britain's famous circle of standing stones at Stonehenge. Researchers have dubbed the site "Bluehenge," after the color of the 27 Welsh stones that were laid to make up a path. The stones have disappeared but the path of holes remains. The new circle, unearthed over the summer by researchers from Sheffield University, represents an important find, researchers said Saturday. The site is about a mile (2 kilometers) away from Stonehenge. Bluehenge, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, is believed to date back 5,000 years. Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University said he believed the path and Stonehenge itself were linked to rituals of life and death. Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ||||| Preseli spotted dolerite was mined in the Welsh Mountains 200 miles away Archaeologists have discovered a mini-Stonehenge, a mile from the site of Wiltshire's famous stone circle. "Bluehenge", named after the hue of the 27 stones from Wales which once formed it, has been described by researchers as a "very important" find. All that now exists of the 5,000-year-old site is a series of holes where the dolerite monoliths once stood. Bluehenge lies at the end of the "Avenue" - a pathway connecting the larger Stonehenge to the River Avon. The remains of the monument was unearthed over the summer by researchers from Sheffield University. It is thought it was erected around the same time as its neighbour Stonehenge. The circle was made using the Preseli spotted dolerite stone. It is a chemically altered igneous rock - harder than granite - which was mined in the Preseli Mountains in Pembrokeshire and dragged 200 miles to the site on the banks of the river. Full details of the Bluehenge discovery will be published in February. | Stonehenge has been found to have a smaller neighbour Archaeologists have revealed that evidence of a second stone circle has been found near the site of in the United Kingdom. It is thought the smaller circle was built around the same time, making it 5,000 years old. Only chips remain of the 27 stones that made up the site, which was built from rocks thought to have originated in the in Wales. From there they were dragged 200 miles to be built just one mile (two kilometres) from Stonehenge. Because the rocks it is made from are known to appear blue, the site has been given the name . Although the stones are gone, the holes they left remain. Stonehenge was linked to the by a pathway, and Bluehenge lies at the end of it. The BBC quotes researchers working on the site, which was excavated over the summer by , as calling the discovery "very important". A full report is expected in February 2010. |
Make informed decisions with the FT Keep abreast of significant corporate, financial and political developments around the world. Stay informed and spot emerging risks and opportunities with independent global reporting, expert commentary and analysis you can trust. ||||| Less than a month ago I asked the MySpace Co-Presidents, Mike Jones and Jason Hirschhorn (pictured left), if it was possible to effectively run a company with two equal leaders. Their answer – they’ve made it work. I asked if they were both there for the long term. Jones said “Assuming News Corp. will have us we’re going to stay heavily engaged.” I’ve added the video clip below. Well, you know what they say about assumptions. Tomorrow MySpace will announce the departure of Jason Hirschhorn, we’ve heard from multiple sources inside and outside of MySpace. And we’ve also heard that Jones will be named CEO sometime soon, although likely not tomorrow. The two were promoted to co-presidents in February when previous CEO Owen Van Natta was fired. Van Natta held the CEO spot for less than a year – he was hired to replace founding CEO Chris DeWolfe in April 2009. Yes, it’s been musical chairs at MySpace. Or, a less charitable description: rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The company hasn’t just lost the cultural significance of being the top social network – a title they lost to Facebook long ago. They are also losing page views and users at a rapid clip. MySpace Music is hemorrhaging money to the labels. And their lucrative search deal with Google is ending in two weeks, and the company has yet to announce how they’ll replace that revenue. For all those reasons and more, I’ve argued passionately that MySpace needs to be spun off into a private company. They can’t please News Corp. and find a way to win with users at the same time. Publicly Jones says he disagrees. Who knows what he thinks privately. Update: Statement by Jon Miller, Digital Chief for News Corp.: ||||| AOL Sells Bebo to Criterion for Less Than $10 Million (Update3) (Updates share price in 10th paragraph.) By Sarah Rabil and Douglas MacMillan June 17 (Bloomberg) -- AOL Inc., the Internet company spun off from Time Warner Inc., sold its Bebo social-networking service to Criterion Capital Partners LLC for less than 2 percent of what it paid for the site two years ago. AOL, which paid $850 million for the site, got less than $10 million for it, said a person familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified since the price wasn’t made public. AOL said in a filing today it expects to record a tax benefit this quarter of $275 million to $325 million from the sale. The New York-based Internet company said April 6 it was weighing a sale or shutdown of Bebo. AOL said it wasn’t in a position to fund a turnaround at Bebo after losing ground to bigger social-networking rivals Facebook Inc. and News Corp.’s MySpace. The price AOL paid for Bebo included $766 million of goodwill, according to regulatory filings. “Criterion Capital Partners are specialists in facilitating growth plans and turnarounds,” AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong said today in a memo to employees. “For AOL, the transaction will also create a meaningful tax deduction.” Criterion, a Los Angeles-based merchant-banking and financial-advisory firm, said the deal was led by managing partner Adam Levin, along with strategist Paul Abramowitz and web entrepreneur Richard Hecker. Criterion will take over Bebo’s global operations immediately and base the company out of San Francisco, according to a statement from the firm today. ‘Worthless’ Neither party will disclose the price, Criterion said. Criterion executives, including Levin, weren’t available to comment, said Jason Damata, an outside spokesman. TechCrunch reported yesterday that Bebo was sold for $10 million or less. AOL said it will treat the common stock of Bebo as “worthless” for tax purposes. The tax benefit from the sale is subject to review by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. AOL said it will also test its goodwill for possible impairment charges this quarter. AOL may begin to use the tax shield immediately and increase free cash flow “materially,” Clay Moran, an analyst with Benchmark Co., said today in a report. AOL, which publishes sites such as MapQuest, Politics Daily and Lemondrop.com, rose 37 cents to $22.65 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have lost 3.7 percent since the Dec. 10 spinoff from Time Warner. Risky Acquisition Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has said he may have overpaid for Bebo, calling the May 2008 purchase the company’s “riskiest.” Bebo, founded in 2005, was bought when Randy Falco and Ron Grant were still running AOL. They left in March 2009 when Armstrong was named CEO. Bebo’s worldwide unique visitors plunged more than 50 percent to 12.6 million in April from a year ago, according to ComScore Inc. Facebook had 519.1 million unique visitors in April, and MySpace drew 111.2 million. AOL committed in April to offer Bebo’s U.S. employees severance agreements to remain with the business until a strategic decision was reached, according to AOL spokeswoman Tricia Primrose. AOL agreed to pay this severance to employees who stayed during the review period regardless of whether AOL decided to shut down or sell Bebo, she said. “Substantially all” of Bebo was sold, with the exception of the division’s cash, some contracts and some furnishings in leased office spaces, Primrose said. --Editors: Ville Heiskanen, Jerry Byrd To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah Rabil in New York at srabil@bloomberg.net; Douglas MacMillan in New York at dmacmillan3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net ||||| He'd only been at MySpace for slightly over a year and in the role of "co-president" for four months. The other co-president, Mike Jones, is sticking around. Following a report on TechCrunch, MySpace co-president Jason Hirschhorn has confirmed via his personal Twitter account that he's leaving the company after fewer than six months at the helm. Hirschhorn, an MTV Networks and Sling Media veteran, had been at MySpace for just over a year, having previously served as chief product officer. "Yes i am moving back to NYC. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of. I believe in MySpace, its leader Jonesy and its wonderful team," Hirschhorn tweeted. He was referring to Mike Jones, who with Hirschhorn took over the co-presidency at News Corp.-owned MySpace in February after CEO Owen Van Natta stepped down. (The other sentence of the tweet is a lyric from the Jay-Z song "Empire State of Mind.") There's no hint whether Hirschhorn may have a new role at another company lined up, but he's moving back to New York after relocating to the Los Angeles area for the MySpace job. Jones had served as an AOL executive before joining MySpace as chief operating officer at the same time that MySpace first hired Hirschhorn. News Corp. Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller followed up with a formal, though personal, statement. "We fully respect Jason's decision to leave and his personal desire to return to New York," the statement read. "As many people know, Jason is like family to me, and as expected, he's done everything we asked of him and more. We're incredibly grateful for the passion and enthusiasm he brought to the company. And as I know Jason agrees, Mike Jones has done an outstanding job leading MySpace into its next evolution and is the right person to take the reins. There are no plans to bring in additional management." Still, none of this is good news for MySpace, which has been going through one executive shake-up after another for the past few years. Van Natta quit after less than a year at the company, following the departure of co-founder Chris DeWolfe. Meanwhile, MySpace has entirely lost the race for social-networking domination to Facebook. Attempts to shift its focus to music and pop culture have been ambitious but so far without major success or profits. | MySpace logo , the parent company of MySpace, announced Friday that Co-President has decided to leave the because he wishes to return to his home city of New York. MySpace is headquartered in , California. MySpace was founded in 2003 by and and purchased for $580 million by News Corps. at the height of its popularity in 2005. In recent years, however, MySpace has been losing out in monthly unique visitors to similar sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. According to , an Internet marketing research company that tracks website traffic, Facebook attracted 519 million unique visitors in April of this year, and MySpace just 111 million visitors. In response, MySpace has been recently shifting its focus towards music, games, and videos, and plans to continue doing the same in the near future. Meanwhile, another failing social network, Bebo, was sold for less than $10 million by AOL to hedge fund firm this week. AOL acquired Bebo for $850 million in 2008. MySpace's reduced traffic and the departure of another executive have led industry insiders to draw comparisons between the two sites. In April 2009, DeWolfe stepped down as MySpace's Chief Executive Office (CEO). He was replaced by former Facebook Chief Revenue Officer , but Natta held on to that position for just nine months. In February 2010, Hirschhorn was promoted from his position as Chief Product Officer along with Chief Operating Officer to the position of co-president. The departure of Hurschhorn leaves Jones to continue on as sole president. MySpace have said they do not intend on replacing Hirschhorn. |
Luis Suarez says Lionel Messi will play for Argentina again Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez celebrate a goal for Barcelona Luis Suarez is sure Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi will make a U-turn on his decision to retire from playing for Argentina. Messi quit after missing in a penalty shoot-out as Argentina were beaten by Chile in the Copa America and he was seen in tears leaving the pitch. The defeat was Argentina's third loss in a major final since 2014. "For me the national team is over. I've done all I can, it hurts not to be a champion," said the 29-year-old Barcelona superstar. However, there has been a national outcry for Messi to reconsider, with the country's president Mauricio Macri and Diego Maradona urging the five time Ballon d'Or winner to change his mind. Lionel Messi of Argentina reacts after missing a penalty in the Copa America final Suarez, who formed part of a deadly strike trio with Messi and Neymar at Barcelona last season, thinks Macri and Maradona will get their wish. He told Uruguayan radio statio, Radio Tenfield: "Knowing Leo, I'm sure it was said in a moment of sadness and helplessness. It would be a shame for football if he took this decision, but I'm sure he will reconsider and change his mind. "It's a difficult time. Everyone has the right to make decisions and they should be respected." ||||| The Argentinian's former Barça team-mate was saddened to see 'La Pulga' retire for the Albiceleste Sport EN Ronaldinho is the latest to feel the pain of Lionel Messi's decision to retire from international football and, like most people, the former Barça player expressed disappointment at the 29-year-old's decision but respected his choice. "I respect his opinion and what he wants, I'll always be with him," Ronaldinho told 'America TV' in Peru, "Logic dictates that we'll miss him, he's the best in the world." Messi always confessed his admiration for Ronaldinho who was like a footballing godfather during their time together at the Camp Nou, and the Brazilian helped lead the Blaugrana to two league titles between 2004 and 2006 as well as winning the Champions League in that period. 'La Pulga' was a newcomer at the time and Ronaldinho and Deco offered the necessary help and advice to help him settle into the first team. In the aftermath of Argentina's Copa America final defeat on Sunday - his third consecutive final loss for the Albiceleste - Messi revealed that he would no longer be playing for his country. There has since been a unanimous outpour of support for the no.10 to play at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. ||||| PURCHASE, N.Y. – It was a difficult 48 hours of soccer for David Villa. On Sunday, he joined more than 82,000 fans at Met Life Stadium to see his former FC Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi miss a penalty kick as Chile defeated Argentina in a penalty-kick shootout in the Copa America final for the second time in as many years. And on Monday, the former Spanish star watched on television with his family and New York City FC teammate Andoni Iraola as Spain was eliminated from Euro 2016 by Italy. “It was difficult for me because Spain didn’t play well. Italy was better. Congratulations to Italy,” Villa said on Tuesday, as NYCFC prepared for Sunday's #NYDerby at Yankee Stadium against the rival New York Red Bulls. “Difficult for Spain, because in the last year we are used to seeing the national team win, always.” Just as he believes NYCFC’s 7-0 loss to the Red Bulls at Yankee Stadium on May 21 was one of those impossible-to-explain, freak occurrences, Villa is hoping Spain’s performance against Italy was a one-off, especially with World Cup qualification kicking off in the fall – including a rematch with Italy in Milan on Oct. 6. “We have very good players. Maybe the Spanish team needs a change, I don’t know. The federation and obviously [Vicente] del Bosque is the best coach to make the decision,” Villa said. “They have to stay ready because in September they have qualifying games for Russia. In Russia, they have another opportunity and I’m sure the Spanish team will be more competitive than at the Euro.” Villa was also gutted for Messi, who announced his retirement from international soccer after Argentina fell in a fourth consecutive final. “It’s very bad news for soccer. Messi is the best player in the world. For me, I always say the same, not only in the world, but in history,” Villa said. “I’ve never seen any player make the things Messi makes. I hope he [still] plays with Argentina because the World Cup in Russia is in two years, and obviously the World Cup in Russia is not the same without Messi. Villa said he hadn’t spoken to Messi and doesn’t know why he made the decision he did. But he hopes that he has a change of heart after some time off to reflect. “I don’t know what happened in his mind,” Villa said. “I know he’s strong, a professional player, he’s sure now disappointed because he lost one more final in penalty kicks again. I’m sure, with one month off on holiday, he’s thinking with his family and maybe he takes another decision.” ||||| Diego Maradona makes plea to Lionel Messi not to retire Lionel Messi missed his penalty as Argentina lose to Chile Argentina legend Diego Maradona and the country's President Mauricio Macri have urged Lionel Messi not to quit the national team. The Barcelona superstar left the field in tears after missing a spot-kick in the Copa America Centenario final shoot-out against Chile on Sunday. He promptly announced his retirement from football. Maradona told La Nacion newspaper: "He has to stay because he still has playing days ahead of him. Just two days after Lionel Messi said he'd never play for his country again, a statue of him has been unveiled in Buenos Aires. "He will go to Russia [2018 World Cup] in form to be world champion." Messi is widely rated as the best player in the world, but Sunday's loss was his fourth defeat in an international final for Argentina. Messi ended his international career after the defeat After an outpouring of disappointment by fans online, Macri joined the calls for the 29-year-old to stay with Argentina. "He called him and told him how proud he feels of the national team's performance and asked him not to listen to the criticism," a spokesman for Macri said. Diego Maradona says Messi should play at the 2018 World Cup And the President tweeted: "More than ever I feel great pride for our team. I hope we can continue to have the joy of seeing the world's best player for many years." The 1986 World Cup winner Maradona, 55, blamed Argentina's recent lack of trophies on the country's football association (AFA). Messi sits on the ground in dejection after being defeated by Chile He accused it of not supporting Messi and letting him take the blame for Sunday's defeat. "Those who are saying he should quit are doing it so that we won't see what a disaster Argentine football has become," Maradona said. Messi has been begged by Maradona to continue playing for Argentina After Sunday's final, Messi's usual composure gave way to tears of frustration. "I've done all I can, I've been in four finals and it hurts not to be a champion," Messi said. "It's a hard moment for me and the team, and it's difficult to say, but it's over with the Argentina team." ||||| Germán Pezzella dialogó con el sitio oficial de la AFA luego de vencer al COVID-19. “Hasta que no lo sentís de cerca, no tomás real conciencia de las cosas”, aseguró. ||||| Lionel Messi blasted a penalty over the bar in what looks like being his last act in international football as Chile beat Argentina in a shootout to win the Copa America for the second year in a row on Sunday. Messi cut a dejected figure after losing his third Copa America final, and fourth major final after Argentina's loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup, and said after the match he was retiring from the international game. "In the dressing room I thought that this is the end for me with the national team, it's not for me," the 29-year-old forward said. "I tried so hard to be champion with Argentina. Now I am leaving without having managed it." Striker Sergio Aguero, a second half substitute for Gonzalo Higuain, suggested he and other players might follow Messi's lead and quit the team. "The likelihood is that Messi is not the only one that will leave the national team," Aguero, who lost his third final with Argentina, told Argentine sports newspaper Ole. "There are several players like me that are evaluating whether or not to continue," said Aguero, who was hugely disappointed after Argentina failed to end their 23-year trophy drought at senior level. "Unfortunately, the one that leaves most affected is Leo Messi after his penalty miss. This is the worst that I've seen him in the changing room," said Aguero, who along with Messi won an Olympic gold medal in 2008. Best player Chile goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who saved Lucas Biglia's penalty before Francisco Silva scored the crucial spot-kick to help his country retain the trophy, had praise for his Barcelona team mate Messi. "In my opinion, he is the best player in the world and in history," Bravo told Marca. "They have to enjoy him, value him and understand him." The two sides were deadlocked 0-0 after 90 minutes and also after another half an hour of extra time in a match where both teams were reduced to 10 men in the first half. For the second year in a row, therefore, the teams faced off in a shootout to decide who would take the biggest prize in South American soccer. It started well for Argentina when their goalkeeper Sergio Romero got down to block Arturo Vidal's opening penalty but Messi blasted over and Lucas Biglia's spot kick was saved by Bravo. Substitute Francisco Silva took Chile's fifth penalty and struck it low and to the right of Romero to give his country their second successive title after winning their first on home soil last year. "We're going to enjoy ourselves," Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi said, before talking of his pride in his players. "Before them today was the number one team in the world, with the best players in the world and the best player in history." Disappointing final The tension of the penalty shootout barely made up for a disappointing game with few memorable moments for a sellout 82,000 crowd. The bulk of first half action involved referee Heber Lopes, who sent off Chile's Marcelo Diaz on 27 minutes for a second crude challenge on Messi, before Argentina's Marcos Rojo was given a straight red for a rough tackle on Vidal about 15 minutes later. Three others were booked, including Messi for diving, in a first half that had as many cards as shots on goal and in which Higuain missed a good chance for Argentina. The second half provided more of the same and although Chile, who have yet to beat Argentina in open play in 27 Copa America encounters spanning 100 years, at least managed to call Romero into action, neither side created any clear cut chances. The 30 minutes of extra time was not much different, although Vargas came close for Chile and Aguero had a header brilliantly tipped over by Bravo. Five-times World Player of the Year Messi, who surpassed Gabriel Batistuta as Argentina's top scorer in the semi-final against the United States, was heavily marked and had few chances to show his brilliance. "It's not easy to explain," said Argentina coach Gerardo Martino. "Argentina should have won that game. It hurts. There are situations we can explain football-wise and other situations that can be explained, if you will, talking about our luck." The world's oldest international tournament was played in the U.S. for the first time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the inaugural competition and expanded to include six teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean along with the 10 from South America. ||||| Thanks very much for checking out the Beta Version of Live Scores! Obviously this is still in a developmental phase, but we’re working hard to put things right so that you can enjoy the best live coverage of your favourite leagues. Bear with us, it’ll be worth it! | Argentina's football captain Lionel Messi spoke of retirement from international football after losing 4–2 to Chile in the penalty decider in Copa América Centenario final on Sunday. Since then, many players including his present FC Barcelona teammate Luis Suárez, former teammates and , former Argentina captain , and Argentine president have expressed disappointment, some urging him to stay. File photo of Lionel Messi after a loss in 2014. Messi missed the penalty kick after Chilean 's spot kick was stopped by as the match progressed to a penalty shootout. and Sergio Agüero scored their spot kicks for Argentina, but after 's penalty was saved by , scored the winning penalty for Chile. Messi was crying after the match, and later told news reporters, . He added, . Today, Suárez speaking to '''' said, "Knowing Leo, I'm sure it was said in a moment of sadness and helplessness. It would be a shame for football if he took this decision, but I'm sure he will reconsider and change his mind." Yesterday, president Mauricio Macri and Maradona urged him to think about his decision. Messi's former teammate said, "It's very bad news for soccer. Messi is the best player in the world. ... I don't know what happened in his mind... I know he's strong, a professional player, he's sure now disappointed because he lost one more final in penalty kicks again." Ronaldinho, former Brazilian player and ex-Barcelona player, told he respects Messi's opinion and he would be always with him. Five time World Player of the Year Messi has lost four finals on the international stage, of which three defeats came in the last three years — 2014 FIFA World Cup loss to Germany, last year's loss to Chile, and this year's. Sergio Agüero told Argentine newspaper '''' other players were also deciding weather to hang up their boots. Messi played for Argentina when they won the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal. ---- |
ORIGINAL RESEARCH Bill Berkowitz November 2, 2005 Charles Colson's Christian-based prison project on trial in Iowa Prison Justice Ministries' InnerChange Freedom Initiative is a 'government-funded conversion program' says Americans United's Barry Lynn It isn't celebrity-laced like the trials of OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson or Robert Blake. It hasn't drawn the attention of CNN's Nancy Grace or the Fox News Channel's Greta Van Sustren, television's mavens of mystery. It appears to have little to do with whether or not President Bush's faith-based initiative is achieving "results." Nevertheless, the outcome of the legal proceedings currently underway in federal court in Des Moines, Iowa, could have a major impact on issues related to the separation of church and state for years to come. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and its co-plaintiff, Jerry Ashburn, an inmate at Iowa's Newton Correctional Facility, located about 23 miles east of Des Moines, have filed suit against the Virginia-based Prison Fellowship Ministries and its Christian rehabilitation program, the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. The suit, currently being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Central Division in Des Moines, argues that the state gives preferential treatment to inmates enrolled InnerChange -- a program that has been operating at the Newton facility since 1999. According to Baptist Press, "the Iowa legislature has appropriated $310,000 in the current fiscal year for a 'value-based treatment program' at the Newton facility." Both sides agree that the outcome of the lawsuit could have profound consequences for the future of government-funded faith-based programs. "This case is one of the first legal challenges to the 'faith-based' initiative," Rob Boston, spokesperson for the Washington, DC-based Americans United, told Media Transparency in an email. "It challenges the use of taxpayer money for a program everyone admits is saturated with a particular religious viewpoint. If we win here, the implications for other types of faith-based funding could be staggering." Mark Earley, president and chief executive officer of Prison Fellowship Ministries, recently pointed out that he thought the outcome of the lawsuit could have far-reaching effects on other groups as well. "What I am actually more concerned about this suit is, if we were to lose, the chilling effect it would have on not only other departments of corrections around the United States, but other entities that want for faith-based ministries to have the opportunity to help solve really thorny social issues," Earley said. "The InnerChange program is essentially a government-funded conversion program," the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, maintained in a statement posted on the group's website. "Prison Fellowship is free to run evangelism programs on its own dime but has no business handing the bill to the taxpayer. This setup clearly violates the separation of church and state.'' "The lawsuit argues that Iowa's system affords those in the intensive, around-the-clock IFI program preferential treatment over inmates not involved. It also rebuts assertions that the program is open to 'all faiths.''' Court-filed documents maintain that, "InnerChange staffers have used materials that contain critical comments about other religions, including Catholicism, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism," Ruben Rosario wrote in a recent column in the St Paul Pioneer Press. The case, according to a description on the website of The Roundtable on Religion & Social Welfare Policy prepared by Professor Ira Lupu and Professor Robert Tuttle, of George Washington University Law School in March, 2003, claims it: "involves the constitutionality of a faith-intensive program for prisoners currently being operated in a state prison in Iowa." It "alleges that the authorities responsible for the operation of the Newton Correctional Facility ... have entered into an unlawful relationship with the InnerChange Freedom Initiative ... [and] the complaint alleges that InnerChange, which is supported in part by state funds, operates and controls an entire wing of the Newton facility." According to the complaint: 1. "The prisoners in the program are involved in 'intensive, evangelical, Biblically-based instruction from a Christian fundamentalist viewpoint." 2. "The prisoners who participate in the program receive privileges denied to non-participants." 3. "Only Christians are permitted to serve on the staff of InnerChange as paid employees or volunteers." 4. "The state pays a portion of the salaries of InnerChange employees." "During opening arguments," the Sioux City Journal reported, Americans United lawyers said the program has taken over an entire unit of a state prison and turned it into an evangelical church. The group argued that most prisoners who enroll do so to take advantage of the special benefits, not to be closer to God. The benefits, the group said, include a dorm-like unit with separate bathrooms, special visits from family members, access to computers and access to classes needed for early parole." Earley told Baptist Press that the values-based program is constitutional because it is "voluntary." "It's open to any inmate who would like to participate. There's no religious test, so one can be a Christian, one can be a Muslim, one can be Jewish, one can be an atheist. We've had Druids and Wiccans participate in the program, so there is no faith test to be involved in the program." The former Virginia Attorney General acknowledged that the InnerChange program is "a Christian program. It is Christ-centered, so we make that clear up front; we disclose that to everyone." According to the IFI website, the initiative "is a revolutionary, Christ-centered, Bible- based prison program supporting prison inmates through their spiritual and moral transformation beginning while incarcerated and continuing after release." The project launched in 1997 in Texas, had as a goal, "reducing recidivism through acceptance of 'the life-transforming power of Jesus Christ,'" the Virginian-Pilot reported. At the time, Texas Governor George W. Bush was presiding over a record number of executions of death row prisoners.. He decided to "provide a prison, guards and basic operating services at taxpayer expense. The ministry promised to pay for all prisoner programs and religious training." Colson's Prison Fellowship Ministries, through which the InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI) operates, receives government funding for projects in four states, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, and Texas. According to Baptist Press, funding for the initiative in Texas comes from the "private sector." "In Iowa, 40 percent of the cost of the program comes from the state; in Kansas, 27 percent of it is state-funded; in Minnesota, 22 percent." InnerChange services about 1,200 inmates. The states are responsible for covering about a third of costs for the programs, which comes to about $250,000 each. InnerChange contracts "call for the ministry to pay for all religious guidance and for the states to pay for other programs such as vocational training and high school equivalency courses." Despite President Bush's oft-repeated mantra that results matter, the jury is still out on faith-based programs. On August 5, 2003, Mark A.R. Kleinman published a piece in Slate that closely examined the much ballyhooed results of a University of Pennsylvania study that had concluded that Charles Colson's InnerChange Freedom Initiative -- a Christian-centered prison reform project sponsored by Colson's Prison Justice Ministries -- reduced recidivist rates amongst former prisoners. Kleinman, who teaches public policy at UCLA, found that contrary to the University of Pennsylvania's upbeat conclusion, the participants in InnerChange's project actually performed somewhat worse than the control group, and were slightly more apt to be re-arrested and re-imprisoned. Apparently, in order to attain its findings, the Pennsylvania study employed a device Kleinman called "selection bias," also known as "creaming." That factor, Kleinman explained, allowed InnerChange to ignore participants that dropped out or were kicked out of the program or that for some other reasons, never finished the program. In a Time magazine story earlier this year that touted Colson as one of the 25 most influential evangelical Christians in America, the former Watergate felon was praised for successfully reducing recidivism rates among prisoners, citing the University of Pennsylvania study debunked by Kleinman. In a recent article about the Iowa proceedings, Baptist Press also pointed to the Pennsylvania study as proof of InnerChange's success rates. In a late-October email exchange, Kleinman told Media Transparency that he stood by his original story. Despite the fact that the study has been cited numerous times by supporters of the president's faith-based initiative, "the original study was never published, and has now been pulled from the Penn website," Kleinman pointed out. "The author has never responded to my emails or phone calls," he added. According to American United's Rob Boston, the trial will run through the first week of November, and a decision isn't likely until "sometime early next year." When asked if he thought it possible that the case would ultimately land at the door of the Supreme Court, Boston explained that "The Supreme Court accepts less than two percent of all the cases appealed to it, so the odds are always slim that a legal challenge will make it on the high court's docket." However, the Iowa prison case "does present compelling questions that go to the very core of President Bush's 'faith-based' initiative. Given the importance of the issues raised, the case could be one of those two percent." Printer friendly sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them. ||||| The History of Sunrise Sunrise Children's Services is a ministry that grew out of the extreme needs present at the end of the Civil War. Many women were left with children and without a husband to provide for the family. Because of the spread of disease and poverty, many children were orphaned with no family to care for them. In the midst of these troubled times, a group of women from Walnut Street Baptist Church in Louisville began to reach out to children in need. At first they sought families to take boys and girls left destitute or orphaned by the war. They even tried putting some up in boarding houses. But because of the great numbers of children needing help, they began the process of creating a place of caring and love. On June 30, 1869, the first three children were received into what would be called the Louisville Baptist Orphans' Home. For the next 78 years, Baptists ministered to children through this first facility in downtown Louisville before moving the children in 1950 to the new Spring Meadows Children's Home campus near Middletown. A second Baptist children's home was established in 1915 in Glendale. A rural campus, originally called Kentucky Baptist Children's Home, now known as Glen Dale Children's Home. The two ministries operated separately until 1954 when the Kentucky Baptist Convention created the Kentucky Baptist Board of Child Care to oversee their operation. A third campus, Pine Crest Children's Home, opened in Morehead in 1956. It served children until its closure in 1971. In 1980 and 1981, new cottages were constructed at Glen Dale and Spring Meadows. An emergency shelter was established in Elizabethtown in 1982. A similar facility, the Sunrise Dixon Center, opened in Dixon the following year. In 1988, the Sunrise Morehead Center was opened in Morehead. The next year, the shelter in Elizabethtown became the agency's first treatment program and was renamed the Baptist Youth Ranch. The adoption program that operated through Spring Meadows in the '60s was reopened in 1990 and is now known as Sunrise Pregnancy and Adoption Services. Cornerstone Counseling, Sunrise's outpatient Christian counseling service, was begun in 1992 with one office in Bowling Green. There are now 3 Cornerstone offices -- in Berea, Richmond and Owensboro. In 1993, Genesis Home for girls opened and the agency began expanding the Family Foster Care program. That was followed in 1994 by the agency's acquisition of an emergency shelter, which was called the Sunrise Bronston Center. Originally in Somerset, the Southern Region shelter moved to a new building in Bronston in 1997. Under grants, two programs were started in southern Kentucky. The first began in 1995 when the Family Preservation Program was added to the list of services. This program saught to help struggling families solve problems so that it would not become necessary for children to be removed from the home. In 1996, the Family Reunification Program began in Somerset to help families prepare for the return of children placed in out-of-home care. Unfortunately, both programs had to be suspended in 1999 for lack of funding. The Wilderness Camping Treatment Program, in Somerset opened in 1996. This program seeks to help seriously troubled young men by teaching team-building and other skills in a rugged outdoor setting. In November of 2001, the Bronston Center was incorporated as a part of Wilderness. The Youth Support Center opened in London in 1999. The Youth Support Center works with teenagers recently discharged from residential care or the juvenile justice system. It is also a preventive program for youth whose environment or behavior makes them vulnerable for problems that could bring about removal from their homes. In 2000, an international adoption program with the Ukraine began. The boys of Spring Meadows moved into the new, state-of-the-art Anna Ashcraft Ensor building at Spring Meadows in Mount Washington in the spring of 2006. A few months later, all Sunrise support staff moved into the new Eldred M. Taylor Ministry Support Center building on the Mt. Washington Spring Meadows campus. | A lawsuit filed by a former employee of Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (now Sunrise Children's Services) and four other tax-payers, has shed light on the possibility of religious coercion by the organization. The lawsuit challenges the faith-based agency's eligibility for state funds. Specifically, interviews of children conducted by the state of Kentucky have revealed complaints from some of the children. Mainly, children who said they were Catholic, Pentecostal, Jehovah's Witnesses or atheist voiced complaints in the interviews. "They tried to more or less force me to become a Christian," said one child in an exit interview. "I just felt I was being pressured into giving up my religion." Another child reported s/he was "not allowed to choose when or when not to attend a religious service," per the interview, and was told "'to do' some type of Bible study during that time or get consequences." Both the Commonwealth of Kentucky and Sunrise say there is a strict policy against proselytizing in the program and that it does not prevent children from practising their individual faiths. They also stress that these complaints number merely a "handful" among the approximately 1,500 children that are served by the faith-based agency. "If a child says, 'I don't want to go to the Baptist church,' then the child does not go," Jonathan Goldberg, the state's attorney, said. Some children might have mistankenly believed they were forced to go, he added. The plaintiffs are seeking to have the interviews unsealed, at least in the cases where the child is now 18 years of age or older. The state and Sunrise argue they need to be kept confidential. The lawsuit originated with Alicia Pedreira, who was fired in 2000. She alleges her firing was direct result of Sunrise (then Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children) finding out she is a lesbian. Sunrise Children's Services provides residential programs and foster care homes for children that have suffered abuse or neglect. Since 2001, Kentucky has paid Sunrise US$61 million to provide the services for children who would otherwise be in direct state custody. In 2001, the state did find cause for action against one of Sunrise's homes to fix "a coercive religious environment" where staff members confirmed that church attendance was required. With accusations of undue pressure by a Christian agency funded by the state, the Sunrise case bears some similitude to the lawsuit against Iowa for paying Chuck Colson's evangelical agency to run part of its prison. Last June, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt strongly reprimanded and ruled against Iowa's use of a Christian social service agency to administer its prison. Judge Pratt stated: "For all practical purposes, the state has literally established an Evangelical Christian congregation within the walls of one of its penal institutions... There are no adequate safeguards present, nor could there be, to ensure that state funds are not being directly spent to indoctrinate Iowa inmates." The Iowa ruling is pending appeal. Critics point to both of these cases as failures of George W. Bush's faith-based services initiative. The program is often seen as conflicting with the tradition of separation of church and state in the United States. |
If you’re the proud owner of a cast-iron pan , then you already know what a good investment it is. Once well-seasoned, it can cook just about anything from pancakes to fried chicken, it can go from stovetop to oven with ease, it’s nearly indestructible, it’s inexpensive and it holds its heat like a dream. But if you’re just using your pan to cook the occasional burger, then you’re missing out; you really can cook pretty much anything in it. ||||| Michigan continues to be in the running to potentially house Guantánamo Bay detainees, despite plans for federal officials to tour a nearly empty prison in rural Illinois today. An unnamed White House official quoted during the weekend, said the Thomson Correctional Facility, 150 miles west of Chicago, has emerged as a "leading option” in the search for a prison for the 228 detainees. "We've had no indication that a decision of any kind has been made,” Liz Boyd, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's spokeswoman, said Sunday. Granholm has stopped short of endorsing the idea of housing the detainees in Michigan, citing security concerns. In August, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons toured the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility in northeast Michigan. That 600-bed facility closed Oct. 31 because of state budget cuts. Standish officials have been lobbying to use the empty prison to house federal prisoners and others. State Sen. Mike Bishop, a Republican from Rochester, has been an outspoken opponent of the plan. Last month, he held a town hall meeting that drew about 150 people to hear a panel of speakers opposed to bringing the detainees to Michigan. Bishop could not be reached for comment Sunday. The White House had hoped to close Guantánamo by Jan, 22, but that deadline now seems unlikely to be met. Contact L.L.BRASIER: 248-858-2262 or lbrasier@freepress.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | Location of Thomson in Illinois The has announced that it is considering sending Guantanamo Bay detainees to a state prison in northwestern Illinois. Governor and President discussed a federal purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in during Quinn's visit to Washington on November 4. The purchase would bring a desperately needed $200 million to the state government. Senator said in a statement last Saturday that the purchase would also bring fewer than 100 Guantanamo detainees to the prison and create 3,000 new jobs in the local economy. Republican opposition has already begun. Representative warned in a letter to the President, "As home to America's tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target." Representative , whose district includes Thomson, has stated that he is "fighting efforts to bring these terrorists onto our shores ... where they could one day be released into our communities." Built in 2001, the Thomson prison is the newest maximum-security prison in Illinois. However, it currently does not hold any maximum-security inmates but has 200 minimum-security inmates. |
us 8 dead in Atlanta-area shootings, suspect arrested Six of the victims of the string of attacks were women of Asian descent, while a man suspected of carrying out all of the shootings was detained hours later in southern Georgia… ||||| Edith Rodriguez, a 43-year-old mother of three, died on May 9 after her family says hospital workers ignored her as she lay on the floor of the emergency room at Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles. The case of Edith Rodriguez, the 43-year-old mother of three who collapsed in the emergency room of Los Angeles' Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital in May and died after not receiving help, has raised questions about the quality of hospital care and left a family grieving. "I'm angry, but at the same time I'm feeling pretty bad about her,'" said Rodriquez's brother Eddie Sanchez. On "Good Morning America" today, Frank Casco, the attorney for Rodriguez's three children and four grandchildren, said what happened in the emergency room was "a mystery," but Casco says the 911 calls and security camera video proves that many people saw Rodriguez suffering and that no one offered help. "She was lying in the fetal position crying and no one would help her," Casco said. "The security guards were on notice that she was laying there. The police were on notice that she was laying there. The hospital staff was on notice she was laying there." Casco also said the police officers in the emergency room that morning were more interested in checking out Rodriquez for a possible parole violation, then making sure she got help. And other families are now speaking out with allegations that their loved ones died of neglect while in the King-Harbor ER. In March 2003, 20-year-old Oluchi Oliver waited hours to be admitted to the hospital with crippling stomach pains, according to his family. After 10 hours, he collapsed dead on the floor. No one noticed, his father, Akilah Oliver, said. "It's always unimaginable when a child dies, but for him to die like this, as if he were invisible. … It's really tragic and it's really unimaginable," Akilah Oliver said. Last week, federal inspectors declared that patients at King-Harbor were in "immediate jeopardy" of harm or death and gave the hospital 23 days to correct procedures or lose certification. It was the fourth time in less than four years that the hospital had received the warning. Timeline of Tragedy | A woman died in the emergency room of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital allegedly as a result of neglect on the part of the emergency room staff. Edith Rodriguez, 43, died on the floor of the Martin Luther King-Harbor Hospital after numerous pleas for help. ER staff are reported to have ignored her complaints and she subsequently died as a result of her illness. The official cause of death was a perforated bowel. It has been suggested that this isn't the first time that a death has resulted from apparent neglect at MLK-Harbor Hospital. In March of 2003, Oluchi Oliver, 20, died in that same emergency room, relatives complain that he, too, was neglected. The 20-year old died 10 hours after complaining of abdominal pains. "She was lying in a fetal position crying on the floor and no one would help her," her lawyer is reported to have said. "The security guards were on notice that she was laying there. The police were on notice that she was laying there. The hospital staff was on notice she was laying there." The Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital has 23 days to reform their emergency room protocol or it will lose its certification and be shut down. |
Imam dies in mosque arson attack in Belgian capital Police and forensics experts were in attendance at the scene An imam has been killed in a fire at a Shia mosque in the Brussels suburb of Anderlecht, in what is believed to have been a deliberate attack. The mayor of Anderlecht was quoted by local media as saying the suspect had thrown a petrol bomb at the mosque on Monday evening. Initial reports say the imam, 47, died of smoke inhalation and that one other person was injured. Officials were quoted as saying a man was detained at the mosque. "A suspect was taken into custody at the scene," police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke told AFP news agency. "A dozen worshippers were waiting to pray when someone entered with a bag," eyewitness Azzedine Laghmish told national broadcaster RTBF. "Inside there was a container full of petrol which he threw into the centre of the room", Mr Laghmish said. "The fire took hold very quickly. The imam tried to put it out but he found himself stuck in a room", he added. Local media reports say dozens of local people have gathered near the mosque. Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet said she was "very shocked by the events that have occurred." ||||| Imam Dies Battling Arson Attack On Mosque To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your browser. Please download Flash from the Adobe download website. An imam has died at a mosque in Belgium after it was attacked by an arsonist - reportedly as he tried to extinguish the flames. A man carrying an axe, a can of petrol and Molotov cocktails was reportedly seen at the Shi'ite mosque in Anderlecht, a suburb of Brussels, shortly before 7pm local time. The man then broke the windows of the mosque and threw the incendiary devices inside, the newspaper Le Soir said. Police spokeswoman Marie Verbeck confirmed that the imam had died in the fire, but did not disclose his name or provide any further details. "There is a lot of damage, apparently the entire mosque, or almost the entire mosque, burned down," she said. Ms Verbeck said one person had been arrested and no one else was being sought in connection with the arson attack. Le Soir reported that the 47-year-old imam died while trying to put out the blaze. A man was reportedly seen breaking the windows of the mosque Abdel Adouzeyneb, an estate agent, said the victim left behind four children. "He was a person who was loved by everybody... He was open, well-integrated, smiling and happy," he said. Within hours of the fire, several dozen people gathered at the ruins of the mosque. Ismael Ben Mohammad, 40, said he felt "a sadness difficult to describe". The area around the mosque, near Belgium's main international railway hub, has a large immigrant Muslim population. Belgian interior minister Joelle Milquet said she was "very shocked by the events that have occurred" which she condemned "with firmness and indignation". Fadila Laanan, a regional minister, said on her Twitter account that she was "scandalised by this attack in my community against a mosque". "A man is dead and that is despicable, nothing can excuse such an act," she added. The last time an imam was targeted in Brussels was in 1989 when Saudi-born Abdullah Muhammad al Ahdal was shot dead. He served as imam in the Grand Mosque of Brussels and was killed in March of that year by an armed man inside the mosque. His killing was claimed by a small pro-Iranian group in Lebanon who accused him of being too moderate and of having rejected the death fatwa slapped on British writer Salman Rushdie. ||||| A man set fire to a mosque in Brussels on Monday, killing its 47-year-old imam and injuring another person, in an arson attack that destroyed a large part of the building, police told AFP.Police officials at the scene said the imam died in the attack following an attack on theRida Shiite mosque, the largest of the four Shiite mosques of Brussels and its environs. "There is a lot of damage, apparently the entire mosque, or almost the entire mosque, burned down," said police spokeswoman Marie Verbeke. "A suspect was taken into custody at the scene," Verbeke said, adding that it was too early to talk about motives. The suspect's name has not yet been released. The imam, whose name was also being withheld for the moment, succumbed to the fumes from the fire. A second person who was with him at the time of the attack was lightly injured. Anderlecht mayor Vincent Van Goidsenhoven said the suspect threw a Molotov cocktail at the mosque, Belga news agency reported. Within hours, several dozen local residents and members of the mosque congregation gathered at the ruins. "I brought my son so that he can see blind hate, what it can do," said Ismael Ben Mohammad, 40, adding that he felt "a sadness difficult to describe." Abdel Adouzeyneb, a 39-year-old real estate agent, said that imam left behind four children. "He was a person who was loved by everybody," he said. "He was open, well integrated, smiling and happy." Police said they received a call at 6.45pm (1745 GMT) and the body was pulled out 45 minutes later. The area around the mosque, near Belgium's main international railway hub, has a large immigrant Muslim population. Belgian interior minister Joelle Milquet said she was "very shocked by the events that have occurred" which she condemned "with firmness and indignation." Fadila Laanan, a regional minister said on her Twitter account that she was "scandalised by this attack in my community against a mosque." "A man is dead and that is despicable, nothing can excuse such an act." The last time an imam was targetted in Brussels was in 1989 when Saudi-born Abdullah Muhammad al-Ahdal was shot dead. He served as imam in the Grand Mosque of Brussels and was killed on March of that year by an armed man inside the mosque. His killing was claimed by a small pro-Iranian group in Lebanon who accussed him of being too moderate and of having rejected the death fatwa slapped on writer Salman Rushdie. ||||| BRUSSELS: Belgium’s Muslim community was in shock Tuesday after a man set fire to a Shia mosque in Brussels, leaving the imam dead in an act some linked to tensions between Shias and Sunnis. As investigators sought to determine whether late Monday’s arson attack was an isolated incident or a deliberate assault on the Shia community, Interior Minister Joelle Milquet suggested inter-religious strife may be to blame. “This person went in (the mosque) hurling statements linked to the Syrian conflict. It appears to be a problem between Sunnis and Shias,” Milquet said, adding that investigators still had to confirm the motive. “Belgium will not tolerate this type of act and the importing of this type of conflict on its territory,” she said, adding that the government would take “all necessary measures” in coming days to prevent attacks. The area around the Brussels mosque, one of four Shia centres of worship in the city’s overwhelming majority Sunni Muslim community, has a large immigrant Muslim population. The suspect told police he was a Muslim born in 1978, but authorities were not immediately able to confirm his identity because he lacked ID papers. Azzedine Laghmich, an official at the mosque, told AFP the attacker was “a Salafist,” who sprayed petrol inside the mosque before setting it alight and shouting Sunni slogans on his way out —cries related to the conflict in Syria. “All the eyewitness accounts said so,” Laghmich added. Isabelle Praile, another senior official in Belgium’s organised Muslim community, said the mosque “had already been placed under police protection several years ago,” citing threats from members of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement. More than 100 men gathered near the Rida mosque after the fire, shouting Shia slogans behind a police tape as some prayed and others hugged or cried over the death of imam Abdallah Dadou, a 46-year-old father of four. The imam died of smoke inhalation and a second person was slightly injured after the man, who wielded a knife and an axe, set fire to the place with fuel. “I brought my eight-year-old son here with me so that he can see blind hate, what it can do,” said Ismael Ben Mohammad, 40. The mayor of the city’s Anderlecht ward, Gaetan Van Goidsenhoven, appealed for calm at an overnight press conference, saying it was “not only necessary to live side-by-side, but also to allow justice and the police to do their work.” The imam was described by worshipper Abdel Adouzeyneb, a 39-year-old real estate agent, as “a person who was loved by everybody —he was open, well integrated, smiling and happy.” Prosecutor Jean-Marc Meilleur said the arson suspect was detained by police after people inside locked him inside the mosque. “At the moment, there is only one suspect,” Meilleur said early Tuesday, adding that it was too soon to know whether it was a one-man attack or a wider plot. The last time an imam was targeted in Brussels was in 1989 when Saudi-born Abdullah Muhammad al-Ahdal was shot dead. He served as imam in the Grand Mosque of Brussels and was killed on March of that year by an armed man inside the mosque. His killing was claimed by a small pro-Iranian group in Lebanon who accused him of being too moderate and of having rejected the death fatwa slapped on writer Salman Rushdie. | The area around Anderlecht (marked in red) is home to a large number of Muslim immigrants An imam in the Belgian municipality of , near the capital, , has died following a suspected arson attack at a Shia mosque. It is thought the mosque was attacked by a man wielding an axe, petrol and Molotov cocktails on Monday evening. The imam, in his mid-forties, reportedly died of smoke inhalation while trying to put out the resulting blaze. Another person was injured during the attack. Police spokeswoman Marie Verbeck confirmed the death, and said a suspect has been arrested in connection with the fire. Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to the incident. Belgium's interior minister said: "This person went in to the mosque hurling statements linked to the Syrian conflict. It appears to be a problem between Sunnis and Shias ... Belgium will not tolerate this type of act and the importing of this type of conflict on its territory". She stressed that details on the motive for the crime are unclear. The area around Anderlecht is home to a large number of Muslim immigrants. The last imam to have been killed in an attack in Belgium's capital was Abdullah Muhammad al Ahdal, who was shot in 1989. |
Thanks to you we can report in times of crisis and beyond. Trusted, fact-based reporting has never mattered more. Follow it at the pace that suits your life with a digital subscription. ||||| The yellow arrow points the corroded pipe behind the blast Enlarge Image The operators of a factory in Maryhill which exploded killing nine people have been fined £400,000 for health and safety breaches. The penalty was imposed on ICL Plastics and ICL Tech following a two-day hearing at the High Court in Glasgow. The companies had previously pleaded guilty to four health and safety breaches over the incident in May 2004. The blast happened after petroleum gas ignited in a pipe which had corroded in the cellar of the factory building. Passing sentence on Tuesday, Lord Brodie said the fines were not intended as any sort of reparation for the lives lost, or injuries suffered in the explosion. He said he had to balance the fine against the companies' intention to continue trading and also provide employment for the workforce. Lord Brodie also told families of the victims and injured sitting in the back of the court that the lives of their loved ones "were not capable of being expressed in terms of money". The court heard on Monday the first detailed official account of the accident. CAUSE OF THE BLAST The Health and Safety Executive created a model of the Maryhill factory in a bid to understand how the explosion occurred. A propane gas tank outside the plant building remained intact but experts were sure a gas leak had been responsible. Health and Safety officials recreated the gas supply tank in an effort to pinpoint the exact cause of the blast. They discovered a pipe carrying LPG entered the building under a steel floor which had been sealed off years earlier. The actual pipe was taken from the wreckage of the factory and was found to have no corrosion protection in place. Part of the pipe which was under the basement floor of the factory had cracked, causing gas to leak and ignite. BACK NEXT 1 of 5 The explosion was caused by a build-up of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) which leaked from pipework installed in 1969 - and may have been ignited when a labourer switched on a light in the basement. A statement issued on behalf of the families of victims Annette Doyle, Peter Ferguson, Kenneth Murray, Tracey McErlane, Tim Smith, Ann Trench and Thomas McAulay branded the fine "inadequate". It said: "No amount of money can account for the loss of life or the decimation we have suffered in our lives. No court case will provide any explanation as to why they died. "Over the last day-and-a-half we have listened to how little it would have cost to replace the pipework that subsequently leaked, leading to the death of our loved ones. "Unfortunately the justice process that we have now completed probably raises more questions than it has answered." The statement ended: "The current legal system is too restrictive and until company directors face personal prosecution for their negligence, families will never receive justice." The dangers posed by buried pipes can be overcome by a systematic approach to risk management Stewart Campbell Health and Safety Executive Gas pipe caused carnage The families also reiterated their desire for a full public inquiry into the blast, along with the fatal accident inquiry that is already planned. Their call was backed by Patricia Ferguson, Labour MSP for Glasgow Maryhill. The lord advocate is currently considering whether a public inquiry will be held and a decision is expected within a month. Elish Angiolini said she was in the process of deciding what type of inquiry would be most appropriate and would consult the families of those who died as well as looking at issues identified during the police and health and safety executive investigations. A statement issued by both companies following the verdict said their thoughts remained "with those people most affected by the tragedy - the victims, their families, and all who were injured". It added: "The information brought to light by the complex technical investigation and subsequent court proceedings will, we hope, have provided meaningful answers to many of the questions surrounding this terrible tragedy. "Since May 2004, all concerned have made enormous efforts to sustain the companies and to maintain the employment of our workforce. "The heroic input from so many who were injured in the blast, and the loyalty and support of many others, is the reason for the companies' survival to this day." GLASGOW BLAST VICTIMS Margaret Brownlie, 49, Strathaven Annette Doyle, 34, Glasgow Peter Ferguson, 52, Kilbarchan Thomas McAulay, 41, Mount Florida, Glasgow Stewart McColl, 60, West Kilbride Tracey McErlane, 27, Possilpark, Glasgow Kenneth Murray, 45, Paisley Timothy Smith, 31, Johnstone Ann Trench, 34, Colston, Glasgow Relatives angry at verdict It went on to welcome "any form of inquiry that will properly establish all the facts and circumstances relating to the disaster". Stewart Campbell, director of the Health and Safety Executive in Scotland, said it was important that lessons were learned from the case. "I would like to remind all users and suppliers of LPG of the risk from buried pipes carrying LPG, particularly when located near areas where gas can accumulate", he said. "Everyone should ensure that problems which are out of sight are not out of mind. "The dangers posed by buried pipes can be overcome by a systematic approach to risk management and the findings of the investigation reinforce the need for effective arrangements for the maintenance, renewal or repositioning of buried pipes." READ THE RULING Lord Brodie's ruling in full [24KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here He added: "I would like to pay tribute to all my staff and those of HSL who have dedicated much of the last three years to the investigation and who responded magnificently to what has been an extremely testing investigation." Grahame Smith, general secretary of the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC), called for individual directors to be held liable for the health and safety failures of their companies. He said: "No level of fine can adequately reflect the loss that these families have suffered. Our justice system appears to be totally inflexible in the sentences that judges can impose following breaches of health and safety legislation." The record fine imposed on a firm for breaching health and safety legislation was £15m on utility firm Transco. The company was convicted on a charge arising from an explosion which killed four people. Andrew and Janette Findlay and their children Stacey, 13, and Daryl, 11, died in an explosion in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, in December 1999. The blast, caused by a leaking gas main, destroyed their home. E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? | The families of workers killed in the blast at the Stockline plastics factory in 2004, are criticizing the £400,000 fine imposed on the company. They are upset at the amount of the fine imposed on the company. The Scottish TUC gave the following statement: "No level of fine can adequately reflect the loss that these families have suffered. Our justice system appears to be totally inflexible in the sentences that judges can impose following breaches of health and safety legislation." |
Indonesia closes border THE US joined the international rescue of East Timor yesterday as Indonesia closed its border with the country it occupied for a quarter of a century. Ordering the temporary border closure, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said his country's image could be damaged. "Besides security reasons, the closure of the border is to prevent the possibility of issues which may worsen the image of Indonesia," he said. The US embassy in Canberra praised the "timely and decisive response" to the crisis, revealing that Washington had assisted the Australian-led operation by helping to fly troops into position, believed to be the shifting of men and equipment to Darwin and Townsville two weeks ago. Operation Astute will see almost 1800 Australian troops in place by tomorrow, including commandos from the 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiments, and paratroopers from 3RAR, helicopters, a guided missile frigate and an amphibious landing ship. New Zealand was preparing yesterday to send 120 troops to Dili. Prime Minister Helen Clark said intervention was the only way to avert civil war. Additional reporting: Agencies ||||| We'll stay till job's done, says PM AUSTRALIA is prepared to stay as long as it takes to restore order in East Timor, with the endorsement of the UN. John Howard said yesterday Australia had watched the "deteriorating situation in East Timor for some months" but could not intervene until there was a request from Dili. "We must remember that East Timor is an independent country," the Prime Minister told Sydney radio station 2UE. "And people say you should have seen it coming. The answer is yes, I did, but until you are asked, it happens to be an invasion." Mr Howard said Australia had prepared for the intervention but could not act until there was a request. "We arranged for some ships to go to Darwin, we arranged for troops to be in a state of readiness from both Townsville and Darwin, so that we have been able to respond quickly," he said. He said he could not say how long the troops would remain in East Timor. "There's no point in pulling out early," he said. "It's a big thing to send 1300 troops in. It's a very foolish, short-sighted thing to pull them out before their job is completed. "These tasks always last longer than you expect at the beginning, and I'm not going to make the mistake of saying 'Well, I think they'll be out in x weeks or y months. I can't do that. "There is a significant governance problem inside East Timor, there's no point in beating about the bush. "The country has not been well-governed and I do hope that the sobering experience for those in elected positions of having to call in help from outside will induce the appropriate behaviour inside the country. "If things get out of control, and they clearly have, and outside help is needed, then those who provide the outside help are entitled to ask of those who they're helping, 'Will you make sure that you run the country in future in a way that doesn't allow this to happen'." Mr Howard said he did not think it would be necessary to withdraw troops from other areas, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, to meet the emergency in East Timor. "The total number of troops we had in East Timor at the height of the intervention, the Interfet force in '99, was several thousand more than what we're likely to have on this occasion," he said. "I am satisfied that we can keep our commitments and there is no need for there to be talk of pulling people out of Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not the time to come home prematurely from Iraq." Mr Howard said the lessons learnt from the previous UN-mandated intervention in East Timor - and the timing of the withdrawal - might influence the decision of when to bring Australian troops home. "But you can't invade them, you can't tell them, you have to try by a process of encouragement and being a good friend," he said. Australia's assistance to East Timor following the 1999 vote for independence may mean the country will be more likely to listen to Australia's advice, he said. ||||| Rebel leader's training 'to help us' THE three months that rebel East Timorese leader Major Alfredo Reinado spent studying in Australia are likely to help negotiations to resolve the crisis. Neil James, executive director of the Australian Defence Association, said Major Reinado had undertaken about three months of a year-long defence course in Canberra. During that time he would have studied the naval component of the course, covering basic staff and command skills, but not the land tactics component. And given the normal way the course was conducted, Mr James said Major Reinado would have been unlikely to reach the joint operations element, which teaches how the different parts of the defence forces work together. "The key thing he learned is just general understanding of the Australian Defence Force and Australian culture," he said. "The course he did in Australia is more likely to work in our favour than against us." Mr James said it was not normal for students to take only part of the year-long course, and he thought it was likely Major Reinado had done this because the rebel leader was at that stage in charge of East Timor's small naval patrol fleet. A former Australian military trainer said yesterday he believed Major Reinado had no intention of overthrowing the Dili Government and would quickly come to the negotiating table. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Steve Hull is a former deputy commandant of the military training centre at Metinaro, east of Dili. Major Reinado, who now leads 600 disgruntled soldiers who have taken to the hills outside Dili after being sacked for protesting about pay and conditions, trained at the centre. Colonel Hull said Major Reinado had been identified as a future leader when members of the pro-independence guerilla movement Falantil were formed into a conventional army six years ago. He believed the intelligent and confident "young buck" would be ready to talk. "Alfredo will come to the negotiating table," Colonel Hull said. "He looks forward to the Australians arriving. There is no doubt he has great respect having spent time here ... he has mixed with Australians, he has seen the quality of the leadership." Colonel Hull said he and the other Australian trainers had worked hard to ensure they had "the greatest effect" on Major Reinado. When the Portuguese offered East Timor a patrol boat, Major Reinado was put in charge of the 30-man naval outfit. Colonel Hull said it was wrong to assume that because he had a strong following, Major Reinado's aim was to overthrow the East Timorese Government. "He has some very strong leadership qualities and because of his leadership qualities they would follow him, they would believe in him," he said. "I think if he gets through this all right, there is no reason why he wouldn't be able to, as one of the up-and-comers, be considered for political aspirations. "People would think he has been trying to overthrow the Government, but that's not true at all. They just feel they haven't been listened to by the military hierarchy, and this is the only way they can bring it up." ||||| This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP Aussie troops lock down flashpoints AUSTRALIAN reinforcements were moving into the battered city of Dili today to put down a wave of gang violence and compel warring Timorese soldiers, police and renegade units to return to barracks. The final elements of Australia's 1300-member force plus more armoured vehicles were expected to be in East Timor by early tomorrow morning providing enough military might to enforce disengagement. Vice chief of the defence force Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie predicted gang fighting that terrorised the city today would calm as more Australian soldiers moved out from their base at Dili's airport to exert control. He said the Australians had so far fired no shots, although gangs might have fired over their heads today. Troops were securing key points along roads in and out of the city, the UN compound at Obrigado Barracks in central Dili, government buildings and police headquarters. Much of the recent violence has been blamed on civilian groups allegedly armed by the military. General Gillespie said as troops moved into the city, they would gain a much better handle on just who was responsible for ongoing troubles. He said he believed Australia had come up with a solution to the strife that everyone could accept. It would be "an acknowledgement by all parties that the first thing that needs to happen is disengagement," he said. "It means that the military returns to its barracks. It means that the police return to their barracks and it means that each of the disaffected groups who are part of this problem remove themselves to cantonments. "Once we have got all those key players back into their areas and we have got strong feelings from each of them that they are prepared to do that then we can provide a military observer capacity at each location." General Gillespie said East Timor could then start addressing its underlying political problems. Despite the growing presence of peacekeepers, gunfire echoed across the city today with fighting between armed civilians from rival ethnic gangs. Shops and houses were ablaze and there was looting. Local people seeking protection gravitated to wherever Australian troops could be found. Commander of the Australian force Brigadier Mick Slater was to meet rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado to discuss disengagement procedures. General Gillespie said disarming of the different factions was not top priority at this stage. "If we can get them back into areas where we can monitor who's there, what they are doing and that their weapons are in armouries ... then without disarming people we can actually break the chain of violence. Disarmament can come a little bit further down the path," he said. ||||| Army to use lethal force if attacked AUSTRALIAN troops in East Timor have "very robust" rules of engagement and sufficient firepower to deal with any threat posed by the warring factions. Operation Astute has already seen the dispatch of seven naval vessels, C-130 transport planes and four Black Hawk helicopters to Dili, with almost 500 troops on the ground by late yesterday. "We have gone in there with sufficient combat power to create a stable environment," Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Houston said yesterday. "If someone has a go at us we will respond." He said the priority for the Australians was to separate the warring army and police groups and see that they returned to barracks or secure areas. "We want to be the honest broker, somebody that everybody trusts. We will be completely neutral in that endeavour," he said. "It is absolutely imperative that we adopt that approach because if we don't, we won't achieve our mission." Air Chief Marshal Houston acknowledged the dangers of sending troops into the chaos of Dili, where soldiers shot 12 policemen dead on Thursday. Rules of engagement for the intervention - hammered out with East Timor President Xanana Gusmao, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri and Defence Minister Taur Mata Ruak late on Thursday night - will allow Australians to respond with lethal force if they come under attack. The Defence Force Chief said he was confident the Australian-led contingent would calm the unrest in Dili and convince warring army, police and rebel groups to retire to barracks. At least 1800 Defence personnel, including a battalion-size-plus ground force, are now involved in the East Timor operation. The army's contribution includes commandos from 4RAR and a rifle company group from 3RAR equipped with M113 armoured personnel carriers. The frigate HMAS Adelaide is in Dili and the supply ship HMAS Success is offshore. The amphibious ship HMAS Kanimbla is due in Dili today with HMAS Manoora and HMAS Tobruk due to arrive within the next two days. The navy is also sending the landing craft Balikpapan and Tarakan to Dili. Air Chief Marshal Houston would not be drawn on the duration of the Australian intervention. He said he hoped UN peacekeepers could replace the Australian-led stabilisation force within a few months. He also revealed that as the security situation in Dili rapidly deteriorated on Thursday, the RAAF VIP plane carrying Vice-Chief of the Defence Force, Ken Gillespie, and senior Defence and DFAT officials, was turned back en route from Darwin. General Gillespie's plane later landed in Dili at the same time as special forces troops arrived in Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 Hercules transports. Air Chief Marshal Houston said the Government's decision earlier this month to position a naval taskforce had allowed for a rapid deployment. "From the time we got the request to the time we had forces on the ground, we are talking about three to four days," he said. "You couldn't have had a faster response than what we have had on this occasion." ||||| This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP Diggers stop machete-wielding gangs AUSTRALIAN soldiers have stopped mobs of machete-wielding men from charging a Dili hotel where the prime minister was about to hold a news conference. The troops, who had to call in reinforcements, disarmed what appeared to be two gangs. No one was hurt in the incident just before sunset and the Australians took control of the situation without firing a shot. The troops aggressively shouted at the 30 or so men and ordered them to sit on the ground with their hands on their heads in the middle of a park in front of the Hotel Timor. A large pile of machetes, knives, spiked poles, slingshots and arrows were confiscated. Some soldiers interrogated the men in Indonesian. The incident caps a day of terror in Dili as rival gangs from the east and west of East Timor fought each other, some with firearms. It was unclear whether the gangs were targeting each other or had meant to break into the hotel because Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri was inside. A political struggle between President Xanana Gusmao and Alkatiri has helped fuel tensions within the country and its bitterly divided security forces. ||||| This story is from our news.com.au network Source: AAP Gang violence part of coup plot: PM EAST Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said today's gang violence that terrorised Dili was part of a coup attempt. "What is in motion is an attempt to stage a coup d'etat. However, I am confident that the President of the republic, with whom I am keeping permanent contacts, will not cease to respect the constitution of the democratic republic of Timor Leste," Alkatiri said. He said the violence was politically not ethnically motivated. A political struggle between President Xanana Gusmao and Mr Alkatiri has helped fuel tensions within the country as well as its bitterly divided security forces and communal groups. A spokesman for Mr Alkatiri said that the Prime Minister was working with the president to solve the crisis. Mr Alkatiri also talked of a coup attempt two days ago after fighting in military ranks first erupted. Earlier this month Mr Alkatiri put down an attempt to unseat him as head of the governing Fretilin party. | Map of Dili The Australian presence in East Timor so far has been characterised by vigorous patrolling into the capital Dili, with the main goal being to lock down the city in order to separate and concentrate the various conflicting forces in East Timor. Despite the Australian military being provided strong rules of engagement by the East Timorese government, so far no soldiers have fired their weapons or been fired upon, although they might have been fired over by gangs earlier today. Outside the Hotel Timor today, where East Timorese Prime Minister Alkatiri was about to hold a press conference, an Australian patrol arrested what appeared to be two gangs about to storm the hotel with the help of reinforcements. The men numbered around 30, carrying machetes, knifes, spears, slingshots, and arrows. The Prime Minister claimed that the gangs were attempting a coup d'etat. Civilian gangs, allegedly provided arms by the East Timorese military, have so far been blamed for much of the violence in Dili. As the rest of the 1300 strong Australian deployment is expected to arrive in East Timor tomorrow, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said that although his government did foresee the current situation in East Timor, military action would have constituted an invasion until mandated through the United Nations' or East Timorese government's request. "...People say you should have seen it coming. The answer is yes, I did, but until you are asked, it happens to be an invasion." said Mr Howard. East Timor requested military assistance from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal on May 23, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta explaining that the government "...couldn't control the situation,"; all four nations responded positively to the request. Despite one newspaper running the headline "We'll stay till job's done, says PM", the Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston has said that he hopes the Australian military will be able to be replaced within a few months by a UN peacekeepers. In any case, ACM Houston has said that he is believes the Australian presence will stabilise the situation soon, perhaps aided by the good relations that exist between the ADF and the leader of the rebel group, Major Alfredo Reinado. MAJ Reinado was trained by the ADF for three months and has openly welcomed the arrival of the peacekeeping force, saying that the deployment is the "only solution" in the face of the government's inability to resolve the conflict. After praising the speed of the deployment, Washington revealed that the US assisted the transport of Australian troops to position in Townsville and Darwin two weeks earlier. Indonesia has now closed its border to East Timor, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying that "besides security reasons, the closure of the border is to prevent the possibility of issues that may worsen the image of Indonesia." |
Share The tennis gods brewed up a storm around Roland Garros on Sunday afternoon as they prepared to welcome a new member into their midst. Roger Federer repelled the rain, thunder, and a certain Robin Soderling to take his rightful place among the immortals of the game. The Swiss produced a near-flawless display, delighting his fans with the full range of shots that have made him arguably the greatest player of his era, to sweep aside Robin Soderling 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 and seal his first-ever French Open title. The triumph enabled Federer to become only the sixth man in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments, and also saw him equal Pete Sampras’ record of 14 majors. The enormity of his achievement was evident on match point when Federer fell to the red earth of Roland Garros weeping tears of joy. Minutes later, Andre Agassi was on hand to present the Coupe des Mousquetaires and share in the Swiss legend’s delight as he held the trophy to the air, 10 years after the American had sealed his own career Slam with a far more hard-fought win here over Andrei Medvedev. Early stranglehold Federer owed his victory to a brilliant performance, by far his best of the tournament, in which he took a stranglehold on the match from the outset and clinically dissected his opponent’s game. Seemingly overwhelmed by the event, Soderling was unrecognizable in the first set from the man who had swept all before him – including four-time champion Rafael Nadal – in his run to the final. The giant Swede was simply unable to find any rhythm or indeed any semblance of the form he had shown throughout the tournament, not that Federer gave him the slightest chance to settle. The Swiss is a past master at winning Grand Slam finals and his experience was made to tell as he immediately got into his groove. His first serve was strong (firing down 16 aces throughout the match), his shot selection astute and return of serve simply breathtaking. The Swede’s wayward hitting early on made it easy for him, but Federer needed no second invitation to rack up the games and put some daylight between himself and his opponent. Federer mixed up his shots brilliantly, slicing on the backhand side before accelerating his forehand follow-up to knock his opponent off guard. While Soderling’s earlier adversaries, including Nadal, had to a certain extent played into his hands by trying to outhit the Swede in hard-hitting baseline exchanges. Roger was not about to fall into the same trap. Making full use of his superb drop shot, tricky slice and mid-court angles, he moved the Swede forward and back almost at will. Stormy weather The first set was over in the blink of an eye, 6-1, wrapped up in just 23 minutes. The only thing that could knock the world No2 off his stride was the on-court intruder who briefly unsettled his concentration at 2-1 in the second set. Federer lost that game, and with storm clouds beginning to hover over Philippe Chatrier court, the momentum gradually began to shift. Little by little, Soderling righted his ship, steadying his serve and finally hitting the booming forehands that had proved so devastating earlier over the previous fortnight. The rain gained in intensity through the middle games of the second set, and with a delay looking more of a possibility, both players looked for the break that would give them a huge psychological advantage to take into the locker room. The drizzle eased off however, and Federer’s serve kept him out of trouble heading into the match-shaping tie-break. Brilliant tie-break The No2 seed then seized the moment to demonstrate why he is, for so many, the greatest player of all time. He banged down four aces no less, a forehand winner and a magnificent drop shot en route to a 7-1 success that earned him a two-set lead and definitively turned the match in his favour. In a hangover from the tie-break, Soderling immediately dropped his serve in the next game – a crucial moment as the No23 seed actually looked the more dangerous player as the third set wore on. On the few occasions that he drew Federer into a long rally, Soderling would invariably pull out a winner, but the Swiss refused to be distracted from his game plan, throwing Soderling off his rhythm with kicking second serves when his first service began to falter and sending passing shots down the line whenever the Swede came to the net. The Swede earned his first break point of the match at 1-3 and then again had a chance to break back at 4-5, 30-40 when Federer was serving for the match. Had he taken either of those two points, the outcome of the match may have been very different. Fitting denouement As it was, the end was what most neutrals had been hoping for, and suitably moving. Soderling mishit on break point, Federer coolly dispatched a volley to take himself to championship point, and then a big serve proved to be enough as Soderling netted the return. Federer fell to his knees, the crowd rose to their feet and the thunder rumbled overhead… ||||| Register for NYTimes.com. Breaking news and award winning multimedia New York Times newspaper articles Arts & Dining reviews Online Classifieds It's free and it only takes a minute! Member ID or E-Mail Address: Password: Forgot Your Password? Remember me on this computer. ||||| The mixed tears of joy and relief ran slowly down Roger Federer's face as he held aloft the Coupe des Mousquetaires having finally won the French Open title in his fourth successive final. So he became only the sixth man in tennis history to win all four slam titles, with Andre Agassi, the last man to do it in 1999, presenting him with the trophy. Federer also equalled Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand slam titles. Federer beat Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), and 6-4 in just under two hours and with rain falling for much of the final. As Soderling put Federer's last serve into the net, the Swiss dropped to his knees on clay as if history had suddenly pushed him to ground. And it had. "This was my greatest victory," said Federer, although undoubtedly the greatest win of all at this year's tournament belonged to his opponent Soderling who the previous Sunday has shocked tennis to its roots by defeating Rafa Nadal, the four times French Open champion who was attempting to become the first man ever to win five in succession. Soderling's dramatic win in the fourth round took away the player who had stood four square between history and Federer for the last three years, the only player to have ever beaten Federer in a slam final, including last year's Wimbledon and this year's Australian Open. " I can now go the rest of my career without worrying that I would never win the French Open," said Federer. Soderling, playing in his first slam final, and watched by fellow countryman Bjorn Borg who won this title six times, was rarely in the match, but made Federer serve it out. "You gave me a lesson how to play," he said afterwards. "To me you are the greatest player in history." The only moment when Federer was unnerved came at 2-1 in the second set when a spectator ran onto the court in a Swiss shirt and with a Barcelona flag, and tried to place a hat on Federer's head. In took security 18 seconds to bring him down, a huge embarrassment to the French authorities. Federer lost three points in a row after the incident as Soderling levelled for 2-2. But Federer quickly recovered his composure to join Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Don Budge and Fred Perry as the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam. | Roger Federer in 2007 Swiss tennis player Roger Federer won his first Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros or Tournoi de Roland-Garros (French Open) championship on Sunday by defeating Robin Söderling from Sweden 6-1 7-6(1) 6-4 in Paris. In winning this tournament, Federer joins Pete Sampras with 14 Grand Slam tournaments won and along with Andre Agassi is the second man in the Open Era (since 1968) to clinch all four major tournaments. In the last four years, only Rafael Nadal has stopped Federer from winning the French Grand Slam title missing from his collection. The match took place in bad weather conditions with light rain and strong winds during the first two sets, a situation which became worse during the third. Uneasy and visibly nervous, Söderling lost the first set in just 23 minutes. In the second, he began to play better tennis and at 2-1, after an interruption by a man on court, Federer seemed to lose power. He finally clinched the tie-break 7-1 by shooting four aces. The third set was won 6-4 by Federer who fell to the ground, sobbing. After the match, Söderling said that Federer was the "greatest player of all times" and that Federer gave him "a lesson of tennis." In the 2009 ATP Ranking, Federer moves closer to Nadal after he lost to Söderling in the fourth round. Before the tournament, Nadal had a 4500 points lead. Since Monday, he has a 2070 point lead. The next Grand Slam tournament is Wimbledon in London and begins on June 22, 2009. |
Beneath special tents, police are trying to access a bricked-up cellar Home background Frank Walker has denied a cover-up and told island senators that anyone who abused children or colluded with abuse would be pursued. Ex-minister, Senator Stuart Syvret, has claimed previous abuses were mishandled and urged the UK government to use independent judges for any court case. A search of the grounds of a former children's home has been suspended. In a statement made to the States of Jersey - the equivalent of the UK's parliament - Mr Walker spoke of a "dark cloud" hanging over the island, following news that police were investigating 27 cases of child-abuse. 'Shock and horror' He promised "all necessary resources" would be made available to the investigation, and anyone found to have abused children were "identified and prosecuted". Mr Walker said: "None of us imagined that children in Jersey could be abused and mistreated in the way that is being suggested. "I express my shock and horror that these things have apparently happened within our island." The overriding concern of the establishment is the image of Jersey Senator Stuart Syvret Island's 'culture of secrecy' Sniffer dog tackles concrete Mr Walker and other leading members of the Jersey government have been criticised by former island Health Minister, Senator Stuart Syvret, who accused them of mishandling previous instances of child abuse. At a press conference, Senator Syvret brandished a report commissioned by Jersey's Education Committee into an incident of child abuse at an island school in the 1990s. He said: "This shows we can't rely on prosecutions to happen when necessary "The overriding concern of the establishment is the image of Jersey - to prosecute people would be apocalyptically bad for the Jersey establishment." He has urged the UK Justice Minister, Jack Straw, to appoint independent British judges and prosecutors for any civil or criminal cases which arise from the investigation. Senator Syvret said he had send documents to Mr Straw to ask him to ensure that the traditional dual roles of law-maker and judge to be separate in Jersey. Senator Syvret's previous allegations that island authorities ignored evidence of abuse of children in its care have been vehemently denied by the Jersey government. A spokesman said a formal response Senator Syvret's latest charges would be made later. Special helpline Meanwhile police investigators at the Haut de la Garenne home in St Martin have temporarily suspended their operation to seek advice from a structural engineer about gaining access to a section of the home. "The States of Jersey Police would like to emphasise that all that has been recovered so far from the site are the partial remains of what is believed to have been a child," said a spokesman. A special service of prayers has been held for the victims of Haut de la Garenne. The service was lead by the Dean of Jersey, the Very Reverend Bob Key, at Gouray Church, in Gouray. He said: "The service is to pray for the peace of all those who are scarred by the tragic events of the past." Officers have been focusing their attention on a bricked-up cellar of the building, which now serves as a Youth Hostel, after the remains of a child were discovered at the weekend. Six more "sites of interest" have been identified nearby. Police were alerted to the site during their investigation into child abuse allegations stemming from the time when the building was a home for children with behaviour problems. A special helpline set up by the NSPCC at the request of the police has received 63 calls from adults claiming to have been abused as children on the island. Stuart Syvret says abuse allegations have been ignored on Jersey So far, 27 of those cases have been referred to the authorities for investigation. Jersey's deputy police chief, Lenny Harper, has said officers are investigating why so many complaints were not dealt with in the past. Mr Harper said: "Part of the inquiry will be the fact that a lot of the victims tried to report their assaults but for some reason or another they were not dealt with as they should be. "We are looking at allegations that a number of agencies didn't deal with things as perhaps they should." He said that so far his officers had uncovered "no evidence of a cover-up of any Jersey government". In 2006, Jersey Police began investigating allegations of abuse in the 1960s, 70s and 80s of boys and girls aged between 11 and 15. Police say it is vital that any alleged victims still unidentified contact the incident room as soon as possible, on 0800 735 7777. There is also an NSPCC helpline on 0800 169 1173 within Jersey, or + 44 (0)20 7825 7489 from outside. Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Do you live in Jersey? Send us your comments by filling out the form below. Name Your E-mail address Town & Country Phone number (optional): Comments ||||| 4pm GMT update Jersey care homes 'covered up abuses' A former government minister, who last year raised concerns about the treatment of children in Jersey's care homes, today claimed there was a "disgraceful and disgusting failure" to deal with abuse on the island. Stuart Syvret, health and social services minister until last September, described the continuing search for six more bodies at the Haut de la Garenne care home, where a child's remains were found on Saturday, as the latest example of "a culture of cover-up and concealment". His comments came as it emerged that Edward Paisnel, a notorious paedophile dubbed the Beast of Jersey, used to visit Haut de la Garenne dressed as Father Christmas. Paisnel was jailed for 30 years in 1971 after being convicted of 13 counts of assault, rape and sodomy. Syvret claimed he was "sacked for whistleblowing" when he was dismissed as health and social services minister shortly after highlighting the "torture" of 11 to 16-year-olds in the island's care homes. Brandishing an independent report into abuse at a boys' school on the island, Syvret claimed it detailed a "disgraceful and disgusting failure" to deal with abuse which was "carried for years". He said one paedophile had been convicted in relation to abuse at the school but that there was a deliberate attempt by certain members of staff and governors to "humiliate and intimidate and force those boys [who had made allegations] into withdrawing their complaints – fortunately they didn't". Earlier, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "People mustn't necessarily - as bad as it is - be distracted by the Haut de la Garenne story because the real issue here is we are looking at multiple examples of abuse at multiple institutions over a period of decades and decades. "It's a continuum that we see. It's a culture of cover-up and concealment and tragically the recent evidence is just the latest manifestation of that." Jersey's chief minister, Frank Walker, who has denied allegations of a cover-up, is to make a statement to the island's parliament today and will face questions about the investigation. The education minister, Mike Vibert, said he had reviewed the case at the school identified by Syvret and the abuse "was taken seriously". "The man responsible was successfully prosecuted and subsequently imprisoned," he said. Vibert said an independent report was commissioned after the court case that "made a number of recommendations and all have since been implemented". He said the report had not been published because it could lead to the identification of the children involved. A sniffer dog has identified six possible burial sites in and around the Haut de la Garenne building, which closed as a care home in 1986. Deputy police chief Lenny Harper said yesterday the cellar was a "point of interest", but it had been blocked up and officers have been trying to smash their way in. They suspended the search this afternoon to seek advice from a structural engineer on "gaining access to a section of the home". Paisnel lived in St Martin, close to Haut de la Garenne. After his trial, his wife, Joan, wrote a book claiming Paisnel used to visit the care home to take gifts to the children, who he asked to call him "Uncle Ted". | Channel Islands including Jersey Frank Walker, the chief minister of Jersey, a United Kingdom Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, denies that there was a cover up after a child's remains were found. The allegations of a cover-up stem from statements by Stuart Syvret. Syvret, the former Minister for Health and Social Services for Jersey, said that "It's a continuum that we see. It's a culture of cover-up and concealment and tragically the recent evidence is just the latest manifestation of that." It has come to light that Edward Paisnel, a notorious pedophile, used to visit the Haut de la Garenne children's home dressed as Father Christmas. Paisnel in 1971, was given a sentence of 30 years for 13 counts of assault, rape and sodomy. Syvret says he was dismissed from his ministerial position after highlighting the "torture" of 11 to 16-year-olds in the island's care homes. He claimed he was "sacked for whistleblowing". Police are currently investigating twenty-seven cases of child abuse on the island and recently discovered the body of one child at a care home Haut de la Garenne in St. Martin, and with a potential six sites in the area where more bodies may be located. The home was closed in 1986 and since 2003 it has served as a youth hostel. Jersey's deputy police chief, Lenny Harper said "Part of the inquiry will be the fact that a lot of the victims tried to report their assaults but for some reason or another they were not dealt with as they should be." Harper added that "no evidence of a cover-up of any Jersey government" has been found. "We are looking at allegations that a number of agencies didn't deal with things as perhaps they should." Syvret has encouraged the government of the United Kingdom to assign independent judges to oversee any cases that result from the investigations. Builders originally uncovered a body at the care home in 2003 but it was only since an operation investigate child abuse started in 2006 that progress has been made. An ex-minister of the States of Jersey, the parliament of the island, has criticised the handling of the case, stating that abuse cases were mishandled. Walker told senators that all necessary resources would be use to find the abusers. "None of us imagined that children in Jersey could be abused and mistreated in the way that is being suggested," the BBC have quoted him as saying. "I express my shock and horror that these things have apparently happened within our island." Specialist police from the United Kingdom have been investigating after an enquiry turned up 140 sources verifying the claims of abuse. |
China hits back as blazing row over Sudan role mars Olympics build-up CHINA’S staging of the Olympics threatened to develop into a full-scale diplomatic crisis last night after Beijing’s leaders accused critics of its policy in Sudan of “ulterior motives”. During one of just two weekly chances for journalists to ask the Chinese government about international issues, officials said they shared concern at the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.Liu Jianchao, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “It is understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government policy on Darfur, but I am afraid that some people may have ulterior motives, and this we cannot accept.”Mr Liu said China was working with the United Nations to resolve the crisis and providing aid to Sudan. “China is also concerned about the humanitarian issues there, but we have been playing a positive and constructive role in promoting peace in Darfur,” he said.China has consistently said it opposes any attempt to “politicise” the Olympics, which begin on 8 August.The latest argument was sparked this week after the Hollywood director Steven Spielberg pulled out of his role as artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the games, citing China’s indifference to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur as his reason.George Bush, the US president, said last night he would go to the OIympics, but added that the Chinese could “do more” to help in Darfur.Asked if he supported Spielberg’s move, Mr Bush said: “I view the Olympics as a sporting event. On the other hand, I have a different platform to Steven Spielberg, so I get to talk to Hu Jintao [the Chinese president] and I do remind him he can do more to relieve the suffering in Darfur.”Mr Bush added: “I’m not going to use the Olympics as an opportunity to express my opinions to the Chinese people in a public way because I do it all the time with the president.”He added that he made a “seminal decision” when he chose not to commit US troops to Darfur.Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, also waded into the row yesterday, saying it was the right time to pressure China to do more.“I certainly think that it is reasonable to use this window between now and the start of the Olympic Games in August, when the eyes of the world will be on China, to increase pressure for China to act as a responsible global citizen in relation to Darfur and its relationship with Sudan,” she said.William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, called for Gordon Brown’s government to show more courage in tackling the crisis in Darfur.In an article for website conservativehome.co.uk , Mr Hague said that in the seven months since he became Prime Minister Mr Brown seemed to have “forgotten” his pledge to put the troubledSudanese province at the top of his foreign affairs agenda.And he noted that David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, did not mention Darfur in his high-profile speech on humanitarian intervention in Oxford earlier this week.Mr Hague wrote: “Now is not the time for forgetting. It’s the time for swift, decisive and resolute action.“The British government cannot do it all alone. China must also dramatically step up its efforts to stop this slaughter.“We are not advocating a boycott of the Olympics, or using sport as a political weapon, but China could make a change.”Fighting between government-backed militia and rebels in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 2.5 million displaced.China has influence in Sudan because it buys two-thirds of the country’s oil exports while selling it arms and defending Khartoum before the UN Security Council. ||||| Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, right, tours the construction site of Beijing's National Stadium with Chinese film maker Zhang Yimou, center, and Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, after a news conference announcing the creation team for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing April 16, 2006. Rights groups on Wednesday Feb 13, 2008 praised Hollywood director Steven Spielberg's announcement that he would shun involvement with the Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies because China was not doing enough to help end the crisis in Darfur. (AP Photo/Color China Photo) China: Criticism of Sudan Actions Wrong BEIJING (AP) — China said Thursday that "ulterior" motives were behind some criticism of its actions in Sudan, and the problems there should not be linked with this summer's Olympics in Beijing. The comments from Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao came a day after director Steven Spielberg's decision to drop out as an Olympics adviser on human rights grounds. "It is understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government policy on Darfur, but I am afraid that some people may have ulterior motives, and this we cannot accept," Liu said. The Hollywood heavyweight had been brought in as an artistic adviser to the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Games, but said he will not participate because he felt China wasn't doing enough to pressure Sudan into ending the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region. Chinese officials have consistently said they opposed any attempt to "politicize" the Olympics, which begin Aug. 8. Liu said China was working with the United Nations to resolve the crisis and providing aid to Sudan. "China is also concerned about the humanitarian issues there, but we have been playing a positive and constructive role in promoting peace in Darfur," he added. Spielberg had indicated as early as last August that he might not take part in the ceremonies. The director said he had given up hope that China would take a more aggressive approach toward Sudan. Fighting between government-backed militia and rebels in Darfur has killed more than 200,000 people and left an estimated 2.5 million displaced since 2003. China is believed to have special influence with the Islamic regime because it buys two-thirds of the country's oil exports while selling it weapons and defending Khartoum in the U.N. Security Council. "While China's representatives have conveyed to me that they are working to end the terrible tragedy in Darfur, the grim realities of the suffering continue unabated," Spielberg said in a statement Tuesday. Beijing has invested billions of dollars and its national prestige into what it hopes will be a glorious showcase of China's rapid development from impoverished agrarian nation to rising industrial power. Yet it has been unable to turn back a rising tide of negative global opinion that joins concerns over the city's notorious pollution, snarled traffic and displacement of people for the construction of Olympic venues. In recent days, the U.S. Congress and a coalition of Nobel Peace Prize winners, politicians and elite athletes have also lobbied Beijing over Darfur. Actress Mia Farrow and other activists delivered an open letter addressed to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the Chinese Mission to the United Nations in New York on Tuesday. ||||| Boycotting the Olympics would not help the human rights situation in Darfur, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said today. She said that although aspects of Chinese policy were "wholly unacceptable", a boycott was not the right way to exert pressure on Beijing. Jowell was speaking in response to calls from Sudanese rebels for the international community to boycott the Olympics because of China's support for the Sudanese government and its role in Darfur. "The world has known for the last seven years that Beijing would host the Olympics," Jowell told the Times. "Most progressive governments accept that there are wholly unacceptable aspects of Chinese policy, but that did not stop the International Olympic Committee awarding them the games. "A call for a boycott doesn't serve any purpose and it would be a great pity. This doesn't mean, however, we should be distracted from the urgency of Darfur." ||||| Spielberg quits Olympics work to protest Chinese inaction WASHINGTON: The movie director Steven Spielberg has said he is withdrawing as an artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing after almost a year of trying unsuccessfully to prod President Hu Jintao to do more to try to end Sudan's attacks in the Darfur region. Spielberg's decision, and the public way he announced it Tuesday, was a blow to China, which has said that its relationship with Sudan should not be linked to the Olympics, which have become a source of national pride. In a statement sent to the Chinese ambassador and the Beijing Olympic committee on Tuesday, Spielberg said that his "conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual." "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there," the statement said. "China's economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change." Responding to Spielberg's action, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Washington said, "As the Darfur issue is neither an internal issue of China nor is it caused by China, it is completely unreasonable, irresponsible and unfair to link the two as one." Officials in Beijing did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Spielberg had written to Hu about Darfur twice in the past 10 months, his spokesman said, taking China to task for its "silence" while Sudan blocked the deployment of international peacekeepers and expelled aid workers from the region. In September, Spielberg also met with China's special envoy to Darfur at the Chinese mission to the United Nations, said Spielberg's spokesman, Andy Spahn. None of those efforts yielded the results Spielberg wanted, Spahn said. In the meantime, Spielberg had come under increasing pressure from activists working on Darfur, including a campaign by the actress Mia Farrow, to drop his association with the Beijing Olympics. After receiving word that Spielberg had done just that, Farrow was jubilant. "His voice and all of the moral authority it gives, used this way, brings a shred of hope to Darfur, and God knows, rations of hope are meager at this time," said Farrow, a good-will ambassador for Unicef who helped start a campaign last year to label the games in Beijing the "Genocide Olympics." The actor Don Cheadle, a co-founder of Not On Our Watch, a Darfur advocacy group, said he hoped that Spielberg's actions would force China to rethink its position. "One guy like Steven in a position like that is like 100 other guys," he said. "Those are the kinds of moves, that if they catch fire, and other people think of boycotting, or refraining, the cumulative effect could be something that potentially could change the calculation of that government." David M. Halbfinger contributed reporting from Los Angeles. Yang Chunlin, a Chinese human rights advocate, will stand trial for subversion after he called for human rights instead of the Beijing Olympic Games, Reuters reported from Beijing. Yang, an unemployed factory worker from Jiamusi city in China's far northeast, in past years wrote petitions, denounced government corruption and urged democratic reform of the one-party state. Last year, he helped organize villagers to sign a petition demanding return of disputed land. Yang boldly declared, "We don't want the Olympics, we want human rights." ||||| Mr Spielberg's decision is a high-profile blow to Olympic organisers The foreign ministry said "ulterior motives" may be behind criticism of its links with Sudan. The director said his conscience would not allow him to continue in his role. China has strong economic and military ties with Sudan, which campaigners say it should use to put pressure on Khartoum to resolve the Darfur crisis. A UK newspaper has published a letter from 80 Nobel laureates and artists urging Beijing to help end the conflict. 'Empty rhetoric' Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said: "We have taken notice that recently there have been many controversies and actions involving China and Darfur. "It is understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government policy on Darfur, but I am afraid that some people may have ulterior motives, and this we cannot accept," he told a news conference. "China is also concerned about the humanitarian situation in Darfur. [But] empty rhetoric will not help. We hope that relevant people will be more pragmatic." OLYMPICS ROW Famous names involved in advising the Olympics include director Zhang Yimou and Kung Fu star Jackie Chan Hollywood stars Mia Farrow and George Clooney have criticised China over Darfur Athletes put focus on Darfur Spielberg action: China reacts China's dilemma over Darfur Beijing says it has appointed a special envoy to Darfur and sent peacekeepers to the region. But many, including Steven Spielberg, say that is not enough. At least 200,000 people have died and two million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, where pro-government militia are accused of widespread atrocities. Sudan denies backing the Janjaweed militia and says the suffering in Darfur has been exaggerated. Sudan sells some two-thirds of its oil to Beijing, while Beijing sells weapons to the Sudanese government and has blocked efforts to pressure Khartoum in the UN Security Council. Campaigners say arms sold by China to the Sudanese government that have been used in Darfur. 'Ongoing failure' Mr Spielberg's announcement late on Tuesday is Beijing's first big setback in staging the Olympics, analysts say. The renowned director, who had been brought in as artistic adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, said his conscience would not allow him to continue in the role. HAVE YOUR SAY The real question is why the Olympics were awarded to China in the first place Vladi, California "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more," he said. Adding to the pressure, British newspaper the Independent has published on its front page the full text of a letter signed by 80 Nobel laureates, politicians and artists to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging greater action on Darfur. Signatories include South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, US former Senator Bill Frist and British playwright Tom Stoppard, as well as a host of former Olympians. The letter, released by campaigning group Crisis Action on 12 February, said China had both the opportunity and the responsibility to help bring peace to the troubled region. "Ongoing failure to rise to this responsibility amounts, in our view, to support for a government that continues to carry out atrocities against its own people," the letter said. ||||| Mr Spielberg formally announced his decision in a statement In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the troubled western Darfur region. At least 200,000 people have been killed and two million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict. Beijing has not yet responded to the move, which correspondents say is its first big setback in staging the Games. This is a noble move by Spielberg - he will certainly go down in history as someone who gave human lives precedence over fame and money Abdul Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur Sudanese rebel leader China's dilemma over Darfur A source in the Beijing Olympic Committee said a response was being discussed at the highest levels but had not yet been made public. But the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing says the decision will anger and worry the authorities there. Since Beijing won the right to host the Games it has always tried to keep China's politics and China's Olympics separate, he says, and it has attacked anyone who has tried to link the two. Boycott call Mr Spielberg, who had been brought in as artistic adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, said the cause of Darfur was more important than his role. "I find that my conscience will not allow me to continue business as usual," he said in a statement. "At this point, my time and energy must be spent not on Olympic ceremonies, but on doing all I can to help bring an end to the unspeakable crimes against humanity that continue to be committed in Darfur." OLYMPICS ROW Famous names involved in advising the Olympics include director Zhang Yimou and Kung Fu star Jackie Chan Hollywood stars Mia Farrow and George Clooney have criticised China over Darfur Architect Ai Weiwei, who designed the main Olympic stadium, says the Games are a "public relations sham" Athletes put focus on Darfur He added: "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these on-going crimes, but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more." Rebel groups in Darfur said this was exactly the kind of pressure that was needed to get Beijing to change its policy towards the Sudanese government. "This is a noble move by Spielberg," Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Abdul Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur told the Sudan Tribune newspaper. "He will certainly go down in history as someone who gave human lives precedence over fame and money." Ahmed Abdel Shafi, who leads an SLM splinter group, told the BBC: "I commend him for his strong position. This is a lesson to the rest of the world that people should distance themselves from China." HAVE YOUR SAY The real question is why the Olympics were awarded to China in the first place Vladi, California The International Olympic Committee said the decision was a personal one made by Mr Spielberg. "The IOC recognise Darfur is a highly complex issue, with tragic circumstances, but is a matter for the UN to resolve," the committee said in a statement. 'Desperate time' Sudan, with its vast oil reserves, sells some two-thirds of its oil to Beijing. In turn, Beijing sells weapons to the Sudanese government and has defended Khartoum in the UN Security Council. As a result, China has been criticised for its links with a government ostracised by many for its role in the ongoing crisis in Darfur. Earlier on Tuesday, as part of a "Global Day of Action" focusing on Darfur, an open letter signed by Nobel Peace Prize laureates and former Olympians was sent to China's president. Actress Mia Farrow, who signed the letter and had pressed Mr Spielberg to end his involvement, said his decision sent out the right signal to the Chinese government. She said: "I'm delighted by his decision and it's a desperate time for Darfur, so this is a shred of good news in a very bleak week." | Steven Spielberg in 1999. Beijing National Stadium, where the opening ceremonies will take place. On Wednesday, United States film director Steven Spielberg withdrew from his position as artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. "Conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual," he said. "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there," Spielberg's statement said. "China's economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change." China immediately expressed regret over his decision and suggested that "ulterior motives" may be at play. "It is understandable if some people do not understand the Chinese government policy on Darfur, but I am afraid that some people may have ulterior motives, and this we cannot accept. ... China is also concerned about the humanitarian situation in Darfur. But empty rhetoric will not help. We hope that relevant people will be more pragmatic," said Liu Jianchao, the Deputy-Director General of the Information Department in China's foreign ministry. Following Spielberg's withdrawal, other organizations called for boycott of the Games. However, United Kingdom Minister for the Olympics Tessa Jowell rejected such calls. "The world has known for the last seven years that Beijing would host the Olympics," Jowell told ''The Times''. "Most progressive governments accept that there are wholly unacceptable aspects of Chinese policy, but that did not stop the International Olympic Committee awarding them the games. A call for a boycott doesn't serve any purpose and it would be a great pity. This doesn't mean, however, we should be distracted from the urgency of Darfur." "China is also concerned about the humanitarian issues there, but we have been playing a positive and constructive role in promoting peace in Darfur," Liu said, adding that China is working with the United Nations to provide aid and resolve the crisis. Critics of China contend that China supports the Islamic regime in Sudan because it buys two-thirds of the country's oil exports and also sells it weapons. Further, China has been defending the government in Khartoum in the United Nations Security Council. Since 2003, fighting between government-backed militia and rebels in Darfur has led to the death of more than 200,000 people and displaced some 2.5 million others. Meanwhile, United States President George W. Bush confirmed that he still plans to attend the Games in Beijing. "I view the Olympics as a sporting event. On the other hand, I have a different platform to Steven Spielberg, so I get to talk to Hu Jintao President of China and I do remind him he can do more to relieve the suffering in Darfur." Bush followed this by saying: "I’m not going to use the Olympics as an opportunity to express my opinions to the Chinese people in a public way because I do it all the time with the president." |
PR-inside.com is a website for the free submission of public relations distribution, news, and press releases. ||||| Charities have prince in their sights after he said hunting old infertile animals for money could be excused if funds went to saving the species ||||| Cancellara was in a class of his own around central London The Swiss, 26, was the only man inside nine minutes, clocking eight minutes and 50 seconds to beat Andreas Kloden. George Hincapie was third, a fraction of a second ahead of Bradley Wiggins, who was the first Briton to finish. David Millar finished just outside the top 10 on a scenic 7.9km (five mile) course from Whitehall to The Mall. Every rider got a huge ovation from up to a million spectators lining the route. But the loudest cheers were reserved for the British Tour quintet of Wiggins, Millar, Mark Cavendish, Gerraint Thomas and Charlie Wegelius. However, none of them could match the extraordinary pace of Cancellara, who finished 13 seconds clear of Kloden, one of the overall classification favourites. "I had more pressure than when I won the Tour prologue in Liege in 2004 ahead of Lance Armstrong," said Cancellara. The crowd really helped me, I was going out there to do everyone proud Bradley Wiggins "This was a great day for cycling. It's just a shame I'm still waiting for my luggage which I lost at Heathrow Airport. But I have the (overall leader's) yellow jersey, it's what matters today." Pre-race favourite Alexandre Vinokourov finished seventh - just behind Russian pair Vladimir Gusev and Vladimir Karpets - to put himself in a good position. And contenders Alejandro Valverde and Levi Leipheimer completed the course safely. That could not be said of Australian Stuart O'Grady, who provided one of the most spectacular images of the day when he crashed and had to change bike before finishing well down the order. Wiggins was delighted with the support he received as he produced what he called a "perfect" ride. "I feel 100% satisfaction," he said. "I know I did the best I could do. I am really pleased with my ride. I didn't hit the brakes once on the way round. "I am really happy to be on the same level as guys like George Hincapie but Cancellara was just on another level. When you lose by 25 seconds, what can you do? I think I have done myself proud really. "The crowd really helped me, I was going out there to do everyone proud. It was fantastic. What an experience for someone coming from London. It was amazing. "I never expected this magnitude of people so God knows what the Olympics will be like. This has been such an occasion." Sunday's first full stage of Le Tour takes the riders from Greenwich to Canterbury, before the race crosses the channel and heads back towards France. Top 10 result and overall classification after prologue (London, 7.9km): 1. Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / Team CSC) 8 min 50 sec 2. Andreas Kloeden (Germany / Astana ) +13 sec 3. George Hincapie (U.S. / Discovery Channel ) +23 4. Bradley Wiggins (Britain / Cofidis ) +23 5. Vladimir Gusev (Russia / Discovery Channel ) +25 6. Vladimir Karpets (Russia / Caisse d'Epargne ) +26 7. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan / Astana ) +30 8. Thomas Dekker (Netherlands / Rabobank ) +31 9. Manuel Quinziato (Italy / Liquigas ) +32 10. Benoit Vaugrenard (France / Francaise des Jeux) +32 ||||| Spectators lined up along the route to watch the trials More than 180 competitors rode the 7.9km time trial prologue from Whitehall to The Mall, taking in landmarks such as Buckingham Palace. About 4,500 police officers guarded the London leg of the race with assistance from a team of 45 French officers. Security has been heightened after last week's suspected car bomb attempts in London and Glasgow. The trials started at 1500 BST and ended just after 1800 BST. This is the first time the speed trials, also known as the Grand Depart, have been held in London. Road Closures Whitehall Parliament Street Parliament Square Millbank up to Lambeth Bridge Broad Sanctuary Victoria Street Buckingham Gate Spur Road Constitution Hill Hyde Park Corner Grosvenor Place north of Hobart Place Park Lane south of Curzon Gate Continental colour hits streets Police Superintendent Ian Chappell said "We have reviewed our measures to make sure they are appropriate and respectful of the Tour de France's tradition as an open event, a free event." Hyde Park was transformed into a village with a giant screen and numerous food stalls. Eighteen other giant screens were also put up along the route. Starting at Whitehall, cyclists sped along Parliament Square, Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate and Constitution Hill before finishing at The Mall. Whitehall, Parliament Street and Victoria Embankment, will be closed throughout the weekend while most of the roads along the route will remain closed until 2100 BST. Other roads which will be closed are: Kensington Road (east of the Royal Albert Hall), South Carriage Drive, West Carriage Drive, Serpentine Road, Pall Mall, Pall Mall East, Haymarket south of Charles II Street, Cockspur Street, Strand, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross Road south of Cambridge Circus and Northumberland Avenue. Transport for London have put in 11,000 bike parking spaces mainly in Hyde Park, Green Park, Millbank and near the Albert Memorial. ||||| Cash for access: Lords exposed Jonathan Calvert and Heidi Blake PEERS have been caught offering to ask parliamentary questions, lobby ministers and host events on... Sexterminate! Doctor Who may come back as a woman Richard Brooks, Arts Editor THE Time Lord may be about to become a Time Lady. Matt Smith, the 11th actor to play Doctor Who, is... 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We report Holidays that make all the right moves Jeremy Lazell Work that body, feel the passion and get in the true swing of things on a learn-to-dance escape HRM: Her Royal Middletonness Camilla Long Her grandmother worked in a factory. She’ll be grandmother to a future king or queen. Carole... | At least half a million onlookers turned out to line the route as the Tour de France Prologue closed the streets of Central London for a day. Setting off at one minute intervals the 180 plus riders took less than ten minutes to speed past some of London's most memorable landmarks. With the eventual winner World time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara completing the 7.9 kilometre individual time trial in 8 minutes 50 seconds. Fabian Cancellara The Tour had to compete with more familiar sporting events, the British Grand Prix, the closing stages of Wimbledon and with the Live Earth concerts for the heart's of the British public. However some say as many as a million turned out for the Gallic extravaganza; the party atmosphere aided by a turn in the weather, the sun coming out for the first time all summer. Run on the second anniversary of the 2005 terrorist attacks and at a time of heightened security, policing was successfully discrete the most visible police presence, by way of their novelty being, 45 members of the Gendarme Nationale. Coming to England for the first time since 1994 fans new and old had the course of the day and the three hours of the trials to familiarise themselves with the French institution. The initial good natured cheering on of every rider, growing into real excitement as the shape of the race emerged. At the end of the day the standings were: Rank Name Country Team Time '''1''' '''Fabian Cancellara''' '''Switzerland''' '''Team CSC''' '''8'50"''' 2 Andréas Klöden Germany Astana Team 13" 3 George Hincapie USA Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 23" 4 Bradley Wiggins Great Britain Cofidis 23" 5 Vladimir Gusev Russia Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25" 6 Vladimir Karpets Russia Caisse d'Epargne 26" 7 Alexandre Vinokourov Kazakhstan Astana Team 30" 8 Thomas Dekker Netherlands Rabobank 31" 9 Manuel Quinziato Italy Liquigas 32" 10 Benoît Vaugrenard France Française des Jeux 32" |
137-year-old engulfed in 'suspicious' blaze Hundreds evacuated over fears of gas blast Extensive damage but bosses vow restoration THE Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper and one of London's tourist attractions, went up in flames in a suspicious fire today. The BBC and Sky News showed aerial images of remains of the charred ship, which had been engulfed in flames. The boat-museum, under reconstruction and due to reopen in 2009, caught fire about 4.45am (1.45pm AEST). Firefighters had been concerned gas canisters on board for repair work could explode. Cutty Sark Enterprises chairman Chris Levett said that while the ship's decks were "unsalvageable", the damage did not appear as bad as originally feared. He said that half of the planking, as well as all the historic artefacts on board, had been removed for the conservation project and he was confident the ship could be fully restored. "It will be the old ship. The ship has been through many things in its lifetime. It has sailed the oceans of the world, it has battled with nature through its life," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today program. "This is going to make us even more determined to get this ship back up and running and keep her as original as possible." Cutty Sark Trust chief executive Richard Doughty said he was told the blaze was being treated as suspicious and called it a tragedy. "When you lose the original fabric, you lose the touch of the craftsmen. You lose history itself," he said. "What is special about Cutty Sark is the timber, the iron frames, that went to the South China Sea. To think that is threatened in any way is unbelievable. It is an unimaginable shock." The only remaining tea clipper, the Cutty Sark made its first voyage in 1870, and is one of the most famous ships in the world. Sky News earlier showed amateur footage of massive flames climbing towards the sky. No one was reported injured in the fire, police said. Residents were evacuated and taken to a Greenwich hotel, Scotland Yard said. The ship has been in dry dock in Greenwich since 1954. The 137-year-old ship was given a £11.75 million ($28.21 million) National Lottery grant for a restoration project that would see the vessel being lifted 3m. The ship was said to be in a serious state of deterioration before it was closed in November for the work. A glass "bubble" was also going to be attached at the ship's waterline to give year-round protection to visitors in the dry berth and to the lower hull itself. The Cutty Sark was originally used to deliver tea from China in the 1870s. Built in 1869 by Scott & Linton, Dumbarton, the Cutty Sark is the sole surviving extreme clipper, designed to be very fast. She was one of the last tea clippers built, but as this trade was taken over by the steamers using the Suez Canal, she turned to general trading including transporting wool from Australia. It was during this time that she made her legendary fast voyages. Captain Dowman of Falmouth decided she should be preserved and in 1922 bought the ship and made her part of a floating nautical school he was operating. In 1938, his widow presented the ship to the Thames Nautical Training School at Greenhithe. They maintained the ship until 1952 when the Cutty Sark Preservation Society was formed under the leadership of Frank Carr, director of the National Maritime Museum, and the patronage of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. The ship was permanently installed in a stone dry-dock at Greenwich on the Thames, and fully restored to her appearance as an active sailing vessel. Share this article (What is this?) NEWS.com.au is not responsible for the content for external internet sites ||||| See an aerial image showing the extent of the damage Enlarge Image The vessel, which was undergoing a £25m restoration, is kept in a dry dock at Greenwich in south-east London. Police are analysing CCTV images which are thought to show people in the area shortly before the fire started. A Cutty Sark Trust spokesman said much of the ship had been removed for restoration and the damage could have been worse. Half the planking and the masts had been taken away as part of the project. Chris Livett, chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises which is repairing the clipper, said at the scene: "From where I stand there is not a huge amount of damage to the planking that was left on. "There are pockets of charred planking and some have gone, but it doesn't look as bad as first envisaged." The chief executive of the charitable Cutty Sark Trust, Richard Doughty, said: "What is special about Cutty Sark is the timbers, the iron frames that went to the South China Seas, and to think that that is threatened in any way is unbelievable, it's an unimaginable shock." Following an inspection of the site on Monday afternoon, Mr Doughty said: "Buckling of the hull remains a big fear but until we do the measurements we are not going to know. "With my naked eye, as far as I have been able to see, the structure of the ship seems to be intact." Insp Bruce Middlemiss said detectives were looking into the possibility that the fire had been started deliberately. Special history Firefighters were called to the scene at 0445 BST and the flames were put out by 0700 BST. An area around the 138-year-old tea clipper had to be evacuated during the blaze. "The cause of the fire is now under investigation by London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police," a London Fire Brigade spokesman said. A number of witnesses have already come forward and the police are urging anyone else who may have been in the area to contact them. A silver car was seen leaving the scene but police said there is nothing at this stage to link it to the fire. CUTTY SARK Built in 1869 at Dumbarton on the River Clyde Designed by Hercules Linton First voyage February 1870 210ft (64m) long Main mast stood 152ft (46.3m) above the deck Has had 15 million visitors Preserved as a tribute to merchant navy workers Send us your comments Greenwich Council leader councillor Chris Roberts said: "This is a devastating blow for what is a truly iconic symbol of Greenwich across the world. "The Cutty Sark has a unique and special history, which helps to draw millions of visitors to Greenwich every year." The Cutty Sark left London on her maiden voyage on 16 February 1870, sailing around The Cape of Good Hope to Shanghai in three-and-a-half months. She made eight journeys to China as part of the tea trade until steam ships replaced sail on the high seas. The ship was later used for training naval cadets during World War II, and in 1951 was moored in London for the Festival of Britain. Shortly afterwards, she was acquired by the Cutty Sark Society. The ship was undergoing conservation work because sea salt had accelerated the corrosion of her iron framework. Dr Eric Kentley, curatorial consultant to the Cutty Sark Trust, said of the ship: "It can be saved. It's certainly not completely devastated. "We will put her back together - but it's going to take much, much longer and a lot more money than we originally thought." Visit London's chief executive James Bidwell said: "The ship's need for vital conservation has put it in the public eye recently and we can only hope that this terrible fire will redouble all our efforts to preserve this wonderful part of London's heritage." The Duke of Edinburgh is due to visit the Cutty Sark on Tuesday. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell inspected the remains on Monday afternoon. The Cutty Sark Trust is appealing for funds to help repair the fire damage and complete the restoration. ||||| 'She's A One Off, A National Treasure' The trust responsible for the Cutty Sark says it is confident the ship can be restored following the huge fire that left it badly damaged. Eight fire engines were called to the scene in Greenwich, south east London, shortly before 5am. Chris Levett, the chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, said that while the ship's decks were "unsalvageable", the damage did not appear as bad as originally feared. "We are devastated by what has happened," he said. "She is a one off, she is a national treasure. "We are however devoted to the ship and the restoration will be completed. Advertisement "We are determined to put the ship back together and open it for the public to enjoy." He said the cost of the blaze would run into millions of pounds and appealed to the public for donations. A joint police, fire brigade and forensic bureau investigation is trying to establish the cause of the fire. Superintendent Mark Mitchell, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "It is being treated as suspicious and we are following a number of lines of inquiry. "All options are open at the moment." Local resident Joe Szarwiczk, whose flat overlooks the Cutty Sark, said he was awoken by fire alarms. "It was awful to see the whole length of the ship ablaze. It's a disaster," he said. Traffic in the Greenwich area has been disrupted all day and some stations on the Docklands Light Railway were closed. The ship had been shut to the public for extensive renovation work. It was due to reopen in 2009. At least half of the ship's infrastructure and all the artefacts normally on board were not at the site at the time of the fire. The Clyde-built Cutty Sark was, in 1869, one of the last sailing clippers to be built. She was destined for the tea trade - an intensely competitive race across the globe from China to London, with immense profits for the ship to arrive with the first tea of the year. :: Anyone with information about the fire should contact Greenwich CID on 020 8284 9416 ||||| GREENWICH, England A spectacular fire early Monday heavily damaged the clipper ship Cutty Sark, one of London's proudest relics of the 19th century tea trade with China designed to be the fastest ship of its day. The London Fire Brigade and the Forensic Science Service said they were investigating the cause of the blaze, and police said they had no immediate evidence of arson. Click here to view photos. The fire, which broke out in a dry dock where the ship was undergoing restoration, will add millions to the cost of refurbishing it. Within hours of the flames being doused, officials responsible for the graceful sailing ship said they were determined to carry on with a four-year restoration project. "We're going to redouble our efforts to ensure that the ship is open, available, back and running in the future," said Chris Livett, the chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, responsible for restoring the world's only surviving tea clipper. Click here for FOXNews.com's Europe center. (Story continues below) Advertise Here Advertisements Advertisements "I think when we finish with this project, she will be better than she was ... in a complete state a year ago," Livett told reporters. Firefighters responded to an alarm at 4:45 a.m. at the ship's dry dock. About two hours later, the flames were out. "At the moment we are treating the fire as suspicious, as we would do any fire of this scale and importance," police Inspector Bruce Middlemiss said. Surveillance cameras showed several people in the area at the time the fire started, but there was no indication that any had been involved in igniting the fire. "There is no evidence or intelligence to lead us to think this was an arson," Middlemiss said. The Cutty Sark, which inspired a popular brand of Scotch, was the world's only surviving example of an extreme clipper, regarded as the ultimate development of a merchant sailing vessel. Most of the original hull had survived since the ship was built for the 19th century tea trade. The ship had been closed to visitors since last year for a $50 million renovation. The leaders of the restoration project said the damage was not as bad as they feared. "I'm relieved. I came here thinking the ship had gone on her last journey," said Richard Doughty, chief executive of the Cutty Sark Trust. However, "this will have resulted in millions and millions of pounds of damage. This is a ship that belongs to the world, and we're going to need financial help," said Doughty, who estimated that every day of additional work would cost some $20,000. Ian Bell, manager of the restoration project, emerged from an inspection of the ship with soot on his cheeks but an optimistic message about the condition of its iron frame. "Initial indications suggest we don't have any massive distortions of the ship," Bell said. "I think the most disturbing thing for me is the smell in the air," Doughty said. "Anyone who has been on the Cutty Sark knows it has a very distinctive smell from the timber, from the rope. Tragically, that smell now pervades southeast London." Cutty Sark left London on its first voyage on Feb. 16, 1870, proceeding around Cape Hope to Shanghai 3 1/2 months later. The ship made only eight voyages to China in the tea trade, as steam ships replaced sail on the high seas. Measuring 280 feet in length, the ship weighed 979 tons and its main mast soared 152 feet above the main deck. The ship was used for training naval cadets during World War II, and in 1951 it was moored in London for the Festival of Britain. Shortly afterward, the ship was acquired by the Cutty Sark Society. Click here for FOXNews.com's Europe center. ||||| We've noticed you're adblocking. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Thank you for your support. | __NOTOC__ The Cutty Sark in January 2005.The Cutty Sark, one of the most famous historic sailing ships in the world, was seriously damaged by fire in the early hours of Monday morning, May 21, 2007. The 19th century ship, which is in dry dock in Greenwich, London, England, set a speed record during its working days, and has been a popular tourist attraction for many years. The fire brigade was first called to the blaze on the tea clipper at 4:45 a.m. BST and reported that the flames had been extinguished by 7:00 a.m., but firefighters were still on the scene damping down at 8.30 a.m. The blaze was so intense that eight fire engines and 40 firefighters were sent to put out the fire. No injuries have been reported. Cutty Sark Trust chief executive Richard Doughty said he was told the blaze was being treated as suspicious. "We're losing history," he lamented. "It's unbelievable." He went on: "When you lose the original fabric, you lose the touch of the craftsmen; you lose history itself. What is special about Cutty Sark is the timber, the iron frames, that went to the South China Sea. To think that is threatened in any way is unbelievable. It is an unimaginable shock." The Cutty Sark being restored, one week before the fire. However, Doughty also confirmed that half of the ship's planking, and all of the masts and rigging had been removed for renovations prior to the fire. The iron framework of the hull has been twisted and buckled. The Chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, Chris Levitt, speaking later at the scene, said: "We had removed 50% of the planking, so 50% of the planking wasn't on site and that's safe and secure, and from where I stand there is not a huge amount of damage to the planking that was left on. There are pockets of charred planking and some have gone, but it doesn't look as bad as first envisaged." Cutty Sark Trust curatorial consultant, Dr Eric Kentley was optimistic that the Ship is not completely devastated and can be saved. Speaking about the Cutty Sark, he said: "We will put her back together - but it's going to take much much longer and a lot more money than we originally thought." The historic ship, one of London's best known tourist attractions, has been in dry-dock in Greenwich since 1954. It is currently undergoing a £25 million renovation scheduled to last until 2009. It was feared that gas canisters used in the reconstruction work might explode in the blaze but the London Fire Brigade later confirmed that none were present, although concerns about the risk of explosion had caused some delay in tackling the fire. It is a Grade I listed monument and is on the ''Buildings At Risk Register'' in the UK. The ''Cutty Sark'' under full sail with the reduced rigging, taken by her captain R. Woodget from two joint boats between 1885-1895 ===Arson being considered=== Police believe the fire on board the ship may have begun in suspicious circumstances. They are studying CCTV footage which showed some movement around the ship in the early hours of the morning. They are appealing for witnesses who might have seen anyone near the ship or a silver car that was reported driving away from the scene. === Last survivor === The Cutty Sark was built in 1869 by Scott & Linton, Dumbarton in Scotland and completed by Dennys. It is the world's last surviving tea clipper. Because the clippers were build of wood, but with a framework made of iron, they marked the transition from wood to iron. The windjammers that emerged some 30 years later were build completely of iron or steel. The clippers were used in long-distance races between China and England, with large profits for the first ship back with the first tea of the year. The Cutty Sark sailed in the China trade between 1870 and 1877/78. She sailed in the Australian wool trade between 1883 and 1895, during which period she achieved the record breaking voyage under wind power between Australia and England via Cape Horn of 72 days in 1885. The ship takes its name from a character in Burns' poem 'Tam o' Shanter''. |
'); //--> E-Mail | Print | Comments | Request Reprints | E-Mail Newsletters | RSS International Activists Detained In Pakistan Crackdown Ruth David, A day after president Pervez Musharraf reasserted control over Pakistan by declaring a state of emergency, security forces patrolled the streets of the country Sunday, rounding up key critics of the government. According to reports, hundreds of people, including opposition politicians and lawyers who took part in vocal protests against Musharraf's rule earlier this year, are in custody. Among them: cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and Javed Hashmi, acting chief of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party of exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. At least one television station, Aaj TV, was raided. "We are back to square one," Dawn newspaper said in an editorial. "Back to Oct. 12, 1999. All the gains over the years have gone down the drain," it said, referring to the date Musharraf took control of Pakistan. Nov. 3 "will go down as another dark day in Pakistan's political and constitutional history," The News said Sunday, joining the international condemnation of the crackdown. Musharraf decided to declare an emergency and install a provisional constitution to protect Pakistan's interests, he said Saturday, addressing the nation on state-owned television. The move would ensure Pakistan's transition to democracy won't be derailed by rising terrorism and extremism. Critics say there's another reason for the decision. Musharraf's term as president expires on Nov. 15 and the Supreme Court was scheduled to rule this month if he is eligible for another term as president. He won a presidential election by a majority in October. The latest move is likely to stall general elections scheduled for January. Eight Supreme Court judges rejected the emergency as unconstitutional. Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry was removed from office and taken away by the military to an unknown location, reports said. Musharraf appointed a new chief justice. He accused the courts of releasing terrorists, and charged them with fostering a breakdown of law and order. The supreme court building was surrounded by soldiers. The government shut down the transmission of private media channels and cut telephone services in the capital Islamabad. Justifying a ban on TV stations, Musharraf accused the media of spreading "negativism." He restricted them from expressing any opinion "prejudicial" to himself or to Pakistan. The bulk of the president's address was in Urdu, but he switched to English toward the end to make an appeal to Pakistan's "friends in the West--the U.S., the European Union and the Commonwealth." Musharraf asked for understanding of the "critical situation" the nation was in. "Please do not expect or demand your level of democracy, which you learned over a number of centuries. Please also do not demand or expect your number of civil rights, human rights or civil liberties Please give us time. For me and every Pakistani, Pakistan comes first," Musharraf said, comparing his actions with those of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln to preserve the union. A wave of Islamist militancy in the country claimed hundreds of lives in the last few weeks. Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan last month was marked by a suicide bombing which killed 139 people. After news of the emergency broke Saturday, Bhutto returned to Pakistan from Dubai. She was welcomed by throngs of supporters when she arrived in the business district of Karachi. After Musharraf's address, she said the president had imposed martial law by putting the constitution in abeyance and taking complete control of the nation. "This is a situation worse than an emergency. The people of Pakistan will not accept this," Bhutto said, accusing Musharraf of taking the step to pre-empt a likely court ruling against his presidency. Former Prime Minister Sharif also slammed the move. He'd attempted to return to Pakistan in September, but was deported to Saudi Arabia by the general. "We have not witnessed such a grave situation in the 60 years of Pakistan's history," Sharif told an Indian news channel. Some Pakistani citizens indicated the move could help the nation, though it was a blow for civil rights. "It's very quiet on the streets of Karachi," Mahim Rehman, head of research at DLA Capital, said late Saturday. "Over the last week, we had an indication this could happen because of the worsening law and order situation and speculation that the Supreme Court would rule against Musharraf's presidency. If Musharraf seems to be in control again, that will be seen a positive sign." Musharraf said a rise in extremism was hurting foreign investment. Musharraf has been under pressure from the international community to restore democracy through nationwide elections. International reaction to the crackdown was swift. "It's highly regrettable that Pakistan's president has declared a state of martial law," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday. "The U.S. does not support extra constitutional measures." American officials reportedly made requests to Musharraf not to impose emergency rule this week, indicating it could jeopardize U.S. financial support for his military. "We regret the difficult times that Pakistan is passing through," neighboring India's external affairs ministry said in a statement. "We trust that conditions of normalcy will soon return, permitting Pakistan's transition to stability and democracy to continue." In Britain, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "We recognize the threat to peace and security faced by the country, but its future rests on harnessing the power of democracy and the rule of law to achieve the goals of stability, development and countering terrorism. I am gravely concerned by the measures adopted [Saturday], which will take Pakistan further from these goals." More On This Topic Article Controls E-Mail | Print | Comments | Request Reprints | E-Mail Newsletters del.icio.us | Digg It! | My Yahoo! | Share | RSS Related Sections Home > Business '); //--> News Headlines | More From Forbes.com | Special Reports Advertisement: Related Business Topics > Corporate Gifts Employee Scheduling Subscriptions > ||||| Armed police were sent to guard key locations in Islamabad Bhutto's reaction Shaukat Aziz told a news conference that the government remained committed to the democratic process. But he said parliament might change the date of elections planned for January, and gave no end date for the emergency. Rights have been suspended, media has been restricted and hundreds of people arrested under the emergency decree. Mr Aziz said 400 to 500 "preventative arrests" had been made so far, and said the emergency, imposed by Gen Musharraf on Saturday, would last for "as long as is necessary". Small protests have started in the capital, Islamabad, where police and security forces are on the streets surrounding key sites. Obviously we are going to have to review the situation with aid Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State The moves came as the Supreme Court was due to rule on the legality of Gen Musharraf's October election victory. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Washington is reviewing the aid which it gives to Pakistan in the wake of Gen Musharraf's decision. "Obviously we are going to have to review the situation with aid, in part because we have to see what may be triggered by certain statutes," Ms Rice said. In recent years Gen Musharraf has been a key ally in Washington's war on terror and has received about $10bn in aid since 2001. "Some of the aid that goes to Pakistan is directly related to the counterterrorism mission," Ms Rice said, adding that that complicated the issue. Threat of force After a calm start to Sunday, a few dozen people staged a brief protest near the parliament building in Islamabad before police moved in to break up the gathering. HAVE YOUR SAY The world is entering into 2008 and still we are at 1958 Nasir, Islamabad Your views on emergency West faces new dilemma More protests are expected throughout the rest of the day, he adds, with police appearing ready to use force against unauthorised demonstrations. Tough new media restrictions are controlling the news available throughout Pakistan: all non-state TV stations and some radio channels have been taken off the air, as have international services such as BBC World TV. Independent newspapers have been allowed to continue publishing, but Gen Musharraf's decree severely limits what they can report. Local newspapers and key opposition leader Benazir Bhutto accused Gen Musharraf of bringing in martial law without formally declaring it. But Pakistan's attorney general said the prime minister and parliament remained in place and the civilian government would continue to function. Opposition anger Among the hundreds of people arrested since the declaration was Javed Hashmi, acting head of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League. Gen Musharraf, he said as he was taken away, would pay a price for his decision to restrict freedoms. "Musharraf's days are numbered. Time has come to end the political role of the army." EMERGENCY RESTRICTIONS Constitutional safeguards on life and liberty curtailed Police get wide powers of arrest Suspects can be denied access to lawyers Freedom of movement restricted Private TV stations taken off air New rules curtail media coverage of suicide bombings or militant activity Chief justice replaced, others made to swear oath of loyalty Supreme Court banned from rescinding emergency order In pictures: Emergency rule Declaration: Full text Ms Bhutto, who recently returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile, flew back to Karachi from a trip abroad upon hearing news of Gen Musharraf's decision. She confirmed that troops were not surrounding her Karachi home, contrary to some earlier reports, and laid out her demands for the holding of free and fair elections. "We the political parties are calling for the restoration of the constitution, and for the holding of the elections under an independent election commission," she told the BBC. There is no word yet whether she plans to enter dialogue with the president or to lead opposition to his rule. President defiant In a TV address on Saturday evening, Gen Musharraf explained his decision, saying the current situation had forced him into making "some very painful decisions". "Extremists are roaming around freely in the country, and they are not scared of law-enforcement agencies," the president said. "Inaction at this moment is suicide for Pakistan and I cannot allow this country to commit suicide." Court issue Following the announcement of emergency rule, the country's chief justice was replaced and the Supreme Court surrounded by troops. Gen Musharraf moved quickly to appoint a new chief justice The Supreme Court was to decide whether Gen Musharraf was eligible to run for re-election last month while remaining army chief. Fears were growing in the government that the court could rule against Gen Musharraf. Pakistani lawyers announced they would strike on Monday in protest at the president's decision. ||||| Why did this happen? Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy. ||||| Registration is FREE and offers great benefits. Please be aware that your browser must accept cookies in order to successfully login, so that we can identify your account.You may also need to adjust your firewall or browser security to login. ||||| JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday the United States would review billions of dollars in financial aid to ally Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Middle East envoy Tony Blair (R) pose during their meeting in Jerusalem November 4, 2007, in this picture released by the U.S. Embassy. REUTERS/Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy/Handout Rice, who was speaking to reporters in Jerusalem, also urged Musharraf to call elections and reiterated U.S. displeasure at emergency rule, which she advised against in two phone calls with Pakistan’s president on October 31. “Obviously we are going to have to review the situation with aid, in part because we have to see what may be triggered by certain statutes,” Rice said. Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Saturday in a bid to reassert his flagging authority against challenges from Islamist militants, a hostile judiciary and political rivals. “I am disappointed at his decision. I think the decision sets Pakistan back in terms of the considerable progress it had made along the road to democratic change,” Rice said. Asked whether she regretted that the United States had put so much faith in Musharraf as a leader, Rice responded: “The United States has never put all of its chips on Musharraf.” Pakistan has received about $10 billion in U.S. aid since 2001, with much of that in counter-terrorism assistance. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, a Democratic presidential candidate and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described the situation in Pakistan as “a real mess” and agreed that U.S. aid should be under review. “I’m not sure how much good that military aid we’re giving him to fight the extremists is doing us anyway,” Biden said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “From the brief briefing I got last night (from White House officials), I don’t know that they have any notion of what they’re going to do right now,” he said. “There’s still this faint hope that this martial law will last only a day or two, but I think we’re kidding ourselves.” Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it was too soon to pull U.S. aid from Musharraf’s government, but said “we’ve got to play hardball with him.” ‘COMPLICATED MATTER’ Pakistan this year is receiving about $700 million in U.S. economic and military assistance and is expected to receive more than $800 million in 2008. It also receives billions of dollars in counter-terrorism assistance. “We have to be very cognizant of the fact that some of the assistance that has been going directly to Pakistan is directly related to counter-terrorism missions. This is a complicated matter,” Rice said. Rice, on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, said the United States had made clear to Pakistan’s leaders before emergency rule was announced that such a move would not be supported by the United States. The United States has been pushing hard for Pakistan to go ahead with elections, which were due in January. On Sunday, Pakistani leaders indicated the timetable was under review. “It is in the best interests of Pakistan and the Pakistani people for there to be a prompt return to the constitutional course, for there to be an affirmation that elections will be held for a new parliament and for all parties to act with restraint in what is obviously a very difficult situation,” Rice told reporters. Middle East envoy Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, said the situation was “obviously a tragedy for Pakistan.” “The sooner that we return to the pledges to restore democracy that were set out, the better,” he said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “But it’s a very, very difficult situation this indeed, and it’s a situation that if it’s not resolved in the right way, I think it’s extremely worrying for the whole of the world, not just for Pakistan.” Since emergency rule was declared, opposition figures have been rounded up and the nationwide crackdown continued Sunday. Authorities arrested a top leader of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s party and several other opposition figures. In August, when Musharraf was considering emergency rule, Rice made two urgent phone calls and strongly urged him not to adopt such measures. ||||| ISLAMABAD | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities arrested a top leader of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's party and scores of opposition figures on Sunday in a countrywide crackdown after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule. "Musharraf's days are numbered. The time has come to end the political role of the army," Javed Hashmi, acting president of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), told reporters before being whisked away by police in the central city of Multan. In Karachi, the country's largest and most politically volatile city, police chief Azhar Ali Farooqi spelled out the uncompromising stand that has been ordered. "Our soft policy is over now. We have zero tolerance. We will take action, arrest and use force if necessary," Farooqi said, as attention turned to what Pakistan's most potent opposition leader, Benazir Bhutto, might do next. Bhutto, who ended 8 years of self-imposed exile last month with Musharraf's blessing, returned to Karachi on Saturday evening after a short trip to Dubai and took a strong stand against what she called a "mini-martial" law. But the litmus test will be whether she calls for street protests and risks arrest herself or seeks to persuade Musharraf to reverse his decision. An official of her Pakistan People's Party said police were conducting raids to arrest their activists in central Punjab, the country's politically most influential province. "So far, 200 activists of our party have been arrested," Farzana Raja, a party spokeswoman in Punjab said. Opposition parties have also called for a strike in the southwestern province of Baluchistan for Monday. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of an alliance of Islamist opposition parties and fierce Musharraf critic, planned to address a public meeting outside the eastern city of Lahore later on Sunday. Tariq Mehmood, a leading anti-Musharraf lawyer, said most lawyers opposed to the military ruler were under house arrest or detained. "It's the second takeover of the country by General Musharraf since 1999. He has not imposed emergency rule but has imposed martial law," Mehmood told Reuters from a police station where he was detained. Police placed leading opposition figure and former cricket star Imran Khan under house arrest early on Sunday after he urged Pakistanis to take to the streets. Khan told CNN Musharraf was to blame for Pakistan's problems and said emergency rule would not help. "He never said how is he, through the emergency, going to do things that are any different. He was the absolute ruler, he had absolute control, so what was the impediment in his way to fight militancy and terrorism?" Leading lawyer and opposition figure Aitzaz Ahsan was one of the first to be detained on Saturday. "They have served me a detention order for 30 days," Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told reporters outside his home in the capital. "One man has taken entire nation hostage... Time has come for General Musharraf to go," he said. Several opposition figures and anti-Musharraf lawyers were also arrested in the southwestern city of Quetta, police said. ||||| November 04, 2007 Sunday Shawwal 22, 1428 Gen Musharraf’s second coup : •Charge-sheet against judiciary •Media ‘promoting negativism’ •Country’s ‘integrity at stake’ •Legislatures intact Dawn Report ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: In what is a virtual martial law, President Pervez Musharraf, acting as army chief, on Saturday imposed a state of emergency throughout Pakistan, suspended the Constitution and replaced superior courts in a move that could put the country’s political future into disarray. In his proclamation of emergency, the general blamed growing violence by militants and a judiciary which he said was working at “cross purposes” with his government and the legislature for his most drastic action since he seized power in an October 12, 1999 coup. A Provisional Constitutional Order was also issued, putting the Constitution in ‘abeyance’ but saying the country would be “governed, as nearly as may be, in accordance with the Constitution” although seven of its articles relating to fundamental rights would remain suspended, and empowering the president to amend the document ‘as is deemed expedient’. The move, greeted with immediate condemnation at home by opposition parties, lawyers and human rights groups and concern from “war on terror” allies like the United States and Britain, came only 12 days before the expiration of General Musharraf’s presidency and the present assemblies and while an 11-judge bench of the Supreme Court was in a weekend recess in its hearing of challenges to his election for another five-year presidential term mainly on grounds of his army office. General Musharraf seemed to have run out of other political and constitutional options as he took one of the most extraordinary steps by a ruler in 60 years of Pakistan’s life, putting aside not only the Constitution but also his own sweeping powers as president and preferring to act as Chief of the Army Staff. The emergency proclamation said a situation had arisen where the “government of the country cannot be carried out in accordance with the Constitution” and “the Constitution provides no solution for this situation”. However, the present federal and provincial governments, both houses of parliament and the provincial assemblies were kept intact. CHARGE-SHEET AGAINST JUDICIARY: While it started with what it called “visible ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks” as grounds for the action, the proclamation contained a long charge-sheet against the superior judiciary some of whose members, it said, “are working at cross purposes with the executive and legislature in the fight against terrorism and extremism, thereby weakening the government and the nation’s resolve and diluting the efficacy of its actions to control this menace”. “... (T)here has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular,” it said, adding that there was “constant interference in executive functions.” It also blamed the judiciary’s interference for having “weakened the writ of the government, the police force ... been completely demoralised and ...fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism, and intelligence agencies ... thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists.” While “some hard core militants, extremists, terrorists and suicide bombers, who were arrested and being investigated were ordered to be released,” it said and added: “The persons so released have subsequently been involved in heinous terrorist activities, resulting in loss of human life and property. Militants across the country have, thus, been encouraged while law enforcement agencies (were) subdued.” CONSULTATIONS: The proclamation said the general acted after reviews of the situation in meetings with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces, armed forces chiefs and army corps commanders. “Now, therefore, in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings, I General Pervez Musharraf, Chief of the Army Staff, proclaim emergency throughout Pakistan,” it said. “I hereby order and proclaim that the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan shall remain in abeyance.” BLOW TO JUDICIARY: The emergency proclamation’s charges against judicial activism, which were immediately followed by change of command at the Supreme Court as well as changes in provincial high courts, appeared aimed at reversing what was hailed as a revival of independence of the judiciary after months of an epic movement led by lawyers since the president suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on March 9. Justice Iftikhar, who was reinstated by a bench of Supreme Court judges on July 20, and several of his colleagues got marching orders under the new Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) though some of them put up a last-ditch resistance by holding the action void. The proclamation accused “some” unspecified judges of the superior courts of “overstepping the limits of judicial authority” and having “taken over the executive and legislative functions”. The references seemed to be mainly directed at Justice Iftikhar and his colleagues for some of their actions against government officials and pursuance of the cases of missing people allegedly detained by intelligence agencies. The fundamental rights suspended by the PCO related to security of persons (article 9) safeguard as to arrest and detention (article 10), freedom of movement (article 15), freedom of assembly, (article 16) freedom of association (article 17), freedom of speech (article 19), and equality of citizens (article 25). It said the Supreme Court or a high court or any other court “shall not have the power to make any order against the president or the prime minister or any persons exercising powers or jurisdiction under their authority”. Reports on Saturday’s events in Islamabad were filed by Raja Asghar, Nasir Iqbal, Amir Wasim, Khaleeq Kiani, Baqir Sajjad, Ahmed Hassan, Munawar Azeem and Muhammad Asghar. | Pervez Musharraf in 2004. Hundreds of people were rounded up by security forces in Pakistan, one day after Pervez Musharraf declared emergency rule, effectively martial law. Scores of opposition figures were among those detained. Javed Hashmi, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) party, the party of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was arrested. "Musharraf's days are numbered. The time has come to end the political role of the army," he told reporters in Multan before being taken away by police. Nawaz Sharif said to an Indian news channel: "We have not witnessed such a grave situation in the 60 years of Pakistan's history." Also arrested were pro-democracy attorney, Munir Malik, and the leader of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Asma Jehangir. Both have been involved in protests against Musharraf in past years. Troops also arrested the staff of the Commission and began to close off and surround government buildings. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned home, addressed supporters in Karachi. "This is a situation worse than an emergency. The people of Pakistan will not accept this," Bhutto said. On Saturday, Musharraf laid out his reasons for the emergency rule. "Please do not expect or demand your level of democracy, which you learned over a number of centuries. Please also do not demand or expect your number of civil rights, human rights or civil liberties … Please give us time. For me and every Pakistani, Pakistan comes first," said Musharraf in a statement. In a "charge sheet" levied against the judiciary, the government said: "... (T)here has been increasing interference by some members of the judiciary in government policy, adversely affecting economic growth, in particular," adding that there was "constant interference in executive functions." The government further accused the judiciary of having "weakened the writ of the government, the police force ... been completely demoralised and ...fast losing its efficacy to fight terrorism, and intelligence agencies ... thwarted in their activities and prevented from pursuing terrorists." Parliamentary elections may be delayed. The current Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz said, at a news conference, that the government is still committed to democracy, but "the government is deliberating on the election schedule." "Now that we have emergency rule, parliament's term can be extended by one year," said Aziz. Pakistan was due to have a general election on January 15, 2008. Presidential Palace on June 27, 2007. Meanwhile, the United States has said it will review the financial aid that is providing Pakistan. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters, while in Jerusalem: "Obviously we are going to have to review the situation with aid, in part because we have to see what may be triggered by certain statutes." The US has given an estimated US$10 billion in aid to Pakistan since 2001, primarily for counter-terrorism. This year Pakistan is receiving about $700 million in assistance. "We have to be very cognizant of the fact that some of the assistance that has been going directly to Pakistan is directly related to counter-terrorism missions. This is a complicated matter," Rice said. She also condemned the declaration of emergency rule, saying "it's highly regrettable that Pakistan's president has declared a state of martial law. The U.S. does not support extra constitutional measures." US Senator Joe Biden, the chairperson on the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations agreed that a review is needed. "I'm not sure how much good that military aid we're giving him to fight the extremists is doing us anyway," he said on television program, ''Face the Nation''. Tony Blair, special envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East said on ''Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer'': "The sooner that we return to the pledges to restore democracy that were set out, the better. But it's a very, very difficult situation this indeed, and it's a situation that if it's not resolved in the right way, I think it's extremely worrying for the whole of the world, not just for Pakistan." |
Construction workers prepare for the opening ceremony of 'Istanbul 2010' By Jonathan Head BBC News, Istanbul Spectacular fireworks displays and cultural performances will mark the launch of Istanbul's year as one of three European Capitals of Culture. The prestigious title gives cities the opportunity and funding to showcase and enrich their cultural life. For Turkey, which is struggling to fulfil its longstanding aim of becoming a member of the European Union, the title has particular significance. But Istanbul's celebration is not without its problems. Turkey must meet strict conditions for EU membership Istanbul competed fiercely with the Ukrainian capital Kiev to win this title, the last time it will be offered to a non-EU member. The two other winners were Pecs in Hungary and Essen in Germany. With its rich heritage of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history and its pulsating contemporary urban life, Istanbul is already recognized as one of the world's great cultural capitals. But the title means a great deal in a country which has for decades aspired to membership of the European Union. The opening celebrations will be marked by a spectacular fireworks display choreographed by the French pyrotechnician Cristoph Berthonneau. And by a series of cultural performances set against the backdrop of some of Istanbul's greatest landmarks. But big questions hang over how effective the rest of the year's programme will be. The organizing committee has been rocked by conflict between NGOs and government bureaucrats, with mass resignations last year. There have been persistent allegations of corruption. Critics say there has been too much focus on restoring well-known historical sites, and too little on contemporary culture. And very little effort has been devoted to confronting the painful twentieth century legacy left by the mass expulsion of the Greek and Armenian communities, whose buildings, many of them derelict, still litter the city. ||||| Istanbul launches year Europe Capital of Culture Spectacular fireworks displays and cultural performances marked the launch of Istanbul’s year as one of three European Capitals of Culture. Photo: AFP/GETTY Photo: EPA ||||| send to a friend digg facebook del.ici.ous Istanbul is now officially the 2010 European Capital of Culture... Through the opening celebrations organized by the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency and held simultaneously across 7 different centres of the city, Istanbul is now “officially” Europe’s Culture Capital... With the start of 2010, Istanbul celebrated its new title as European Capital of Culture on Saturday, 16 January 2010, through various activities and festive celebrations held in 7 different centres of the city. The celebrations started with a protocol event taking place at the Haliç Congress Centre, where Ministers from Turkey as well as neighbouring countries participated, along with high level statesmen and diplomats, leading members of the business, culture and arts world, local and foreign press members. Istanbul’s energy which spreads out to the entire world, reached its peak through the celebrations held together with all of Istanbulites in the squares of Taksim, Kadıköy, Sultanahmet, Pendik, Bağcılar and Beylikdüzü. In the celebration events held under the auspices of President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, commissaries from approximately 40 mostly European countries and correspondents of international establishments, opinion leaders of both business and artistic and cultural communities had to chance to gather together in this glorious protocol event which started at 5:30 p.m. with an opening cocktail. Furthermore, committees from Essen and Pecs, the two other cities who will be holding the same title in 2010, leading figures who have contributed to the evolution of the title of European capital of culture, and Spyros Mercouri, the brother of Melina Mercouri the creator of the title, as well as diplomats of the European Commission were also present at the ceremony. Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Kadir Topbaş and Governor of İstanbul Muammer Güler attended the ceremony that was hosted by Minister of State and Chairman of İstanbul 2010 Coordination Board Hayati Yazıcı and Chairman of Executive Board of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency Şekib Avdagiç. Speaking at the ceremony, Şekib Avdagiç stated: “In the 21st century the whole world is witnessing both the excitement and anxiety of major change. In such a period, Istanbul too is entering the New Year with a new title: European Capital of Culture. Our effort is to introduce Istanbul to the entire world, and promote its rediscovery. We are preparing our entire projects with this goal. Istanbul is a sacred stamp uniting Europe and Asia. Now it is time to proclaim this stamp to all corners of the world… Now it is time to rediscover Istanbul… It is the time to watch Istanbul… It is Istanbul time…” “The Magic of Istanbul” captivated all viewers… The opening speeches were followed by the special performance called "The Magic of Istanbul," choreographed specifically for this special night by Yekta Kara. The performance of 65 minutes presented 303 artists exposing a multi-layered and profound cultural heritage, the sources of energy and inspiration in Istanbul, through the music, dance, poetry and visions peculiar to Istanbul. The show began with Cüneyt Türel’s reading of the poem “I am listening to Istanbul”, followed by various performances from the Istanbul State Opera and Ballet Choir, MFÖ, State Ballet, Sertab Erener, Bekir Ünlüataer, Istanbul historical Music Group, Sephardic Synagogue Prayers Choir, Kevork Tavitay, Kubat, Zuhal Olcay, Silivri Folk Dance Group, Aynur, Yetkin Dikinciler, Fatih Erkoç, Dilek Turkan, Incesaz, Yarkin Percussion Group and the Istanbul State Orchestra Children’s Choir. The entire performance was joined by 100 members of Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra headed by Orchestra Chief Nacı Özgüç. Gökçen Koray leaded the choir group and Aysun Aslan prepared the dance choreographies. President Abdullah Gül and Prime-Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed the launch button for Istanbul 2010 Just after this special performance, President Abdullah Gül and Prime-Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed the launch button for a special sound, light and firework show taking place on the pier in front of the Haliç Congress Centre to mark the beginning of 2010. This show – a “City Event” designed to take its energy from Istanbul, lasted for 10 minutes, turning the Golden Horn, which bears the marks of many different civilizations and cultures, into a festival arena one kilometre in length. The show was also be televised in special screens installed in public squares in Taksim, Kadıköy, Pendik, Sultanahmet, Beylikdüzü and Bağcılar. This remarkable festival was broadcasted on TV channels as well, for 13 million residents of Istanbul and all of Turkey to see. Istanbul’s enthusiasm overflowed through simultaneous events For the joy of all Istanbul residents different programs were running simultaneously to the ceremony in Haliç. DJ performances, dance and music shows met with Istanbullites in the squares of Taksim, Kadıköy, Pendik, Sultanahmet, Beylikdüzü and Bağcılar until late hours of the night. One of the biggest surprises of the night was the Fire Theatre realized in Taksim and the Balloon Theatre realized in Kadikoy. In these shows staged by Group F of France, they used the sky as their stage, giving Istanbulites unforgettable joy through their light and music shows. After the sound and light shows in Haliç started, the enthusiasm for 2010 was amplified through concerts taking place in six different squares across Istanbul. Renown Turkish artists who have also successfully represented Turkey in international arenas met with Istanbullites; Tarkan in Taksim, Mor ve Ötesi in Kadıköy, Nil Karaibrahimgil in Beylikdüzü, Mercan Dede in Sultanahmet, Kıraç in Pendik and Zara in Bağcılar. Special for 16 January, night shifts at museums Prominent culture and art organizations of Istanbul contributed to the events realized by Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. Thanks to special arrangements concluded between the Agency and various public and private organizations of culture and arts, Istanbul residents had the opportunity to enjoy the city’s culture and art life until midnight. Istanbulites and all guests had the chance to visit a number of museums, included among them the Hagia Sophia, Archeology Museum, Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Military Museum Commandership, Istanbul Modern, Rahmi Koc Museum, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Aşiyan Museum, Sadberk Hanım Museum and the Basilica Cistern. ||||| By Oana Lungescu BBC News, Brussels Turkey's bid to enter the EU has been controversial The other two chosen capitals are regional centres in EU countries - Pecs, in south-eastern Hungary and Essen in Germany's industrialised Ruhr Valley. The nominations, made by a jury of European experts, are expected to be confirmed by EU culture ministers next November. The significance of the choice is more than cultural. 'Public spirited' There were gasps, applause and even some tears from the Turkish delegation when Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the chairman of the selection panel, made his announcement. The reason for the panel's choice, he explained, was not only the well-known fact that Istanbul lies at a geographical cross-roads with Europe and has interacted with European civilisations for centuries. The city's bid, he said, was well prepared and highly effective. "Interestingly, the Istanbul application, the bid, did not begin either with the government of Turkey or with the government of the city of Istanbul, but with groups of public-spirited citizens, who took into their own hands the initiatives of leading their city towards this bid," he said. Ukraine is keen to be regarded as a truly European country "As a consequence, groups of people within the city own the bid in their own right. "They told us of the different elements that went to make up their bid, of their dialogue that they intend with Europe on issues which we share and on differences that distinguish us," he added. By contrast, Kiev only started preparing its bid about a year-and-a-half ago. In fact, the idea originally came from members of the European Parliament, who had observed the contested presidential elections in December 2004 and the Orange Revolution that followed. EU flags were waved in Kiev along with those of Ukraine, to show the country was looking westwards. But the short preparation period took its toll, Sir Jeremy explained. "They had less to say to us about the actual events of 2010 than other cities might have done. But they put forward to us passionately and urgently their city's desire to be considered as a living part of European culture," he said. Cultural impact There is little doubt that the bids from Istanbul and Kiev are part of intense lobbying from Turkey and Ukraine to be recognised as truly European countries which deserve to be part of the EU too. Turkey is a formal candidate country, which started membership talks last year, while Ukraine is currently treated by the EU as a close and valued neighbour, but no more. Sir Jeremy denied, however, that the choice of Istanbul was political. The panel concentrated only on cultural criteria and chose the city that had made the most impact, he said. Western people will see the true Turkey, because there are some prejudices, some disinformation Dilek Istar Ates, Istanbul bid supporter Viktoria Borodina, the spokeswoman for Ukraine's mission to the EU, took it with good grace. "We are very glad for the Istanbul delegation, they received today a chance, a very good chance," she said. "We hope that Ukraine will continue on this way. Anyway, Kiev - European capital of culture - and all events in the framework of the European capital of culture 2010 will take place." Dilek Istar Ates, one of the Istanbul supporters, could barely contain her emotion. "At first, emotionally, it's really important for us. Spirits will go up... Western people will see the true Turkey, because there are some prejudices, some disinformation. This will disappear with Istanbul, capital of culture 2010," she said. Boost infrastructure It may be rather optimistic to think that prejudice about Turkey in western Europe will disappear by 2010. But the title allows the chosen cities to draw more tourists, improve access to cultural events and boost infrastructure. Past capitals like Glasgow in Scotland, Lille in France and Salamanca in Spain, took the opportunity to revamp city centres and market themselves as tourist magnets. However, after 2010, cities outside the bloc can no longer apply. So this was the last opportunity for Istanbul and Kiev to gain the title European capital of culture, though few dispute that both remain great European cities regardless of the outcome. | , named for 2010, celebrated with spectacular fireworks displays, light shows, cultural performances, and concerts, which were arranged at seven locations across the city, symbolising the seven hills on which ancient Istanbul was built. The European Union chose Istanbul, Turkey's and Europe's largest city, as one of the three European Capitals of Culture for 2010 in 2006, along with in Hungary, and in Germany. With its rich heritage and urban life, Istanbul is already recognized as one of the world's great cultural capitals. Istanbul beat , Ukraine's capital, for the title and became the last European Capital of Culture outside the EU; after 2010, non-EU cities can no longer apply. The celebrations started with a protocol event taking place at the Haliç Congress Centre, where Ministers from Turkey as well as neighbouring countries participated. "Istanbul is a European city. With its heart, its culture and civilisation, its people, its past and future, it has always looked towards Europe. Istanbul has shaped European culture and has been shaped by it." said , the country's Prime Minister. |
(CNN) -- The Ugandan government has signed a cease-fire with a rebel group to end a 22-year war that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 1 million. Rebel leader Joseph Kony, seen in 2006, has tried to overthrow the Ugandan government. The deal, which was signed Saturday, came one day after members of the Lord's Resistance Army walked out of the talks. The rebel group was at odds with Ugandan officials over demands for government positions. The cease-fire will go into effect once the two sides sign a comprehensive peace deal. Both sides expect the deal to be completed by the end of the week. The Associated Press reported that government negotiators expect a peace deal by Friday, and the cease-fire will take effect within 24 hours. "Today this is a landmark toward peace in our country," said rebel negotiator David Matsanga. "Our people have yearned for that peace for the past 22 years." The two sides have been negotiating for more than a year to end the rebellion that began in 1986 when President Yoweri Museveni came to power. The government and the rebels agreed to a cessation of hostilities in August 2006. Though there have been outbursts of fighting, the United Nations struck an optimistic tone last month regarding the potential peace deal. "Peace talks have raised expectations that up to 500,000 of the 1.3 million IDPs [internally displaced people] created by 20 years of war could go home in 2008." according to a U.N. news release. Last week, the two sides reached agreements on how to prosecute alleged war crimes and on how the government will rehabilitate war-ravaged areas, AP reported. The latter initiative includes ensuring people in the hardest-hit regions will have opportunities to fill government posts, according to AP. Both sides still need to decide how to demobilize the rebels and integrate them into the the Ugandan army, negotiators told CNN. The Lord's Resistance Army -- led by Joseph Kony, who claims spiritual powers -- sought to overthrow the Ugandan government, demanding the constitution be replaced with a version of the Ten Commandments. The rebel group, which the U.S. State Department describes as "vicious and cult-like," has been known for its unpredictable behavior. Local villagers and international human rights groups have accused the rebels of committing widespread abuses, including recruiting children as soldiers and mutilating their victims. In October 2005, the International Criminal Court unsealed arrest warrants for five Lord's Resistance Army commanders, including Kony, who is alleged to have "ordered LRA forces to begin a campaign of attacks against civilians in Uganda" in 2002, according to the court. The 33 counts against Kony included 21 counts of war crimes. Charges also included sexual enslavement, rape, inducing rape, directing attacks against civilians and forced enlisting of children to fight, according to a news release from the court. E-mail to a friend Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. All About Uganda • Lord's Resistance Army ||||| Millions have been displaced by decades of conflict It will come into effect 24 hours after the signing by both sides of a comprehensive peace deal, which it is hoped will be achieved later this week. The rebels and government have been holding talks in Juba in Sudan. On Friday, they struck a deal allowing rebels to be considered for government, diplomatic and military posts. "We signed a permanent ceasefire agreement at 1400 hours (1100 GMT). This is another major breakthrough," Captain Chris Magezi, spokesman for the government delegation, told AFP. The former President of Mozambique, Joachim Chissano, who is mediating the talks described the latest agreement as the end of the war. Army integration Peace negotiations have been taking place for more than 18 months. The BBC's Sarah Grainger in Uganda says that although progress was slow at first, with the agreements of the last few days, a final deal could be just around the corner. The 20-year rebellion by the LRA in northern Uganda left thousands of people dead and nearly two million displaced. The government has given the LRA until 28 February to end the war. LRA fighters will not automatically keep their army ranks The terms of the ceasefire prohibit any recruitment or rearmament by the LRA or movement beyond an assembly area in southern Sudan. The agreement also creates a 10km (6.2 mile) deep buffer-zone around the LRA assembly area, guarded by southern Sudanese troops. This final ceasefire will come into effect once a comprehensive peace agreement is signed. It will replace the series of cessation of hostilities agreements that the government and the LRA rebels have renewed throughout the peace talks and which have largely restored security across northern Uganda. War crimes The pace of the peace talks has increased significantly in the last week, our correspondent says. The only remaining issue to be dealt with is the demobilisation of LRA fighters and their integration into the Ugandan army. The government has agreed to consider people from the conflict-affected areas for appointment to top political and diplomatic positions. Former LRA combatants will be assessed for rank and experience before being integrated into the army. On Tuesday, the two sides finalised an deal over justice and accountability for war crimes, which had been a major obstacle. A special division of the Uganda High Court will be set up to try those accused of serious crimes. The rebels hope this means their leaders will not be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants for three of them. ||||| By Skye Wheeler JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - With whoops and backslaps, Uganda's government and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels signed a ceasefire on Saturday, a big step towards a final peace settlement to one of Africa's longest-running wars. "It is the laying down of arms. It is the end of the war," U.N. envoy Joaquim Chissano said after the parties signed the "permanent ceasefire" agreement during their fast-progressing talks in southern Sudan's capital Juba. With only a demobilization deal left to be agreed on, negotiators and mediators like Chissano are predicting a final accord will be reached next week to end one of the world's most macabre and least-understood conflicts. After a tortuous process since talks began in mid-2006, the speed of progress in recent days has taken observers by surprise, particularly after the LRA delegation walked out at one point this week in a row over cabinet jobs and cash. The LRA revolt against President Yoweri Museveni since 1986 has devastated north Uganda, killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted nearly 2 million, and become infamous for the brutal methods of the rebels including mutilating victims. At Saturday's signing, presided over by chief mediator and South Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar, rebel and government delegates embraced each other warmly. Both teams thumped tables in joy, as cries and whistles filled the hall. BUFFER-ZONE Saturday's deal prohibits any recruitment or rearmament by the LRA, or movement beyond a temporary assembly area in south Sudan where they will remain prior to demobilization. The ceasefire, formalizing a cessation of hostilities agreed in mid-2006, creates a 10 km- (6 mile-) deep buffer-zone around the LRA assembly area, guarded by southern Sudanese troops. All that remains on the talks' agenda is an agreement on how the rebels should demobilize and disarm, which negotiators call a technicality that will be dealt with quickly. Chissano, the former president of Mozambique, warned both sides not to fall at the final hurdle. "Let us not be obfuscated by this joy. We must see clearly a way to complete peace." The news from Juba will be music to the ears of the long-suffering Acholi population of north Uganda, who have borne the brunt of the conflict. They have suffered not only from rebel attacks and forced recruitment of children, but also from rape and other abuses by Uganda's military at refugee camps. Violence has largely subsided during the peace talks, and some refugees have begun returning. But the trickle back to their old villages and homes could turn into a mass return once the final peace deal is signed, aid agencies say. The fate of the LRA's self-styled mystic leader Joseph Kony remains uncertain. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but earlier in the week both sides agreed serious crimes during the war would be dealt with locally. Analysts believe that satisfied Kony he would not be prosecuted abroad, and enabled the progress of recent days. On Friday, the sides signed another agreement in which the government committed itself to give the north better representation in public offices and the armed forces. Although most of its atrocities were against Acholis, the LRA cast its rebellion as a fight for the rights of northerners whom it said had been marginalized and oppressed by Museveni. Italian peace worker and long-time observer at the LRA talks, Vittorio Scelzo, said the demobilization and disarmament had been well prepared and would be signed quickly. "We are talking one, two or three days," he told Reuters. Uganda's Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said the permanent ceasefire was a "milestone" and the peace talks had reached a point of no return. Kampala would ask the ICC to rescind its indictments of Kony and two of his commanders when the deal went through and "all documents and the necessary mechanisms are in place," he said. (Writing by Andrew Cawthorne, editing by Mary Gabriel) | On Saturday, the Ugandan government signed a permanent with the , a self-proclaimed Christian guerilla army which has been rebelling against the government in one of Africa's longest running conflicts. The ceasefire will not take effect until the day after both sides sign a comprehensive peace deal, which is expected to be completed later this week. Rebels and government officials hailed the event as a step towards the end of the two-decade long war. "Today this is a landmark toward peace in our country," said David Matsanga, one of the rebels involved in the negotiations. "Our people have yearned for that peace for the past 22 years." Chris Magezi, spokesman for the government delegation, called the agreement "another major breakthrough". The signing was presided over by Riek Machar, vice president of southern Sudan. It was the latest development in the ongoing being held in Juba since July 2006. In August 2006, the two sides agreed to a cessation of hostilities. According to the terms of the deal, the Lord's Resistance Army will be prohibited from recruiting or rearming soldiers, and they will not be able to travel beyond a temporary assembly area in southern Sudan. The assembly area will be guarded by Sudanese troops. The only item remaining on the agenda for negotiators is the demobilization of the rebels and their integration into the Ugandan army, an issue which is expected to be dealt with quickly. However, United Nations envoy Joaquim Chissano warned, "Let us not be obfuscated by this joy. We must see clearly a way to complete peace." The Lord's Resistance Army is a group which aims to establish a government in Uganda. In 1986, they revolted against the government and began a conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced over 2 million. The group is also accused of human rights violations, including mutilating their victims and recruiting children as soldiers. |
Midwest braces for ice storm 12/11/2007, 6:33 a.m. EST By JAMES BELTRAN The Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Much of the nation's midsection was in the icy grip Tuesday of a tree-snapping, flight-canceling, roadway-closing deep freeze that spread from the frozen Plains. The National Weather Service posted ice and winter storm warnings Tuesday for parts of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. About an inch of ice was expected over parts of Iowa, followed by up to 5 inches of sleet and snow. "It's a pretty good ice-maker," said Frank Boksa, a weather service forecaster. The waves of frozen rain left at least 18 dead in Oklahoma and Missouri, with 15 of them killed on slick highways. Officials in Kansas and Oklahoma declared states of emergency. Rain that started falling Monday evening was causing slushy conditions in the Kansas City metro area and farther south, where temperatures hovered around freezing. "The predictions were pretty grim, and they're still not good at all," said Noelle Runyan, a weather service meteorologist. "With ice accumulations of more than half an inch, that could easily cause limbs to break, power lines to come down. It's going to be across a fairly wide area." At Kansas City International Airport, most incoming flights scheduled after 8 p.m. Monday were canceled, as were a few dozen departures. Westar Energy, Kansas' largest electrical provider, said outages started spiking as temperatures dropped after 10 p.m. Monday. Some 25,000 were without power. Spokeswoman Gina Penzig said the company was prepared for the worst, calling in hundreds of line workers from states like Colorado and Nebraska — farther away than the utility normally goes to get additional help. Oklahoma utilities said Monday that 500,000 customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling trees — the biggest power outage in state history. Utilities in Missouri had more than 100,000 homes and business without power. CONTINUED 1 | 2 Next ||||| By Carey Gillam KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A vicious ice storm sweeping through the U.S. Plains left more than 600,000 people without power as frigid temperatures plunged and contributed to at least 14 deaths, authorities said on Monday. The icy blast downed tree limbs and power lines, leaving more than 500,000 people without power in Oklahoma, where shelters opened throughout the region for those driven from cold and dark homes, and national guardsmen and volunteers were transporting food and water to hard-hit areas. "This particular storm is now the worst in company history in terms of customers affected," said Brian Alford, spokesman for Oklahoma Gas and Electric. Crews were sent from Texas, Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi to help repair power lines, which snapped seemingly as quickly as they could be repaired. The storm also shut down electricity service to more than 102,000 people in Missouri, more than 11,000 people in Illinois and about 5,000 in Kansas. In all, ice storm warnings were issued from Texas up through Oklahoma and Kansas and east across Missouri into Illinois, with up to an inch of ice accumulation possible in some areas. Iowa and Arkansas were also affected. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt declared a state of emergency, calling out the state National Guard to aid communities hit by the storm. "We are only just beginning to see the devastation from this series of storms," he said. Ice-slicked roads contributed to the deaths of 12 people in Oklahoma during the weekend, state officials said. One Oklahoma man died of hypothermia. A Missouri motorist died when he stopped to help another driver and was hit by a car skidding on ice. Continued... | Ice on bicycles in Oklahoma. So far at least 15 people have died in a major ice storm in the United States which has left more than 600,000 residents and businesses across three states, without electricity. Officials for the utility companies say that this could be the worst ice storm in history. "This particular storm is now the worst in company history in terms of customers affected," said Oklahoma Gas and Electric spokesman, Brian Alford. The National Weather Service (NWS) has ice storm warnings still in effect for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois where as much as one inch of ice can accumulate on outdoor surfaces. NOAA US Weather alerts for December 10, 2007 at 01:03 UTC A State of Emergency has already been declared in Missouri with Governor Matt Blunt saying "we are only just beginning to see the devastation from this series of storms." Bowling Green has already seen nearly two to three inches of ice since Saturday December 8. Most other areas of Missouri have received 1/2 inch to one inch of ice. Illinois has also seen accumulation, with the greatest total of one inch received in Poplar Grove. Edna, Columbus, Pittsburg, Independence and Hutchinson, Kansas have all received at least one inch of ice along with parts of Texas and Oklahoma. The NWS says that more storms are on the way and more ice is likely across the same regions. "A series of low pressure centers have brought ice and snow from the Rockies, Southern Plains, to the Midwest and portions of the Northeast. Several additional disturbances and the presence of shallow Arctic air will continue to bring bouts of freezing rain, sleet, and snow from the Southwest to the Plains States, Midwest, and Northeast over the next several days," said a statement on the NWS's website. |
Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of nine hijackers who threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan and forced it to fly to Stansted Airport in Essex. The gang surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off. Mr Mohammidy was jailed for 30 months for his part in the hijacking but he and the rest of the gang later had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal. The hijackers claimed they were fleeing "medieval and brutal tyranny" under the Taliban and went on to win a High Court ruling preventing them from being deported. It emerged yesterday that Mr Mohammidy has been employed as an office cleaner for a company with a contract for a BA training centre a mile from Heathrow's Terminal 4. His past came to light after he was stopped by police driving near Terminal 5 on Tuesday. They thought he might be an unlicensed taxi driver but he produced his worker's pass. Last week it was disclosed that thousands of foreigners are allowed to work in high-security areas of Britain's airports without passing proper criminal record checks. The Conservatives described the latest security blunder as "beyond parody" and called on the Government to introduce new measures at airports immediately, rather than waiting for the Transport Security Bill in the next Queen's Speech. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "It would be an outrageous and potentially devastating breach of security if a former hijacker had access to British Airways property near the airport and a pass allowing him access to secure areas. Days after it was revealed that foreign airside workers at our airports do not have to pass proper security checks it is clear the Government do not have a grip on airport security." This week Mr Mohammiddy appeared before Uxbridge magistrates in west London accused of breaching bail conditions relating to an allegation of assault and criminal damage in December. The charges are not related to his job at the airport. A spokesman for British Airways said Mr Mohammidy did not work inside the airport and did not have an airside pass. ||||| An Afghan hijacker who won the right to live in England is working at Heathrow Airport in London as a cleaner in the British Airways training center, the Daily Mail reported. Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was among nine hijackers who in 2000 diverted an Ariana Airlines flight with 160 passengers on board to Stansted Airport in Essex, England. The group, armed with guns and hand grenades, claimed it was fleeing the Taliban and threatened to kill all the passengers unless they were granted asylum. It took four days for the hijackers to surrender. Mohammidy appeared in court this week after police pulled him over while he was driving a car around the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, the Daily Mail reported. At first authorities thought he was an unlicensed cab driver but were shocked to discover he was one of the hijackers and had a British Airways pass on him. He initially was arrested on charges of being in breach of bail over assault charges for allegedly attacking his landlord, and then it emerged that he was one of the Stansted hijackers. He has spent months working for a firm that has a contract to clean at Heathrow. Sources told the Daily Mail that Mohammidy’s British Airways pass did not give him airside access, but it did allow him to go into secure areas. "There’s got to be something seriously wrong with a country that lets a hijacker work at an airport," an unidentified source told The Sun. "It’s shocking." British Airways confirmed to the Sun, "We have been helping police with their inquiries into a man who is employed by a cleaning contractor." Click here to read more on this story from the Daily Mail. Click here to read more on this story from The Sun. | A man who hijacked a domestic flight over Afghanistan has been found to be working for British Airways. 34-year-old Nazamuddin Mohammidy was one of nine men who forced the Ariana Airlines airliner to divert to the United Kingdom's Stansted Airport in 2000. A standoff followed for the next 70 hours with the men, who had guns and hand grenades, threatening to kill all 160 on board unless asylum was granted to them. The men ultimately gave themselves up to police and SAS. Mohammidy was jailed for 30 months but he and the other eight had their convictions overturned by the Court of Appeal, claiming the Taliban was subjecting them to "medieval and brutal tyranny" forcing them to flee. They went on to win a High Court case to prevent their deportation. It has since emerged that British Airways have employed Mohammidy to clean their offices, including a training center one mile from Terminal 4 at Heathrow Airport. It came to light when police officers stopped him near Terminal 5 believing he may be an unlicensed taxi driver, but he was able to suppply a worker's pass. He is now facing unrelated charges concerning an alleged assault on his landlord. The Conservatives have used this as an opportunity to attack the current Labour government. Shadow home secretary David Davis said "It would be an outrageous and potentially devastating breach of security if a former hijacker had access to British Airways property near the airport and a pass allowing him access to secure areas. Days after it was revealed that foreign airside workers at our airports do not have to pass proper security checks it is clear the Government do not have a grip on airport security." British Airways say he did not have a pass to allow him onto the tarmac at Heathrow and did not work inside the airport, but he could get into some secure company areas. |
Published June 24, 2008 11:05am MANILA, Philippines - The worst fears of authorities were confirmed on Tuesday as rescuers from the Navy and Coast Guard saw bodies of several passengers trapped inside MV Princess of that Stars that capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province over the weekend. In an interview with radio dzBB, Navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo said rescuers saw the bodies after they entered the ship at about 9 a.m. "Nakalutang ang karamihan ng bangkay sa loob. Sila ay na-trap sa biglang pagtaob, so nakulong ( Most of the bodies were floating, the victims were trapped inside the ship when it suddenly tilted and capsized)." Arevalo believed that while some of the passengers could have initially survived the mishap, they eventually succumbed to bad conditions inside the ship before rescuers arrived. The rescuers' operations are continuously being hampered by rough sea conditions, according to Arevalo. "Di natin kasalanan 'yan, ang turbulent seas hanggang ngayon hina-hamper ang operation natin (That's not our fault, it's because of the turbulent sea that interferes with our operations)," Arevalo said. Asked about the chance of rescuing survivors from the ship, Arevalo said: "I don't want to speculate," adding that it was too dark to see how many were still inside the ferry. The priority of rescuers is to remove the remains trapped inside the ferry, according to Arevalo. He said some of the bodies found in the ferry were wearing life vests. However, Arevalo believed the victims were not able to immediately jump off the ship because big waves suddenly overturned the vessel. Arevalo said authorities were checking reports on the recovery of 18 survivors, two of whom in critical condition, and two fatalities on Burias Island in Masbate province. He said the report was intercepted by the Navy through radio. He said a US Navy rescue ship had arrived at the vicinity of Sibuyan island Tuesday morning to assist in the rescue operations. He said the Americans would also use two surveillance aircraft for the search. A statement from the AFP's Southern Luzon Command said the US Navy ship under Commodore Bradley Smith arrived at about 5:30 a.m. on Sibuyan Island, located 17 to 20 miles from the ship wreckage. The statement added that around Tuesday noon, Smith went to the town hall of San Fernando town in Romblon to be briefed on the operations. Coordination between Philippine and US rescue teams is being conducted for the rescue efforts, the statement said. Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it would open the ship's hull on Tuesday to check on those still inside the vessel. “They will try to cut a hole on the hull, weather permitting, today. We have sent additional Coast Guard divers to support all other divers now prepositioned in the area," said Capt. Gilbert Rueros, a Coast Guard representative, said in a briefing at Camp Aguinaldo. Rueros said that so far, there had been no major changes on the number of recorded casualties and survivors of the ship operated by Sulpicio Lines. There were least 20 fatalities and 62 survivors in the government list. The ship was reportedly carrying 849 passengers and crew members when it capsized. A PCG panel has started investigating the incident since Monday, according to Rueros. He said the probe would continue on Wednesday. For his part, Anthony Golez, spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, said the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Fire Protection had started helping PCG in its rescue efforts. “We have no development as to the number (of casualties and survivors)... but (the) search and rescue operations (are) continuing. In fact, the number of those helping the Coast Guard...(is) increasing," Golez added. - GMANews.TV ||||| WASHINGTON, June 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush expressed Tuesday condolences to Philippines President Gloria Arroyo and said the United States will provide aid to the country battered by typhoon. "I expressed our deep condolences to those who suffered as a result of the typhoon," Bush said after his talks with Arroyo in the White House. The United States will move aircraft carried USS Ronald Reagan to the Philippines to help with the assistance, along with other U.S. Navy assets, Bush said. "We are happy to do it, we want to help our friends in a time of need," Bush said. A passenger vessel capsized off the Philippines' central province of Romblon at the height of Typhoon Fengshen which lashed the archipelago from east to west over the weekend. There were 862 people on board, but only 48 passengers managed to survive the disaster, most of the others are feared dead. | Map showing San Fernando within the province of Romblon. Divers from the combined teams of the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard were able to penetrate the interior of the submerged sections of the MV Princess of the Stars. Spokesman for the Navy confirmed fears that there were several passengers of the ill-fated passenger ferry who were trapped when the ferry listed and over turned at around noon of June 22. Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo of the Navy said that there could have been survivors initially, passengers who were trapped within a pocket of air but the rescue team were only able to reach and enter the ferry, almost three days since it capsized. The length of time for any survivor trapped inside the capsized ship to have breathable air would be limited. Four bodies were retrieved and the team with the help of specialists and salvage teams from the USNS Stockham of the United States Navy, supported by the resources of the US carrier group USS Ronald Reagan will return on Wednesday morning to attempt to stabilize the ship and retrieve more bodies. Philippine authorities are concerned that boring a hole or disturbing the ferry's present location could cause the ship to slide down into deeper waters or cause an environmental damage to the area due to the fuel the ship carries. The ferry capsized some 500 meters off the coast of the town of San Fernando in Romblon province. |
Box > Hughes dominant as Yanks top Texas Phenom forced to leave no-hitter with injury in seventh inning Rookie Phil Hughes was going to throw a no-hitter on Tuesday. The 20-year old who was tabbed only a few hours earlier by his general manager as a work in progress -- the top pitching prospect but furthest thing from the pitching staff's savior -- was going to really do it. He was about to become everything the Yankees hoped for but were afraid to say in public just yet. He was on his way to becoming a bedtime story for Little Leaguers in the Bronx. A nickname was just around the corner. Then his left hamstring finished the story 2 1/3 innings before he could, leaving the Yankees on the winning side of a 10-1 romp against the Rangers but feeling like the real losers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Hughes, a young man who was on his way to fame after throwing 6 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball in his second big-league start against the Rangers, is now on his way to the disabled list. Yankees manager Joe Torre estimates that the phenom will miss 4-6 weeks. "We didn't talk about it, but everybody couldn't wait for him to get out there again," Torre said. "We seemed to have a lot more energy tonight. Whether it was the spark from the way he was going about his business or [that] the players feel good about themselves, whatever it was, it worked for us." As good as Hughes was, the Yankees hitters were almost better. Almost. The Yankees offense scored two runs in the second inning and four more in the third, the final two on a double by Robinson Cano for a 6-0 lead. In the sixth, run-scoring doubles by Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada extended the Yankees' lead to 8-0. The runs mattered. Hughes' injury might matter more. He finished with 83 pitches in the outing, the longest of his brief Major League career. He struck out six hitters and walked three. "He commanded his fastball really well, and he kept us off balance with his curve," Rangers outfielder Brad Wilkerson said. "He got in a groove throwing a lot of fastballs. I think he threw a great game, but hopefully, I think we would have made an adjustment on the fastball and got to him. We had some decent swings." The swings were not good enough. Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina said it appeared the Rangers had no idea how to handle the young hurler. He was that good. Hughes said that the last time he threw a no-hitter came in high school. He came close in the Minor Leagues and was fully aware that he was in the middle of a no-hitter on Tuesday night. Admittedly not very superstitious, Hughes didn't notice until the sixth or seventh inning that his teammates were avoiding him. He smiled at the notion of sitting all alone at the end of the bench. He became straight-faced again when he thought about the "what could have beens" and the "what-ifs." "It's tough," Hughes said. "It puts a damper on the whole thing. I am very happy with my start. I know I will come back from this." In a scene that will likely be played over and over for the Yankees faithful, Hughes hobbled off the field in the seventh inning with an 0-2 count on Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira. Torre said he would have left his young starter in the game if the circumstances were favorable. "As long as it wasn't dangerous," Torre said. "He was fine. We were going to allow him to go 100 pitches last time, so I didn't think that would be a problem. He had so much command of what he was doing. He had a pretty good game plan, and he executed." As for Rangers starter Kameron Loe, he was tagged for 10 hits and nine runs (seven earned) in four innings. He walked one batter and struck out two. The Rangers snapped the Yankees' bid for a no-hitter in the eighth inning when Hank Blalock hit a double down the right-field line off Mike Myers, but by that time, the no-hitter was an afterthought. The biggest blow had already been delivered. "He showed why we have such high hopes for him for our future," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "It was on display tonight. We'll get him back and [see] if he can continue on the journey." Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. ||||| Injury disrupts Hughes' shot at history Yankees rookie may miss month after approaching no-hitter Hughes was literally unhittable for 6 1/3 innings in the Yankees' 10-1 romp of the Rangers on Tuesday; that's the sweet part. Unfortunately, he is headed to the disabled list with an injured left hamstring, and it will be weeks before he pitches in a Major League game again. He joins fellow starters Mike Mussina (left hamstring), Carl Pavano (right forearm), Jeff Karstens (fractured right fibula) and possibly Chien-Ming Wang (split nail on middle finger) on the list of injured Yankees starters. The bitter has become the bizarre. "For the most part, they are not even arm injuries," Mussina said. "I have never seen anything like this, and I have been playing for 17 years. If it's not that, they are getting hit by line drives. Just strange stuff." Yankees manager Joe Torre has his hands full. He estimates that Hughes' injury will keep the 20-year-old out of the rotation anywhere from 4-6 weeks, and the club's immediate concern is whether Wang will be healthy enough to pitch on Saturday. The right-hander will be evaluated after a bullpen session on Wednesday. Pavano is also scheduled to throw off a mound this week, but his status is also unclear. The encouraging news for the Yankees is that Mussina is scheduled to return from the disabled list for Thursday's series finale against the Rangers. But stranger things have happened -- and are happening. Torre said that Hughes' injury is "one of those freak things you certainly cannot explain." "Especially a youngster, and everything seemed to be fine," Torre said. "It was a cool enough night. Pitch count was not an issue. ... Anything can happen at any time, even though you take all the precautions and you know he did all the right things as far as getting ready for this game. " With the Yankees leading, 9-0, Hughes left the game with one out in the seventh inning and an 0-2 count on Rangers first baseman Mark Teixeira. Hughes finished with 83 pitches, 53 of which were strikes, and he struck out six hitters, walking three. "It's definitely frustrating and disappointing," Hughes said. "I knew every inning they didn't have a hit yet, but I never thought about the last out in the ninth." Hughes' last pitch was a curveball. It showed his talent and his age. "He really tired to bury a curveball, and he extended his body, like up to his knee, which is unusual for him, but he really wanted that pitch," a dejected Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said after the game. "It was obviously important. He extended himself, got over it and that's what happened." Mussina said that he understood how such an injury can happen to a 20-year-old pitcher in his second Major League game. Hughes was pitching like a veteran. He is still a rookie. "I was wondering how long he would be able to go," Mussina said. "He's never been deep in a game since his pro career started. He was really dominating." "That's the frustrating part -- to throw that well and have to stop," he continued. "He felt well and knew where the ball was going. [It's] everything you hope for when you take the mound. To have to leave the mound in that fashion in that kind of game is disappointing and frustrating." Mussina, like Hughes, knows firsthand the frustration of a hamstring injury. He's not the only one. Wang and Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui have also experienced similar injuries this year, and it appears that players are wondering what the problem is. "I think that question has already been raised," Mussina said. "I don't know if it has been answered, and I'm not the one to answer it. It's not my job." Jesse Sanchez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. ||||| Rules for reopening beaches spelled out Elected officials say the new regulations are crucial to prevent a resurgence of the novel coronavirus. Newsday Exclusive See the number of coronavirus cases in your community Check the latest numbers on how coronavirus has spread in your community and in communities across LI, NYC and the state. 2:13 WATCH NOW Elective surgeries can restart in Suffolk as the focus sharpens on reopening NY Gov. Cuomo also said horse-racing tracks will be allowed to open statewide as of June 1, without spectators. 1:50 WATCH NOW Suffolk police's coronavirus infection low due to decade-old protocol, experts say Thousands of first responders from agencies across the nation have been trained in protocols that began as pilot programs in Suffolk in 2009, said Jason Krause, the associate director of operations and plans at Louisiana State's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training Academy. 6:00 AM 2:23 WATCH NOW Once 'gasping for air,' patient recovering after transfusion The Lynbrook woman is one of hundreds of patients across Long Island who have received plasma transfusions, in an attempt to overcome the coronavirus, and as part of studies. 6:00 AM 0:58 WATCH NOW Many happy cars: Wantagh woman celebrates 100th birthday "That was unbelievable. I couldn't believe [there were] that many cars," Millie Alberti said. "I thought it was never going to end." 1:48 Newsday Special Report 'The world has changed:' What it takes to reopen LI Businesses closed since mid-March must now face new rules, requiring new procedures for cleaning and social distancing. ||||| HUGHES DA MAN PHENOM COMPARED TO ROCKET, SCHILLING By GEORGE KING Loading new images... February 23, 2007 -- TAMPA - The Yankees can't play the media card ever again concerning Philip Hughes. No longer is he a product of the hype machine. As of yesterday, every story concerning the right-hander will start with glowing observations from Jason Giambi and Todd Pratt. The two veterans with a combined 24 years of big-league experience compared the 20-year-old to Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling, this after one batting practice session against Hughes at Legends Field. "We could have used him last year," said Giambi, who didn't get a fair ball out of the cage against Hughes. "He looks like a young Rocket." Pratt and Schilling were raised in the Red Sox organization in the 1980s. Pratt grew up to be a journeyman big-league catcher. The self-centered Schilling developed into one of the top hurlers of his generation. Twenty-plus years later, Pratt sees Schilling's ability in Hughes. "[Philadelphia's] Brett Myers and Schilling," the veteran catcher said, when asked whom Hughes reminded him of. "He has life on the fastball and movement on the slider. His curveball is deadly. That reminded me of Myers." The Yankees insist the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Hughes is going to start the season at Scranton (Triple-A), but listening to Giambi, it will be hard for the Yankees to keep Hughes away from The Bronx for long. Even after blaming the media for over-hyping Hughes, pitching coach Ron Guidry gushed over the prospect. "You know the kid is special," Guidry said of Hughes, who was 2-3 with a 1.80 ERA for Tampa (Single-A) and 10-3 with a 2.25 ERA for Trenton (Double-A). Hughes, the club's first-round pick in 2004 out of Foothills (Calif.) High School, logged a combined 119 innings and had his frames cut back on purpose because he had just 911/3 professional innings in two seasons until the start of last year. In those 119 innings, Hughes fanned 168 and walked 34. "He's got great ability," Guidry said. Hughes also has immense expectations, which were fueled by Giambi and Pratt. "It's good to hear that, but I haven't done anything," said Hughes, who faced Raul Chavez, Hideki Matsui, Pratt and Giambi. Hughes allowed two balls to be hit fair. He is the centerpiece of GM Brian Cashman's efforts to rebuild the Yankees staff into a young one. Cashman received three neophyte arms from Detroit for Gary Sheffield and three more from Arizona for Randy Johnson. While the Yankees are high on Humberto Sanchez, Ross Ohlen dorf and Ste ven Jackson, they view Hughes as their future ace. "For the first day, it looks like a corral," Pratt said. "There a bunch of horses. With them I would be pretty happy if I was Mr. Cashman." Hughes, Sanchez, Ohlendorf and Jackson represent the future, something that never used to matter around the Yankees. But on a crystal clear morning that featured a cobalt blue sky and palm trees that danced lightly in the breeze, the future looked good. "Personality-wise, he doesn't seem to be overwhelmed by anything," said Joe Torre. Hughes' arsenal includes two-plus fastballs, a curveball that catcher Ben Davis called "devastating," a developing change-up, a slider in mothballs that is slowly seeing daylight, and a deceiving delivery. With that type of repertoire, it's no wonder Hughes dreams of the big leagues. Still, he embraces the Yankees' strategy. "Anybody would want to start the season [in the big leagues]," Hughes said. "I have an understanding of their plans for me." george.king@nypost.com | '''May 2, 2007''' 20-year-old pitching phenom Phil Hughes cruised through hitters in just his second start for the New York Yankees, but the end result created even more frustration for the organization and fans everywhere. Hughes retired 19 Texas Rangers without allowing a hit on Tuesday at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Established big league stars such as Kenny Lofton, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young could not solve the youngster's blazing fastball or sharply biting curve. Hughes was on the verge of history. Even as his pitch count rose, the Yankees allowed him to keep firing. "He was fine," manager Joe Torre said of the 2004 first round draft pick. "We were going to allow him to go 100 pitches last time, so I didn't think that would be a problem." Just when the Yankees thought they found an answer to their early struggles, the organization was treated to an agonizing sight. After Teixeira fouled off an 0-2 pitch with one out in the sixth inning, Hughes grabbed his leg, having suffered a hamstring injury. His no-hit bid ended there (Texas would break up the no-hitter in the eighth inning off reliever Mike Myers), though he did earn his first big league win in a 10-1 Yankee romp over Texas. He walked off the mound under his own power, but will reportedly miss 4-6 weeks. Hughes voiced his frustration afterwards: "It's tough. It puts a damper on the whole thing." He added, "I'm at a point now where our rotation really needs it," referring to his presence on the New York pitching staff. Several Yankees have already voiced their excitement for the righthander's chances in the big leagues. For his part, Yankees star Jason Giambi compared him to Roger Clemens during Spring Training: "He looks like a young Rocket." The Yankees are currently just 10-14, thanks in large part to injuries that have befallen pitchers Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano and Jeff Karstens. In a related story from today, the Yankees fired strength and conditioning coach Marty Miller. Reportedly, this was out of general manager Brian Cashman's concern for the alarming number of hamstring injuries so far this season. |
“Two LP insiders” tell Lew that Johnson wants to seek LP nomination: Two LP insiders confirm that the former NM governor wants to run for president on the Libertarian Party ticket, and is actively seeking the nod. Were he to get it, Gary would be the least libertarian Libertarian candidate ever. “For me,” says an LP elder statesman, “it’s anybody but Gary. Mainly, of course,” he added, “I want Ron to run.” ||||| Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson knows he's not going to win the New Hampshire presidential primary and that he won't be the 2012 Republican presidential candidate.But in an interview Wednesday, he said he's seriously considering running for the Libertarian Party nomination for president."I feel abandoned by the Republican Party," Johnson said in a phone interview. "The Republican Party has left me by the wayside."He's been left out of all but two of the seemingly endless Republican presidential debates. His fundraising is low and his poll numbers are below radar level."If I'd have been included in 16 of the last debates we wouldn't even be having this conversation," Johnson said.Johnson said there have been "overtures made" by the Libertarian Party. While there's no guarantee he'd win the nomination, Johnson believes he'd have a fair chance.The Libertarian Party is on the ballot in all 50 states, Johnson said. However, he noted the party's presidential nominee has never received more than 1 percent of the vote nationally.The Libertarian Party's website lists nine people who have declared they are running for president as Libertarians. Johnson isn't on that list.On Tuesday, Johnson received a reply from the Republican National Committee to his request for help in getting included in televised GOP debates, or at least to insist that polling organizations include his name.The party's reply probably wasn't unexpected. But it didn't say anything to give Johnson much hope.The letter, written by the national party's chief counsel, John R. Phillippe Jr., pointed out that there are 21 Republican hopefuls who have filed in the New Hampshire primary. "We simply have to have some minimum criteria in order for candidates to participate in these debates," Phillippe wrote. "Otherwise, the debates would be utter chaos and unhelpful to Republican voters as we select our nominee."Phillippe said the threshold for getting into party-sanctioned debates is $1 million in third-quarter fundraising or having an average of 3 percent in polls as averaged by the Real Clear Politics website.In early polls, Johnson's percentages were in the low single digits. In late August, a CNN poll showed Johnson ahead of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and tied with businessman Herman Cain. Huntsman, Santorum and Cain have been invited to all the debates. However, since that time, CNN's polls haven't included Johnson — which is the case with other polling organizations in recent weeks.It's hard to get good poll numbers if your name isn't on the poll, Johnson pointed out.He'd asked the party to "exert some leadership and reclaim the nominating process from the national news media who are today pre-ordaining the viability and success of candidates."As for money, Johnson's most recent campaign finance report, filed in October with the Federal Election Commission, showed he had less than $11,000 cash on hand.Johnson acknowledged that he wasn't likely to win the nomination without getting included in the remaining primary debates — and said he's painfully aware that he isn't likely to be included in those debates.He contrasted the attitude of the national Republicans with that of the New Mexico GOP in 1994, when he was an unknown who seemed to come from nowhere before winning the party's nomination for governor. "The New Mexico Republican Party was very inclusive," he said.As for the National Republican Party, he said, "They certainly don't want anything to do with ideas. Only protecting the status quo." Excluding him, Johnson said, "was a boardroom decision somewhere."Slate online magazine reporter Dave Weigel on Wednesday expressed sympathy for Johnson's plight."The rules that allowed no-hopers like Tommy Thompson, Jim Gilmore and Tom Tancredo into the 2007 debates would have let Johnson and [former Louisiana Gov.] Buddy Roemer in," Weigel wrote Wednesday. "So we're spared the presence of governors who last won elections in 1989 and 1998, and gifted with a senator who last won election in 2000 and a businessman who has never won anything."Even Comedy Central's political satire website Indecision weighed in on the Republican National Committee's response: "Whoa, settle down there Gary! Are you seriously suggesting that the RNC would allow certain voices within their party to be silenced by massive, wealthy media conglomerates?"This is the second presidential election in a row in which a New Mexico governor was a candidate. Four years ago about this time, Gov. Bill Richardson was struggling to get noticed in what was developing into a Democratic primary showdown between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. He dropped out in early January 2008 after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.However, unlike Johnson, Richardson was included in all the debates.Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com . Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com ||||| Click photo to enlarge « 1 » SANTA FE - Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, uninvited to 11 of 13 televised debates, says his campaign for president is dying. He described himself as underexposed and mistreated, and said he probably cannot continue in the race much longer. "There are five debates prior to the New Hampshire primary (on Jan. 10). If I'm shut out of all five, I don't see that I stand a chance in New Hampshire," Johnson said Friday in a wide-ranging, 50-minute interview. A two-term Republican governor from 1995 through 2002, Johnson said the party he stood for has let him down as much as media companies have. He said the Republican Party should have fought for his right to appear in televised debates, but did nothing. "Anyone who looks at what has happened would say I've been treated unfairly," Johnson said. "... I think I've been hung out to dry by the Republican Party." Johnson last week filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission over his exclusion from a recent debate at Wofford College in South Carolina. CBS News and the National Journal sponsored the event. Johnson said he had received no responses to his complaints. He said such silence was typical throughout his fight for inclusion on the biggest stages with millions of people watching the candidates on television. Recent presidential debates have been good for former House Speaker New Gingrich, who has gained in polls, and bad for Texas Gov. Rick Advertisement Perry, who promised to eliminate three government departments but could only remember two of them. A poll Friday for the on-line New Hampshire Journal showed Gingrich at 27 percent in New Hampshire, 2 percentage points behind the region's favorite, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The poll contained no mention of Johnson. Even so, Johnson has fared a bit better than former Louisiana governor and congressman Buddy Roemer, who has been shut out of every debate. Roemer, Johnson and two other candidates recently appeared in a small-scale debate in New Hampshire, trying to generate interest in their candidacies. Afterward, Roemer said he would support Johnson for president if he himself could not get the nomination. But Johnson's message, by his own admission, is going mostly unheard. Johnson, 58, said he would stand out from the eight Republicans appearing in most debates if only voters had the chance to hear him. Johnson supports eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and all existing federal taxes. He would replace them with a 23 percent national consumption tax on retail sales. As president, he said, he would submit a balanced budget in hopes of pressuring Congress to follow his leadership. He says he would veto all legislation in which expenses exceed revenues. Johnson would cut the Department of Defense by 43 percent or back to the level it was when President George W. Bush took office. Johnson also wants to legalize marijuana, outlaw the death penalty and maintain abortion rights for women - positions at odds with those of the Republican frontrunners. He spent much of last week in New York and Washington, giving interviews. This strategy, Johnson said, probably enables him to reach more voters in New Hampshire than if he wore out shoe leather campaigning before small groups. Johnson said that, without a consistent presence in televised debates, voters throughout the country do not know who he is, much less what he stands for. He said he had been "purposefully excluded" from debates in which he met the standard for inclusion. Dating to May, Johnson said, CNN blocked him from a debate it sponsored in New Hampshire, even though he qualified under the benchmarks of being an announced candidate with 2 percent support in three national polls during the month. At other points, Johnson said, he was even in polls with former restaurant executive Herman Cain and ahead of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum. Johnson complained that they were included in debates but he was not. To try to get noticed, Johnson resorted to posting video of himself answering questions posed at the debates. As an observer of the competition, Johnson said, he was unimpressed with Cain, who said in one debate that he would defer to military advisers on what to do about Iraq and Afghanistan. Johnson said Cain arrived as a candidate without a thoughtful point of view. Johnson is also tough on Gingrich, Romney and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. Of Romney he says: "I can't tell you where he stands on any issues at all." On Gingrich: "I don't think he talks in specifics." Johnson says Paul may come closest to his own views on certain issues, such as drug legalization. But Johnson says Paul acts in ways that he never could. "He sticks his earmarks (spending projects) in the budget, but then votes against it. I can't do that. I can't play that kind of game," Johnson said. In New Mexico, Johnson was more attuned to the power of his office than in building relationships with legislators. Johnson acquired the nickname "Governor No" because he vetoed 742 bills during his eight years in office. He vetoed a record 200 bills in 1995 as a first-year governor. Republican state Sen. Stuart Ingle of Portales said Johnson operated with unquestioned honesty. "He gave his word, and he never changed it," Ingle said. "He made a stand on issues, and he never deviated, particularly on matters of finance." Johnson, though, said he was open to change, as when he became an opponent of the death penalty, which he says is a fundamentally flawed government policy. "While governor, I changed my mind on capital punishment. I said send me a repeal bill, and I will sign it," Johnson said. "I am quite convinced that the government has put innocent people to death." New Mexico outlawed capital punishment in 2009, seven years after Johnson left office. He says his ideas and principles remain mostly unknown because he has not been a regular participant in the presidential debates. If and when his presidential campaign ends, Johnson said, he will be done with politics. He said the same thing after his second term as governor and his decision to publicly endorse marijuana legalization so police and prosecutors could focus on serious crimes. New Mexico will have an open U.S. Senate seat in 2012 with the retirement of Democrat Jeff Bingaman. But Johnson said he would not jump into that race if his presidential campaign ends. "I'm not interested in the Senate," he said. So, for perhaps a few more weeks, he will continue running for president, sending a message that he says could resonate if only he could get into the debates. Santa Fe Bureau Chief Milan Simonich can be reached at msimonich@tnmnp.com or 505-820-6898. His blog is at nmcapitolreport.com. ||||| Gary Johnson files FEC, FCC complaints over debate exclusion By Alicia M. Cohn - Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign is filing an official complaint with both the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over their candidate’s exclusion from the most recent GOP debate, Johnson’s campaign announced Tuesday. Johnson’s complaint charges that debate sponsor CBS significantly contributed to the candidates who were allowed to participate in the debate, "directly and significantly supporting those candidates it favors, and advocating the nomination of one of their favorites and opposing the nomination of [Johnson], whom CBS evidently disfavors." Johnson’s campaign has protested his exclusion from debates in the past through various means, typically using email and social media. The former New Mexico governor has been excluded from most of the presidential debates, failing to meet various requirements set by debate hosts. Hosts have cited his low polling numbers — typically under 2 percent — and in at least one case the fact that Johnson had not participated in enough of the other nationally televised debates. Johnson has participated in two of the national debates this election cycle, including September’s debate in Florida, where he made a memorable contribution with a joke about President Obama’s “shovel ready” jobs. In October, Johnson picked up support from fellow GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich for his complaint against debate hosts who had excluded him from debates over his poll numbers. Johnson was tied at the time in the polls with Rick Santorum, who has been included in most debates. Saturday’s debate, co-hosted by CBS and National Journal, was the first debate to air on broadcast television. According to Johnson’s complaint, “the public owns the airways over which CBS broadcasts, and the public deserves to be free from bias — favoring some candidates over others — as well as illegal support of certain presidential candidates on national network television.” | Gary Johnson in January 2011. Former New Mexico and current Republican Party (GOP) presidential candidate is reportedly considering a run for the (LP) presidential nomination. Johnson feels "abandoned by the Republican Party", he told '''', due to his exclusion from nine of the eleven GOP debates and believes the LP would give him a fair shot at their nomination. Johnson espouses views including legalization and defense budget cuts, which often run afoul of the GOP mainstream. Earlier this month, after filing suit with the and for his exclusion from the November 12 debate, he chastised the GOP establishment for failing to support him. The GOP agreed with the debate's inclusion criteria, which turned back candidates with less than three percent support in the '''' average and third quarter fundraising receipts below US$1 million. Johnson raised a little under US$240,000 in the third quarter and lately has not even been included in polls. He did appear in an August CNN poll, in which he led former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Utah governor . Despite their standing, both Santorum and Huntsman have been invited to every debate. Johnson believes his exclusion was a "boardroom decision" to protect the GOP's "status quo." But Republican party attorney John R. Phillippe Jr. says that without a minimum standard, "the debates would be utter chaos and unhelpful to Republican voters". If Johnson decides to leave the GOP and seek the LP nomination, it would not be the first time a member of the Republican Party did so. In 2008, former Republican Congressman Bob Barr ran and was selected as the LP nominee. In the general election, he garnered 0.4 percent of the popular vote. For 2012, the LP has achieved ballot access in all 50 states, and currently has nine presidential candidates, including National Guard officer R.J. Harris and Libertarian activist . |
Images of damage on Rangoon's streets have been emerging Police are reported to have fired shots at demonstrators. Witnesses said at least one person collapsed. Witnesses said soldiers stormed six monasteries overnight, smashing windows and doors and beat the sleeping monks. About 200 Buddhist monks were reported to have been detained during raids on two monasteries in Rangoon. As protests resumed, only a small number of monks could be seen among the crowd. Many of the protesters were heard chanting nationalist songs. Key locations of Rangoon democracy protests Enlarge Map Two members of the National League for Democracy, the party led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were also arrested overnight. There were also reports of raids in the north-east of the country. The arrests come a day after five people were reported to have been killed when police broke up protests by monks and civilians. The military government has confirmed one death. Barricades In Rangoon, security forces have set up barbed wire barricades around Shwedagon Pagoda and Rangoon city hall, two of the focal points for the demonstrations. The junta are using dirty tactics - they don't fire guns but beat people with rifle butts BBC News website reader Accounts from Burma Text: Burma confirms death In quotes: Global reaction The British ambassador in Rangoon, Mark Canning, said soldiers and police had stepped up their presence. "There are truckloads of troops in a number of locations - more than there seemed to be yesterday," he told the BBC. "There are fire trucks, water canons positioned in a number of places - there are about three of them outside city hall. There are a number of prison vans also to be seen in certain places." Leaflets have been circulated throughout Rangoon urging people to come out and show solidarity with the monks. UN debate There are no indications yet that the military government is ready to listen to the many calls for restraint being made around the world, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York and called on the military junta to show restraint - a call also made by China on Thursday. The US and European Union wanted the council to consider imposing sanctions - but that was rejected by China as not "helpful". Instead, council members "expressed their concern vis-a-vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar," said France's UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert. They welcomed a plan to send UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to the region, and called on the Burmese authorities to receive him "as soon as possible". China and Russia have argued the situation in Burma is a purely internal matter. Both vetoed a UN resolution critical of Burma's rulers in January. Analysts fear a repeat of the violence in 1988, when troops opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing thousands. The protests were triggered by the government's decision to double the price of fuel last month, hitting people hard in the impoverished nation. ||||| Burma's security forces raided several Buddhist monasteries today, arresting hundreds of the monks who have led the biggest protests against military rule in 20 years, witnesses said. At least 200 monks were detained in pre-dawn raids on two monasteries in Rangoon, a day after tens of thousands of protesters defied warning shots, tear gas and baton charges meant to quell the demonstrations. Troops also raided at least two monasteries in north-eastern Burma, where large anti-government protests have been held in the past week. Up to 500 monks were arrested at the Mogaung monastery in Yankin Township and another 150 detained at the Ngwe Kyaryan monastery in South Okkalapa Township, witnesses said. "Only two or three sick monks were left behind,'' a person who lives near the Ngwe Kyaryan monastery said. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting today on the violent response to demonstrations and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the country's military rulers to exercise "utmost restraint" towards peaceful protesters. Ibrahim Gambari, the secretary-general's special envoy on Burma, briefed the council on the latest developments and Ban announced that he will then head to the region to press the UN's offer to help promote national reconciliation through dialogue. The United States and the council's European Union members - Britain, France, Italy and Belgium - have already condemned the attacks and called on the country's military rulers to stop the violence and open a dialogue with pro-democracy leaders. In a joint statement issued after a meeting of US and EU diplomats, the officials urged the Security Council to "discuss this situation urgently and consider further steps including sanctions". "What's going on in Burma is outrageous," US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after a luncheon meeting of ministers from the eight major industrialised nations. "The regime needs to stop using violence against peaceful people and get to a dialogue so that they can have reconciliation." But getting China and Russia to even agree to a press statement from the council will be an uphill struggle because both countries contend that the situation in Burma is an internal affair and doesn't threaten international peace and security - as required for Security Council action. In January, China and Russia cast a rare double veto on a US-sponsored resolution calling on Burma's military government to release all political prisoners, speed up progress toward democracy, and stop attacks against ethnic minorities. | Monks protest in Myanmar, September 24, 2007. At least 200 monks have been arrested in Myanmar during night-time raids on monasteries not long before sunrise. Government forces began to crack down on protesters after several days of peaceful demonstrations, but despite the violent treatment from military personnel, the monks returned to the streets in the morning. 100 monks were taken by security forces when they raided a monastery at Ngwe Kyaryan. "Only two or three sick monks were left behind", a witness near the monastery said. Some reports state that shots have been fired at demonstrators, with one "collapsing", but it's not known if the individual was shot. "There are fire trucks, water cannons positioned in a number of places - there are about three of them outside city hall. There are a number of prison vans also to be seen in certain places", said Mark Canning, the British ambassador in Rangoon. The United States and European Union have said that they are deeply troubled by events, issuing a statement calling on the United Nations Security Council to consider sanctions, but China and Russia do not believe sanctions will "be helpful" and immediately dismissed the call, calling the situation a matter for the "internal government" of Myanmar. "France will not accept the gagging of Burma's opposition", said Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, who also said that "the Security Council expressed their concern vis-a-vis the situation, and have urged restraint, especially from the government of Myanmar." |
Your Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update Get the very latest news and health information on the coronavirus pandemic delivered to your inbox daily. ||||| Bulldogs save drowning woman in Hong Kong By ninemsn staff Two Western Bulldogs players saved a woman from drowning last night in Hong Kong. The woman who is believed to have been attempting suicide was spotted by passersby in the waters of Victoria Harbour. After hearing screams from bystanders, midfielder Daniel Cross and defender Tom Williams dived into the harbour and swam to the rescue of the drowning woman. The woman reportedly struggled with the two players as they attempted to drag her to shore. Both Cross, 24, and Williams, 21, suffered minor cuts and bruises in their heroic rush to save the woman. The pair, in Hong Kong as part of an unofficial Bulldogs trip, were waiting to board a cruise boat when the alert was raised. They first threw a life-ring to the woman, but she refused to hold it and they were forced to dive in after her. Bulldogs communications manager Stacey Mair told News Ltd the rescue happened at about 10pm last night Melbourne time. Mair said Cross forgot to remove his wallet and mobile phone from his pockets before diving in. Last night his teammates were planning to collect money to buy the midfielder a new phone, Mair added. "The boys are in good spirits," Mair said. Bulldogs chief executive Campbell Rose said yesterday he was extremely proud of the players' bravery. ||||| The AFL decade that was: The 10 biggest decisions Jake Niall In a tumultuous decade, the game – and those who play it – have had to contend with controversy and drama, as well as revel in the highest of highs. | Two Australian Rules Football (AFL) players for the Western Bulldogs team rescued a woman who was drowning in the waters of Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Midfielder Daniel Cross and defender Tom Williams hauled the woman out of the water and into safe hands. The woman was believed to have been attempting suicide, and when Cross and Williams threw a life ring out to her, she refused to grab onto it. Initially, the pair were not aware that the woman was suicidal, and only intervened after hearing calls for help from bystanders. Chief executive of the team Campbell Rose said that "The boys are in good spirit," and that he was extremely proud of the pair. |
A WHEEL on an Iranian plane exploded and caught fire as the aircraft made a hard landing in the city of Isfahan, state media reported, the latest in a series of air accidents. The accident occurred late on Tuesday when the plane from Tehran was landing at Isfahan airport in the centre of the country, the state broadcaster said. No passengers were injured, it added, without saying how many were on board. ”The plane had a bad landing, causing one of the wheels to explode and catch fire, but airport officials kept the plane door closed and put out the fire,” the report said. Civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh identified the plane as Fokker 100 belonging to domestic carrier Aseman Airlines but denied there was an emergency landing. ”Following a normal landing in Isfahan, the pilot decided that the plane be checked before passengers disembarked as he felt that the level of heat in one of the wheels was abnormal.” It was the second aviation incident reported this week. On Monday three people were killed and three others injured when a police helicopter crashed in the southern province of Kerman. Iran, which has been under years of international sanctions hampering its ability to buy new planes, has suffered a number of aviation disasters over the past decade. Its civil and military fleet is made up of ancient aircraft in very poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance. In July, an Iranian airliner en route to Armenia caught fire mid-air and plunged flaming into farmland, killing all 168 people on board in the worst air disaster in Iran in years. Also last month, an Iranian airliner overshot the runway in the second city of Mashhad and slammed into a perimeter wall, killing 17 people. Lure: Town reports dozens of mermaid sightings In-depth: All the latest travel news Follow our Twitter blog Follow our travel editor and travel reporter’s Twitter blogs ||||| Incident: Aseman F100 at Isfahan on Aug 11th 2009, overheated brakes on landing By Simon Hradecky, created Wednesday, Aug 12th 2009 15:20Z, last updated Wednesday, Aug 12th 2009 15:22Z An Iran Aseman Airlines Fokker 100, registration EP-ASJ performing flight EP-729 from Tehran Mehrabad to Isfahan (Iran), landed normally late night, the crew however requested fire trucks to attend the aircraft due to an indication of a high brakes temperature while turning off the runway. Arriving emergency services quickly put a small wheel fire out, while the doors were kept shut with passengers remaining on board, then the airplane taxied to the apron. The passengers disembarked normally. The airport reported, that the landing was perfectly normal and apart from the high brakes temperature nothing out of the ordinary happened. The airplane departed again on schedule the following morning. By (anonymous) on Thursday, Aug 13th 2009 20:39Z By nuri Yalcin on Wednesday, Aug 12th 2009 19:50Z By (anonymous) on Wednesday, Aug 12th 2009 17:09Z Add your comment: (max 1024 characters) Your Name: Your Email: Subject: Your comment: The Aviation Herald Apps Android and iOS Support The Aviation Herald one time Monthly support 1 €/month Interview: The human factor named "Simon Hradecky" and the team of man and machine | A similar aircraft with A wheel on an Aseman Airlines caught fire late on Tuesday night after landing in , Iran following a flight from . It is unclear if the aircraft landed normally or experienced a hard landing, with accounts conflicting. It is known that after landing the crew noticed that the brake temperature in one of the wheels was unusually high as they left the runway, and requested that fire crews responded before the passengers disembarked. When emergency services arrived they discovered that the wheel was alight, and the fire was extinguished. The plane then proceeded to the , and the passengers left the jet as normal. The plane subsequently departed as scheduled the following morning. Air accidents are common in Iran, which has an aging fleet that is poorly maintained both for civil and military operations. International sanctions have meant that new aircraft cannot be purchased. Earlier this week, a police helicopter crash killed three people and wounded three more. Last month Iran saw its worst air disaster in years when an airliner heading to Armenia crashed, killing the 168 on board. The same month saw another airliner overrun a runway at and strike a wall, killing seventeen. |
Debbie Dujanovic Reporting Five hundred evacuees from the Gulf Coast are living right now out at Camp Williams, and many are starting to reconnect with family across the US. Fifteen people have already been reconnected with family members across the country. Officials hope to hook up 85 more evacuees with loved ones very soon. The rest, for now, are here indefinitely. The base barbershop stayed busy all day, giving free cuts to Katrina survivors. The conversation focused on where they�ve been and the chaos they survived. Evacuee: �Swimming and walking in water, in 12 feet of water, I mean you have to hold onto anything that floats to get to dry land. Once you get to dry land, you don�t come off.� Evacuee: �It seems like the end of the world in New Orleans; it�s darkness.� But they are clearly grateful for Utah�s generosity. On base, young boys who survived the flooding soaked up the warm sun, enjoying a game of basketball. The donations continue to pour into Camp Williams too. A large pile of shoes was shipped in from Tooele County, all donated by the residents there. Evacuee: �I want to thank the people of Utah for their hospitality and for restoring my faith in America.� Evacuee: �It seems like heaven, looking at the mountains and getting a breath of fresh air and saying, �Thank God we made it.�� Last night on Eyewitness News at 10:00 we introduced you to Phillip Johnson. He was clearly distraught about being separated from his wife during the flooding. He put her on a rescue boat while he stayed behind. We are happy to report tonight that they have found each other. She is safe and okay in Arkansas. ||||| This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story. Nishi Gupta ReportingHundreds of people packed the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City today wanting to become Red Cross volunteers. They want the training to help evacuees staying at Camp Williams. The Red Cross says it had no idea so many people would show up, especially on Labor Day – a holiday that gives people time off from work. It became a day of giving. The Red Cross is thankful and overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up. Volunteers stood in lines that didn't end. Wayne Arballo, Volunteer: “It’s like a ride at Disneyland. You just stand and wait.” After registering they eagerly waited for a chance at training. Classes were filled hours before their start time and the Red Cross had to add more. Friends Kayelynn Wright and Melanie Schwendiman came from Magna this morning. Kayelynn Wright: “The last couple of days we’d talked about it and said, ‘What can we do?’ So when I saw it last night, I called her this morning and said, ‘We gotta go!’” Paul Ahlstrom's family ended their St. George vacation early. Paul Ahlstrom, Volunteer: “you can only watch on TV so long before you feel like you need to do something.” But not everyone in the family could help... Paul Ahlstrom: “Found out you have to be 14 or older. All my kids are under 14.” But they found a way around that. The parents will go through training and the kids will make homemade hygiene kits for evacuees. Paul Ahlstrom Jr.: “We’re just here to help out and donate to the hurricane relief.” There were so many volunteers that they probably won't be needed at Camp Williams for some time. Cecilia Walker, Red Cross, Utah: “They’re basically on-call. We’re basically staffed for the next several days.” But for those who do get called, the Red Cross asks them to work 12 hour shifts and be ready to help out in a variety of ways. Cecilia Walker: “Mass care feeding, dealing to the comfort of the guest in the shelter, helping them with any of their personal needs.” The Red Cross has scheduled three classes for tomorrow, at 10:00 a.m., noon, and 6:00 p.m. You are asked to bring a photo ID with you. They may also add classes during the week as the need for additional volunteers comes up.” Those who are looking to volunteer for hurricane relief should call officials before heading to Camp Williams. If you're interested in donating you can call the Utah State Health Department at 866-873-2437 or the United Way at 736-8929. ||||| Amanda Butterfield Reporting Hundreds of Katrina evacuees are now calling Utah home. Over the weekend they came by the plane loads -- 600 hundred in all. The last group arrived just after midnight this morning. Some came on military planes, others flew in courtesy of Jet Blue. Peter Coroon, SL County Mayor: "Some of the people look dazed. Some of them are just happy to be out of where they were. Some of them are eager to find their loves ones they've been separated. Some of them weren't sure where they were going when they left New Orleans." As soon as they got off the planes, all the evacuees received a health screening and crisis counselors were also available. Several of the evacuees say they're grateful for Utah's hospitality. They're now settling in at Camp Williams, spending a national holiday far away from home. The majority arrived with nothing but the clothes on their back; now they have new clothes and the first comfortable place to sleep in a week. Diana Dindy, New Orleans Evacuee: �I�m breathing hard now because I�m excited because people care. I see people who really love us, and I appreciate that.� Mariann Geyer, American Red Cross: �It seems everybody would like a nice hot shower. And that�s been very, very popular. Next to that is getting a good night�s sleep.� Food is now plentiful, instead of scarce. McDonald's provided their first meal in the Beehive State. Organizers say a huge outpouring of money and supplies has already come in from hundreds of companies and individuals. No one can say for sure how long the evacuees will be here. ||||| October 26th, 2005 Local News News / Local / Stories Governor: Utah May House Hurricane Refugees If you'd like to help or house someone, call 866-873-2437 (starting Thursday) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah is ready to accept up to 1,000 people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Gov. Jon Huntsman said Wednesday. The state of Louisiana asked for help housing the refugees, he said. "We did a quick calculation as to what we could accommodate immediately and we came up with 1,000," Huntsman said. "I'm glad Utah is seen as a community that will reach out charitably." The displaced residents would likely stay in housing at the Army National Guard's Camp Williams in Draper or at an overflow shelter in Midvale, both Salt Lake City suburbs. The state can provide such basic services as shelter, food, clothing and schooling for children. It is not clear how soon people might be relocated to Utah, but once here they could stay for up to four months, Huntsman said. He also said that Utah is prepared to send up to 200 Utah National Guard troops to the area immediately if needed. The Utah departments of health, public safety and homeland security also are prepared to assist in rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts, he said. "This could be the state of Utah we're talking about. We're doing it for our neighbors this time, but it could well have been Utah," Huntsman said. Also Wednesday, pallets of sleeping bags and other relief supplies were transferred from the Mormon church's central storehouse to trucks headed to Louisiana and Mississippi. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 14 truckloads of supplies including food, water and tents en route to the hurricane-ravaged region. And the Best Friends Animal Society, which operates an animal sanctuary in southern Utah, has volunteered to work with animal rescue groups and local officials to help reunite people with their pets. "Local authorities are prohibiting or strongly discouraging people from returning to homes they have evacuated," said regional coordinator Paul Berry, who is directing Best Friends efforts on the Gulf Coast. "So as we gather details of where pets were left behind, we'll be working with all the other rescue teams and organizations to pick them up and reunite them with their families." (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ||||| Utah service is balm to the weary By Erin Stewart Deseret Morning News Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News Members of various religious denominations attend church services with hurricane survivors at Camp Williams on Sunday. Kennedy sang his familiar Baptist hymns along with fellow refugees who packed the auditorium at Camp Williams on Sunday evening for a nondenominational church service. Utah's newest evacuees worshipped hand in hand with members of several local Baptist and Catholic congregations who shared their choirs and clergy with the hurricane survivors. "I hope that this can lift people up and keep them there, not just until the next sermon but for the rest of their lives," Kennedy sad. Pastor France Davis of the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City aimed to do just that by coordinating the mixed-faith event that for most hurricane victims was their first worship service since Katrina hit. As Davis read the 23rd Psalm, evacuees and Utah natives joined to repeat the words of the famous passage, shouting out with force, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." "People were busy trying to meet their physical needs and their food needs. I am convinced for the long term and the best well-being, the spiritual needs must also be met," Pastor Davis said. "We hope they will be strong and trust in the Lord." For hurricane survivor Alcidia Johnikin, that spiritual balance had been lost along with her home and job in New Orleans. After hearing the congregation ring out the words of "Oh, how I love Jesus," Johnikin said not only were her spirits lifted, but she was able to feel a little piece of the hometown she left behind. "I was really despondent. I'm so far away from home, and even though I know I couldn't go back, in the back of my mind I wanted to go home," Johnikin said. Katie Scott, a Riverdale resident and member of the Calvary congregation, hoped the love of the ministers and the congregation would help ease some of the refugees' minds and help them realize "they're our brothers and sisters." More than anything, Scott said she wanted the refugees to feel that although Louisiana and Utah are states apart, the love for Utah's expected 2,000 refugees will forever tie the two regions together. "When I met one lady, we hugged and were so happy to see each other," she said. "It was like I've known them forever and we've just met." The sermons and remarks of several local clergy and Utah dignitaries echoed the idea that Utah has a special bond to the refugees who have already arrived or are expected to fly in through the next few days. As Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert read from the Bible about service, he thanked the evacuees for giving Utah the chance to assist and care for them. "You were strangers before, but I'm here to tell you now you are friends of Utah," Herbert said. "I appreciate the enthusiasm we hear today that is chasing down that doom and gloom." CAMP WILLIAMS Jerome Kennedy raised his hands, swaying to the final words of "Amazing Grace" as he allowed himself to feel hope for the first time since Hurricane Katrina left him homeless and stranded in New Orleans."I'm in here jumping up and down, thanking him," said Kennedy, who arrived in Utah Saturday night after spending the week in the Superdome until the stench and the chaos drove him onto the street. "It's a relief and we need it."Kennedy sang his familiar Baptist hymns along with fellow refugees who packed the auditorium at Camp Williams on Sunday evening for a nondenominational church service. Utah's newest evacuees worshipped hand in hand with members of several local Baptist and Catholic congregations who shared their choirs and clergy with the hurricane survivors."I hope that this can lift people up and keep them there, not just until the next sermon but for the rest of their lives," Kennedy sad.Pastor France Davis of the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City aimed to do just that by coordinating the mixed-faith event that for most hurricane victims was their first worship service since Katrina hit.As Davis read the 23rd Psalm, evacuees and Utah natives joined to repeat the words of the famous passage, shouting out with force, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.""People were busy trying to meet their physical needs and their food needs. I am convinced for the long term and the best well-being, the spiritual needs must also be met," Pastor Davis said. "We hope they will be strong and trust in the Lord."For hurricane survivor Alcidia Johnikin, that spiritual balance had been lost along with her home and job in New Orleans. After hearing the congregation ring out the words of "Oh, how I love Jesus," Johnikin said not only were her spirits lifted, but she was able to feel a little piece of the hometown she left behind.Now, Johnikin said she can once again feel hope that her city will be rebuilt."I was really despondent. I'm so far away from home, and even though I know I couldn't go back, in the back of my mind I wanted to go home," Johnikin said.Katie Scott, a Riverdale resident and member of the Calvary congregation, hoped the love of the ministers and the congregation would help ease some of the refugees' minds and help them realize "they're our brothers and sisters."More than anything, Scott said she wanted the refugees to feel that although Louisiana and Utah are states apart, the love for Utah's expected 2,000 refugees will forever tie the two regions together."When I met one lady, we hugged and were so happy to see each other," she said. "It was like I've known them forever and we've just met."The sermons and remarks of several local clergy and Utah dignitaries echoed the idea that Utah has a special bond to the refugees who have already arrived or are expected to fly in through the next few days.As Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert read from the Bible about service, he thanked the evacuees for giving Utah the chance to assist and care for them."You were strangers before, but I'm here to tell you now you are friends of Utah," Herbert said. "I appreciate the enthusiasm we hear today that is chasing down that doom and gloom." E-mail: estewart@desnews.com ||||| New Home Away From Home; Hurricane Evacuees Arrive in Utah LAST UPDATE: 9/5/2005 9:00:13 PM Watch Video (ABC 4 News/AP) -- After days of suffering on the streets of New Orleans, the first evacuee from Hurricane Katrina arrived in Utah Saturday evening to open arms are smiles. More than 150 refugees were aboard the Jet Blue flight which touched down at the Utah Air National Guard Base just after 7 p.m. They were greeted with applause and handshakes from National Guard officials, local religious leaders and representatives of the governor's office. When the floods after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Phillip Clay and his 87-year-old mother swam and walked their way to shelter at the Louisiana Superdome. Saturday they walked off an airplane to a temporary life in Utah. "I'm happy to be in Utah," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the tarmac at the Air National Guard base in Salt Lake City. "I had to swim, walk through water neck high... It's devastating." Like thousands from New Orleans, Clay, 48, lost everything last week -- his house, car and other possessions. He doesn't know when he'll go back, or if he'll have his job at the Superdome when he returns. Clay was among the 150 refugees who arrived in Salt Lake Saturday on the chartered Jet Blue airliner out of Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans. He and his mother were airlifted by helicopter from the Superdome to the airport and thought they were bound for San Antonio. Travel plans were changed mid-flight, routing evacuees here. Refugee Beverly Pugh said it didn't really matter to her where the plane landed. "Not the way we was living, not in the conditions were in," the 40-year-old chef said. Pugh who, along with seven others from her neighborhood, was rescued by a friend with a boat, said she spent the last four days sleeping on the floor at the New Orleans convention center. "It was awful," she said. Now she's hoping to begin to rebuild a life and reconnect with her two sons, ages 20 and 22, from whom she was separated in the aftermath of the disaster. The plane carried families and individuals of all ages, including about 30 people over age 65 and 15 people who were using wheelchairs. Evacuees were first given a health screening, followed by food and water, National Guard Lt. Col. Kurt Davis said. At least one person was immediately transported to LDS Hospital for additional medical attention, hospital spokesman Jeff Gomez said. Five buses were standing by to transport the group to the National Guard's Camp Williams where they will be temporarily housed. Three additional planes from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast were expected late Saturday night or Sunday, Davis said. Each of the KC-135 guard planes will be carrying 50 evacuees, bringing the expected total number of about 300. Gov. Jon Huntsman has said Utah could shelter up to 2,000 evacuees. The governor has declared a state of emergency in Utah, allocating $5 million to cover the costs of emergency operations here. Huntsman also sent a letter to President Bush, asking for a federal emergency designation, which if signed could ensure Utah is reimbursed for its expenses from federal disaster relief funds. State and local officials are setting up an emergency services center at Camp Williams, so evacuees can access counseling, religious support, get clothing, health care, child care and employment services. The Jordan School District is also working to get any children evacuated enrolled in local schools. Also on Saturday, the national Best Friends Animal Society, based in Kanab, Utah, said they were working with animal control officers in the New Orleans area to collect stray and abandoned animals. The animals will be taken to St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Miss., Best Friends spokeswoman Barbara Williams said. Best Friends members across the country are offering to give the animal shelter homes and every effort will be made to reunite families with their pets, she said. Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims. Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution. In New Orleans, military planes descended one by one upon the damaged Louis Armstrong Airport. As one helicopter landed to bring evacuees to safety, another took off. A long line of evacuees waited on the tarmac to board any plane to safety. Just outside the airport, a cement factory showed the force of the hurricane that hit this city a week ago. While one tower stood firm, the other collapsed from the wind. The rooftops of almost all of the airport buildings were torn and their pieces scattered on the ground. Fifteen soldiers from the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group 1st Battalion arrived in the flooded city Saturday afternoon, joining 20 other Guard members who landed in New Orleans on Friday. The soldiers deployed on Saturday are specially trained in water rescues and will assist in the massive search-and-rescue effort throughout New Orleans. The group brought with them Zodiac boats, kayaks and scuba gear. They were expected to be in the city for at least two weeks. "We feel really anxious to go in and help out," said Utah sergeant named Holmes, who declined to give his first name. "It's a huge tragedy." Just outside the airport, thousands waited to catch a flight out of the city. There was a man with no shoes or shirt; his arm wrapped in a bandage. A few feet away, a woman walked up and down the long line of refugees in a panic, shouting "Bernice!" One by one, people keep coming up to military personnel on the other side of the gate asking for help. Water bottles and trash littered the road. Some sat on suitcases, others on the ground. The entire baggage claim center of the airport had been turned into a triage area. Hundreds of people, the elderly and some with minor injuries, waited for a place to go. Utah Sgt. Maj. Gary Johnson said his group was told to prepare themselves because mayhem reigns just outside the airport. It was pitch black Saturday night, although smoke from fires burning in the city could be seen from all directions. | Evacuees from New Orleans arrived on Sunday and have continued to come to Utah, utilizing the facilities at Camp Williams, the training facility for the Utah National Guard, to house the incoming people. Flights from New Orleans to Salt Lake City International Airport provided by JetBlue Airways under a contract from FEMA have been shuttling people from New Orleans to many destinations throughout the United States, including Utah. In addition, Utah Air National Guard relief missions transporting food and other supplies to New Orleans relief efforts have also been returning with people in the cargo areas of the airplanes on return flights. "In keeping with our mission to assist in the security and safety of our homeland, we stand trained, ready, and able to respond to the call to assist our fellow citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and elsewhere," said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah National Guard Adjutant General. The people on board the airplanes had no idea where they were going. In one case the airplane was headed to San Antonio and at the last minute while still airborne the destination was changed to Utah. Peter Coroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: "Some of the people look dazed. Some of them are just happy to be out of where they were. Some of them are eager to find their loves ones they've been separated. Some of them weren't sure where they were going when they left New Orleans." Governor John Huntsman, Jr. utilized surplus state funds by declaring a state of emergency to begin efforts housing and clothing people coming to Utah, however some of this will likely be reimbursed by the Federal Government at a later date. He announced that Utah was willing to take up to 1,000 people at shelters in Utah, and that amount was later increased to over 2,000. On Monday, President Bush signed an executive order granting the emergency declaration in Utah to provide Federal assistance for the evacuees in Utah. After arriving in Utah, one evacuee said "I want to thank the people of Utah for their hospitality and for restoring my faith in America." Another evacuee said "it seems like heaven, looking at the mountains and getting a breath of fresh air and saying, 'Thank God we made it.'" Not all evacuees were pleased with the move to Utah. "I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that's where we were going. Nothing personal. It's nice. But I don't know anybody here," said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site. The Utah chapter of the American Red Cross has been training volunteers over the Labor Day weekend, and according to one official they have been overwhelmed with community support to help the evacuees. The line of volunteers to receive the training helping those at Camp Williams was litterally out of the door at the Red Cross offices today. One volunteer, Kayelynn Wright said, "The last couple of days we’d talked about it and said, 'What can we do?' So when I saw it (a call for volunteers) last night, I called (my neighbor) this morning and said, 'We gotta go!'" The Red Cross has asked that you contact the local office if you plan on volunteering or donating any new clothing and other items to help the evacuees. Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims. Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution. Transportation requests are also being honored by the Utah state government, and evacuees are having transportation to anywhere in the United States paid for at state expense. In addition, a small amount of extra money is being donated directly to each family to help with immediate expenses. The Utah Transit Authority has already established a regular municipal bus service between Camp William and downtown Salt Lake City, which will begin formal service starting tomorrow morning. |
Key Points: MPs of the 49th Parliament of New Zealand were officially sworn in at a special ceremony in Parliament this afternoon. The 122 MPs, 33 of whom are new to Parliament, have all sworn allegiance to the Queen. New Mangere MP Sua William Sio had wanted to be sworn in in Samoan, but was refused. That did not stop him - he gave his oath in both Samoan and English. National MP Lockwood Smith has been sworn in as the new Speaker of the House. - NEWSTALK ZB ||||| Veteran National MP Lockwood Smith has been elected unopposed as Speaker at the commission opening of Parliament today. Dr Smith's election followed the swearing in of the 49th Parliament. He said he was honoured to be elected, and reminded MPs of the price paid by their forebears so they might live in a democracy. Dr Smith is the 29th Speaker and told Parliament he had served under eight in his time as an MP. He also promised MPs that his door "will always be open". Today's commission opening will be followed by Parliament's State opening tomorrow. ||||| 49th Parliament opened today Earlier today the members of the 49th Parliament were sworn in and a new Speaker was elected after the session was opened by Her Majesty’s Commissioners. The members elected at the recent general election assembled in the Debating Chamber at 2 pm. Three senior judges, including the Chief Justice, Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias GNZM , opened the session, having been sent by the Governor-General as Her Majesty’s Commissioners. After the Commissioners departed the members took an oath or an affirmation as set out in the Oaths and Declarations Act 1957. This requires them to state their allegiance to the Crown, which they must do before they can participate in House proceedings. Members then elected Hon Dr Lockwood Smith MP as Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Speaker’s main function is to preside over the House when it is in session. You can find more information about the role of the Speaker in the Parliament Brief factsheet ‘Officers of the House’. Although the session is now officially open, a more formal ceremony, known as the State Opening of Parliament will occur tomorrow, where the Governor-General will read the Speech from the Throne, setting out the Government’s legislative intentions. This is known as the State opening of Parliament, while today’s ceremony was the Commission opening. ||||| House of Representatives to meet on 8 December The first meeting of the House of Representatives of the 49th Parliament will be at 2 pm on Monday, 8 December. The main events on 8 December will be the members being sworn in and the election of the Speaker. The State opening of Parliament will be on Tuesday, 9 December at 11 am. The Governor-General will come to Parliament House to formally open the 49th Parliament, delivering the speech from the Throne, which sets out the Government’s legislative plans. Both events will be broadcast live on Parliament TV. | New Zealand Parliament Buildings. The New Zealand Parliament met today for the first time following the recent general election. Three senior judges, led by Chief Justice Sian Elias, formally opened the session. The members were formally sworn in, and the National Party took control of the government benches. National MP Lockwood Smith was unanimously elected Speaker. Parliament will reconvene tomorrow for the formal state opening by the Governor-General, and the speech from the Throne, in which the government will lay out its legislative programme. The November 8 election saw National win a victory over the Labour Party and form a minority government with the support of ACT and the Māori Party. |
Palestinian gas stations began shutting down and motorists lined up at pumps after an Israeli fuel company cut off deliveries Wednesday, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that has followed Hamas’ rise to power. An end to fuel supplies could cripple hospitals, halt food deliveries and keep people home from work — a devastating scenario for an economy already ravaged by Israeli and international sanctions. Dor Energy, the Israeli company that has been the sole fuel provider to the Palestinians since interim peace agreements were signed in the mid-1990s, cited growing debts for its decision, Palestinian officials said. Dor officials declined comment, but the company had threatened to cut off supplies twice before this year — only to be paid at the last minute by the Palestinians. Asaf Shariv, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Israel would “absolutely not” bail out the Palestinians. Shariv said that since the Palestinian government resells gasoline to consumers, there is no reason for it not to have money to pay its debts. But Palestinian officials said their cash-strapped government is one of the biggest users of gasoline and unable to pay the bill. Mujahid Salame, head of the Palestinian petrol authority, predicted fuel supplies would run out in many areas by Thursday. “If this happens, there will be a humanitarian crisis,” he said. In Gaza City motorists formed long lines at filling stations, expecting a fuel crunch. “I bought more than I need because I want to guarantee that I can reach work again,” said Osama Shaban, 33, a construction engineer who drives 10 miles to work each day. Though station owners said they still had several days of reserves, some limited motorists’ purchases to conserve supplies. Hospital concerns Moaiya Hassanain, a top Health Ministry official in Gaza, warned that the area’s hospitals, already suffering from a shortage of medicines, would cease to function without fuel. He said ambulances would stop running, employees would not be able to get to work and gas generators — used to compensate for ongoing electric outages — would be hobbled. “It’s going to be a disaster for us in the medical profession,” he said, speaking at a Gaza City gas station where helped fill the gas tanks of several ambulances. In the West Bank, the situation was even more dire. Many stations said they were out of fuel, in some cases laying their dry nozzles on the ground. “The only thing I’ve been doing for the past day is telling drivers that I don’t have any gas,” said Awad Dabous, who works at a gas station in the West Bank town of Jenin. A sign at the station said simply: “Sorry, no gas.” In Nablus, a line of taxi drivers said they stopped working because they had no fuel. One driver, Mahmoud Tourabi, said he would try to drive to a nearby Jewish settlement in hopes of filling his tank. “They may kill me there, so I will be the martyr of the gas,” he quipped. Hamas' financial bind The fuel crunch is the latest sign of trouble for the Palestinian economy, which has been hit hard by a cut-off in Western aid. The donors halted the money flow in response to Hamas’ victory in legislative elections, demanding the group renounce violence and recognize Israel. The U.S. and European Union, the two biggest donors, consider Hamas a terrorist group. Hamas has rejected the demands, despite a financial crisis that has left it unable to pay the salaries of thousands of government workers for two months. Instead, it has raised some $70 million from Iran and Arab donors. Under U.S. pressure, banks have refused to transfer the funds to Hamas, and the money remains stuck in an account in Egypt. Compounding Hamas’ woes, Israel has cut off about $55 million in monthly transfers of tax money it collects for the Palestinians. Israel has placed the money in escrow. Israel dipped into this money last month to pay Palestinian bills to government-owned companies, such as the Israeli electric monopoly. The Palestinians rely on Israel for many key supplies, including fuel, electricity and water Foreign aid talks Fearing catastrophe, the “Quartet” of Mideast peace makers — the U.S., EU, United Nations and Russia — agreed Tuesday to restore some humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, as long as the money is not handled by Hamas. But it remains unclear when the money will start flowing, how much will be sent and who will administer the money. In Brussels, European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin said more work was needed before the new mechanism would start to channel funds to the Palestinians. She said there is no timeline, only that “we want this to move as soon as possible.” Hamas said it welcomed any aid, but expressed regrets that the Quartet attached strings. Israeli officials said they had no objections to humanitarian aid reaching Palestinians, provided it is kept out of the hands of Hamas. Olmert has said he would be willing to negotiate with Hamas if the group accepts the international community’s demands to end its violent campaign against the Jewish state. With Hamas refusing to budge, however, Olmert says he is prepared to draw Israel’s borders on his own. Justice Minister Haim Ramon on Wednesday gave Hamas until the end of the year to prove it is willing to negotiate a peace deal. “If it becomes clear by the end of the year that we really have no partner, and the international community is also convinced of this, then we will take our fate into our own hands and not leave our fate in the hands of our enemies,” he told Israel’s Army radio. Ramon, a close associate of Olmert, was the first Israeli official to set a deadline for Hamas. ||||| Heroes We follow Ukrainian miners as they go underground to dig the last pieces of coal from exhausted mine shafts. Life in San Salvador The capital of El Salvador is being torn apart as gangs clash, leaving death, chaos and destruction in their wake. | Israeli company Dor Energy, the sole supplier of gasoline and cooking gas to the Palestinian territories, cut off all deliveries on Wednesday, citing US$27 million in unpaid bills. Mujahed Salameh, director general of the Palestinian Petroleum Agency, predicted an "economic catastrophe" which would cripple factories and transportation as many people would be unable to work. He said that the Palestinian Authority does not maintain petroleum reserves and that gasoline supplies would run out in many areas by Thursday. The Associated Press reported long lines at gas stations in the Gaza Strip, and gasoline stations through the West Bank have begun rationing. Dor Energy had threatened supply cutoffs twice before 2006, which were averted when the Palestinians made last-minute payments. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is reportedly in talks with U.S. and European Union officials in an attempt to get Israel to resume delivery of fuel. For Israel's part, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the Israeli government would "absolutely not" bail out the Palestinians. The gasoline shortage is expected to deepen an economic and humanitarian crisis in the Palestianian territories since the U.S. and EU cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won parliamentary elections. |
Neem een abonnement of dagkaart Elke dag de krant, on line of op papier Toegang tot het archief van 350.000 artikels Extra regionieuws Speciale online dossiers. Neem een krantenabonnement Neem een digitaal abonnement Neem een dagkaart Aanmelden als abonnee e-mailadres: paswoord: bewaar paswoord ( help Paswoord vergeten? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u nog geen paswoord? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u noggeen paswoord? Klik hier Aanmelden met dagkaart Code: ||||| Een kamermeerderheid van 97 parlementsleden heeft zijn vertrouwen in de regering Verhofstadt III uitgesproken. Eén iemand onthield zich bij de stemming. Het gaat om een parlementslid van N-VA. De meerderheid van CD&V;/N-VA, Open Vld, PS, MR en cdH stemde voor de benoeming, met uitzondering van N-VA'ster Sarah Smeyers. er kwamen 46 tegenstemmen van oppositiepartijen sp.a, Vlaams Belang, LDD en Ecolo/Groen! en FN.De Kamer kwam uitzonderlijk op zondag bijeen om haar vertrouwen aan de interimregering te kunnen geven.Met de onthouding wou de N-VA protesteren tegen het uitblijven van een staatshervorming. Er is bij 'opbod' beslist wie zich zou onthouden. Wie meest bood, moest niet voor stemmen. De opbrengst ging naar Music for life. De actie bracht 2.000 euro bij.Die onthouding is een uiting van bezorgdheid over de interimregering, zegt Bart De Wever. 'Deelnemen aan een interimregering is niet onze taak. Dringende zaken kunnen gerust door anderen worden opgelost. De rol van N-VA ligt in het onderhandelen over de communautaire thema's en dat willen we blijven doen', aldus De Wever voor de Kamer.Daarbij beseffen we dat we met lege handen staan en de onderhandelingen van nul moeten heropgebouwd worden', besloot De Wever. ||||| zo 23/12/07 - De Kamerleden hebben het vertrouwen gegeven aan de regering Verhofstadt III. Dat gebeurde meerderheid tegen oppositie. Een lid van de N-VA heeft zich onthouden. De interim-regering van Guy Verhofstadt (Open VLD) kreeg 97 stemmen voor. De stemmen kwamen van CD&V/N-VA, Open VLD, PS, MR en CDH. (VRT) De 46 tegenstemmen kwamen van de SP.A, Vlaams Belang, Lijst Dedecker, Ecolo en Groen!. Sarah Smeyers van de N-VA heeft zich onthouden bij de stemming. De partij had op voorhand aangekondigd dat een lid van de fractie zich zou onthouden. De N-VA wil zo het signaal geven dat een staatshervorming voor hen nog altijd prioritair is. De hele dag is in de Kamer gedebatteerd over het tienpuntenprogramma van Verhofstadt III. Elke partij van de oppositie kreeg een uur spreektijd, de leden van de meerderheid een half uur. Strikjes in de Kamer De nieuwe premier Guy Verhofstadt (Open VLD) concludeerde na de verschillende betogen in de Kamer dat de vier grote politieke families van het land bereid zijn om mee te werken aan een staatshervorming. ||||| zo 23/12/07 - De meerderheid heeft haar vertrouwen gegeven aan de nieuwe regering Verhofstadt III. Alle partijen konden hun commentaar kwijt over het voorgestelde tienpuntenplan. De oppositiepartijen krijgen een uur spreektijd, partijen uit de meerderheid een half uur. De oppostie had weinig goede woorden over voor het programma en de regering. De partijen uit de meerderheid verdedigden het akkoord. De Wever (N-VA) en Verherstraeten (CD&V) Het eerste lid van de meerderheid dat aan het woord kwam, was Bart De Wever van de N-VA. Hij hield een kort, niet al te optimistisch betoog. (VRT) "We beseffen zeer goed dat we opnieuw starten met lege handen, dat we dus weer starten vanaf nul", zei De Wever. "Daarom hebben we 1 lid van onze groep aangeduid die zich tijdens de vertrouwensstemming zal onthouden." De partij wil zo een signaal geven dat een weldoordachte staatshervorming nodig is. Servais Verherstraeten van CD&V hield het ook relatief kort. Hij gaf aan dat deze interim-regering niet zijn eerste keuze is, maar hij verdedigde wel het tienpuntenprogramma van Verhofstadt III. "Wij geven deze interim-regering het vertrouwen, maar dit vertrouwen is niet blind. Het is een bezorgd en waakzaam vertrouwen." Lof voor Verhofstadt Na de middag nam Elio Di Rupo van de PS aan het woord. Hij bedankte Verhofstadt omdat hij het land uit de crisis heeft gehaald. Hij riep net als Verhofstadt vrijdag op tot een open dialoog. Hij waarschuwde wel dat het krediet dat ons land de voorbije decennia heeft opgebouwd in de wereld, niet mag verloren gaan. Het herstellen van het vertrouwen en staatszin wordt volgens hem een van de prioriteiten van de regering. ||||| zo 23/12/07 - In de Kamer is de hele dag gedebatteerd over de regeerverklaring van Verhofstadt III, die premier Verhofstadt vrijdag had voorgesteld. De oppositie maakte brandhout van de tekst. Gerolf Annemans van Vlaams Belang mocht vanochtend de spits afbijten. In zijn betoog verweet hij de partijen in Verhofstadt III dat ze kiezen voor ministerpostjes en dat ze daarvoor hun principes achterlaten. (VRT) Annemans richtte vooral zijn pijlen op CD&V. Hij zei dat de partij een unieke kans heeft laten voorbijgaan om een staatshervorming erdoor te duwen. Volgens Annemans gaat het om een kabinet dat gedomineerd wordt door de Franstaligen. Ook de N-VA kende geen genade in de ogen van Annemans. "U moet lotje trekken om aan te duiden wie het schaamlapje van de N-VA mag ophouden." Peter Vanvelthoven (SP.A) Na de middag was het de beurt aan de andere grote Vlaamse oppositiepartij, de SP.A. (VRT) Peter Vanvelthoven (SP.A, foto) zei dat hij geen vertrouwen schenkt aan de nieuwe regering. Volgens hem gaat het om een schijnregering die enkel uitblinkt in vaagheid. "De nieuwe regering heeft niets uitgediscussieerd, men is vooral bezig geweest met wie welk postje krijgt maar over de echte problemen van de mensen, zoals het uitbreiden van de koopkracht, is niet gerept", aldus Vanvelthoven. Jean-Marie Dedecker (LDD) Jean-Marie Dedecker liet ook geen spaander heel van het voorgestelde tienpuntenprogramma van de nieuwe regering. (VRT) Dedecker zei dat de regeringspartijen geen politiek huwelijk of zelfs verstandshuwelijk met elkaar gesloten hebben maar een schijnhuwelijk. "Schijnhuwelijken lopen altijd fout af omdat ze gebaseerd zijn op wederzijds bedrog en achterdocht." Een andere vergelijking die Dedecker maakte was "een fanfare van honger en dorst". "De fanfare maakt een geluid van een kettingzaag en ze heeft dorst naar macht." ||||| Sun 23/12/07 - The Belgian Chamber of Representatives has given its backing to the new Verhofstadt administration. The interim Federal Government is the third headed by the Flemish liberal Guy Verhofstadt. The fourteen ministers were sworn in by King Albert on Friday. Friday afternoon Mr Verhofstadt set out the programme of his government in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. (Belga) In only a couple of weeks Guy Verhofstadt formed a new government In an unprecedented move the Chamber of Representatives debated the government declaration on Sunday. The session ended in a vote of confidence in the new administration. Verhofstadt III is the first Belgian Federal Government with parties from different political families in the north and south of the country. The asymmetrical administration includes Flemish and Francophone liberals and Christian democrats as well as Francophone socialists. Following their defeat in the 10 June poll the Flemish socialists are on the opposition benches for the first time in two decades. The Christian democrats' Flemish nationalist coalition partners, the N-VA, are not represented in the government either. Just until Easter Mr Verhofstadt's new administration has limited ambitions. The Premier hopes to hand over the reins of power to Yves Leterme, the Flemish Christian democrat winner of the general election, at the end of March. ||||| Mr Verhofstadt's team has a backlog of important business Belgium's caretaker Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, won a vote of confidence on Sunday by 97 votes to 46. King Albert appointed him last Thursday for a three-month term. Coalition talks had failed to reconcile party leaders. Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flemish majority and the French-speaking Walloons remain deeply divided over questions of regional autonomy. Mr Verhofstadt, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, has pledged to spend the next three months drafting a new budget, tackling rising prices and preparing reforms to devolve more power to the regions. In March his five-party cabinet will hand power to Yves Leterme's Flemish Christian Democrats - the winners of the 10 June elections. Mr Leterme remains determined to fulfil his election pledge to devolve more power to the regions. Walloon politicians especially dislike Flemish plans to loosen federal control over taxation and social security. Mr Leterme is deputy prime minister and minister for the budget, transport and institutional reform in the 14-member interim government, which includes politicians from the French-speaking community. ||||| Mr Verhofstadt's cabinet will remain in office until March The five-party cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will stay in office for three months. It will then hand power to the Christian Democrats - the winners of elections on 10 June. Belgium had been without a full cabinet since the polls, but rival parties from the Dutch- and French-speaking regions finally struck a deal early this week. The main political dispute is over greater regional autonomy - a move broadly favoured by the Dutch-speaking Flanders region but opposed by the French-speaking south. Protests Mr Verhofstadt, a Dutch-speaking Liberal, was sworn in at a ceremony in Brussels. His government will stay in office until March to tackle urgent economic issues neglected during the political crisis. Mr Verhofstadt, who was already prime minister of the outgoing cabinet, is due to outline main priorities for his caretaker government later on Friday. Belgium's King Albert II on Thursday asked Mr Verhofstadt to lead the country after five parties had agreed to participate in the new cabinet. The government now faces a parliamentary vote of confidence on Sunday. Last week, thousands of trade unionists took to the streets in Brussels, complaining about the political stalemate and rising food and fuel prices. The European Commission has warned that the political paralysis was beginning to affect Belgium's economy. ||||| A Belgian interim government is sworn in BRUSSELS: Belgium's longest government crisis ended just short of 200 days with the swearing in of an interim government Friday, but sniping between parties in the coalition continued unabated. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt presented his third government, broadening his Liberal-Socialist coalition to include the Christian Democrats. He had prepared to leave national politics after his Flemish Liberal party lost the June 10 election, but was called on to lead the new government after Yves Leterme, the victorious Flemish Christian Democrat leader, failed to broker a coalition after six months of negotiations. The interim government will be in office for three months to tackle urgent economic issues that were neglected during the political crisis, which was marked by bitter disagreements between Belgium's Dutch- and French-speaking politicians. The political deadlock fueled speculation among Belgians that their country could be pulled apart, as the Flemish region in the north agitates for more autonomy. He unveiled a limited government program that includes spending cuts to keep the budget balanced as well as steps to shield low-income Belgians from inflation and to ensure that Belgium meets its climate change targets. Job creation and the drafting of a national security plan are also priorities. In recent months, Francophones had resisted Leterme's plans to take powers over taxation and social security away from the national government. That would have allowed the richer Flemish north to keep more of its own revenue rather than financing the poorer, French-speaking south. The groups had also squabbled over the rights of French speakers living in Flemish suburbs around Brussels. Leterme is likely to continue to press ahead with those plans as a minister under Verhofstadt. His supporters quickly rejected Verhofstadt's own compromise proposal to answer Flemish demands for more regional autonomy while easing French-speakers' concern about the impact on Belgium's national unity. "We do not intend to take his proposals into account," said Bart De Wever, a Flemish nationalist politician allied with Leterme's Christian Democrats. Belgium has been without a government since the June 10 elections, in which the Liberals and Christian Democrats together won 81 of the 150 seats but failed to agree on a government program. | Yesterday, the interim Federal Government of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt received the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of the Belgian Federal Parliament. The interim Federal Government is the third government headed by the Flemish liberal Guy Verhofstadt and was formed after talks to form a centre-right government of Christian democrats and liberals following the federal election of June 10 failed. The new government is the first Belgian Federal Government that includes Flemish and French-speaking parties belonging to different political families. The asymmetrical coalition includes the Flemish liberals of Open Vld, the French-speaking liberals of the MR, the Flemish Christian democrats of CD&V, the French-speaking Christian democrats of CDH and the French-speaking socialists of the PS. The Flemish socialists are not included in the government, nor is the N-VA, CD&V's Flemish-nationalist partner, however, the N-VA does support the coalition. Of the 144 Representatives present during the vote of confidence, 97 voted in favour, 46 voted against and one abstained. The parties that voted in favour were CD&V/N-VA, Open Vld, PS, MR and CDH. Vlaams Belang, SP.A-Spirit, LDD, Ecolo and Green! voted against and heavily criticised the new interim Federal Government and its programme. Symbolically, Sarah Smeyers of the N-VA abstained during the vote. The N-VA had announced in advance that one of its members would abstain in order to demonstrate that institutional reform remains a priority for them. The fourteen ministers of the interim Federal Government were sworn in by King Albert II on Friday, after which Mr Verhofstadt outlined his government's programme in the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. Extraordinarily, the Chamber of Representatives met on Sunday to debate Mr Verhofstadt's declaration and to vote on a motion of confidence. Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has stated that there should be a permanent Federal Government under the leadership of Yves Leterme, the Flemish Christian democrat who emerged as the winner of the federal election of June 10, by Easter. The interim Federal Government will concentrate primarily on social and economic issues, while Mr Leterme, who is a Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Budget in the new government, will attempt to prepare the ground for institutional reforms, an important part of CD&V/N-VA's platform during the campaign for the federal election. Observers have noted the lack of enthusiasm for the interim government. Many fear that it may be overshadowed by tensions between the parties in the coalition as they try to negotiate institutional reforms, including more regional autonomy, an issue on which the Flemish and the French-speaking parties are divided. This is one of the reasons earlier attempts by Mr Leterme to form a Federal Government failed. |
RACHEL, Nev. (Reuters) - UFO enthusiasts drawn by alien-themed festivities poured into rural Nevada on Friday near the Area 51 U.S. military base, but fears of a mass raid on the remote site or a public safety crisis proved unfounded, with only five people arrested. An attendee wears an alien mask at the gate of Area 51 as an influx of tourists responding to a call to 'storm' Area 51, a secretive U.S. military base believed by UFO enthusiasts to hold government secrets about extra-terrestrials, is expected in Rachel, Nevada, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart More than 3,000 out-of-towners ventured on Thursday and Friday to the desert region around Area 51, a secretive U.S. Air Force installation long rumored to house government secrets about extraterrestrial life and spaceships. The pilgrimage and two festivals welcoming the visitors were organized after a Facebook user jokingly exhorted readers to “storm” Area 51 on Sept. 20 “to see them aliens.” The date chosen for the gathering was never explained. Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said the region’s guests were largely well behaved, with just a few exceptions. “I don’t want to jinx myself, but so far it’s gone pretty well,” he said on Friday afternoon. Three people were arrested on suspicion of trespassing onto the grounds of Area 51, Lee said. Another was arrested for indecent exposure after urinating near an entrance to the base, and a fifth for an alcohol-related incident, Lee said. A steady stream of cars continued rolling into the county on Friday for events that were scheduled to run through the weekend. The arrests were reported after a group of about 150 UFO fans and curiosity-seekers gathered outside the heavily guarded entrance to Area 51 around 3 a.m. on Friday, the date and time set by the social-media invitation that went viral. One man wore an orange space suit and some sported tin foil hats and alien masks. A sign among the gathering read “Free E.T. from the government.” “A bunch of random people in weird costumes standing outside of a government base, why would you want to miss that?” said a YouTube personality who goes by the name Atozy. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” One young woman ducked under a protective gate and was momentarily detained by authorities and released. Most showed no interest in crossing the barrier, according to law enforcement officials keeping watch over the crowd. “They’re just here to see what’s going on,” said Sergeant Orlando Guerra of the Nevada Department of Public Safety Investigation Division. “They’re here to have fun.” The Air Force had issued a stern warning to the public not to trespass on the installation, which it said is used to test aircraft and train personnel. Area 51 had long been shrouded in mystery, stoking conspiracy theories that it housed the remnants of a flying saucer and the bodies of its alien crew from a supposed unidentified flying object crash in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. The U.S. government did not confirm the base existed until 2013, when it released CIA archives saying the site was used to test top-secret spy planes. The documents, however, did not end suspicion about space aliens there. Area 51 sits about 12 miles (19 km) from the tiny town of Rachel, a community of about 50 year-round residents north of Las Vegas that hosted a music festival to entertain those traveling to the region. Some residents had urged the public to stay away for fear the town would be overwhelmed with unruly tourists. As of early Friday, about 3,000 people had pitched camp in town, most of them outside the Little A’Le’Inn, an alien-themed motel and restaurant that is Rachel’s only business. Another 250 attended a separate event 40 miles away in Hiko that featured musicians and ufologists. Ed Callahan, 49, who drove from Victorville, California, to Rachel, described the atmosphere as “just chill.” Slideshow (19 Images) “It’s not this big, wild thing,” said Callahan, who sported a cowboy hat covered in tin foil and silver tentacles. “When they said 40,000 people, I didn’t want it to be that. If a few more people show up, it’d be all right.” Connie West, the Little A’Le’Inn co-owner who scrambled over three months to mobilize for an influx of alien fans, said she was gratified that chaos failed to ensue. “I’m relieved the naysayers were proven wrong,” she said. ||||| David Becker/Getty Images Area 51 has long been a rich piece of American pop culture. Are aliens kept there? Super secret spaceships? Men in black with memory-wiping devices? The Nevada facility regularly pops up in movies like Independence Day and TV shows like The X-Files, but it made the news this summer for a joke that turned into an actual planned event. How did it start? In June 2019, Matty Roberts, a 21-year-old Bakersfield, California, college student, created a Facebook event titled Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us. The supposed joke event urged people to raid the US government facility on Friday, Sept. 20. "We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry," the original text read. "If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let's see them aliens." ("Naruto run" refers to an especially awkward way of running depicted in the Japanese anime Naruto, where main character Naruto Uzumaki flings his arms out behind him.) As a joke, the event is an entertaining play on America's lengthy fascination with extraterrestrials and the mysterious Area 51. But as a real event, it left a lot to be desired. Now playing: Watch this: What it's like going to a Naruto run Three separate events The US Air Force warned people that storming its property wouldn't be taken lightly. But with more than 2 million people RSVPing to attend the event, and at least some of them appearing to be serious, multiple events are now set for the weekend. None, however, promises an illegal raid on military property (at least not officially). Alienstock in Rachel, Nevada At first, Roberts and other organizers worked with Connie West, who owns the Little A'Le'Inn Motel in tiny Rachel, Nevada, to create an alien-themed music festival dubbed Alienstock to be held in the Rachel area Sept. 19-21. But can that small town actually handle a fest featuring two dozen musical acts? After all, Rachel has roughly 50 residents, no gas station and no street lights. Roberts backed out, reportedly due to concern about permits and other details, but the event is still continuing without him. It remains to be seen how the quiet desert area that's home to Area 51 can handle a deluge of internet fans. The county could seek financial restitution from the event organizers for the money it'll have to spend on security. CNET's own Erin Carson will be attending the Rachel event and reporting on what she sees. Alien Stock in Las Vegas Rachel, Nevada, could have issues hosting a large festival, but you know one city that's expert at hosting giant crowds? Las Vegas. So another event, also apparently called Alien Stock, will be held at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, on Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. "You can expect EDM artists and some unique art being displayed for an 'out of this world' gathering!" the site promises, using shorthand for "electronic dance music." 'Storm' Area 51 Basecamp Experience in Hiko, Nevada Rachel isn't the only rural Nevada location hosting an alien event this weekend. On Sept. 20-21, the Alien Research Center in the small community of Hiko is also partying. This event, dubbed the "Storm" Area 51 Basecamp Experience, promises live music, UFO-themed speakers, food trucks and art installations. DJ Paul Oakenfold will perform, and the 2018 documentary "Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers" will be shown. Like Rachel, Hiko isn't much of a place, so you'll need to stay in your own tent or RV. Ticketmaster is selling passes for the event. But hey, Arby's fast-food chain is taking a food truck to the center, and it'll serve dishes including the E.T. Slider and the Galaxy shake. Other random facts How to watch it all unfold If you prefer to watch the craziness from your own couch, here are a couple of streams that were live earlier. (Come one, Area 51 fans, someone pick up the mantle and livestream NOW.) Not a livestream, but still worth keeping an eye on: noted DJ Paul Oakenfold promises updates for British music publication Mix Magazine as he prepares to perform Saturday night at the event in Hiko. And keep an eye on social media, of course. Our reporter on the scene is tweeting from the desert and Twitter has some fun memes and jokes going. Originally posted Sept. 19 and will be updated as news comes in. ||||| Alien-hunters are arriving near Area 51 after a viral craze that saw them commit to storm the mysterious US military base. A variety of events are taking place to mark the weekend, including music festivals in a variety of locations. But some appear to be still committed to at least getting close to the base's famous military gates, coming near enough to snap selfies alongside the warnings of how violently the base will be protected. The parties come amid warnings from the US military to anyone who might think of actually trying to breach the base's defences. There have also been dire warnings from local, who have suggested that visitors might not be able to cope in a town in a harsh environment with no grocery store and little cellular coverage. We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras. Here are some dancing aliens from the Las Vegas event: Connie West, who runs the Little A'Le'Inn as well as the Rachel Alienstock event says she is feeling great. Her event had been cast into serious doubt – by local residents, who warned that the town couldn't support the visitors, as well as by Matty Roberts, who created the original event but pulled out of the Rachel event amid fears it would go badly wrong – but she says she has proven those doubters wrong. That same reporter also has some great pictures of the gathering at the gate Advertisement This gives you a great view of what it was like at the Alienstock festival last night These pictures do, however, appear to be real – and match with what was on the stream earlier. So this is probably a more accurate of how the events outside the Area 51 gate actually went. This picture is circulating widely on the internet. It looks very dramatic – but when you look closely, it's clearly not real. (The people look like they're from a video game, though I haven't yet been able to work out where exactly it has come from.) This image often accompanies it – and doesn't seem to be a real photo of any of the Storm Area 51 events, either. It does look more real, though, so might be a picture of something else rather than purely fake like the one above appears to be. And here's Matty Roberts, who created the original Facebook page, speaking to crowds at the Las Vegas event he encouraged people to go to instead. (While flanked by men in black.) Advertisement Here's one of the highlights of the Area 51 event in Nevada: a giant inflatable alien head The event is clearly fairly aimless: dozens of people stood around, while sheriffs watch on. But they seem to be having a good time, taking pictures, chatting, occasionally chanting. On the stream, you can see a variety of people speaking, as well as protestors holding placards that include slogans about locked up aliens. One man is waving a North Korean flag. Some people are wearing tin-foil hats. A live stream that claims to show events around the fence – which is very much unverified – has gone live again. Advertisement Perhaps the most famous person to come out of the event is this man, who Naruto runs past a reporter live on TV. (That said, the festivals are actually scheduled to keep happening until Sunday, so there's plenty of time for things to happen and go wrong.) We are right in the middle of the time Area 51 was due to be stormed – the original Facebook event was set for 3am to 6am local pacific time, or 11am to 2pm UK time. If you're wondering how we managed to get here – as well you should – here's how this happened and what's going on now. What is actually happening at the 'Storm Area 51' event A viral meme very quickly led to US military warnings and fears people could be in danger Advertisement About 1,500 people have headed to the two desert events, in Rachel and Hiko, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee. Late last night, more than 150 people took the difficult journey to the two gates of Area 51, Lee said, so that they could take selfies. No arrests were made and heading to the gate is allowed – so long as you go no further. "It's public land," the sheriff said. "They're allowed to go to the gate, as long as they don't cross the boundary." The atmosphere is similar at the rival Alienstock, being held in the town of Rachel, Nevada, at the Little A'Le'Inn: Meanwhile the one in Hiko, Nevada – a town that is much smaller and thoroughly ill-equipped for an event like this, though is closer to Area 51 – looks a little more gruelling: The Las Vegas "Alienstock" event looks largely like any other EDM festival – just with a whole lot of inflatable aliens. Advertisement 1 2 Next Please allow a moment for the live blog to load | The usual "Welcome" sign Friday was when, according to earlier event plans, millions of people were to storm , a classified facility within the United States Air Force's , and the world was to finally learn of its secrets. In the end, an estimated one-to-two hundred people showed up at the gates, and the classified area was not stormed. It all began on June 27, when Matty Roberts posted a on social media site Facebook. More than two million people replied they would attend and an additional million-and-a-half expressed interest in the event. Roberts says his event, "", was posted as a joke. Roberts is about 20 years old and from , California. The Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, pictured in 2014 The event description read, "We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry ... If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let's see them aliens." Area 51 has for decades been rumored to be a facility for UFO and extraterrestrials research. is a Japanese cartoon ninja character who . As the event turned , both media and authorities took notice. The nearest settlement to Area 51 is in . It is a remote desert town with a population of around fifty people. The is the only business offering food and accommodations and the town has no gas stations. County sheriff Kerry Lee told the BBC even one percent of Facebook users attending "would be more overwhelming than we can handle". The Air Force issued warnings against attempts to enter the restricted zone of the base, saying it was dangerous. The sheriff's office arranged for reinforcements from across Nevada. Fewer than two hundred showed up at the gates of the base, but no one tried to storm the military base. Sheriff Lee said they arrested one person for urinating in public, technically indecent exposure. They arrested three for "suspicion of trespassing" and another for an incident related to alcohol. Over a thousand were reported to have reached Rachel, but most did not make the final trek to the base. Meanwhile, other events popped up seeking to capitalize on the notoriety of the Storm Area 51 event. In nearby , a "Storm Area 51 Basecamp Experience" was underway with music and other entertainment. Thursday night, "Alien Stock" was held in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada with involvement of original poster Matty Roberts. was reputedly responsible for creating much of the folklore surrounding Area 51 which is not an official name. A 2018 documentary film titled ''Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers'' may have spurred recent interest. == Sources == * * * * * |
Video BANGKOK — Thailand’s crown prince ascended to the throne on Thursday, seven weeks after the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died after reigning for seven decades. In a formal ceremony at the Dusit Palace in Bangkok, the prince, crowned as King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, 64, accepted the invitation to take the throne offered by the National Assembly president. Afterward, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a televised speech that the new monarch would be declared king retroactively to the day his father passed away. He also will be known as King Rama X of the Chakri dynasty. “The heir to the throne graciously accepted the invitation,” the prime minister said. “A kingdom should not be without a monarch on the throne. The commencement of the new reign is therefore effective as of 13 October 2016.” Today’s Headlines: Asia Edition Get news and analysis from Asia and around the world delivered to your inbox every day in the Asian morning. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. The crown prince had declined to take the throne immediately after his father’s death, saying he needed time to grieve. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Thailand’s royal succession is an elaborate process that can extend for many months. King Bhumibol’s cremation will take place about a year after his death. King Vajiralongkorn’s coronation will take place at some point after that. King Bhumibol was revered by many Thais who saw him as an advocate of the common people and a promoter of economic development. The official 30-day mourning period for the public has ended, but even now many people still wear black clothing or a black ribbon to honor him. The country is sharply divided but the military, which has held power since a 2014 coup, remains firmly in control. King Bhumibol was a unifying figure and many Thais have been anxious about what kind of leadership they can expect from King Vajiralongkorn, who has lived primarily in Germany for years. “Although we all know that to be parted from the person we love and respect is suffering,” the prime minister said, “although the loss and sadness are an undeniable crisis, we should turn this crisis into an opportunity and turn grief into the strength of the land.” ||||| A woman holds up a picture of Thailand's Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn before he arrives at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha A military officer watches a television screen showing Thailand's new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun speaking after he accepted an invitation from parliament to succeed his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October, at the Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha Thailand's new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun pays respect to a picture of Thailand's late King Bhumibol Addlyadej and Queen Sirikit, as he accepts an invitation from parliament to succeed his father, at Bangkok's Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, December 1, 2016. Thailand Royal Household Bureau/Handout via REUTERS. Thailand's new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun pays respect to a picture of Thailand's late King Bhumibol Addlyadej and Queen Sirikit, as he accepts an invitation from parliament to succeed his father, at Bangkok's Dusit Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, December 1, 2016. Thailand Royal Household Bureau/Handout via REUTERS. BANGKOK Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, 64, became Thailand's new king on Thursday after he accepted an invitation from parliament to succeed his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in October. King Bhumibol, 88, was widely loved and regarded as a pillar of stability during decades of political turbulence and rapid development in the Southeast Asian nation. Prince Vajiralongkorn, who will be known as King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, according to a statement released by parliament's public relations department, met Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of the National Legislative Assembly, at Bangkok's Dusit Palace. "I would like to accept the invitation for the benefit of the Thai people," the new king said in a televised statement. His ascension will likely allay worries among some analysts that the kingdom was headed for a period of instability following the death of King Bhumibol, according to a senior Western diplomat who declined to be named because speaking about the royal family is a sensitive matter in Thailand. "This royal succession highlights a desire for stability and continuity in Thailand," he said. Thailand has been without a monarch since King Bhumibol's death with the head of the king's advisory council, Prem Tinsulanonda, 96, serving as regent. King Bhumibol was widely loved and regarded as a pillar of stability during decades of political turbulence and rapid development in the Southeast Asian nation. The new King Maha Vajiralongkorn has yet to command the kind of adoration that his father received from Thais and he has kept a much lower profile throughout most of his adult life. NEW KING King Maha Vajiralongkorn - who will also be known as Rama X, or the 10th king of Thailand's Chakri Dynasty - takes the throne at a tumultuous time for Thailand, a long-time U.S. ally in Southeast Asia. The military toppled an elected government in 2014 and enforced a political calm in a country divided by more than a decade of conflict between a military-backed royalist establishment and populist political forces. In times of crisis, the palace has occasionally acted as a final arbiter. The late king's image as a truce-maker peaked after violent clashes in 1992 between pro-democracy activists and the army. King Maha Vajiralongkorn has spent much of his adult life abroad and has a home in Germany. Over the past few years, however, the he had taken on more of his father's ceremonial duties while the late king received medical treatment. Public events, including two cycling events in 2015, organized by the palace, have portrayed Maha Vajiralongkorn as a devoted father and family man. "Some people have pointed to the monarchy as a stabilizing force in Thai politics," said David Streckfuss, an independent academic specializing in Southeast Asian studies. "Because of the popularity and veneration of the previous king it would be hard for any person to step into the role because of expected comparisons," he told Reuters. The new king, like his father before him, is shielded from public criticism by Thailand's lese majeste laws, which carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. King Maha Vajiralongkorn's personal life and suitability as king have been the subject of private speculation by Thais and overseas observers beyond the reach of the law. IDOL OF THE PEOPLE One of King Maha Vajiralongkorn's first acts as monarch will be to endorse a constitution drafted by the military that the public overwhelmingly endorsed in an August referendum. The royal endorsement is a formality. The junta has said the constitution will pave way for an election in late 2017. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said in a televised statement that the new king's coronation would "be at his discretion" and would not take place until after a royal cremation for his father next year. "May all the Thai people unite to pray that the powers of King Bhumibol and past kings protect the new king so that he may long reign as an idol and guardian of the Thai people," Prayuth said. (Reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Cod Satrusayang and Patpicha Tanakasempipat; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Alex Richardson) | On Thursday, Thailand Prince was crowned as king of Thailand. Vajiralongkorn is the tenth king of the , to also be known as King Rama X. Maha Vajiralongkorn in 2007. At a formal ceremony at Dusit Palace Vajiralongkorn, 64, accepted an invitation from the National Legislative Assembly. He said "I would like to accept this invitation for the benefit of the Thai people." King Vajiralongkorn's father died seven weeks ago at the age of 88 after serving as the king for more than seven decades. Two years ago, the military gained power in a coup. King Bhumibol acted as the unifying figure of the Kingdom. Following King Bhumibol's death, 96-year-old Prem Tinsulanonda served as regent. Tinsulanonda was the head of the royal advisory council. King Vajiralongkorn was not immediately crowned as the king after his father's death saying he needed time to grieve. King Vajiralongkorn has lived in Germany for many years. He is immune from public criticism due to legislation, which provides for up to fifteen years in jail. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha announced the retrospective commencement of the new reign from October 13. King Bhumibol is to be cremated around a year from his death. |
US President George W. Bush talks to the media about the economy and terrorist interrogations in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Friday. (EPA) WASHINGTON, 6 October 2007 — President George W. Bush yesterday defended the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of “black sites,” or secret overseas prisons, to interrogate terrorism suspects — and said the United States does not use torture. Bush said he put the program “in motion” to detain and question terrorism suspects, and it had yielded information that helped “better protect” Americans. The program has sparked criticism over interrogation methods. “I have put this program in place for a reason — that is to better protect the American people,” Bush said in an impromptu statement from the Oval Office yesterday morning. “You bet we’re going to detain ‘em, and you bet we’re going to question ‘em. This government does not torture people; we stick to US law and our international obligations.” Bush addressed the controversy after calling in reporters to discuss the latest job numbers, which are down. He did not take questions. The president made the comments amid new disclosures that the Justice Department in 2005 had secretly endorsed the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the CIA. The White House also confirmed the existence of two secret memos, first reported in The New York Times on Thursday, that appear to authorize the CIA the ability to use its most extreme interrogation techniques, including simulated drowning known as “water-boarding.” The Bush administration has been playing an elaborate cat-and-mouse game with Congress over acceptable methods of interrogation since the 9/11 terror attacks. Bush has said the Geneva Conventions prohibiting the mutilation, cruel treatment and torture of detainees do not apply to Al-Qaeda members. Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel seemed to agree. In a 2002 memo to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, then White House counsel, it claimed Bush was not bound by federal anti-torture laws and argued that anyone using tactics authorized by the president could not be prosecuted. Moreover, the memo argued cruel and degrading treatment was not illegal so long as it did not produce physical pain equivalent to organ failure or death or mental pain causing lasting psychological damage. The Abu Ghraib prison scandal triggered a marked shift in public — and congressional — opinion. In 2005, US lawmakers passed the Detainee Treatment Act, which explicitly banned “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of prisoners. The president said yesterday that “the techniques that we used have been fully disclosed to appropriate members of the US Congress.” The Bush administration has briefed the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence about various aspects of the interrogation methods being used on terror suspects. But the committee has demanded to see the opinions written by Justice Department lawyers to justify the harshest methods. Questions about harsh interrogation techniques have become a hallmark of the Bush administration and most of those questions continue to swirl around Justice Department’s former Attorney General Gonzales who, the reports said, approved the legal opinions to bring policy more in line with the wishes of President Bush. Gonzales left his office last month amid charges he had politicized the Justice Department and compromised its independence in his zeal to accommodate his mentor, Bush. Following disclosure of the Justice Department memos, Democratic lawmakers demanded that the agency turn over the two memos. The controversy could complicate the upcoming confirmation hearings for Attorney General-designate Michael B. Mukasey. Democrats said they would call Steven Bradbury, the acting chief of legal counsel at the US Justice Department, identified by the Times as the author of the memos. ||||| Why did this happen? Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy. ||||| WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 — President Bush, reacting to a Congressional uproar over the disclosure of secret Justice Department legal opinions permitting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, defended the methods on Friday, declaring, “This government does not torture people.” The remarks, Mr. Bush’s first public comments on the memorandums, came at a hastily arranged Oval Office appearance before reporters. It was billed as a talk on the economy, but after heralding new job statistics, Mr. Bush shifted course to a subject he does not often publicly discuss: a once-secret Central Intelligence Agency program to detain and interrogate high-profile terror suspects. “I have put this program in place for a reason, and that is to better protect the American people,” the president said, without mentioning the C.I.A. by name. “And when we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we’re going to detain them, and you bet we’re going to question them, because the American people expect us to find out information — actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That’s our job.” Without confirming the existence of the memorandums or discussing the explicit techniques they authorized, Mr. Bush said the interrogation methods had been “fully disclosed to appropriate members of Congress.” ||||| WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 — When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations. But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency. The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures. Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be “ashamed” when the world eventually learned of it. Later that year, as Congress moved toward outlawing “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment, the Justice Department issued another secret opinion, one most lawmakers did not know existed, current and former officials said. The Justice Department document declared that none of the C.I.A. interrogation methods violated that standard. The classified opinions, never previously disclosed, are a hidden legacy of President Bush’s second term and Mr. Gonzales’s tenure at the Justice Department, where he moved quickly to align it with the White House after a 2004 rebellion by staff lawyers that had thrown policies on surveillance and detention into turmoil. Congress and the Supreme Court have intervened repeatedly in the last two years to impose limits on interrogations, and the administration has responded as a policy matter by dropping the most extreme techniques. But the 2005 Justice Department opinions remain in effect, and their legal conclusions have been confirmed by several more recent memorandums, officials said. They show how the White House has succeeded in preserving the broadest possible legal latitude for harsh tactics. A White House spokesman, Tony Fratto, said Wednesday that he would not comment on any legal opinion related to interrogations. Mr. Fratto added, “We have gone to great lengths, including statutory efforts and the recent executive order, to make it clear that the intelligence community and our practices fall within U.S. law” and international agreements. More than two dozen current and former officials involved in counterterrorism were interviewed over the past three months about the opinions and the deliberations on interrogation policy. Most officials would speak only on the condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of the documents and the C.I.A. detention operations they govern. When he stepped down as attorney general in September after widespread criticism of the firing of federal prosecutors and withering attacks on his credibility, Mr. Gonzales talked proudly in a farewell speech of how his department was “a place of inspiration” that had balanced the necessary flexibility to conduct the war on terrorism with the need to uphold the law. Associates at the Justice Department said Mr. Gonzales seldom resisted pressure from Vice President Dick Cheney and David S. Addington, Mr. Cheney’s counsel, to endorse policies that they saw as effective in safeguarding Americans, even though the practices brought the condemnation of other governments, human rights groups and Democrats in Congress. Critics say Mr. Gonzales turned his agency into an arm of the Bush White House, undermining the department’s independence. The interrogation opinions were signed by Steven G. Bradbury, who since 2005 has headed the elite Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department. He has become a frequent public defender of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program and detention policies at Congressional hearings and press briefings, a role that some legal scholars say is at odds with the office’s tradition of avoiding political advocacy. Mr. Bradbury defended the work of his office as the government’s most authoritative interpreter of the law. “In my experience, the White House has not told me how an opinion should come out,” he said in an interview. “The White House has accepted and respected our opinions, even when they didn’t like the advice being given.” The debate over how terrorist suspects should be held and questioned began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when the Bush administration adopted secret detention and coercive interrogation, both practices the United States had previously denounced when used by other countries. It adopted the new measures without public debate or Congressional vote, choosing to rely instead on the confidential legal advice of a handful of appointees. | President Bush, photographed in 2005. CIA logo. On Friday morning, United States President George W. Bush defended interrogation tactics used by the CIA, stating that "This government does not torture people." Bush's comments were a response to an article in Thursday's New York Times describing a classified 2005 Justice Department legal opinion that endorsed the use of painful physical and psychological tactics against terror suspects. Bush also claimed that "the techniques that we used have been fully disclosed to appropriate members of the US Congress." According to anonymous sources cited in The New York Times article, the classified 2005 legal opinion contained "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency," and explicitly authorized the use of tactics including head-slapping, frigid temperatures, and the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding against terror suspects. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino confirmed the existence of the 2005 document but did not say whether techniques such as head slapping and waterboarding constitute "torture" under U.S. law. "I'm not going to get into specific tactics," Perino said. She added that disclosing specific interrogation methods could reduce the effectiveness of those methods by allowing terrorists to train to resist them. Democrats expressed frustration with the Bush administration's secrecy on the issue of interrogation tactics. "The administration can’t have it both ways," said Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I’m tired of these games. They can’t say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program." |
The Australian team stayed in the street where the attack occurred, prior to their move to the Olympic Village. Reports are emerging that Russia's vice-consul has shot and killed an assailant in the Rio de Janeiro suburb of Barra da Tijuca -- the same suburb which is home to Rio's main Olympic Park complex. The attack reportedly occurred on the Avenue das Americas on Thursday morning Rio time, a large thoroughfare directly across a shallow lagoon from Olympic Park, and extremely close to where the Australian Olympic Committee plans to stage several open-air athlete press events on Friday, Rio time. Rio newspaper O Globo (The Globe) reports that the vice-consul was reacting to a robbery. The 60-year-old man, whose identity was not disclosed, was driving with his wife and daughter when his car was caught in a traffic jam. Two suspects approached him on motorbikes and one broke the window of his car with a gun. The vice-consul, who is an expert in the martial art jiujitsu, took the gun from the burglar and shot him dead. The other man ran away. The Avenue das Americas is the main thoroughfare from Barra da Tijuca to downtown Rio. Olympic Park is on the northern shore of the lagoon. Russia has two consuls (and vice-consuls) in Brazil -- in Sao Paulo and in Rio. The 60-year-old has been named in some media reports as Marcos Cesar Feres Braga, But Russian news agency Tass has denied that staff from the Russian consulate were involved in any incident. "Information circulating in the Brazilian press... about the alleged shooting of a Brazilian national by a Russian diplomat during an armed robbery does not reflect reality," said Vladimir Tokmakov, Russian consul general in Rio. "No member of staff had "anything to do with the incident," ||||| The athletes' village in Rio de Janeiro. (Photo: AAP) The Vice-Consul of Russia has shot a thief dead near the athletes' village in Rio. The 60-year-old was driving with his wife and daughter on Avenue of the Americas when two motorcyclist surrounded them in traffic, Brazilian newspaper Globo reports. One suspect broke the driver's window with a gun, according to the Homicide Division of the Capital. The Russian official, who is trained in jiu-jitsu, grabbed the gun and shot the attacker. The bandit reportedly died instantly while the accomplice fled. Witnesses said Slovenian Olympic cyclists were training on the same street when the attack happened, Daily Mail reports. The incident happened when traffic stopped for the Olympic torch to pass by at Barra da Tijuca, near the Olympic Park. A spokesman for Rio's 31st Military Police Battalion said the incident happened about midday local time. "The man involved is a lawyer and also the vice-consul of Russia. He is Brazilian and a native of Rio de Janeiro," the spokesman said. "He is not part of or has any relation with the Olympic committee of Russia which is in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics." Read more: A guide to Rio's neighbourhoods Read more: Australia's best medal hopes at the Olympics Read more: Japanese gymnast racks up $6500 data bill playing Pokemon in Rio © Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016 ||||| The Russian Consulate in Brazil has denied media reports that one of its diplomats, a 60-year-old Brazilian national, used his jiu-jitsu skills to subdue a robber and dramatically shoot him point blank using the attacker’s own gun in the middle of the street in Rio de Janeiro. “Information circulating in the Brazilian press about the alleged shooting ... of a Brazilian national by a Russian diplomat during an armed robbery does not reflect reality,” Consul General of the Russian Federation in Rio de Janeiro, Vladimir Tokmakov told TASS. Suspeito é morto após tentar assaltar motorista na Avenida das Américas. https://t.co/DDoqQNtKRupic.twitter.com/pJUGcEMe8G — Band Rio (@BandRio) August 4, 2016 All Russian diplomats and security guards of the diplomatic mission are well and “had nothing to do” with the incident described in media reports, the Council General added. At the same time, Tokmakov said that he cannot “rule out” that whoever was involved in the reported incident could have introduced himself as a member of diplomatic staff. Russian diplomat drags robber into his car and shoots him dead near #Rio2016https://t.co/XPv3UjiuUQ — Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 4, 2016 Earlier, several media outlets reported that a 60-year-old vice-consul in Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Cesar Feres Braga, was dramatically shot dead in an armed robbery near Rio’s Olympic Park on Thursday morning. Russian diplomacy in action https://t.co/XgPTlIYxV1 — Tomas Adamek (@nztomas) August 5, 2016 The incident reportedly happened as the alleged diplomat was stuck in traffic at the Avenida das Americas in Barra da Tijuca and a mugger approached the car by motorbike. The perpetrator allegedly broke the car window to gain access to the driver, demanding he hand over his watch. Using, what some media reported to be jiu-jitsu skills, the impostor diplomat allegedly grabbed the robber and pulled him into his BMW X6. In a tussle that followed, the impersonator got a hold of the attacker’s gun and shot him dead. The body of the assailant, identified as Leonardo Lopes Batista, was displayed for hours on the road as the investigation continued. The unpleasant tableau was seen by numerous Olympic delegations as they arrived at Rio’s Olympic Park ahead of the Summer 2016 Olympic Games which begin Friday. | The for — by reports disputed by the Russian Consul — shot and killed an attacker on Thursday , after two individuals attempted to commit a robbery. As reported, lawyer Marcos Cesar Feres Braga — so-named by the newspaper — working for the , was driving with his family through the suburb of near the main complex when the incident occurred. According to reports from the Rio newspaper , the 60-year-old man, his wife, and his daughter were stopped in traffic due to the procession in a nearby neighbourhood. Two individuals on motorbikes approached and used a gun to smash the car window. Braga, trained and considered an expert — according to reports — in , took control of the attacker's firearm and proceeded to shoot dead the alleged attacker, while the second suspect fled the scene. Rio de Janeiro's homicide branch has released a statement in relation to the incident. "The vice consul got into a physical struggle with the assailant and during the fight the aggressor's weapon fired shots. The assailant died of his wounds on the spot." However, Russia's Consul General Vladimir Tokmakov has released a statement claiming no Russian diplomats or employees of the consulate general were involved in the incident. "Information circulating in the Brazilian press about the alleged shooting ... of a Brazilian national by a Russian diplomat during an armed robbery does not reflect reality". == Sources == * * * * |
Missing NZ Girl: Child's Body Found In Drain A child's body has been found in a drain near where a toddler went missing a week earlier in New Zealand. To view this content you need Flash and Javascript enabled in your browser. Please download Flash from the Adobe download website. Two-year-old Aisling Symes, whose father Allan is originally from County Waterford in Ireland, disappeared from a suburb of Auckland on October 5. Emergency crews have now announced the discovery of a young child's remains. Police stressed it had not been confirmed that it was Aisling, but said officers were with her family. Aisling Symes The discovery was made in a drain in the suburb of Henderson just after 8pm New Zealand time (8am GMT), following several hours of intense searching. The area has been cordoned off and was being treated as a crime scene. Police said in a statement: "It's too early to know how long the child has been in the drain or how it got there. "The child has not been identified nor can we confirm what gender it is at this stage." Parents Allan and Angela Symes Aisling went missing from her late grandparents' house in Henderson while her parents were clearing the property. A large team of police and volunteers had spent the past week searching for the girl. There was speculation she had been abducted. The body was discovered after an offer of a $50,000 (£23,000) reward from British aristocrat Lord Ashcroft for information leading to Aisling's safe return. ||||| NZPA Police search an area near the house where two-year-old Aisling Symes went missing WATCH the video (1:57) Auckland police have found a body in their search for two-year-old Aisling Symes. Police and the fire service with lights and cutting equipment descended on a property adjoining the address from which the toddler disappeared a week ago. The two-year-old girl went missing from the west Auckland suburb of Henderson last Monday. Inspector Gary Davey says police found the body of a young child in a drain shortly before 8.00pm. "It is too early at this stage to know how the child got there, or in fact, how long the child was in the drain," Davey says. "Police are speaking with the family of Aisling Symes, but it is too early to determine for certain that it is Aisling. "The immediate scene has been cordoned off and it is now being treated as a crime scene." Advertisement Police seem to be having a problem gaining access into the drain due to the bush covering it and equipment has been brought in to make access easier. ONE News reporter Jack Tame says the fire service had earlier sent in a large circular saw which could be heard working and the fire engine has now left the scene. Neighbours say police began arriving at the scene late Monday afternoon and that a police helicopter was in the area. The property adjoins the address on Longburn road where the toddler went missing. A police guard is stationed at that address and Tame says a crowd gathered outside watching the police activity had swelled to 200. The crowd has now dispersed, though there are few still keeping vigil close to the site. Earlier on Monday, British aristocrat Lord Ashcroft offered a reward of $50,000 in the Symes case. ||||| The Mayor of Waitakere Bob Harvey has confirmed to the NZ Herald a body has been found near the Henderson property where two-year-old Aisling Symes went missing. Earlier, neighbours reported a drainage crew inspecting a storm water line near the property with a camera. A police camera crew has just entered the crime scene. A senior crime officer was seen entering the area with a small box while another policeman entered the area with an industrial flashlight. Police and the fire service have been excavating at the back of the Henderson property with reports of raw sewage spilling from the excavation site. Firefighters have been working on the storm water drain since about 6pm on Pomaria Rd, a street connecting with Longburn Rd. Officers continue to guard access points leading to the stream behind 7 Longburn Rd, the former home of Aisling's deceased grandparents. The developments have seen a crowd of neighbours, children and other community members gather outside the property. Aisling was last seen at 5pm last Monday, near the Longburn Rd home. Police earlier today cancelled a press conference scheduled for this afternoon. Aisling's mother, Angela, has maintained her daughter went missing while she had her back turned at the house. The development follows an offer of a $50,000 reward from British aristocrat Lord Ashcroft for information leading to the safe return of Aisling. Last year, Lord Ashcroft offered a reward of $200,000 after the Waiouru Army Museum's war medals were stolen. Mystery Asian woman The last person thought to have seen Aisling was a 9-year-old child - who reported seeing an Asian woman with a dog approach the toddler near the Longburn Rd home. It is the strongest lead police have had and they've asked to hear from anyone with information on the woman - described as being in her mid 30s, about 165cm tall, of medium build with long, straight black hair. The woman had a dog and was wearing a black crew-neck top with three-quarter-length sleeves, three-quarter-length blue jeans and black leather sandals with black socks. The number of police now working on the disappearance of Aisling has increased to 70. Police appeal for information Inspector Gary Davey said police had received a lot of information on the case. "We are still appealing for anyone who has her to come forward. We just want her back." Earlier today he said he was still hopeful someone had abducted the toddler and was looking after her but could not rule out other possibilities. "My own genuine hope or gut feeling is that somebody does have her and she is still alive," he told Newstalk ZB today. "I believe that. I am optimistic, I believe family are and certainly the investigation team are optimistic that we can find Aisling." Yesterday, Mr Davey urged the person responsible either to contact him or drop Aisling at a hospital. "Whoever you are, you might be scared or intimidated by police activity over the past week. Don't be - call me. We just want to know where Aisling is," he said. Mr Davey reminded parents to be vigilant "without becoming unduly fearful" when sending children back to school today. Longburn Rd was deserted yesterday, with unmarked police cars parked in the driveway of the house from which Aisling disappeared. Persons of interest Mr Davey said police would continue profiling people of interest, and sorting information from the public. "While several people of interest have been profiled by the intelligence section and suspect team, we have not had any strong information that might lead us directly to Aisling," he said. News of Aisling's disappearance is making headlines in father Alan Symes' native Ireland. He emigrated to New Zealand - with sister Aithne and mother Olwyn - more than 18 years ago. Mrs Symes said Aisling had started learning the Irish counting system and loved potatoes. "She always used to get into the spuds and when she started teething we would find bite marks in the raw potatoes." By Staff reporters | Police searching for a missing two-year-old girl have found a body in a drain in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand Police have been searching for two-year-old Aisling Symes, who disappeared one week ago after being spotted for the last time near her grandparents' house in the Henderson region. The body was found in that area at around 8:00 PM local time on Monday. Bob Harvey, who is the mayor of Waitakere City, made a statement Monday night confirming that the remains of a human body had been found. Inspector Gary Davy made a statement on behalf of New Zealand Police, saying that it was "with tremendous sorrow" that the body had been found. He also said: "It is too early at this stage to know how the child got there, or in fact, how long the child was in the drain. "Police are speaking with the family of Aisling Symes, but it is too early to determine for certain that it is Aisling," Davy said. "The immediate scene has been cordoned off and it is now being treated as a crime scene." |
Tories ask court to stop Liberals from using Harper tape Tape was doctored, Tory MP says Independent MP Chuck Cadman's vote on May, 19, 2005, ensured Canadians did not head to the polls for a snap election. (Canadian Press) Independent MP Chuck Cadman's vote on May, 19, 2005, ensured Canadians did not head to the polls for a snap election. (Canadian Press) The Conservative party has asked an Ontario court to order the Liberals to stop using a tape that one MP charges was "doctored" to attack Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The tape of a 2005 conversation between Harper and Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk has been adjusted and changed, "including the insertion of a fabricated sound bite," Tory MP James Moore said Wednesday. "The tape has been edited and doctored to misrepresent the event." He said the conversation was 10 minutes long, but the controversial tape only runs for two minutes. According to the affidavit filed by the party, the tape recording cuts off at the 1:46 minute mark and resumes in the middle of Harper's response. "White noise has been added. It's not a complete tape." The Conservatives quote audio experts Tom Owen and Alan Gough in the affidavit. "Mr. Owen has found evidence that the edit that Mr. Zytaruk reportedly claims was a stop/start, was actually a computer edit made to the tape," said the affidavit. According to Gough's sworn statement, "the tape is not a continuous recording of one conversation." Moore did not say that Harper's words had been changed. When the CBC's Don Newman read him one exchange between Zytaruk and Harper, Moore would not say whether or not it had been altered. "Why would you even raise the tape?" Moore said, adding that experts — hired by the Conservatives — have proved that the tape has no credibility. He repeatedly said that the problems with the tape were not his opinion, but the conclusion reached by two forensics experts, whose reports were used to support the appeal to the Ontario Superior Court. May have stopped tape, says author Zytaruk, the author of a book on Cadman, said there may be an explanation for any inconsistency on the recording. He said he met Harper and managed to ask one question on tape, which Harper answered before turning to leave. "Then he turned around as if he had a second thought he wanted to add or something, and of course I made sure I got that. Now, I can't remember if I turned the tape off. I probably turned it off and then flicked it back on, but we're talking like milliseconds, right, in the time it would take for a guy to turn, just to turn on his heel to face you, right?" In the affidavit, Harper denies returning to Zytaruk to add a comment, calling that explanation "categorically false." In the tape, Harper appears to acknowledge that he knew Conservative officials had made some sort of financial offer to Independent MP Chuck Cadman, who represented the B.C. riding of Surrey North, as he was dying in 2005. The supposition was that the offer was intended to get Cadman to vote against the minority Liberal government, which would have triggered an election. But he didn't. PM denies allegations The Liberals have used the tape to attack Harper, but he has repeatedly denied the allegations. He has begun a libel suit against the Liberal party over statements published on the party's website alleging the Tories offered to bribe Cadman. "There is absolutely no truth in it," the prime minister said in February. That is still his position, Moore said. He added that the Liberals should stop basing their attacks on an altered tape. Liberal MP Bob Rae said that despite the controversy about the tape, the fundamental allegation, that an offer was made to Cadman, remains unchanged. The RCMP looked into the situation and concluded there was no evidence to lay charges. Owen and Gough analyzed the tape for the Conservatives. "This tape has been edited and doctored to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred,” Owen said, according to a Tory media release. Cadman died, following a two-year battle with cancer, at his home in Surrey, B.C., in July 2005 at age 57. ||||| TheStar.com | Canada | Harper tape in Cadman affair doctored, Tories say Harper tape in Cadman affair doctored, Tories say Party seeks injunction against further use of audio clip by Liberals Jun 04, 2008 01:27 PM Tonda MacCharles Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA - The Conservative party claims a tape of Stephen Harper's conversation with a B.C. author about "financial considerations" offered a dying MP was "doctored" and is seeking a court order to block the Liberals from further use or reference to it. "The (Tom) Zytaruk tape is completely discredited," said MP James Moore at a morning news conference. The tape has been at the centre of politically explosive allegations that the Tories offered B.C. MP Chuck Cadman a life insurance policy in exchange for his support on a key vote in Parliament in 2005. In the recording, a voice identified as Harper is heard telling Zytaruk, author of a book on Cadman, that an offer had been made to the Independent MP. The Conservative party handed out binders containing affidavits by what it called two of North America's leading forensic audio experts. Their analysis, said Moore, shows "the tape has been edited and doctored to misrepresent the event as it actually occurred." He said the original conversation ran between five and seven or 10 minutes, but only about two minutes of tape was provided, and suggested that misrepresented the conversation from the get-go. But Moore refused to say how exactly the original meaning of Harper's comments were distorted. He said Harper's lawyers obtained a copy of the tape for their analysis from Zytaruk, but he refused to speculate who "doctored" the tape. Moore said the prime minister is not suing the author, nor trying to get his book taken off the shelves, but he is pursuing libel action against the Liberals for making "false criminal allegations" against him. Audio experts Alan Gough of Stratford, Ont., and Tom Owen of Colonia, N.J., separately examined copies of the tape and reached similar conclusions that the tape had been edited. “The tape has been edited and doctored and does not represent the entire conversation that took place,” Owen said in a sworn statement. “This is not a continuous recording of one conversation,” Gough said in his affidavit. “The interruptions of words, changes of background ambience and changes of frequency response indicate that this may be three separate recordings.” The tape sparked a furor when it was released in March. Dona Cadman, widow of the late MP, said the Tories had offered her dying husband a $1-million insurance policy in return for his vote against the Liberals at a critical juncture. He rejected the offer angrily, she said. He went on to support the Liberals. Tory officials and Harper denied the $1-million offer. The key phrase in the recording has Harper saying: “Of the . . . offer to Chuck was that is was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election.” The prime minister has said repeatedly since then that Cadman was only offered the chance to return to the Conservative party and financial help in his re-election bid. The Liberals accused Harper of trying to bribe an MP, although the RCMP investigated and said they found no evidence of a crime. Cadman was a popular B.C. MP who entered the Commons as a Reformer in 1997. He lost the Conservative nomination in the 2004 election and ran and won as an independent. He died just months after the crucial vote. With files from the Canadian Press | The Conservative Party of Canada is now considering a 2005 recording of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussing "financial considerations" offered to the late Member of Parliament (MP) Chuck Cadman to have been "doctored". The tape contains a conversation between Harper and Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk, whose book "Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story" claims that Conservative party officials had offered a C$1 million life insurance policy to Cadman in exchange for a key swing vote against the Liberal Party, one of Canada's other main political parties. At the time of the alleged bribe, Cadman had already been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Conservative MP James Moore told reporters today that the tape had been altered, "including the insertion of a fabricated sound-bite." However, he would not comment on whether or not the edits had changed the meaning of Harper's words. The Liberal party had submitted the recording as evidence that Harper was aware of the Cadman insurance offer. Cadman's widow, Dona Cadman, has confirmed that the offer was presented to her husband. Conservatives deny the allegation, but say that party representatives had offered him a loan for campaign expenses if the MP were to rejoin the party. Harper has filed a lawsuit against the Liberal party, the Canadian government's official opposition. |
The building housing AFP's Gaza City office was hit in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday night, an AFP photographer said. The photographer, Mahmud Hams, who was in the fourth-floor office at the time and was unharmed, said no AFP staff were hurt in the attack. He said at least three rockets appeared to have hit the building. "I was in the office with a fixer and suddenly we heard an explosion," Hams said, adding that it shook the building but he didn't initially realize it had been struck. "About five minutes passed and then we heard two more loud explosions that also shook the building," he said. "I grabbed my cameras and left the office with the fixer and there was smoke in the hallways. We ran out of the building.” Hams noted that smoke and a fire appeared to be coming from an office on one of the upper floors. The IDF confirmed targeting the eight-storey building in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, explaining that the building was attacked because it housed a Hamas military intelligence operations room. A spokesman for the IDF told AFP the strike was a "surgical" one. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit official Twitter account also confirmed the incident. "Minutes ago, we surgically targeted a Hamas intelligence operations center on 7th floor of a media building in Gaza. Direct hit confirmed," the account said. "The Hamas terrorists weren't in the media building to be interviewed. They were there to communicate with field operatives and plan attacks," it added. The message also included a warning to foreign reporters in Gaza. “Stay away from Hamas operatives and facilities. Hamas, a terrorist group, will use you as human shields," it said. The latest incident clearly shows how Hamas uses innocent civilians as human shields and operates from civilian areas, knowing that the IDF won’t attack these areas because it does not hurt innocent people. Precision aerial bombings in the Pillar of Defense counterterrorist operation have proven themselves, sparing civilian deaths and a media backlash. Earlier this week, the IDF released a video showing how Hamas fires rockets at Israel from an underground launcher site in the backyard of a mosque. The IDF has also shown how it called off an airstrike when pilots spotted uninvolved civilians near the target. On Sunday night, the IDF bombed a Gaza City soccer field that camouflaged a Hamas underground missile launching site it used to attack Tel Aviv last Friday. Covering an underground missile site with a soccer field is part of Hamas's strategy to use civilian sites as shields for terrorist activities. ||||| Al Jazeera's bureau in Gaza City has been damaged after an airstrike hit the nearby Abu Khadra government building. A residential building in the area was on fire after the strike. ||||| Fire rises during an explosion following an Israeli strike on the border tunnels between Egypt and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2012 (AFP Photo / Said Khatib) Two Israeli strikes have left three Palestinian journalists dead, with media buildings targeted by the IDF two days in a row. The AFP building was hit in another attack later on, with no casualties reported. Mahmoud al-Koumi and Husam Salameh, cameramen for the local al-Aqsa TV station, were killed in a car marked with a press sign near the al-Wihda towers in Gaza. Both journalists were 30 years old and fathers of four children. Two other al-Aqsa employees were wounded in the first strike. The second attack killed the director of al-Quds Educational Radio, Muhammad Abu Aisha, in his car. In the latest strike, the AFP building in Gaza was hit, with no casualties reported so far. A series of massive explosions, followed by a massive blackout, were also reported near the Al Shorook building in Gaza, which houses several media outlets. Meanwhile, the IDF posted on its Twitter that its air forces “surgically targeted a Hamas operations center on the 7th floor of a media building in Gaza”, with a “direct hit confirmed.” The IDF also tweeted a warning to all journalists to stay away from Hamas facilities within Gaza territory, claiming that the group will use them as human shields. ||||| AFP office in Gaza hit in Israeli airstrike Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on an office of Al-Aqsa TV station in Gaza City on November 18, 2012. (File photo) The office of Agence France-Presse in the Gaza Strip has been hit in an Israeli airstrike on the besieged Palestinian territory. Two of those killed were cameramen working for Al-Aqsa TV. Mohammed Thouraya, head of the station, said the two were driving in a car with press markings in Gaza City on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after wrapping up an assignment at the city's al-Shifa Hospital. An unnamed AFP photographer said he was in the fourth floor of the building, when three rockets struck the sixth floor on Tuesday night.Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed three Palestinian journalists in their cars on Tuesday.Thouraya added that the bodies of the two, Mohammed al-Koumi and Hussam Salam, were badly burned.The Moscow-based Russia Today news station reported on November 18 that its office on the top floor of the Showa Media Center in Gaza City "was destroyed after (an) Israeli airstrike hit the building."The attack occurred after the office of Iran's English-language channel, Press TV, in Gaza was hit twice earlier in the day.During the bombings, a Press TV cameraman sustained injuries.Medical officials in Gaza said 21 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday. An Israeli soldier and a civilian died when rockets exploded near the Gaza frontier.Gaza medical officials say more than 140 people have died in Israeli strikes, mostly civilians.In all, five Israelis have died, including three civilians, who were killed last week.The Israeli military has reportedly struck more than 1,350 targets in Gaza since the offensive began on November 14.In response, Palestinian resistance fighters have fired retaliatory rockets and missiles into the Israeli-occupied lands, 640 rockets have hit Israel while more than 300 others have been intercepted.The Israeli military frequently carries out airstrikes and other attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, in violation of international law, disproportionate force is always used and civilians are often killed or injured.Gaza has been blockaded by the Israeli regime since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.MP/AS ||||| Published on by AlJazeeraEnglish Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev defends the air strikes that hit a building housing local and foreign journalists in Gaza. "We hit the targets we want and we are not targeting the media," Regev said. He said journalists affiliated with Hamas are "not legitimate." | Yesterday night, in separate Israeli airstrikes, the offices of Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al Jazeera English were struck or damaged in Gaza City. The airstrike struck the Al-Showa media building, the third such strike in three days. Badge of the Israel Defense Forces "A short while ago, the IDF Israel Defense Forces targeted a Hamas intelligence operations center on the seventh floor of a media building in Gaza. A direct hit was confirmed," said the IDF in a statement. "The Hamas terrorists weren't in the media building to be interviewed. They were there to communicate with field operatives and plan attacks". Journalists in Gaza City in particular, have been victims of violence in the past three days. Earlier yesterday, three Palestinian journalists were killed in two separate airstrikes. cameramen Mahmoud al-Koumi and Husam Salameh were killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their car which was reported to be marked as 'Press.' Educational Radio personality Muhammad Abu Aisha was killed in the second airstrike which also struck his car. On Sunday, at least six journalists were injured when an Israeli airstrike first struck the Al-Showa media building housing international journalists. , , , and al-Quds TV, among other agencies, all have offices located in the building. The IDF has admitted to targeting buildings belonging to media outlets, but states that such buildings are used for "Hamas' operational communications" and denies that any journalists were targets. "We obviously knew there were journalists in the building, so we did not attack other floors in the building", said Avital Leibovich, a spokesperson for the IDF on Monday. In an interview on the English channel of Al Jazeera, also on Monday, an Israeli government spokesperson said "As far as I know, no foreign journalists were hurt whatsoever" in the airstrike on Sunday. "I am not aware...oh you are talking about...first of all, maybe we have a discussion about who is a journalist," added the spokesperson who claims that Al-Aqsa is a Hamas control facility. The spokesperson went on to add that, "From our point of view, that's not a legitimate journalist like an Al Jazeera journalist" and that none of those injured was a "bona fide journalist." According to the AFP's own report, they were warned directly by the IDF via their Twitter account not to setup offices in the Showa building in a message saying, "This building housed a Hamas intelligence HQ, do not be used as human shields." |
GENT (BELGA, DS). In Sint-Niklaas hebben zich al driehonderd paren ingeschreven voor de gezamenlijke trouwpartij. Ze zullen elkaar volgende week woensdag 21 maart op de Grote Markt opnieuw of voor het eerst symbolisch trouw beloven. De actie komt er na de weigering van enkele inwoners van de stad om door schepen Wouter Van Bellingen (Spirit), een Sint-Niklazenaar van Afrikaanse komaf, gehuwd te worden. Het geval van openlijk racisme kwam uitgebreid in de pers en Van ... U las 75 van de 350 woorden Dit is een ds Plus artikel . Het behoort tot het betalende deel van de website.U las 75 van de 350 woorden ||||| Neem een abonnement of dagkaart Elke dag de krant, on line of op papier Toegang tot het archief van 350.000 artikels Extra regionieuws Speciale online dossiers. Neem een krantenabonnement Neem een digitaal abonnement Neem een dagkaart Aanmelden als abonnee e-mailadres: paswoord: bewaar paswoord ( help Paswoord vergeten? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u nog geen paswoord? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u noggeen paswoord? Klik hier Aanmelden met dagkaart Code: ||||| Couples sign up for mass marriage 14 March 2007 BRUSSELS – Three hundred couples have already signed up for a mass marriage ceremony in Sint-Niklaas. They will pledge their devotion to each other again, or for the first time, on the market square in town next week. The campaign is in response to the refusal by several couples in town to have their marriage ceremony performed by municipal official Wouter Van Bellingen, a Sint-Niklaas resident of African descent. The incidents of unabashed racism were widely reported in the press and Van Bellingen received many sign of support. Festivities as part of the campaign have been organised with the help of a number of organisations. On Wednesday next week, on 21 March, UN-designated "anti-racism day," the couples will be able to say their marriage vows to each other. Photographers will be on hand and a multicultural dessert buffet will be set up on the market square, to be followed by dancing. The festivities start at 8 p.m. [Copyright Expatica News 2007] Subject: Belgian news ||||| Wouter Van Bellingen has a good Flemish name. He is a former patrol leader in the Boy Scouts. He is an elected official of a party that wants more autonomy for Flanders. And he is a Belgian black. Now, three couples in the town of Sint Niklaas - whose patron saint is Santa Claus - have judged their registrar by his skin and cancelled their weddings. 'I am not really surprised. I'm used to having more space on the train than my fellow passengers,' said van Bellingen, a 34-year-old father of two. However, the town's Socialist mayor, former minister Freddy Willockx, said that he was shocked by the racism that was being shown by the people of Flanders. 'I had found the image of a black man officiating at a white wedding rather beautiful,' he mused. But while the Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, has expressed his indignation at the situation, the country's racial equality commission has been caught on the hop. 'We are more used to cases where someone seeking services has been discriminated against. Legally there is not much we can do,' said Jozef de Witte, the director of the Centre pour l'Egalité des Chances. Van Bellingen knows just what the racist couples can do: 'They have three choices - to accept me as their registrar, to stay single, or to move. I have been elected for six years.' The registrar began his job at the town hall of St Niklaas, to the west of Antwerp, on 1 January - two months after topping the list in local elections of Spirit, a left-inclined nationalist party whose coalition with the Socialist Party scored 35 per cent of the vote. Vlaams Belang, the right-wing nationalists who want Flanders to break away from Belgium, won 26 per cent of the vote in the town, which has a population of 70,000. 'I was in all the papers because I had become the first black alderman in Belgium,' said Van Bellingen, who was born in Antwerp to Rwandan parents and grew up in St Niklaas with an adoptive white family. His three brothers and sisters were half-Indian, half-African and white. Mayor Willockx, 60, said that he had only learnt of the cancellations from town hall staff after the event. 'In Belgium, couples wishing to be married can pencil in a date at their town hall up to six months before the ceremony,' he said. 'The place of marriage is determined by the bride's home address. It seems that the three couples had been pencilled in. The cancellations happened independently of one another but in each case the couples or their parents were clear about their reason; they didn't want a black man officiating. 'The director of administration came to me in confidence to find out how he should handle future cancellations, especially since one set of parents had been abusive. If it happens again, I want to talk to the people, but there is nothing that we can do to trace those who have already cancelled their pencilling-in.' He has received more than 2,000 emails and letters since the cancellations became public knowledge three weeks ago. 'Only about 10 have been racist or critical of the council's support for the registrar,' the mayor said. 'This is not a racist town. We have a refugee centre right in the middle of town and we have never had any problems.' Van Bellingen, who has married 25 couples since the beginning of the year, views the whole experience as enriching. 'The African in me - who always likes to see the positive side of life - feels happy about what has happened,' he said. 'I hope that the three couples change their minds. If they do, I shall happily marry them and thank them for bringing about a debate. The issue of race is too often hushed up because people feel ill at ease with it. My books are now full until August and the people I marry all want me in their wedding photograph. The people of St Niklaas are so proud of their black registrar.' As a result of the marriage controversy, local members of Belgian human rights groups have organised a symbolic mass wedding on the market square of St Niklaas to take place on 21 March, which is World Anti-Racism Day. 'It's going to be such fun,' said Van Bellingen. 'We have 200 couples so far and we're going to have the most crowded wedding photo ever, the biggest wedding dance ever and the most multicultural buffet imaginable.' ||||| The expectant young brides-to-be had their hearts set on a white wedding. So they are still single. The registrar in their home town of Sint Niklaas is black, the first black town hall official anywhere in Flanders. The three couples refused to be married by him. The racist scandal has shocked the small town near Antwerp. But Wouter Van Bellingen, the black deputy mayor and registrar, has bounced back and is planning a wedding festival in the town square on March 21, international anti-racism day, for the dozens of couples who want to get hitched by him. "The reaction has been incredible," he said. "I've done 30 weddings in the past month, that's twice as much as usual. I have people calling from France, The Netherlands, Germany. So many people want to come here now to get married, more than 200 now." The 34-year-old has spent almost all his life in Sint Niklaas after being born in Antwerp to parents from Rwanda. He was sworn in as an alderman in January, the first black person to hold such office anywhere in Flanders. But even before he took office the three couples already scheduled let it be known they would not be wed by someone who was black. The mayor, Freddy Willockx, stood by his deputy, announcing that Sint Niklaas would not give in to racism. The prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, deplored the scandal and the government's racial equality commission moved to bring charges against the racists. Mr Van Bellingen is philosophical. "If they want to get married they'll have to wait six years till I'm finished in office. Or they can move to another town." In local elections last year a quarter of the town voted for Vlaams Belang, the far right anti-immigrant Flemish separatist party. The separatists are running strongly in the opinion polls ahead of Belgian general elections in June. Commentators have ascribed Mr Van Bellingen's experiences to a climate of intolerance being created by the Flemish hardliners. But Mr Van Bellingen sees them as an easy target. "This is not just a problem in Sint Niklaas, or in Flanders, but all over Europe. And there are racists in every political party here." ||||| Wouter Van Bellingen (Spirit) zag zijn naam de voorbije dagen opduiken in Spaanse, Engelse, Franse en Nederlandse kranten. Maar ook in Amerikaanse dagbladen, zoals in de toonaangevende The Washington Post . Allemaal pikten ze het bericht op dat drie stellen uit Sint-Niklaas hun bruiloft hadden afgezegd toen ze hoorden dat de schepen van de burgerlijke stand een zwarte is. Van Bellingen, die nog het minst van al geschokt lijkt door de ... U las 70 van de 351 woorden Dit is een ds Plus artikel . Het behoort tot het betalende deel van de website.U las 70 van de 351 woorden ||||| Verhofstadt verontwaardigd over ,,achterlijk racisme'' BRUSSEL - Premier Guy Verhofstadt is verontwaardigd over de drie koppels die in Sint-Niklaas weigerden hun huwelijk te laten voltrekken door de zwarte schepen Wouter Van Bellingen. Dat heeft hij vandaag op de persconferentie na afloop van de ministerraad gezegd. ||||| BRUSSEL - Minstens drie koppels hebben wegens de huidskleur van de ambtenaar van burgerlijke stand afgezien van een huwelijk in de stad Sint-Niklaas. Nadat uitgelekt was dat er één geval was, geeft de burgemeester Freddy Willockx (SP.A) nu toe dat er minstens drie koppels zijn geweest voor begin januari. Reden voor de weigering is de huidskleur van de bevoegde schepen Wouter Van Bellingen (Spirit). Voor januari was wel al bekend dat Wouter Van Bellingen (Spirit) schepen zou worden en ambtenaar van Burgerlijke Stand, maar hij was nog niet in functie. Van Bellingen is de eerste zwarte schepen van Vlaanderen. De zes trouwers lieten het afweten omdat zij niet door een allochtoon in de echt verbonden wilden worden.Twee koppels die al maanden op voorhand een datum hadden geprikt bij een stadsambtenaar, lieten hun naam weg gommen. Een vader van een derde koppel ging zelf het huwelijk afzeggen, omdat de schoonfamilie volgens hem niet wilde dat een zwarte schepen de ceremonie voltrok.,,Schepen Van Bellingen was niet verrast, maar ik wel. Ik sta versteld'', zegt Freddy Willockx. ,,Van Bellingen is perfect geïntegreerd. In het centrum van de stad is bovendien al jaren een asielcentrum gevestigd en dus zouden de mensen toch gewend moeten zijn aan andere huidskleuren'', vindt de burgemeester.,,Dit racisme is niet per se te verklaren door het feit dat er 25 procent Blokstemmers zijn in onze stad. Ik geloof dat die Blok-stemmers zo’n oekaze niet zouden formuleren. Wel verwijt ik het nationaal Vlaams Belang dat het een klimaat heeft gecreëerd, waardoor men dit zonder gêne aan een loket durft te zeggen''.De trouwers zullen moeten inbinden of hun trouwplannen laten varen. Alleen bij uitzondering, als de trouwers een andere schepen of de burgemeester zelf goed kennen, kunnen koppels door iemand anders gehuwd worden. Maar dan nog is schepen Van Bellingen aanwezig, aldus burgemeester Willockx. ,,Ik zal er ook op toezien dat die regel niet misbruikt wordt om racistisch gedrag te verdoezelen''. ||||| Neem een abonnement of dagkaart Elke dag de krant, on line of op papier Toegang tot het archief van 350.000 artikels Extra regionieuws Speciale online dossiers. Neem een krantenabonnement Neem een digitaal abonnement Neem een dagkaart Aanmelden als abonnee e-mailadres: paswoord: bewaar paswoord ( help Paswoord vergeten? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u nog geen paswoord? Bent u krantenabonnee en hebt u noggeen paswoord? Klik hier Aanmelden met dagkaart Code: | Grand Place in Sint-Niklaas, which is the one with the largest surface area in Belgium. In Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, a multicultural mass marriage event is to take place next Wednesday, on the U.N.-designated International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. More than 550 couples have already registered to make a devotion pledge or renew their wedding vows before municipal officer Wouter Van Bellingen. The alderman called for the event after three couples cancelled their marriage because Wouter is black. Van Bellingen, whose Rwandan parents gave him up for adoption, grew up in Sint-Niklaas as the youngest child in a family of 4 adopted children. Van Bellingen is a member of the political party Spirit, which strives for more Flemish autonomy in Belgium. After the 2006 municipal elections in Belgium, he became the first black councillor in Belgium, responsible for civilian, youth and international affairs in Sint-Niklaas. "The combination of his black skin colour with the shiny white brides dresses will be very photogenic..." mayor Freddy Willockx predicted when he presented his councillors. One month after Van Bellingen took office, the media reported that three couples refused to be married by a black registrar. At first, Van Bellingen wasn't very surprised. "As a coloured person, I go through this every day. That's just the reality in Flanders. Only, I didn't expect this to happen so fast." After the incident, Van Bellingen got hundreds of calls and letter from people supporting him, including prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, who condemned "such as stupid form of racism". Socialist mayor Willockx accused the far-right political party Vlaams Belang (Eng. ''Flemish Interest'') of creating the atmosphere for his deputy's experience. Vlaams Belang is second in the polls for the elections next June in Flanders. But, as Van Bellingen pointed out: "This is not just a problem in Sint-Niklaas, or in Flanders, but all over Europe. And there are racists in every political party here." Since Van Bellingen made the news, the number of wedding ceremonies he has to lead has doubled, and even bookings for 2008 are coming in. Because many people regretted the fact that they could not be married by the famous alderman, he decided to organise a mass wedding, on the International anti-racism day. Not only future and established couples can take part in the ceremony, but even teens who want to prove their love. "Anyone can wed that day. I'm not a racist." Similar to the television show Fata Morgana, Wouter has 5 challenges for the couples and for the city of Sint-Niklaas: together, they are to realise the biggest wedding pledge, a big wedding photo, a big group hug on the market square, a multicultural dessert buffet and a big first wedding dance. |
This is What’s Trending Today… The eastern United States is recovering from a major storm, which left widespread damage. Strong gusts of wind broke windows and removed tops of buildings. Hundreds of thousands of people lost power for one or more days. Huge trees came crashing down. And, reports say one of the trees brought down by the storm may have been planted by the first U.S. president, George Washington. The tree stood on the grounds of Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, about 30 kilometers south of Washington, D.C. The huge estate sits along the Potomac River, just south of Alexandria, Virginia. Today, George Washington’s Mount Vernon is a popular stop for travelers, both Americans and visitors from overseas. The tree, a Canadian hemlock, was planted near the entrance to a garden on the property. It had a sign that read “circa 1791” on it -- the year that people thought it was planted. Rob Shenk works for George Washington’s Mount Vernon. He published a photograph of the damaged tree on Twitter last weekend. He wrote, “The DC area lost a lot of trees yesterday, but maybe none more significant than this 1791 Canadian Hemlock at Mount Vernon. George Washington himself likely knew this tree…” Dean Norton is the director of horticulture at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. In a video published on social media this week, he talked about the history of the fallen hemlock. Washington, Norton said, was interested in planting hemlock trees on his property. Hemlocks did not grow in this part of Virginia. In 1784, Norton explained, Washington sent a letter to New York Governor George Clinton requesting the trees. By July of 1785, Washington got his wish. He received two hemlocks planted in cut whiskey barrels. General Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts sent the trees to the future president as a gift from Clinton. Mount Vernon experts say Washington wrote down that he planted the trees on the grounds of Mount Vernon on July 13, 1785. Neither Shenk nor Norton can be sure that Washington planted the tree with his own hands. However, Shenk told The Washington Post newspaper that he at least directed the planting. But last week, 100-kilometer-per-hour winds twisted, shook and took down the over two-century-old hemlock. “You hate to see it, but it happens,” Norton said in the video. He described the fallen hemlock as a “living witness to the life and times of George Washington.” Mount Vernon officials say that they have collected the wood from the tree. It will be used at Mount Vernon for preservation efforts and special projects. And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Ashley Thompson. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story gust - n. a sudden strong wind estate - n. a large piece of land with a large house on it garden - n. an area of ground where plants (such as flowers or vegetables) are grown significant - adj. very important horticulture - n. the science of growing fruits, vegetables, and flowers whiskey - n. a strong alcoholic drink made from a grain (such as rye, corn, or barley) barrel - n. a round usually wooden container with curved sides and flat ends preservation - n. the act of keeping something in its original state or in good condition ||||| A tree believed to have been planted by George Washington in Virginia was felled by the powerful nor’easter that slammed the East Coast last week. “Today at Mount Vernon, strong winds brought down a 227-year-old Canadian Hemlock, as well as a Virginia Cedar that stood watch over Washington’s tomb for many years,” the historical landmark said on Facebook. The old hemlock arrived at the first president’s home and plantation in 1791 in half a whiskey barrel, as a gift from New York Gov. George Clinton, the estate said. Washington had planted the tree outside the upper garden gate. “The DC area lost a lot of trees yesterday, but none more significant than this 1791 Canadian Hemlock @MountVernon,” tweeted Rob Shenk, senior vice president of visitor engagement for the landmark. The organization said it would be exploring options for how to use the wood. In the past, they’ve turned fallen trees into everything from handmade gavels to bottle stoppers. The massive Friday storm hammered the Northeast with winds up to 70 mph, and knocked out power to 200,000 customers in New York and New Jersey. At least three people died after gusts brought trees crashing down on their homes or cars. ||||| A tree at George Washington’s Mount Vernon – said to be planted by the first president himself – was knocked down Friday by the powerful nor'easter that struck the U.S. “Today at Mount Vernon, strong winds brought down a 227-year-old Canadian Hemlock, as well as a Virginia Cedar that stood watch over Washington’s tomb for many years,” the historical landmark posted on Facebook. Mount Vernon was the location of George Washington’s plantation along the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia. The tree was planted by Washington in 1791, according to the estate’s director of horticulture. It was the site’s “best documented tree on the property arriving in a half whiskey barrel” from New York's then-governor, George Clinton. Mount Vernon’s senior vice president of visitor engagement, Rob Shenk, tweeted that while “The DC area lost a lot of #trees yesterday” there were “maybe none more significant than this 1791 Canadian Hemlock.” Shenk said “George Washington himself likely knew” of the tree. The massive storm hit the Northeast Friday, with wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph, knocking out power to more than 500,000 customers. ||||| Story highlights The Jackson Magnolia has had a long and storied life The tree has been in the background for numerous historic events Washington (CNN) The south facade of the White House will undergo a dramatic change this week: the historic Jackson Magnolia, a tree that has been in place since the 1800s, is scheduled to be cut down and removed. The enormous magnolia, one of three on the west side of the White House and the oldest on the White House grounds, extends from the ground floor, up past the front of the windows of the State Dining Room on the first floor and beyond the second-level executive residence. The tree has had a long and storied life, yet has now been deemed too damaged and decayed to remain in place. Specialists at the United States National Arboretum were brought in by the White House to assess the Magnolia grandiflora, as it is specifically termed. According to documents obtained exclusively by CNN, the tree must be removed, and quickly, despite efforts to preserve it over several decades. The documents read in part: Then-first lady Barbara Bush gives Hillary Clinton a White House tour in 1992. "The overall architecture and structure of the tree is greatly compromised and the tree is completely dependent on the artificial support. Without the extensive cabling system, the tree would have fallen years ago. Presently, and very concerning, the cabling system is failing on the east trunk, as a cable has pulled through the very thin layer of wood that remains. It is difficult to predict when and how many more will fail." A White House official tells CNN the decision to remove the tree was ultimately made by first lady Melania Trump after she had viewed and assessed all of the professional information and accompanying historical documents. The tree is scheduled to be taken down later this week. Read More ||||| Iconic Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Brought Down By California Storm A powerful winter storm in California has brought down an ancient tree, carved into a living tunnel more than a century ago. The "Pioneer Cabin Tree," a sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, saw horses and cars pass through it over the years. More recently, only hikers were allowed to walk through the massive tree. Over the weekend, a powerful winter storm slammed into California and Nevada, prompting flooding and mudslides in some regions. The Associated Press reports it might be the biggest storm to hit the region in more than a decade. On Sunday, a volunteer at the state park reported that Pioneer Cabin had not survived. "The storm was just too much for it," the Calaveras Big Tree Association wrote on Facebook. It's unclear exactly how old the tree was, but The Los Angeles Times reports that the trees in the state park are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years. The iconic tree was one of just a few tunneled-through sequoias in California. The most famous was the Wawona Tree, in Yosemite National Park; it fell during a winter storm in 1969 at an estimated age of 2,100 years. The other remaining sequoia tunnels are dead or consist of logs on their side, the Forest Service says. However, there are still three coastal redwoods (taller and more slender than sequoias) with tunnels cut through them. They're all operated by private companies, the Forest Service says, and still allow cars to drive through — one appeared in a recent Geico ad. SFGate.com spoke to Jim Allday, the volunteer who reported Pioneer Cabin's demise. He told the website that the tree "shattered" when it hit the ground on Sunday afternoon, and that people had walked through it as recently as that morning. Local flooding might have been the reason the tree fell, SFGate reports: " 'When I went out there [Sunday afternoon], the trail was literally a river, the trail is washed out,' Allday said. 'I could see the tree on the ground, it looked like it was laying in a pond or lake with a river running through it.' " "The tree had been among the most popular features of the state park since the late 1800s. The tunnel had graffiti dating to the 1800s, when visitors were encouraged to etch their names into the bark. "Joan Allday, wife of Jim Allday and also a volunteer at the park, said the tree had been weakening and leaning severely to one side for several years. " 'It was barely alive, there was one branch alive at the top,' she said. 'But it was very brittle and starting to lift.' " Tunnel trees were created in the 19th century to promote parks and inspire tourism. But cutting a tunnel through a living sequoia, of course, damages the tree. "Tunnel trees had their time and place in the early history of our national parks," the National Park Service has written. "But today sequoias which are standing healthy and whole are worth far more." ||||| CLINTON, George, 1739-1812 CLINTON, George, (father of George Clinton [1771-1809] and uncle of De Witt Clinton and James Graham Clinton), a Delegate from New York and a Vice President of the United States; born in Little Britain, Ulster (now Orange) County, N.Y., July 26, 1739; completed preparatory studies; served as lieutenant of rangers in the expedition against Fort Frontenac; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Little Britain; clerk of the court of common pleas in 1759 and district attorney in 1765; surveyor of New Windsor; member of the State assembly in 1768; served on the New York Committee of Correspondence in 1774; Member of the Continental Congress from May 15, 1775, to July 8, 1776, when he was ordered to take the field as brigadier general of militia; appointed brigadier general by Congress in March 1777; Governor of New York 1777-1795; president of the State convention which ratified the Federal Constitution; again Governor of New York 1801-1804; elected Vice President of the United States in 1804 as a Republican and served four years under President Thomas Jefferson; reelected in 1808 and served under President James Madison until his death in office; died in Washington, D.C., April 20, 1812; interment in the Congressional Cemetery; reinterment in the First Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery, Kingston, N.Y., in May 1908. Bibliography DAB; Kaminski, John P. George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic. Madison, WI: Madison House, 1993; Spaulding, E. Wilder. His Excellency, George Clinton: Critic of the Constitution. 1938. Reprint. Port Washington, N.Y.: I.J. Friedman, 1964. | File photo of the main building at Mount Vernon Friday's major winter storm over the northeastern United States claimed a 227-year-old tree on the estate of the first US President , , in . As of yesterday, officials overseeing the Mount Vernon estate indicated the has been collected for preservation and special projects. The hemlock, planted in 1791, was toppled by the gusts reportedly up to 70 (about 110 ) on Friday. Mount Vernon was Washington's personal estate, where he conducted most of his two presidential terms between 1789–1797 because the initial White House was not completed yet. According to Mount Vernon officials, the hemlock is the best documented tree at the estate, sent by New York Governor as a gift delivered in a whisky barrel. The New York governor is not related to the 42nd President , however George Clinton would later become the United States's Vice President under the and administrations between 1805–1812. Other US historic trees recently fallen include the seventh President 's at the White House and the in California's known for the car-sized tunnel cut into the trunk. == Sources == * * * * * * * |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. spam, that is, HTML links added only to promote a site or product. Following Wikipedia:External links, please help Wikipedia by removing any commercial links on sight. Please retain this notice if necessary, and report rampant spamming as per instructions at Wikipedia:Spam. This article or section has or is prone to, that is, HTML links added only to promote a site or product. The Million Dollar Homepage is a website conceived by Alex Tew, a 21 year old student from Wiltshire, England to help raise money for his university education. Launched on August 26th, 2005, the website has (as of November 17) generated a gross income of USD $609,600 and has a Google PageRank of 7. His Alexa ranking as of November 9, 2005 is 2,259. The index page of the site consists of a 1000 x 1000 pixel grid (one million pixels), which he sells image-based links on for US $1 per pixel. A person who buys one or more of these pixelblocks can design a tiny image which will be displayed on them, and also decide a URL which he or she wants them to link to. The aim of the site is to sell all of the pixels in the image, thus generating one million dollars of income for the creator. Origins Tew wanted to find a way of funding his degree studies, since he was starting a course at Nottingham University in a month. He had the idea of selling pixels, and even though he didn't really believe anyone would want to buy them, he decided to go ahead with the plan, knowing he had very little to lose by trying. He planned not to market the site, but to simply allow it to become known by word of mouth. Within three days, he sold his first 20 x 20 pixel block, to an online music site. From then on, with only a press release in terms of self-promotion, he sold several blocks a day. To Tew's surprise, it only took about two weeks before he had enough money to pay his first year at university. By now, a number of well-known blogs and UK newspapers (e.g., The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Sun) had noted his endeavor, and the numbers of orders skyrocketed. A month on from the site's launch, he had made $152,900. Tew notes that compared to most Internet advertisement, his Web site is good business for his buyers as well, due to high traffic and low prices. Critics of the site claim that it is nothing but a large advertising banner; the defenders point out that what gives it so many visitors is not the banners themselves, but rather the original and novel concept of the site. Imitators A simple internet search on "pixel advertising" or "pixel ads" will reveal many sites that are seeking to emulate the success of the Million Pixel Homepage - it has become a minor subgenre in internet advertising. However, the limited success of these imitators may have an impact on its long-term sustainability. References Boggan, Steve (Nov. 10, 2005). "Million Dollar Boy". New Straits Times, p. L12–L13. External links ||||| A Facebook group of parents and school staff claims there have been almost three times as many Covid cases in schools as the HSE has reported since institutions reopened this month. The group, Alerting parents of outbreaks in schools, has more than 131,000 members, and uses school notices posted by parents and staff to gather data on the...A Facebook group of parents and school staff claims there have been almost three times as many Covid cases in schools as the HSE has reported since institutions reopened this month. The group, Alerting parents of outbreaks in schools, has more than 131,000 members, and uses school notices posted by parents and staff to gather data on the...A Facebook group of parents and school staff claims there have been almost three times as many Covid cases in schools as the... ||||| Web Makes Student Rich A university student is set to become a millionaire before he graduates after making a fortune from a bizarre website he set up in his spare time. Alex Tew, 21, a first year business studies student at Nottingham University, made £150,000 in the past month selling pixels on a computer screen to advertisers. "I knew that if I could get some interest out there and get people looking at the site then the pixels I was selling would have value," he said. "I thought it would work to a degree but not to the degree that it has." Advertisement Alex's website, milliondollarhomepage.com, is divided into 10,000 squares - each one consisting of 100 pixels - and each square costs $1 to buy. Advertisers have to buy a minimum of 100 squares, but the more they buy, the bigger their advert appears on his website. Alex was overdrawn when he started university but his lecturers say he is well on his way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. "It's a fantastic idea and like most really good ideas it's so simple, so effective and also so rapid in its impact," said business expert, Professor Martin Binks. The site has already attracted plenty of business and Alex aims to make $1m by the end of his degree to finance his studies. The National Union of Students say 90% of students are in debt. But the only money worries Alex now has is what to spend it all on. ||||| Alex Tew set up milliondollarhomepage.com five weeks ago in an attempt to avoid debts while he studies business management at the University of Nottingham. The site has buyers from as far afield as Brazil and Israel. The 21-year-old, who started lectures yesterday, said of his success: "It's just nuts. I'm in a state of disbelief. It's like Monopoly money but then I look at my bank account and there's a lot of cash in it." ||||| Alex could graduate with a million dollars in his bank account Alex Tew, 21, of Cricklade, Wiltshire, who will go to Nottingham University in October to study business management, launched milliondollarhomepage.com. Companies choose from the one million pixels on the site and buy their own for one dollar (60p) each. "I have lots of investment ideas but want to be sensible," he said. 'Minimum investment' One of Alex's three elder brothers left university owing £30,000, prompting him to a firm decision not to slide into the red. "I was up late with my notepad when it came to me," said Alex. The website has a grid of 10,000 boxes, each 100 pixels (10 by 10) in size. Customers can place advertising logos on the purchased space, linking web users to their own websites. If his site succeeds, he should leave university with $1m (£543,615). "I don't believe it," he told BBC News Interactive. "It doesn't really sink in, doesn't make sense. "They are sold in blocks of 10 with a minimum investment of $100." ||||| A UK student is flogging pixels on a web page to help raise $1m to fund his way through university. Alex Tew, 21, who will be reading Business Management, says people can buy the pixels to display an ad or a logo on his Million Dollar Homepage which in turn can create a link to their website. The pixels are sold in squares of 100 to create a tiddly icon. Larger groupings can also be bought to make logos stand out. Tew told El Reg that the scheme was all "legit and completely above board". "I think this will mostly appeal to businesses and perhaps larger companies will buy up lots of pixels to have a more prominent position on the site," he said. Faced with the spiralling cost of tuition fees and beer, Tew said he would rather "not to be riddled with debt when I graduate, so I decided to think of a way to make money before I start". And if he ends up with any extra cash left after his studies he plans to plough that money into a business. So far Tew has sold more than a 1,000 pixels, including 100 to a dating network, 100 to a marketing firm and 400 to his brother's go-karting business. Sheesh - what some people will do to raise a bit of cash. Last year Bristol University student Rosie Reid raised £8,400 by auctioning her virginity online to help fund her education. And there are plenty of people prepared to have logos tattooed on their bodies for some dosh, mostly from GoldenPalace.com. ® ||||| A first-year British student said he was aiming to sell one million US dollars' worth of internet advertising space in a bid to avoid university debts. Alex Tew, 21, launched milliondollarhomepage.com after dreaming it up at his family home in Cricklade, Wiltshire. If his site succeeds, he will emerge from university in three years with a degree and a million dollars (£543,000) in his bank account. On the site is a grid of 10,000 boxes, each 100 pixels (10 by 10) in size. Companies can choose from the one million pixels on the site and buy their own for one dollar (54p) each. Customers can then place advertising logos on the purchased space, linking web users to their own websites. "The minimum purchase is 100 pixels for 100 dollars - you can't buy individual pixels as they're too small to be of any use on their own," Alex said. He starts his degree in business management at Nottingham University later this month. One of his three older brothers left university a few years ago with £30,000 of debt, he said. "A few weeks ago I look at my bank account and I was heavily overdrawn - before I had even got to university," he said. Making a decision not to slide any further into the red, he donned his thinking cap. Alex, who has experience in web design, said: "I was up late with my note pad when it came to me. "I decided it had to be the million-dollar home page - million pound didn't quite have the same ring to it - and also, the US is the world's biggest on-line population." Fri 9 Sep 2005Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved. | The Million Dollar Homepage, as of 29 December 2005. Alex Tew, a student in England, has almost reached his target of one million dollars on his website: Million Dollar Homepage. He came up with the idea after jotting down ideas before he went to bed on how to become a millionaire before he went to university. Then he came up with the million-dollar idea: selling pixels at USD $1 each on a web page. Alex currently believes he can make his goal by the end of 31st December, 2005. Advertising companies especially appreciate the website, as they wish to "make Internet history" on the Million Dollar Homepage. In fact as of writing, he has already made USD $999,000. The student says advertisers get to keep their ads for a period of five years from purchase and he says he will use the money he has made to guarantee it. Alex has said he has already got numerous job offers from companies aiming to secure his money making talent. Tew is undergoing a business management course at Nottingham and needed GBP £7000 a year to complete his studies. He is understandably overwhelmed by the success he has achieved: "It's just nuts. I'm in a state of disbelief. It's like Monopoly money but then I look at my bank account and there's a lot of cash in it." The British National Union of Students claim that 90% of students are in debt. However, what only worries him is how he's going to spend his money. He has already spent some of his money on a car for himself, as he thinks of what to do with his new fortune. His website's method is simple; his website is made up of one page divided into 10,000 boxes, each 100 pixels in size. Companies can buy one or more boxes for USD $100 each and cover it with a logo, which, when clicked on, transports web users to the customers' own site. The figures add up with the site now carrying over 240 advertisements and has 30,000 hits a day. Even the actor Jack Black, star of "''School of Rock''" and "''Shallow Hal''", is using the site to advertise his band Tenacious D. |
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement A raft of measures have been agreed that should cut the budgets of Formula One teams by at least 30%. Big savings will be made on engine costs, in-season testing and staff numbers, following a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Monaco. FIA boss Max Mosley had wanted all teams to use a "one size fits all" standardised Cosworth engine. The teams rejected that proposal but have agreed to use lower-cost, longer-lasting engines from 2009. From 2010 there will be a ban on refuelling and, subject to market research, Grand Prix distances could be shortened. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's idea to decide the drivers' title with Olympic-style medals rather than points also needs further research, the sport's governing body said. "I think this is probably the first step towards Formula One saving itself," said Mosley. 606: DEBATE The refuelling ban is frankly the best news I've heard all day! The artist formerly known as! The independent teams will use engines costing less than £4.5m per season from 2009, supplied by an independent supplier or a manufacturer backed by guarantees of continuity. The FIA estimates that this will provide a 50% saving for the independent teams. All the teams have committed to significant cuts in spending on engines. Each team will be allowed to use a maximum of 20 engines per season and the power of the engines will be capped. There will be no in-season testing from next season except during a race weekend and during scheduled practice. The teams have also agreed that manpower will be reduced by a range of measures, including the sharing of information on tyres and fuel. The FIA estimates the list of changes for 2009 will save the manufacturer teams approximately 30% of their budgets compared to 2008, with the savings for independent teams even greater. "The teams have now really got behind the idea, and instead of being reluctant, they are being positive," Mosley added. "But what's significant about these changes is when you walk down the pit lane, or you sit in the grandstand or watch television, you will notice no difference at all. "But inevitably, in any industry, if you reduce the costs then you reduce the number of people. "The teams currently employ between 700 and 1000 people just to put two cars on the grid. In any event, that is not sustainable." PROPOSALS IN FULL: Engines: - From 2009, engine life to be doubled. Each driver to use maximum of eight engines per season; each team can use an additional four for testing - Limited to 18,000 revs per minute. - Cost to independent teams will be approximately 50% of 2008 prices. - 2010 engine will continue to be used in 2011 and 2012. Race weekend: - From 2010, standardised radio and telemetry systems, a ban on tyre warmers, mechanical purging of tyres and refuelling on race weekends. - Possible reduction in race distance or duration (proposal to follow after market research). Research: - No wind tunnel exceeding 60% scale and 50 metres per second to be used after 1 January 2009. - Restrictions on aerodynamic research, combined with a full analysis of factory facilities. - Factory closures for six weeks per year, to accord with local laws. Other: - From 2010, subject to confirmation of practicability, the same transmission will be used by all teams. - FIA to compose a standard parts list for the chassis. - FIA and Formula One Teams' Association to study possibility of an entirely new power train (engine and transmission) for 2013, based on energy efficiency. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version ||||| GO TO EARLIER STORY GO TO THE NEWS INDEX GO TO NEXT STORY FIA reveals radical cost-cutting measures By Jonathan Noble A total ban on in-season testing, major revisions to engine regulations and dramatic cuts in aerodynamic development have formed the cornerstone of a radical rules overhaul that will cut costs in Formula One. Following a meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Monaco on Friday, the FIA announced a host of measures that have been agreed with the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and will be put in place over the next few years that will cut budgets by at least one third from next year. All in-season testing, apart from that conducted during scheduled practice on a grand prix weekend, has been banned. Teams have also been outlawed from using any tunnel that exceeds 60 percent scale and 50 metres per second after January 1, 2009. Factories will also have to be closed for six weeks per year. Engine life is to be doubled, with drivers limited to a maximum of eight power-units over the course of the season - plus four for testing. However, the three-race rule voted through on November 5 remains in place. This extra life will be achieved through a rev reduction to 18,000rpm, with no internal re-tuning allowed. Adjustment to trumpets and injectors will only be allowed. The reduction to 20 engines per team for the season means engine budgets for independent teams should be cut in half compared to this season. Teams will also have their manpower reduced at race weekends through a number of measures, including the sharing of information about tyres and fuel that will eliminate the need for spotters. The FIA is hoping that the above measure will ensure a big enough cut in team budgets for next year. In a statement issued on Friday it said: "It is estimated that these changes for 2009 will save the manufacturer teams approximately 30% of their budgets compared to 2008, while the savings for independent teams will be even greater." For 2010, the regulation changes get even more dramatic. The door has been left open on the FIA's offer of a standard specification engine, with it being made clear engines will be made available to independent teams for 5 million Euros per season. This will either come from an independent supplier like Cosworth, who won the FIA's tender for a standard engine, or from manufacturer teams providing they give guarantees. These engine specifications will also be used in 2011 and 2012 as well. It is hoped that a standard transmission can be used, and work will be conducted on using as many standard parts on a chassis as possible - where teams agree that these bits should not be performance differentiators. On race weekends there will be standardised radio and telemetry systems, a ban on tyre warmers, a ban on the mechanical purging or tyres and a ban on refuelling. This will come alongside further restrictions on aerodynamic research and other possible limits on factory facilities. The FIA is also to conduct a market research programme to work out whether there should be changes to qualifying, the use of a medal system instead of points or a reduction in race distances. There is also the possibility of a standard KERS being used in 2010, but this depends on a proposal being put forward by FOTA. A number of teams may decide not to run the devices next year amid fears about mounting costs. Regarding the longer term future, the FIA statement added: "The FIA and FOTA will study the possibility of an entirely new power train for 2013 based on energy efficiency (obtaining more work from less energy consumed). Rules to be framed so as to ensure that research and development of such a power train would make a real contribution to energy-efficient road transport." Go to earlier story Go to the News Index Go to next story ||||| Following Fridays meeting of its World Motor Sport Council in Monaco, the FIA has confirmed details of the cost-cutting measures agreed with the teams for 2009 and beyond. Changes for next season - expected to save teams at least 30 percent on their 2008 budgets - include a ban on in-season testing, limiting each driver to eight engines - effectively doubling engine life - and cuts in aerodynamic research. Cost of engines to independent teams will be halved for 2009 and drivers must use the same engine for three consecutive races, with maximum revs cut from 19,000 to 18,000 rpm. Following moves to equalise engine performance for next season, Renault have been granted permission to make certain modifications to their V8. All other team's engines will remain unchanged. From 2010 all teams will be able to obtain engines for less than 5 million per season, either from an existing manufacturer or from an independent supplier, and all teams are likely to use the same transmission. Refuelling and tyre warmers will be banned. The possibility of an entirely new, more energy-efficient and road-relevant power train, likely to include an enhanced KERS system, will be investigated for 2013. Details of further changes for 2009 and 2010 are due to be announced shortly. The full statement from the FIA: The World Motor Sport Council met in Monaco on 12 December 2008. The following decisions were taken: FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The following measures to reduce costs in Formula One have been agreed by the World Motor Sport Council. These proposed changes have the unanimous agreement of the Formula One teams, who have played a major role in their development. The FIA is grateful to the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) and its Chairman Luca di Montezemolo for their incisive contribution. 2009 Engine Engine life to be doubled. Each driver will use a maximum of eight engines for the season plus four for testing (thus 20 per team). Limit of 18,000 rpm. No internal re-tuning. Adjustment to trumpets and injectors only. The three-race rule voted on 5 November remains in force. Cost of engines to independent teams will be approximately 50% of 2008 prices. Unanimous agreement was reached on a list of proposed changes to the Renault engine for 2009; all other engines will remain unchanged. Comparative testing will not be necessary. Testing No in-season testing except during race weekend during scheduled practice. Aerodynamic research No wind tunnel exceeding 60% scale and 50 metres/sec to be used after 1 January 2009. A formula to balance wind tunnel-based research against CFD research, if agreed between the teams, will be proposed to the FIA. Factory activity Factory closures for six weeks per year, to accord with local laws. Race weekend Manpower to be reduced by means of a number of measures, including sharing information on tyres and fuel to eliminate the need for spotters. Sporting spectacle Market research is being conducted to gauge the public reaction to a number of new ideas, including possible changes to qualifying and a proposal for the substitution of medals for points for the drivers. Proposals will be submitted to the FIA when the results of the market research are known. Note: It is estimated that these changes for 2009 will save the manufacturer teams approximately 30% of their budgets compared to 2008, while the savings for independent teams will be even greater. 2010 Power train Engines will be available to the independent teams for less than 5 million per team per season. These will either come from an independent supplier or be supplied by the manufacturer teams backed by guarantees of continuity. If an independent supplier, the deal will be signed no later than 20 December 2008. This same engine will continue to be used in 2011 and 2012 (thus no new engine for 2011). Subject to confirmation of practicability, the same transmission will be used by all teams. Chassis A list of all elements of the chassis will be prepared and a decision taken in respect of each element as to whether or not it will remain a performance differentiator (competitive element). Some elements which remain performance differentiators will be homologated for the season. Some elements will remain performance differentiators, but use inexpensive materials. Elements which are not performance differentiators will be prescriptive and be obtained or manufactured in the most economical possible way. Race weekend Standardised radio and telemetry systems. Ban on tyre warmers. Ban on mechanical purging of tyres. Ban on refueling. Possible reduction in race distance or duration (proposal to follow market research). Factory activity Further restrictions on aerodynamic research. Ban on tyre force rigs (other than vertical force rigs). Full analysis of factory facilities with a view to proposing further restrictions on facilities. Longer term The FIA and FOTA will study the possibility of an entirely new power train for 2013 based on energy efficiency (obtaining more work from less energy consumed). Rules to be framed so as to ensure that research and development of such a power train would make a real contribution to energy-efficient road transport. An enhanced Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) system is likely to be a very significant element of an energy-efficient power train in the future. In the short term, KERS is part of the 2009 regulations, but is not compulsory. For 2010 FOTA is considering proposals for a standard KERS system. The FIA awaits proposals. A number of further amendments were adopted for the 2009 and 2010 Sporting and Technical Regulations. Full details will be available shortly on www.fia.com. | Logo of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has revealed the details of the cost-cutting measures for Formula One that were agreed on Wednesday in talks with the teams. The new measures are expected to save the manufacturer teams at least 30 percent of their budgets next season, with the savings increasing as more of the measures are introduced in the future. The raft of agreements has saved the teams from the threat of standardised engines until at least 2013 and savings for independent teams are predicted by the FIA to be even higher. For next season the engines will now have to last 3 races, rather than thee current 2 race requirement, and each driver is allowed up to 8 engines throughout the year and the team is allowed a further 4 for testing. Engines will now be rev limited to 18,000 rpm and Renault managed to obtain agreement from the other teams for modifications of its engine to bring it into line with the other engines in the sport. Testing will be affected, with in season testing banned and wind tunnels not to exceed 6:10 scale or 50 metres per second. Teams will be expected to share fuel and tyre data at grand prix in an effort to save on the manpower requirement at the race weekends. The teams will also have to close their factories for 6 weeks a year. The FIA will also be conducting research into the possibility of using a medal system for F1 next season, an idea championed by Bernie Ecclestone, the boss of Formula One Management. Starting in 2010 more changes will come into force, with the introduction of the cheaper engines being made available to independent teams, costing less than €5 million per season. Any contracts for the cheaper 2010 engines will have to be signed by the 20th of December, 2008. Another engine freeze will occur at the start of the 2010 season, with the engines from 2010 continuing through to the end of 2012. The FIA also intends to try to introduce standardised transmission systems in 2010 and will look at chassis design to determine which aerodynamic parts will be standardised or allowed to be competitive differentiators. Races will see more changes in 2010 with the use of tyre warmers and refuelling banned, and the possibility of shorter race distances has been put forward pending market research. What work the teams can engage in at the factories will also be further limited this season to reduce the manpower and other running costs. The FIA has raised the possibility of a new power train entirely to be developed for the 2013 season, in consultation with the Formula One Teams Association, and will also discuss making Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) compulsory from 2010. KERS, which is being introduced as a voluntary measure in 2009, has divided the teams with some embracing the technology while others, such as Ferrari, have criticised it. |
MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A tropical storm warning was issued Wednesday for parts of the Texas and Louisiana coasts as a tropical depression intensified in the Gulf of Mexico. Satellite image from 11:15 a.m. ET shows storm system in the Gulf of Mexico. At 11 a.m. ET, the ninth tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and its center was about 85 miles south-southwest of Galveston, Texas, forecasters said. It was moving toward the north at about 6 mph, and its center was expected to cross into Texas later Wednesday between Port O'Connor, Texas, and Cameron, Louisiana. Forecasters expected it to become a weak tropical storm with sustained winds of about 45 mph. About 5 to 10 inches of rain were expected along the middle and upper Texas coast and in southwestern Louisiana, with some areas possibly getting as much as 15 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A tropical depression becomes a named tropical storm when its sustained winds reach 39 mph. The next name on the National Hurricane Center's list for the 2007 Atlantic storm season is Humberto, followed by Ingrid. E-mail to a friend Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All About Hurricanes and Cyclones • National Hurricane Center ||||| Computer-enhanced satellite image of Tropical Storm Humberto as it moved toward the Gulf Coast. (NOAA) Tropical Storm Humberto formed Wednesday in the Gulf of Mexico, and officials issued warnings for parts of the Texas and Louisiana coasts where heavy rain could cause flooding. Rain was already falling along the Gulf Coast at 2 p.m. EDT, with Humberto's center still about 70 miles south-southwest of Galveston, Texas, the National Hurricane Center said. The eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and was expected to move ashore later Wednesday. Forecasters warned of storm surge flooding of 2 feet to 3 feet near where the storm's center makes landfall. About 5 to 10 inches of rain was expected along the middle and upper Texas coast and in southwestern Louisiana, with some areas getting as much as 15 inches, senior hurricane specialist Jack Beven said. Humberto formed from a depression that developed Wednesday morning. A depression becomes a named tropical storm when its sustained winds reach 39 mph, and a hurricane when those winds reach 74 mph. Another tropical depression also formed Wednesday far in the open Atlantic, about 1,130 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph and was moving west-northwest at about 12 mph. Forecasters said it could become a tropical storm later Wednesday. ||||| HOUSTON (Reuters) - Forecasters predicted heavy rains and flooding for the Houston area as Tropical Storm Humberto formed on Wednesday in the northern U.S. Gulf. Tropical Storm Humberto is seen in a September 12, 2007 satellite image from the NOAA. Forecasters predicted heavy rains and flooding for the Houston area as Tropical Storm Humberto formed on Wednesday in the northern U.S. Gulf. REUTERS/NOAA/Handout Hurricane trackers were also keeping an eye on a second storm system making its way west in the central Atlantic after being declared Tropical Depression 8 on Wednesday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that a system offshore of Galveston, Texas, had become Tropical Storm Humberto. At 1 p.m. CDT (2 p.m. EDT), Humberto was located 70 miles south-southwest of Galveston and moving north at 6 mph (9 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). “Additional strengthening is possible prior to landfall,” a hurricane center advisory said. “Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are expected along the middle and upper Texas Coast and in extreme southwestern Louisiana.” Humberto already was affecting the Houston Ship Channel, which serves one of the United States’ busiest ports and primary oil-refining centers. Pilots, who guide ships through the 50-mile (80-km) waterway, halted boarding ships at the channel entrance at midday on Wednesday due to rough seas. The U.S. Coast Guard said pilots planned not to resume guiding ships up the channel until after Humberto passes. Texas Division of Emergency Management positioned response and rescue teams to prepare for flooding in Houston and Beaumont-Port Arthur, officials said. “These type storms get very intense quickly, and the threat right now is it’s slow-moving,” said Jack Colley, chief of the agency. “The big concern is heavy rains in areas that have already been saturated with rain for some months now,” he said. Hurricane trackers warned that Tropical Depression 8, which is farther out in the Atlantic, could eventually threaten the United States. At 11 a.m. EDT, it was moving west-northwest at near 12 mph (19 kph) about 1,130 miles east of the Lesser Antilles islands. In the U.S. Gulf, forecasts called for Humberto to make landfall around midnight CDT on Wednesday (1 a.m. EDT on Thursday) with heavy rain and tides as high as 2.5 feet (0.75 meter) above normal. Forecasters said it appeared the storm would come ashore just west of Galveston, track northward on Thursday over Houston and then eastward across Beaumont and Port Arthur. The area is a major oil-producing and gasoline-refining center, but industry officials said they were not expecting significant impact on operations. “We’re watching it,” said Valero Energy Corp. spokesman Bill Day. “We’re not expecting it to affect operations at our refineries.” Valero owns refineries in Houston, Texas City and Port Arthur, Texas. | AVN satellite image of tropical storm Humberto at 19:15 UTC on Wednesday, September 12, 2007. The eighth named storm of the , tropical storm Humberto, was named today over the Gulf of Mexico. The was about 70 miles south-southwest of , Texas at 2 p.m. EST and was moving towards the north at 6 mph. Maximum sustained winds associated with the storm stood at 45 mph. But, forecasters warn that additional strengthening is possible before the storm makes landfall. While heavy rain is already pounding the Gulf Coast, Humberto's center is not expected to reach the coast of Texas until late tonight. The issued a from , Texas, to , Louisiana. Anywhere from 5 to 10 inches of rain is expected along the upper and middle coast of Texas, as well as in southwestern Louisiana. Some areas to be impacted by the storm may see rain totals near 15 inches, according to the NHC. Also, the NHC warned storm surge flooding of 2 to 3 feet is possible. |
BAGHDAD, Aug. 12 -- With three days remaining before the deadline for Iraqi politicians to complete their draft of a permanent constitution, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has taken a leading role in negotiations among rival factions, Iraqi lawmakers said Friday. For at least two days, Khalilzad has huddled in the capital's fortified Green Zone with Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab blocs from the committee writing the document. He presented a written, U.S.-backed approach to unresolved questions such as the role of Islam in determining law and the degree of autonomy to grant regional governments, several committee members said. The U.S. proposal, according to politicians who have examined it, includes endorsing the principle of regional autonomy, such as that enjoyed by Kurdish-populated provinces in the north, but deferring any decision about creating new regions until after Iraq's next elections, slated for December. Some power would be devolved to provincial governments as a step toward broader federalism. Khalilzad's more aggressive stance -- which also includes a recent call for lawmakers to enshrine rights for women -- comes as President Bush and others in Washington have made strong statements about the need for the constitution to be completed on time. It stands in contrast to the posture taken earlier this summer by American diplomats here, who played down the U.S. role in what they termed an Iraqi process. Reached by telephone, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy declined to comment Friday. "The Americans say they don't intervene, but they have intervened deep," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of the constitution committee who said he met with U.S. officials Thursday and Friday. "They gave us a detailed proposal, almost a full version of a constitution. They try to compromise the different opinions of all the political blocs. The U.S. officials are more interested in the Iraqi constitution than the Iraqis themselves, because they promised their people that it will be done August 15." Under Iraq's interim constitution, called the Transitional Administrative Law, the new document must be completed by Monday so it can be put to a nationwide referendum on Oct. 15, with new parliamentary elections following two months after that. The process is widely considered a prerequisite to any significant withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq next year. While Iraqi officials have long vowed to complete their work on time, some have recently suggested that might not happen. The task ahead is "not easy," Othman acknowledged. Committee members are still debating protections for women's rights and the role of Islam in determining Iraqi law, but federalism has emerged as the most significant barrier to a consensus, several politicians said. Kurds, who already have a regional parliament and large militia, favor broad autonomy for regional states. But minority Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted Iraq's elections in January, fear that any further extension of a federal system could lead to the dissolution of the country. Meanwhile, Shiite Arabs, who control the government's ruling coalition, appear split on the issue. On Thursday, the leader of a dominant Shiite political party called for the establishment of a Shiite state in central and southern Iraq, but the Shiite-led government denounced the proposal. Salih Mutlak, a Sunni Arab member of the constitution committee, called the differences among the blocs on federalism and other issues "minor now." He said Sunnis would prefer that, rather than endorsing the principle of federalism, the document should leave "all possibilities open" for future governments to select, "including federalism." But stronger opposition to the principle was voiced during Friday prayers at Um al-Qura, Baghdad's largest Sunni mosque. Mahmoud Sumaidaie called federalism "a conspiracy to partition the country" and urged Sunnis to be prepared to vote down the document in the referendum if it does not suit their goals. Jalaladeen Sagheer, the Shiite preacher at the capital's Buratha mosque, focused much of his sermon on the constitution's approach to Islam. Shiites and Sunnis "do not accept to deal with Islam as a neglected item in the constitution," he said. Outside of the political wrangling, it was a relatively quiet day in Iraq. Two U.S. soldiers were injured when their helicopter crashed near the northern city of Kirkuk, according to a statement from the military. A soldier was killed Thursday by a roadside bomb near Tikrit, the Army said Friday. An Iraq-based U.S. commander visiting Washington, Army Brig. Gen. Yves J. Fontaine, told reporters at the Pentagon that roadside bomb attacks on convoys here had roughly doubled to 30 a day but that the rate of casualties caused by them had declined. Special correspondents Naseer Nouri and Khalid Saffar in Baghdad contributed to this report. ||||| '); //--> AFX News Limited Iraq's Sunnis alarmed at Shiite demands for autonomy BAGHDAD (AFX) - Iraq's ousted Sunni Arab elite expressed alarm after the country's Shiite majority made a surprise move towards Kurdish-style autonomy, just days before a crucial deadline for agreement on a new constitution. Yesterday's call from leading Shiite politician Abdul Aziz al-Hakim for autonomy in Shiite areas of south and central Iraq angered Sunni Arab leaders, who said it could derail the entire political process. 'We are shocked and scared by the demand for autonomy as expressed by my Shiite brothers,' said Salah al-Motlag, a key Sunni member of the constitutional drafting committee. 'The timing of the demand is wrong with just three days left to go for the deadline. Such demands can delay the constitution and Iraq could be without a constitution for another year.' Sunni politicians denounced Hakim's comments as aiming to derail a constitutional agreement, while Sunni religious leaders strongly condemned the proposal of a Shiite autonomous zone. 'That Iraq is divided into cantons is what the Jews and our enemies want,' said Sheikh Mehdi Al-Sulaimi, a member of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, during Friday prayers at the group's main mosque in Baghdad. Sunnis are afraid the creation of federally-autonomous zones will prevent them from taking an equal share of Iraq's lucrative oil reserves, predominantly located in the country's Kurdish north and Shiite south. 'We call for reason from those clamouring to break up (Iraq) ... we, in the centre of the country, do not want an autonomous zone,' Sulaimi said. The emerging consensus between Kurds and Shiites on a federal constitution leaves only the Sunni Arabs at odds on one of the key sticking points in the drafting of the new charter. Opposition from the Sunnis could still scupper the new constitution as the interim rules stipulate the charter can be rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three provinces. Three -- Al-Anbar, Tamim and Salaheddin -- are predominantly Sunni. Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush cranked up the pressure for Iraq's leaders to agree on a constitution before the August 15 deadline, provoking criticism from the New York Times. 'Since this constitution will help determine whether Iraq holds together and whether the ultimate result of American military intervention will be freedom and democracy or a new religious tyranny, it would have been wiser to allow time for compromise and consensus,' the Times said in an editorial. bur/seb/jds/dv/cmr COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and the AFX Financial News logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited '); //--> News Headlines | More From Forbes.com | Special Reports Subscriptions > | Abdel Aziz Hakimfile photo Most points of disagreement on Iraq's new constitution have been ironed out, and the constitution should be ready before the Monday deadline, the President Jalal Talabani said in an announcement Saturday morning. "The meetings are still going on and we have gone forward," Talabani told reporters. "There is a meeting today and another meeting tomorrow and God willing we will finish the job tomorrow." The largest disagreement is over the governing the Kurdish and Shiite areas of central and southern Iraq, as well as the role of Islam in the state. Constitutional committee members have said the remaining major stumbling blocks were federalism, a Kurds-style autonomy given sudden Shiite support by the call from its leading politician Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. Sunni groups have called the move for federalism a deal breaker. The controversy caused by the sudden Sunni call for federalism cast doubt on the chances for approval of the constitution draft by Monday's deadline. Sunnis fear that federal-autonomy zones will keep them from a share of the world's second largest known oil reserves. Those are concentrated in the Kurdish north and Shiite south. But a Sunni participant Saleh al-Mutlaq said on Saturday, "An in principle agreement has been reached late yesterday that Iraq's oil revenues will be shared between the Shia, the Kurds and the Sunnis." The federal government would receive a percentage of oil revenues, and the rest would go to each governorate according to its population size." Sunnis have still not agreed to any of the main points of the constitutional draft, but Kurdish National Assembly member Mahmud Othman said that Kurdish and Shiite groups could use their majority in the parliament to get the charter approved by Iraq's legislature. The United States has played a strong role in the 71-member constitution committee writing the document described as the Transitional Administrative Law. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has acted as a broker between the Kurdish, Sunni Arab and Shiite Arab blocs. |
Well-wishers held traditional Muslim prayers and paid their respects to Megrahi's family in a subdued ceremony in Janzur, a suburb just west of the capital. "His pain is over now – he is with God," said Mohammed al-Megrahi, insisting that his brother paid the price for a crime he did not commit. "There never was exact proof," he said. As the body was lowered into the grave, one distraught relative shouted: "He is innocent, he is innocent." Megrahi was found guilty of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, killing all 259 people on board and another 11 people on the ground. He died on Sunday, almost three years after the Scottish government freed him on compassionate grounds following his diagnosis with prostate cancer. Megrahi's death has revived the debate on whether his conviction was flawed and prompted sharply contrasting reactions in Britain and the United States. He had always maintained his innocence, arguing that US agencies "led the way" in securing his conviction. His brother Abdelhakim defended him on Sunday, saying he was the "scapegoat" of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi, toppled in a popular uprising last year. "He has died and has left us with the feeling of injustice," he told AFP. "Everyone knows that the Gaddafi regime blamed its mistakes on others." The brother said the family would co-operate fully with any reopened investigation into the Lockerbie killings. "We are convinced of Abdelbaset's innocence. Yes, we want the truth. It's in our interest," Abdelhakim said. The US government, which was outraged by Scotland's decision to free the former Libyan airline security chief, said his death concluded "an unfortunate chapter." "We will continue working with our new partners in Libya toward a full accounting of (Muammar) Gaddafi's horrific acts," said US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor. Libya's interim government pledged its full co-operation with any further inquiries into the Lockerbie bombing, which some, particularly in Britain, have blamed on Iran and its Palestinian allies rather than Gaddafi. "In Libya, it is in our interest to close this case and bring out the truth," said Transitional National Council spokesman Mohammed Harizi. "We want to expose the crimes of Gaddafi which did so much harm to the Libyan people." Britain's Independent newspaper demanded a public inquiry but its calls were rejected by Prime Minister David Cameron who again criticised Megrahi's release by the Scottish authorities, who have devolved powers in judicial affairs. "Megrahi's death is no reason to stop trying to get to the truth," said the newspaper's editorial. Cameron insisted: "There was a proper process, a proper court proceeding and all the rest of it. We have to give people the chance to mourn those that were lost." The fact that Megrahi survived much longer than the doctors had estimated provoked indignation in Britain and the United States. The convict had been greeted as a hero on his return to Gaddafi's Libya, after having served eight years of a minimum 27-year sentence for his role in the Lockerbie bombing. Several relatives of US citizens killed in the Lockerbie bombing said they were pleased that Megrahi had died. "He deserved to die," said Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora was one of the victims. "He was a mass murderer. I feel no pity around him. He got to die with his family around him. My daughter, at age 20, died a brutal, horrible death," she told CNN. But the British father of one of the victims, who has long believed Megrahi was innocent, said it was a sad day. "It is a sad time, I think. I have been satisfied for some years that this man was nothing to do with the murder of my daughter," Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the attack, told the BBC, "I think Scotland has a big question to answer as to why his verdict hasn't long since been reviewed." In December, Megrahi told several British newspapers in what was billed as a "final interview" that a book being written by investigative journalist John Ashton would clear his name. "I am an innocent man," he said. "I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family." Source: AFP ||||| Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies in Tripoli Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in Libya. Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001. He was freed from Scottish jail in 2009 on compassionate grounds because of cancer, stirring controversy when he outlived doctors' expectations. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said it was a day to remember the 270 victims of "an appalling terrorist act". Mr Cameron, who is in Chicago for a Nato summit, said Megrahi should never have been freed, Reuters news agency reports. Continue reading the main story At the scene There are just over a dozen cars lining up the street outside Megrahi's house, on the outskirts of central Tripoli. Chairs are being put up - presumably for guests who will be paying their condolences, although it is still very quiet here. I spoke earlier today to Megrahi's brother, who said he wished his brother had lived to see the day when his innocence was proven. Megrahi - and his family - had long maintained that he was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. During Col Gaddafi's rule, many Libyans maintained that Megrahi was innocent whatever the court decided. I have spoken to a number of Libyans since Col Gaddafi was ousted last year who believe that Megrahi was guilty. But you still find that many Libyans say that Megrahi did not directly participate in the bombing, that he was used as a scapegoat by the former regime. So there are mixed views in Libya on this matter. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond also said Megrahi's death was an occasion to remember the victims of Lockerbie. He said Lockerbie was still a live investigation and that Scottish prosecutors had never believed Megrahi was the only person responsible. Relatives' anger Megrahi's release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The US - whose citizens accounted for 189 of the dead - also criticised the move. But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing. Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event". "Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group. Died at home His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli. He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT). Megrahi's sister told the Libyan Wal news agency that his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery on Monday, following early afternoon prayers. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988. It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil. All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground. Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi. He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991. But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Their trial began in May 2000. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison. He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison. He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released. No extradition Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli. There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. But shortly after they toppled Col Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan. The BBC's Scotland correspondent James Cook says Scottish and American officials have been to Tripoli, trying to persuade the new Libyan government to grant visas to detectives from Dumfriesshire. They are still searching for the answers to the questions of who ordered the bombing and who else was involved, our correspondent says, but it is not clear whether the Libyans will co-operate. However, a spokesman for the interim government in Tripoli, the National Transitional Council (NTC), told Reuters that that Megrahi's death would not end its investigations into Lockerbie. Continue reading the main story Megrahi: Key dates November 1991: Indicted for Lockerbie bombing 2001-02: Tried and convicted at special court in the Netherlands August 2009: Released on compassionate grounds and returns to Tripoli July 2011: Last known public appearance at pro-Gaddafi rally 20 May 2012: Dies at home in Tripoli "The Libyan government will continue to investigate the crimes committed by the Gaddafi regime using other witnesses," NTC spokesman Mohamed al-Harizy was quoted as saying. Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was freed. At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released. But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed. In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family." He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged. Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011. | Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has been buried in the town of , west of the Libyan capital Tripoli. He was the only individual convicted in association with the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. He died at his residence Sunday, aged 60. The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York resulted in 270 fatalities, including all 259 of the airplane's occupants and eleven individuals on the ground. 189 of those who died in the incident were US citizens. The death toll for this terrorist incident is larger than that for any other which has occurred in the United Kingdom thus far. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was placed on trial in May 2000 in the Netherlands alongside . While Fhimah was found not guilty on all charges placed against him, al-Megrahi was found guilty of his and sentenced to at least 27 years imprisonment. Having been initially placed in , al-Megrahi was transferred to in 2005. In 2002, an appeal against his conviction was unsuccessful. Five years later, senior judges in Scotland were to review his case, but he dropped the appeal. Due to suffering from prostate cancer, he was granted a from Scottish prison two days later. Current UK David Cameron commented on his belief that al-Megrahi "should never have been released from prison" and said his death was an occasion "to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act". According to Alex Salmond, , the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing is ongoing. Salmond also called for remembrance of those killed. Prosecutors, he said, had always thought there were others besides al-Megrahi involved in the attack. US citizen Susan Cohen, the mother of one of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing, thought of al-Megrahi as "a mass murderer" who "deserved to die", adding to CNN: "I feel no pity around him. He got to die with his family around him. My daughter Theodora, at age 20, died a brutal, horrible death". However, UK citizen Jim Swire, father of another victim of the bombing, believes al-Megrahi was not guilty. He described al-Megrahi's death as "a sad time", telling the BBC he was "satisfied for some years that this man was nothing to do with the murder of my daughter". Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has consistently denied responsibility for the attack. In his final recorded interview in December 2011, he insisted he was "an innocent man" who was "about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family." His brother Mohammed al-Megrahi claimed "there never was exact proof" and said al-Megrahi's "pain is over now – he is with God". |
AM - Wednesday, 17 May , 2006 08:04:00 Reporter: Lindy Kerin TONY EASTLEY: The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says there are paedophile rings operating in Indigenous communities in Australia. His comments follow harrowing accounts of Indigenous children, one of them just a toddler, being raped and abused. Mr Brough says senior Indigenous men are using children at their whim, protected by what he calls a veneer of cultural tradition, and without fear of prosecution. The Federal Minister has told Lateline that if the Northern Territory Government can't strengthen and implement law and order he may have to step in. Lindy Kerin reports. LINDY KERIN: The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough says violence and sexual abuse against Indigenous women and children isn't isolated to Central Australia and extends to Indigenous communities around the country. Now in a shocking development Mal Brough has revealed that there's considerable evidence that paedophile rings are operating in Aboriginal communities. MAL BROUGH: Everybody in those communities knows who runs the paedophile rings. They know who brings in the petrol; they know who sell the ganja. They need to be taken out of the community and dealt with, not by tribal law, but by the judicial system that operates throughout Australia. There are examples of people that have been operating, and at a very senior level within Indigenous communities, that have such power over those communities and that use children at their own whim. LINDY KERIN: Mal Brough says the Northern Territory Government needs to strengthen law and order and target he's calls mafia-style communities, where people are living in fear. The minister has questioned whether the Territory Government is taking the issue of violence in communities seriously enough. And he's warned if the Territory doesn't cooperate he'd be prepared to step in and take control. MAL BROUGH: I would first and foremost want to work with the elected government of the Territory. If that fails to produce what I think are the only workable solutions, which is good governance and law and order, then we shouldn't close our minds to any alternative that is possible to the Federal Government. LINDY KERIN: An Indigenous male leader is also calling for drastic action. Mick Gooda is the head of the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Tropical Health in Darwin. He's worked in Indigenous Affairs for decades and is the former CEO of ATSIC, the now defunct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Mick Gooda says if the safety of women and children cannot be guaranteed and violence and sexual abuse continues, then dysfunctional Aboriginal communities should be shut down. And he says if children are at risk they should be removed from their families. MICK GOODA: We should not shy away from these hard decisions on the basis that we might be creating another stolen generation. I think what we're talking about here is kids being removed from risk situations. LINDY KERIN: Mick Gooda was involved in the closure of a Swan Valley Nyoongar community in June 2003. The Western Australian Aboriginal community was closed after allegations of sexual abuse and violence. MICK GOODA: I put it straight to people in government, including the Premier: if you can't guarantee the safety of women and children in that camp I think you should do something about it, and if that means closing that community down to protect the women and kids, I think that's what you should do. And they subsequently done it. It wasn't only me saying. There was a whole lot of other people saying that sort of stuff. We got to the stage where government couldn't guarantee the protection of women and children. LINDY KERIN: For others who've worked in Indigenous affairs for decades this isn't a new story. Sharon Payne from the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency says violence against Indigenous women and children has been a problem for many years, and she fears little will change. SHARON PAYNE: The impact on these people's lives and then the fact that they will turn up, often the young people who have been molested will turn up as clients of ours later on. And so then they'll be victims, then they'll be perpetrators, and they'll be responsible, and they'll go to jail, and then they won't be able to parent their kids properly. Unless something is done, this cycle is just going to continue. LINDY KERIN: But the Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough is more optimistic. He's hoping the debate will bring positive changes. MAL BROUGH: Quite frankly, I think it's wonderful that this has been highlighted to the rest of the Australian public so that people can have their sensitivities shocked to the core, and as a nation, not just as politicians, but as a nation, we demand that these things change. TONY EASTLEY: The Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough, ending that report by Lindy Kerin. ||||| AM - Wednesday, 17 May , 2006 08:08:00 Reporter: Gillian Bradford TONY EASTLEY: One of the country's leading experts on domestic violence has told AM the terrible crimes being highlighted in town camps in Alice Springs are just a snapshot of what's happening in other Indigenous communities. Last year Lyla Coorey wrote a report for the Federal Parliament detailing the extent of child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities in the Torres Strait, Queensland and New South Wales. And even though she'd worked with abuse victims for nearly 30 years, Ms Coorey says she was unprepared for the scale of what she found. Ms Coorey is speaking here with Gillian Bradford in Canberra. LYLA COOREY: I looked at the issues of Indigenous children in far north Queensland, Torres Strait Islands and Outback New South Wales. It's clear that the problem exists actually all over Australia and I'm certain in metropolitan areas as well. GILLIAN BRADFORD: And how serious did you find the plight of children in Indigenous communities to be? LYLA COOREY: I was absolutely appalled at the situation that our Indigenous children are in. The sexual abuse was devastating, and clearly, when I interviewed adults who'd been sexually abused as children, their problems were still impacting on them from early childhood abuse. It's just a problem that is not going to go away without some serious intervention across all government departments and Indigenous communities. GILLIAN BRADFORD: Well, the problem appears so huge. So where do you point the finger? Who needs to do what? LYLA COOREY: We must look at the factors that particularly make Indigenous children vulnerable to ongoing abuse. It is not just sexual abuse they are experiencing, but I think we need to look at all aspects of Indigenous children's lives. And it will become apparent that they are probably singularly the most disadvantaged group of Australians. GILLIAN BRADFORD: Give me some of those reasons why child sexual abuse is just so much more prevalent in Aboriginal remote communities. LYLA COOREY: They are numerous. Where do you start? You look at perhaps the social environment that they're growing up in. They're surrounded by neglect, parents who are involved in heavy substance abuse. And I think that in itself is a major issue. And I think if you attempt to examine why that is the case you will find that a number of adults, Indigenous adults, are still suffering and still reeling from their own experiences of child sexual abuse. GILLIAN BRADFORD: Did you get any understanding of how many Indigenous children's lives were being in some way touched by sexual abuse? LYLA COOREY: Nearly everybody I spoke to knew of several people who'd been sexually abused as children. I think the scope of this problem is so widespread it is almost beyond belief. TONY EASTLEY: Domestic violence researcher Lyla Coorey, speaking there with Gillian Bradford. ||||| Article no longer available "Child abuse a 'national problem'" Due to copyright restrictions, this story is no longer available at NEWS.com.au. You can search for this story or others on this topic on Newstext, our news archive service. Alternatively, try searching NEWS.com.au for related stories. ||||| May 17, 2006 - 11:26AM There is no evidence of pedophile rings operating in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities, Chief Minister Clare Martin says. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough last night alleged pedophile rings were working behind a veil of customary law, along with people supplying sniffable petrol and marijuana to the communities. "Everybody who lives in those communities knows who runs the pedophile rings, they know who brings in the (sniffable) petrol, they know who sells the ganja," he told ABC Television. "They need to be taken out of the community and dealt with, not by tribal law, but by the judicial system that operates throughout Australia." But NT Chief Minister Clare Martin said Mr Brough had been "incredibly irresponsible" to make the claims on national television. There was no evidence for them, she said. "We have no evidence of that," she told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "Two weeks ago Mal Brough had quite a session with our police commissioner, didn't mention (it). "He had a long session with me, didn't mention it, (then) goes on national television, can't say where it came from, and under our law it must be reported." She said there was no simple solution to the problems of violence, abuse, and alcoholism plaguing many indigenous communities. "It is not a quick fix. I'd love it to be a quick fix, but it's complex and it's difficult and it really disappoints me that someone like the Aboriginal affairs minister Mal Brough is simply ... grandstanding." If Mr Brough had evidence of pedophile rings, he had an obligation to report it, Ms Martin said. "I'm saying to Mal Brough, if you have evidence, if this is more than just some kind of rumour that's reached you, you have an obligation under Territory law to report it," she said. "It is incredibly irresponsible of an Aboriginal affairs minister to go on national television, when he's been dealing with the Territory government, speaking with the police commissioner." Ms Martin said the federal government could do more to help out indigenous communities, particularly with housing to combat over-crowding. "If they could just allocate $50 million ... to the backlog of housing in the Territory for 10 years, we would start seeing in one area of battling this problem some real change," she said. This week, Alice Springs crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers went public with her concerns about how the legal system dealt with indigenous violence. Aboriginal children, including babies as young as seven months, were being raped and the crimes were generally unreported, while few cases made it to trial, she said. Treasurer Peter Costello today announced $6 million in funding for up to 40 houses to be built in remote indigenous communities. "The funding will help to meet the needs of indigenous communities by providing new, cost-effective housing for indigenous people in remote areas," he said in a statement. "The funding will involve trials of innovative house construction options, such as modern self-build kit houses, in some remote communities." AAP ||||| Senator Brown, 17th May 2006 Government must stop blocking safe petrol roll-out The whole nation must respond to the crisis of degradation which has Australia's Indigenous people in its grip, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today. "The Prime Minister should lift this issue to the top his personal agenda. The plight of the First Australians is a national disgrace. Australian must restore health, safety and dignity to Aboriginal Australians. This will require tough decisions - and in light of the $6 billion budget gift to wealthy Australians, there should be a vastly greater commitment to Aboriginal Australia from Canberra," Senator Brown said. Senator Brown said that the focus on Aboriginal social breakdown, including rape, paedophilia and destructive drug addiction has to broaden to include white exploitation, profiteering and disdain for Aboriginal culture. "We are 11 years into Mr Howard's Prime Ministry. His most memorable early contribution to this outrageous situation was to reject what he labelled 'black armband' view of history. The problem is he turned the black armband into blinkers," Senator Brown said. Senator Brown said new Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, should reverse the federal government's opposition to the full roll-out of unsniffable Opal petrol in Central Australia, including Alice Springs. Senator Brown will available for comment in Melbourne today at Flagstaff Chambers, 557 - 561 Lt Lonsdale St at 11.30 am He will be given an address to students at the Agora Lecture Theatre, Latrobe University at 1.00pm today. Further information: Prue Cameron 0408 473 379 ||||| ACCUSATIONS of sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities had nothing to do with indigenous customs, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said today. Mr Beazley's comments follow allegations made by federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough on ABC Television last night that pedophile rings were working behind a veil of Aboriginal customary law, along with people supplying sniffable petrol and marijuana to the communities. "Everybody who lives in those communities knows who runs the paedophile rings, they know who brings in the petrol, they know who sells the ganja," Mr Brough told ABC Television. "They need to be taken out of the community and dealt with, not by tribal law, but by the judicial system that operates throughout Australia." But Mr Beazley described the claims as libel. "There is nothing in Aboriginal customary law that justifies abuse," he said in Melbourne today. "Aboriginal customary law regulates relations between the genders quite strictly and protects people in a situation where they are not yet physiologically adults. "The argument that somehow or other these events relate to Aboriginal customary law (is) libel. They don't." Indigenous affairs were placed firmly under federal control in a 1967 referendum, Mr Beazley said. "Certainly, they have to do it in partnership with the states, but whenever this federal government points a finger at the states, I point Brough to that referendum campaign, fought so many years ago," he said. "It's his responsibility, I am afraid to say. "What we need is national leadership on enforcement and conditions in areas where there are large Aboriginal communities." ||||| NORTHERN Territory police have lashed out at federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough over his criticisms of law and order in Aboriginal communities. After harrowing accounts of rape, abuse, and violence in the communities re-emerged this week, Mr Brough called on the NT Government to boost policing. He also called for tougher measures to stamp out alcohol abuse, and last night alleged on ABC Television that pedophile rings were operating in some communities. But the NT Police Association has labelled Mr Brough's comments offensive and ignorant. "Mr Brough claims that our members turn a blind eye to crime in Aboriginal communities," association president Vince Kelly said. "That is the most ridiculous claim I have ever heard from a federal indigenous affairs minister." Police often did not have the evidence to arrest suspects, Mr Kelly said. "Our members are in the front-line 24 hours a day dealing with the human carnage in these communities. "Our members work closely with these communities and have done for over 50 years. "To suggest police turn a blind eye to crime in Aboriginal communities is nothing short of insulting. "To suggest our members apply the law differently in Aboriginal communities is ignorant and displays an absolute lack of understanding of the operational realities our members face in isolated Aboriginal communities, often dealing with complex tribal systems," he said. "I repeat, his comments were ignorant." Federal government plans to beef up the police presence at airports would also transfer valuable resources away from policing in other areas, he said. "Mr Brough also conveniently ignores the impact (of) federal government policy in areas such as airport policing, which will take experienced front-line police out of these remote communities." Share this article NEWS.com.au is not responsible for the content of external sites. ||||| ABORIGINAL culture was to blame for endemic levels of sexual violence against children in central Australia, according to a Northern Territory prosecutor who cited a case in which a four-year-old was drowned while being anally raped. Alice Springs prosecutor Nanette Rogers said "men's business" in remote Aboriginal communities often led to males freely breaking the law and committing appalling crimes. "Men's business is a predominant aspect of life in remote communities, and young men who are initiated are given a certain status in the community and feel they are not responsible for their actions," Ms Rogers told ABC television's Lateline last night. "In other words, they can do whatever they like. "Young women are not accorded the same status. Males are given a higher status." Ms Rogers detailed a range of "dreadful" cases she had prosecuted, which included a seven-month-old baby and a two-year-old toddler being raped and a four-year-old girl being drowned while being raped. "While she was playing in the water he pulled her under and anally penetrated her and drowned her probably simultaneously," she said. Other children witnessed the murder. "Their evidence was that they saw him holding her in the water, they saw bubbles coming up, they tried to throw rocks at him in an effort to get him to desist and then they ran back to the community to alert the grandparents," Ms Rogers said. "It was awful, absolutely dreadful. Cases like this are really beyond the range of normal comprehension.""In normal behaviour we expect to be say murdered or sexually assaulted or maybe stabbed but not on a constant basis not in relation to horrible offences committed on really small children." She said Aboriginal communities were suffering from tragedy fatigue, allowing horrific crimes to appear unremarkable. "The child grows up seeing violence all around him or her and having violence done to him or her and then becomes an adult and then they become violent themselves," she said. When a report was made to police, it was often not followed up because of intimidation of witnesses or physical violence. "Aboriginal society here tends to be very punitive so if a witness goes into court and tells a story, they're liable to get physically punished by the offender's family," she said. "It's a punitive culture at every turn." She said the lack of supervision of children in remote communities by parents who were often drunk was a key problem. In several cases, she said, the offenders had simply whisked the children away. Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said the fact that only eight out of 40 indigenous communities in central Australia with populations above 2500 had a police presence was not in line with community standards. Jane Lloyd, the manager of the domestic violence unit at the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council, said more police were needed to restore law and order in remote communities, and especially the outstations. "There is a history and tradition of violence, especially in Western Desert cultures. It's become more extreme," Ms Lloyd said. ||||| The lush green Adelaide Hills could not be further from the arid red heart of Australia, however, right now they are the best place for Anangu stuck in Adelaide because of the coronavirus pandemic. ||||| A briefing paper has exposed the extent of violence against women and children in remote Aboriginal communities. (ABC TV) A leaked Northern Territory police briefing paper has revealed disturbing cases of sexual abuse and violence against women and children in remote Aboriginal communities. The Crown prosecutor for central Australia, Dr Nannette Rogers, has collected the details over a 15-year period and revealed some of them on last night's Lateline program. Dr Rogers details cases of utter depravity and the contents spell out a level of human degradation and suffering that she believes can no longer be tolerated. They include the rape of a seven month old baby as well as the sexual assault and drowning of a girl by an 18-year-old man. Her paper exposes the extent of the problem and how Indigenous male culture and the web of kinship have helped create a conspiracy of silence. "It doesn't augur well for Aboriginal people to be functional human beings with the attributes of turning around and caring for children themselves," she said. Dr Rogers is concerned the problem is now intergenerational. "The child grows up seeing violence done to him or her and having violence done to him or her," she said. Dr Rogers says cultural practices mean few of the incidents come to trial. Tangentyere Council chief executive William Tilmouth says it is appalling behaviour. "It's a behaviour that's got to stop, it's behaviour that denigrates the family, as well as the women," he said. Murder rate high Central Australia has the highest murder rate in Australia. It is 10 times the national average. At Hidden Valley camp, the atmosphere of violence and despair has lead to a very worrying development: teenagers who kill. In the past three weeks, a young man died from severe stab wounds after a violent attack by four young men, one as young as 17. Homicide is the leading cause of premature death for Indigenous women and they are 52 times more likely to be hospitalised for assault-related injuries than white women. A senior elder Margaret Kemarre has been a key witness for one of Dr Rogers's prosecutions. She had six children, but only three survive. One child died in extremely violent circumstances. "I think it is really, really bad. There are more violence and there's no respect for people around here, no respect for elders and no respect for parents, as we see it now, and it's , you know, it's getting more and more," she said. "I think the grog is really taking away all our families. It's really destroying us." For Ms Kemarre the only answer to the problem apart from reducing the amount of alcohol in central Australia, is tougher sentencing by the white justice system. Policing problems The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, says there are problems with policing. "You go into a community here in the Territory of over 2,500 people and there's not one policeman," he said. "I challenge the Territory Government or anyone in the media to find another Australian community where ever it may be, with 2,500 inhabitants and not one policeman." Only eight of the 40 central Australian indigenous communities have a police presence. "Quite frankly, I don't think the Australian population is ready to hear that you have four-year-olds being raped, you have babies being raped," Mr Brough said. Mr Brough says while the Federal Government has started working with the NT Government over housing and other matters, something needs to be done urgently about alcohol. "Why the Territory Government hasn't done anything about the 96 licensed premises in Alice Springs; why they haven't done anything about having alcohol served from service stations, petrol stations is quite frankly beyond me," he said. Progress But the Northern Territory Government says it is working to solve alcohol abuse problems in central Australian communities. Chief Minister Clare Martin says slow progress is being made. "We are taking much stronger measures on alcohol," she said. "Talking to the Aboriginal community over the last couple of months in Alice Springs, the community is very concerned about the impact of alcohol and have decided that enough is enough - that we have to stand up and take tough measures." She also says her Government is working with police to decide how to spread staff throughout the communities. "It is just not possible to have one police [officer] per community of say, 50, that's a fact of life," she said. "We have vastly more police ... per capita than any other part of Australia. "Police now have ways of having communities grouped and that you have a police presence perhaps across three communities." | Australian media reports that a recently leaked Northern Territory police briefing paper exposes "shocking" cases of sexual abuse and violence against women and children in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. Northern Territory, Australia Central Australian Crown prosecutor, Dr Nannette Rogers, alleged a range of "dreadful" cases she has heard of. Her paper claims details of abuse (over a 15-year period), including the rape of a seven-month-old baby, and the sexual assault and drowning of a girl by an 18-year-old man. The report refers to a disturbingly abusive and secretive Indigenous male culture. She says a "web of kinship" has helped to create a "conspiracy of silence" and that Aboriginal communities were suffering from "tragedy fatigue," allowing horrific crimes to appear unremarkable. "It doesn't augur well for Aboriginal people to be functional human beings with the attributes of turning around and caring for children themselves," she said. "The child grows up seeing violence done to him or her and having violence done to him or her." Tangentyere Council chief executive William Tilmouth says it is appalling behaviour. "It's a behaviour that's got to stop, it's behaviour that denigrates the family, as well as the women," he said. |
advertisement Ireland Celebrates First Smoke-Free Year DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland can breathe a smoke-free sigh of relief Tuesday when it marks the first anniversary of a pioneering ban on smoking, the success of which has inspired similar moves elsewhere. The ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and workplaces, introduced on March 29, 2004, had been expected to meet with widespread resistance in a country where the pub culture of a drink and a smoke were considered part of its lifeblood. Instead, the sight of smokers puffing away outside pub doors has become familiar across Ireland, and the only haze wafting through bars these days comes from having one drink too many. Similar laws had been introduced in cities and states like New York and California, but Ireland was the first country to introduce a nationwide ban. Malta, Norway and Italy have since followed suit. "It's healthier," said bartender and non-smoker Paddy Martin, pouring pints at Foley's Bar, close to the Irish parliament buildings in Dublin. "I feel better when I go home." Anti-smoking lobby group ASH reckons tobacco kills six times as many people in Ireland as road accidents, work accidents, drugs, murder, suicide and AIDS combined, and is a massive drain on health resources. Professor Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH's Irish branch, has said the ban could become the "health initiative of the century." QUIET PINT But not everyone has welcomed it. Some pub owners and drinks firms blame the ban for a drop-off in sales -- bar revenues fell 6.3 percent in the first nine months of 2004. Cigarette sales dropped about 18 percent last year compared to a 10 percent fall the previous year. The subdued atmosphere in Foley's Bar -- where only a handful of people were drinking quietly Saturday night in a scene repeated in many other pubs outside Dublin's main tourist spots -- seemed to back the claims. Continued ... ||||| Ireland marks 1st smoke-free year DUBLIN, Republic of Ireland (Reuters) -- Ireland can breathe a smoke-free sigh of relief on Tuesday when it marks the first anniversary of a pioneering ban on smoking, the success of which has inspired similar moves elsewhere. The ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and workplaces, introduced on March 29, 2004, had been expected to meet with widespread resistance in a country where the pub culture of a drink and a smoke were considered part of its lifeblood. Instead, the sight of smokers puffing away outside pub doors has become familiar across Ireland, and the only haze wafting through bars these days comes from having one drink too many. Similar laws had been introduced in cities and states like New York and California, but Ireland was the first country to introduce a nationwide ban. Malta, Norway and Italy have since followed suit. "It's healthier," said bartender and non-smoker Paddy Martin, pouring pints at Foley's Bar, close to the Irish parliament buildings in Dublin. "I feel better when I go home." Anti-smoking lobby group ASH reckons tobacco kills six times as many people in Ireland as road accidents, work accidents, drugs, murder, suicide and AIDS combined, and is a massive drain on health resources. Professor Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH's Irish branch, has said the ban could become the "health initiative of the century." But not everyone has welcomed it. Some pub owners and drinks firms blame the ban for a drop-off in sales -- bar revenues fell 6.3 percent in the first nine months of 2004. Cigarette sales dropped about 18 percent last year compared to a 10 percent fall the previous year. The subdued atmosphere in Foley's Bar -- where only a handful of people were drinking quietly on Saturday night in a scene repeated in many other pubs outside Dublin's main tourist spots -- seemed to back the claims. But the decline of the Irish pub has more to do with high prices and lifestyle changes than the smoking ban, locals say. "It's the smoke and the drink," said Foley's Martin, handing over a half-pint of Guinness, which at 2.60 euros ($3.38) is one euro more expensive than buying a similar size can in an off-licence. Alcoholic beverages -- some 82 percent above the eurozone average -- cost more in Ireland than in any other European Union country, according to figures from Eurostat published last year. The newly affluent Irish, enjoying the fruits of Ireland's Celtic Tiger boom in the late 1990s, increasingly choose a glass of wine in their own home over a pub-poured beer. But for those smokers and drinkers who venture out for a taste of Ireland's famed "craic" (fun), the smoking ban can have some benefits. "I've met more people standing outside and having a cig," said Sue Taylor, visiting Dublin from Yorkshire in England, standing outside a pub in the popular Temple Bar area. "But I'd be barred from every pub in Britain if they introduced it because I wouldn't do it." ||||| 80% of smokers 'support ban' 28/03/2005 - 12:35:47 The vast majority of smokers believe the smoking ban was a good idea, a survey showed today. Twelve months since the smoke-free law began, 80% of smokers think it was the right thing to do. Research marking the first anniversary of the ban found 96% of people believed the law was successful, including 89% of smokers. The tns/mrbi survey found 98% of people felt workplaces were healthier since the ban started, including 94% of smokers. Sean Power, junior health minister, said the Irish experience should be a signal to the rest of the world of what can be achieved. “The Irish public’s overwhelming acceptance of this historic public health measure sends a very clear message to legislators around the world who are considering the introduction of similar smoke-free workplace legislation,” he said. “Not alone is it very possible to implement such legislation but citizens fundamentally accept its validity and necessity in order to protect their health.” The research showed compliance levels with the ban were high across all sectors, with a 93% compliance in hotels, 99% in restaurants and 90% in licensed premises. And the minister said the figures were testament to the effective policing and enforcement of the ban. In a One Year Review report due to be published by the Office of Tobacco Control tomorrow, inspection data from the National Tobacco Control Inspection Programme shows in the first nine months since of the ban, 94% of premises inspected were compliant with the law. A total of 34,957 inspections/compliance checks were conducted up until the end of December last year. The Health and Safety Authority are also due to announce an average 92% compliance rate from 7,500 inspections into the smoke-free workplace legislation. Jim Lyons, Health and Safety Authority chairman, said the first nine months of the smoke-free law were a resounding success. “With average compliance levels increasing steadily from 90% at the end of May, to 91% at the end September, and nearly 92% at year end, employers have responded extremely well in building compliance and they have shown a great willingness to achieve smoke-free workplaces,” he said. “We are seeing very high levels of co-operation on our inspections, which reflects the goodwill and positive approach that employers and employees have taken to this important health measure.” Research over the last year for the OTC found in June 2004, that 89% of the public felt that the law had been a success and in August 82% of the public supported the law and 95% of the public agreed it was a positive health measure. Dr Michael Boland, OTC chairman, said while the success rates were high a smoke-free society was the real aim. “Effectively, we’ve seen an 11% rise in support for the measure since August 2004 and almost 100% of people accept the main reason for the introduction of the legislation which was to allow people to work and socialise in healthy, clean, smoke-free environments,” he said. “This law has undoubtedly contributed to a healthier society, however with almost a quarter of our population addicted to nicotine much remains to be done to achieve a tobacco-free society in Ireland.” Get your FREE Ringtones, Java Games & Colour Logos from IOL 's NEW My Mobile site Irish News | Messageboards | Print Version | Email to friend | Previous Page © Thomas Crosbie Media, 2005. ||||| ABC News Ireland Smoking Ban a Success Ireland's Year-Old Ban on Workplace Smoking a Success, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern Says By SHAWN POGATCHNIK Associated Press Writer The Associated Press DUBLIN, Ireland Mar 24, 2005 Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Thursday lauded Ireland's workplace smoking ban, a year-old in five days, as a world-leading measure that would benefit future generations. Ireland on March 29, 2004, became the first country to ban smoking in all enclosed workplaces, including in the nation's 10,000-plus pubs. The two major associations of pub owners warned that some members would face business ruin from lost trade, and many smokers defiantly vowed to flout the ban. But the ban has proved extremely popular and widely observed in Ireland, where 70 percent of adults don't smoke. The government estimated 94 percent to 97 percent compliance a pattern backed by the threat of $3,900 maximum fines. Some pubs have created heated outdoor terraces where drinkers can continue to puff away. Ireland's move was modeled on similar measures already in place in New York City, California and scores of other U.S. states and cities. It was considered a particularly bold step in Europe, where smoking faces much more modest restrictions in most countries. Ahern said he was pleased that the predictions of social conflict and business doom had failed to materialize. "I'm only too aware that for a lot of people, it changed the way they did things for a long, long time. It was difficult for them, but they complied for the greater good," said Ahern. So far, Norway is the only other European nation to impose a similarly restrictive ban. Italy in January launched severe restrictions on indoor smoking, but still permits smoking sections in restaurants and bars if they're fully enclosed and have modern ventilation. On the Net: http://www.ash.ie Action on Smoking and Health Ireland, Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ||||| Irish smoking "quitline" has received more than 30,000 calls Bertie Ahern said it was clear the ban on workplace smoking was having a positive effect. Since the end of March 2004, smoking has been illegal in workplaces, including pubs and restaurants in the Republic of Ireland. It was the first country in the world to introduce such a nationwide ban. Mr Ahern said it had proved a positive effect not only on the health of the nation, "but also on the functioning of our health services". He was speaking on Friday, marking the Irish Cancer Society's main fund-raising day. People now recognise passive smoking as a serious health and safety issue and wish to be protected from it Bertie Ahern Irish prime minister "Compliance levels throughout the various sectors have remained consistently high, with overall compliance of 94% being recorded by the Office of Tobacco Control. "Right across the country, people value being able to work and socialise in a clean and healthy environment," he said. 'Passive smoking' The government-backed smoking "quitline" has received more than 30,000 calls since it was set up 18 months ago, said the taoiseach. "It is estimated that 7,000 smokers have given up smoking, with many more reducing their intake of tobacco products considerably. Mr Ahern said compliance levels remained consistently high "Not only are smoke-free enclosed workplaces being accepted as the norm, they are also seen as a right. "People now recognise passive smoking as a serious health and safety issue and wish to be protected from it," said Mr Ahern. Last year, a major drinks company blamed the smoking ban for a fall in the sales of Guinness. Shares in Diageo, the world's biggest drinks company, fell by 4%. Owners of pubs where people are caught smoking illegally by health inspectors enforcing the ban can be fined up to 3,000 euros (£2,400). A smoking ban in all Northern Ireland government departments came into effect in January. Many in Northern Ireland, particularly doctors and politicians, have called for a universal ban. ||||| Impact of smoke-free legislation in Ireland Introduction On 29th March 2004 , Ireland became the first country in the world to prohibit smoking in the majority of workplaces, including bars and restaurants. The law is intended to protect employees and the public from exposure to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke. The advantage of the Irish law is its simplicity: it applies to most workplaces with very few exceptions such as prisons, psychiatric hospitals and hotel bedrooms. Since the law came into force surveys have shown widespread support for the measure and there is little objective evidence of any significant economic hardship as a result of the law. Support for the smoke-free legislation Compliance with the law has been extremely high: a survey by the Office for Tobacco Control (OTC) found a compliance rate of 97% in the first month after the law came into effect. [1] The OTC also found that 71% had visited a pub within the previous fortnight, compared to 68% prior to the legislation being enacted. The increase in pub visits was accounted for by a rise in the number of non-smokers from 67% to 70%. The number of smokers remained constant at 74%. [2] Furthermore, one in five smokers had chosen not to smoke at all when out socialising, Public opinion pre and post ban Pre ban In June 2003, a poll commissioned by the Office for Tobacco Control found that 67% of the Irish public supported the proposed law to ban smoking in bars and restaurants. [3] The survey revealed a significant increase in support since the law had been announced earlier in 2003. An earlier poll conducted in February 2003 revealed that 59% were in favour of the proposed smoking ban. The survey also revealed growing support among smokers for the ban, with almost 4 out of 10 smokers in favour of the legislation by June 2003. By comparison, public support for smoke-free provision in the UK is higher than Irish public opinion prior to the ban. A national poll by MORI in June 2004 showed overwhelming backing among the British public for a workplace smoking law similar to the Irish legislation, with 80% of those polled in favour of the measure. [4] Post ban A survey commissioned by the Irish Department of Health found continuing strong support for the smoke-free at work law. [5] Data released in August 2004 showed that: 82% support the Smoke-Free at Work measure; 90% agreed that going smoke-free is of benefit to workers; 82% agreed that it benefits everyone in public places; 95% agreed that the legislation is a positive health measure. Polling by independent research company Amarach Consulting found that 89% of respondents believed the ban was a great success and only 10% saying it was unsuccessful. Even smokers admitted that the smoking ban has been a success, with nearly 90% believing the law has worked. [6] Smoking trends pre and post ban Prevalence: The latest official data for June 2004 show that overall adult smoking prevalence is currently 24%. [7] (By comparison, UK prevalence is similar at 26%) A separate lifestyle by Amarach Consulting found that 25% of Irish people classified themselves as smokers. This compares with a 27% smoking prevalence rate in 2002. Consumption: A survey by the national Quitline service has revealed that around 10,000 smokers report that they have reduced their consumption. Cessation: It is estimated that around 7,000 people have stopped smoking since the smoke-free law came into effect with a further 10,000 stating that they have reduced their consumption. Almost four out of ten people who have stopped said the new smoking ban had a significant or important bearing on their decision to quit. Over half said it was an important aspect in terms of staying off cigarettes. 19,800 people called the National Smokers Quitline between October 2003 and April 2004. Some 33% of those people have quit, according to the survey, conducted in July and August. Sales: Sales of cigarettes fell almost 16% in the first six months of 2004, according to the Irish Revenue Commissioners. In addition both Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco have reported a decline in tobacco sales in Ireland during the same period. Gallaher, which has about 50% of the Irish cigarette market share, said tax increases and the smoking ban had contributed to a 7.5% fall in the total cigarette market. This means about 260 million fewer cigarettes were sold between January and June, and experts have forecast that if this trend continued, tax returns from tobacco would fall by 81m euros this year. [8] A recent analysts report from Citicorp, commented: The companies are refusing to detail the impact [of the ban] on national volumes but at this stage it appears significantly worse than we had expected . In its trading statement, Gallaher said volumes in the first five months of 2004 were down 9%. Volumes in Ireland probably would have fallen at around 5% in 2Q04 had it not been for the ban as a result of increased smuggling and reduced consumption. The company is doing its best to hide the impact of the ban, but it appears to have been a bit over 5%. [9] Impact on alcohol sales The pub trade has been quoted as saying that sales are down by as much as 15%. However, these are not audited figures and are on the basis of just 3-4 months trade since legislation came into force. The latest data from the Central Statistics Office show a 4% annual fall in bar sales. [10] However, this is part of a trend that has been in place for a number of years. The decline is attributable in part to an increase in alcohol taxes together with a trend towards more off-licence sales. A review of alcohol sales by a trade publication noted that economic factors provide a more convincing explanation of sales trends than almost any other influence. [11] There is no objective data to show that the decline in bar sales is linked to the smoking ban. ||||| Sales of cigarettes in pubs may be down by 60 per cent Carl O'Brien Sales of cigarettes in pubs have dropped dramatically since the introduction of the smoking ban, according to latest figures compiled by vending machine operators. However, while the vending firms say sales have fallen by between 50 and 60 per cent, newsagents around the country have reported a much smaller decline in sales. It is still unclear what impact the decrease in sales will have on Exchequer figures, although the Department of Finance has estimated that smoking overall will fall this year by 6 per cent, which amounts to €66 million in excise receipts. Major tobacco manufacturers, such as Gallahers, John Player and Sons and PJ Carroll and Co, said yesterday it was still too early to determine the full impact of the tobacco ban on cigarette sales. The operators of vending machines, which up until now accounted for around one-fifth of tobacco sales, say as many as 250 jobs are at risk in the coming weeks if low sales continue. "By the end of this month, we will all have to start letting people go," said Mr Gerry Lawlor, spokesman for the Irish Cigarette Machine Operators' Association (ICMOA). "People are under severe pressure, particularly in Dublin." Mr Val Murphy, a Cork-based vending machine owner, said that he had already laid off one of his staff. Mr Pat McKeown, chief executive of the Irish Retail Newsagents' Association, said there was "anecdotal" evidence from members around the country of a decrease in sales, although less dramatic than in pubs. Mr Eanna Ó Briain, of Keogh's News, Sutton Cross, Dublin, said initial figures showed sales had dropped in the region of just 1 or 2 per cent. Privately, tobacco firms says they are less worried about the effects of the smoking ban on sales and are more concerned over plans to further restrict the display of cigarettes in shops under new legislation. Pharmacies, meanwhile, say sales of nicotine replacement products, such as nicotine patches, have increased by around 15 per cent. "It's been a wonderful opportunity for people to give up cigarettes," said Mr Richard Collis, a pharmacist and president of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union. "The biggest barrier for many smokers was going to the pub. Most people tended to relapse when they were in the pub on a Saturday night. Now they don't have to worry about that." Dr Luke Clancy, a consultant respiratory physician and chairman of the anti-smoking group ASH, said he was not surprised at the initial drop in sales. "Many people are using the ban as an opportunity to either give up or reduce their levels of smoking." © The Irish Times ||||| Tobacco sales in Ireland fell by 7.5% in the first six months of this year, according to the cigarette manufacturer Gallaher. The company, which has a 50% share of the Irish market, said around 260 million fewer cigarettes were sold between January and June compared to the same period last year. | Tomorrow will be an historic day in the Republic of Ireland. It will be exactly one year since the initial introduction of the once controversial . The ban, introduced on March 29 2004, made Ireland the first country in world to completely ban smoking in all workplaces. The idea was initially met with much skepticism by the Irish who traditionally had a worldwide image as a land of drinkers and smokers. However despite this early uncertainty, the ban has been a huge success. Cigarettes sales have fallen by as much as 60% in , with the country's biggest tobacco brand, , reporting an overall drop in sales of 7.5%. The announced earlier this month that over 7,000 had given up smoking in the past twelve months. A survey by the showed 82% supported the ban. Anti-smoking lobby groups such as ASH had been calling for a ban for many years prior to the Government's initiative. On 3 December 2003, New Zealand passed the which lead it to become the second nation to impose a total ban. Its ban came into effect nine months after Ireland's, on 10 December 2004. In January of this year Italy also introduced a ban. Sweden intends to go smoke free in June of this year and in Scotland, the hopes to have a ban in effect by early 2006. |
Canada unveils annual seal hunt, slams activists Source: Reuters (Adds comments, background) By David Ljunggren OTTAWA, March 22 (Reuters) - Canada said on Tuesday it would allow 320,000 young seals to be killed this year and launched an unusually strong attack on activists who promise to boycott Canadian seafood products in a bid to stop the hunt. Ottawa says the hunt helps ensure the health of what it describes as a booming seal population. But pictures of hunters clubbing defenseless animals to death have turned the event into an annual public relations nightmare for the government. The two-month hunt, which starts this year on March 29, takes place on ice floes off the Atlantic coast where the seals give birth. Canada says the hunt is humane, but animal rights groups insist many animals are skinned alive and die in agony. Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan, reflecting increasing frustration with the activists, said they were issuing "misleading rhetoric and sensational images that tell a selective, biased and often false story" about the hunt. "It is a real disgrace to have such negative light being cast on the Canadian men and women of this industry... These carefully orchestrated campaigns twist the facts of the seal hunt for the benefit of a few extremely powerful and well-funded organizations," he said in a blunt statement. Officials say the population of harp seals is now five million animals, triple what it was in the 1970s, and says large-scale hunting will be allowed to continue until the number falls to 3.85 million. Ottawa says the hunt protects depleted fish stocks and provides jobs in the economically depressed eastern province of Newfoundland. The province's cod fishery collapsed a decade ago and some fishermen say seals were partly to blame. Anti-hunt activists, who held protests last week in 50 cities around the world, said they would press ahead with calls for a boycott of Canadian seafood. Canada's fishing industry exports around C$3 billion ($2.5 billion) a year to the United States while the seal hunt generates just C$16.5 million a year, mostly from pelt sales. "I think that they (the Canadian government) are feeling the heat ... they can see the really serious implication of going ahead with the hunt this year," said Pat Ragan of the Humane Society of the United States. Ragan said the campaign would target restaurant chains such as Red Lobster -- a unit of Darden Restaurants Inc. -- that buy Canadian seafood. "We're going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with their grocery stores and their restaurants and say 'Please don't serve Canadian seafood' or 'I won't buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is over'," she told Reuters. Some activists are already in the Atlantic region to watch the hunt. Officials said that if too many observers turn up they would be prevented from interfering with the hunt. ($1=$1.21 Canadian) AlertNet news is provided by Printable view | Email this article | Send comments ||||| Canada says the seal population has exploded The government says the hunt is now more humane and that more than 300,000 seals can be killed this year. The seal population is reaching record levels as commercial fish stocks are vanishing, the authorities say. Animal rights campaigners, who say the hunt is cruel, have called for a boycott of Canadian seafood before the hunt which is due to start on 29 March. The two-month hunt takes place on ice floes off the Atlantic coast where the seals give birth. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said in a statement that Canada's seal population was healthy and abundant. "The harp seal herd - the most important seal herd for this industry - is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s." Large-scale hunting will be allowed to continue until the number falls to under four million. One official told the AFP news agency: "We have to do our job responsibly. We are looking at the middle ground, taking into account conservation and the economic needs of the region." Uncomfortable images But anti-hunt activists, who say many animals are skinned alive and die in agony, say they will press ahead with the boycott. "I think that [the Canadian government] are feeling the heat... they can see the really serious implication of going ahead with the hunt this year," said Pat Ragan, of the Humane Society of the United States. "We're going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with their grocery stores and their restaurants and say 'Please don't serve Canadian seafood' or 'I won't buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is over'," she told Reuters news agency. The seal hunt in Newfoundland and Labrador went into decline some 25 years ago, after images of hunters clubbing infant seals horrified TV viewers across the world. ||||| Previous Story Print Story E-mail Story Next Story It has become the largest slaughter of marine mammals on Earth, says Rebecca Aldworth Right now, seals are giving birth to their pups on the ice floes off Canada's East Coast. The seal nursery that forms is one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on Earth. The sun gleams across icy landscapes and open water, and the only sounds are the soft cries of the newborn seals. In this magical scene, serene mother seals lie contentedly and peacefully with their nursing pups. It is a sight that tourists from across the globe pay thousands of dollars for the privilege of witnessing — one that brings substantial revenue to coastal communities in eastern Canada. But just days later, the peace of the ice is shattered as seal hunters descend on the defenceless pups, and the nursery is turned into an open-air slaughterhouse. Beginning March 29, hundreds of thousands of seal pups will be clubbed and shot to death in Canada's annual commercial seal hunt. It is an industrial-scale slaughter that targets the animals for their fur, and leaves their carcasses to rot on the ice. With more than 300,000 pups allowed to be killed this year, it has become the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth. While I was growing up in a Newfoundland fishing community, like most Canadians, I never saw the seal hunt. The slaughter of harp and hooded seals is something that occurs far offshore on the ice floes — well away from the eyes of the public. But for the past six years, I have travelled to the ice floes and observed the seal hunt at close range. The majority of the seals killed are less than one month old; these pups, newly separated from their mothers, are defenceless and have no escape. And they are treated brutally. In 2001, an independent team of veterinarians was escorted to the ice floes by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. They studied Canada's commercial seal hunt at close range. Their report concluded that up to 42 per cent of the seals they studied had probably been skinned alive while conscious — a clear violation of Canada's criminal code and marine mammal regulations that govern the hunt. The violent images of the hunt — gunshots, clubbings, and the sounds of animals in pain — are vivid memories I can never erase. I carry them with me as I work to end this slaughter. And it is my hope that goal is finally within reach. Sealing is an off-season activity conducted by a few thousand fishermen from Canada's East Coast. According to media reports and government data, they make, on average, only 5 per cent of their total incomes from sealing; the rest comes from commercial fisheries. When the first pup is clubbed or shot to death on the ice at the end of March, the Humane Society of the United States, with a network of powerful organizations that includes the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Born Free Foundation, will launch a global boycott of Canadian seafood. We are asking Americans and Canadians not to buy Canadian seafood products, such as snow crabs, until the commercial seal hunt is ended for good. Consumers can easily identify Canadian seafood products, which are labelled clearly in all major grocery stores. Such a boycott — if well supported — would show the Canadian government and fishing industry that continuing the seal hunt is not worth the potential impact of this campaign. As I and many others leave for the ice floes next week to again bear witness to this slaughter, we are asking Canadians to stand with the Humane Society of the United States in our campaign to save the seals. Together, we can put this cruel, outdated slaughter back into the history books where it belongs. Rebecca Aldworth is director of Canadian wildlife issues for the Humane Society of the United States. This commentary first appeared in the Christian Science Monitor. › Get the NEW Sunday paper! Save 50% now! Previous Story Print Story E-mail Story Next Story > ADVERTISEMENT | '''March 23, 2005''' A seal, photo by Jason L. Buberal Ottawa says it will allow the harvest of 320,000 young seals this year, prompting a backlash from international environmental activists who call for a boycott of the Canadian fisheries products. The seal hunt is an annual event on the ice floes off the east coast of Canada where the seal nurseries give birth. This year's hunt begins March 29, and lasts for two months. The government reports the harp seal population is large and healthy. "The harp seal herd - the most important seal herd for this industry - is estimated at around five million animals, nearly the highest level ever recorded, and almost triple what it was in the 1970s," a Department of Fisheries and Oceans statement said. Large scale hunts will continue to be allowed until the harp seal population drops below four million. Environmental activists protest and observe the hunt annually, but this year's larger number of seals has brought a bigger response. Observers are already in the hunt area, and officials said if too many show up they will be prevented from interfering with the hunt. The annual protests, and the publication of photos of the hunt, are a public relations problem for Canada. Protests were held in 50 cities around the world last week, and activists say they would press consumers and restaurants to avoid Canadian fish for at least the duration of the hunt. "We're going to be encouraging consumers to enter into dialogue with their grocery stores and their restaurants and say 'Please don't serve Canadian seafood' or 'I won't buy Canadian seafood until this hunt is over'," said Pat Ragan of the Humane Society of the United States HSUS to ''Reuters''. The International Fund for Animal Welfare sponsored two independent veterinary teams to observe the 2001 hunt which concluded the animals are often (42% of the time) killed in an inhumane manner and not in accordance with Canada's own laws. |
A somber President Obama warned a recession-weary nation Wednesday that its resilience would be tested even more in the second hundred days of his presidency, as he grapples with a series of crises including two wars, a teetering economy and an outbreak of swine flu. On the 100th day of his administration, Obama used a prime-time news conference to appeal for patience from Americans who have given him high approval ratings, laying out in unsparing detail the full scope of what the country faces. The typical president, he said, “has two or three big problems. We’ve got seven or eight big problems. And so we’ve had to move very quickly.” At times Obama sounded almost wistful as he suggested that some past presidents had only a war or a natural disaster to contend with. Advertisement “If you could tell me right now when I walked into this office . . . that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting healthcare passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal,” he said. “I would love a nice, lean portfolio to deal with, but that’s not the hand that’s been dealt us.” Underscoring the severity of the domestic problems, Wednesday began with a sober reminder of the recession’s depth: The U.S. economy shrank at a rate of 6.1% in the quarter that ended last month. Given so many serious problems demanding such urgent action, Obama said, improvement would not come quickly. “The ship of state is an ocean liner; it’s not a speedboat,” the president said. “If we can move this big battleship a few degrees in a different direction, we may not see all the consequences of that change a week from now or three months from now, but 10 years from now, or 20 years from now.” Advertisement Though much of Obama’s news conference focused on domestic problems and politics, some of his most sobering comments involved Pakistan, the rising threat posed there by the Taliban and the challenge of keeping Islamabad’s nuclear weapons secure. Describing the Pakistani regime as “extremely fragile,” Obama said its military leaders and government officials only belatedly were recognizing that their half-century-long preoccupation with India had blinded them to the more immediate threat posed by the Taliban. “You’re starting to see some recognition just in the last few days that the obsession with India as the mortal threat to Pakistan has been misguided, and that their biggest threat right now comes internally,” he said. This week, Pakistan’s military began a significant counter-attack against the Taliban, which has moved within 60 miles of Islamabad. Advertisement U.S. officials have been critical of the Pakistani government in the past, but Obama went further. Most critiques have focused on Islamabad’s failure to provide services or combat insurgents in the border areas. Obama’s criticism was sharper, pointing up failures that he said extended throughout the country. The Pakistani government’s hold on power was weak, he said, because it could not provide basic services to its people -- including education, healthcare and a widely accepted system of law and judicial administration. “And so as a consequence, it is very difficult for them to gain the support and the loyalty of their people,” Obama said. Nonetheless, the president expressed confidence that Islamabad’s nuclear weapons would not fall into Taliban or terrorist hands. Advertisement “I’m confident that we can make sure that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is secure,” he said, “because the Pakistani army, I think, recognizes the hazards of those weapons falling into the wrong hands.” Discussing the swine flu crisis, Obama rejected the idea of closing the border with Mexico, where the outbreak is most severe and is thought to have originated, because he said public health officials said border closures had not proved effective in the past. “It would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses are out,” the president said. Tacitly appealing for calm, he said: “We have to make sure that we recognize that how we respond -- intelligently, systematically, based on science and what public health officials have to say -- will determine in large part what happens.” At times sounding more like school nurse in chief than commander in chief, Obama repeatedly urged people to inhibit the spread of the flu by washing their hands frequently, covering their mouths when coughing, and staying home if they feel sick to avoid the possibility of exposing others. Advertisement With so many pressing priorities, Obama said, some goals may be delayed. He has pledged to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. But he sounded a note of caution about how quickly a plan could be enacted, committing himself only to beginning the process this year. “I’m going to be moving it as quickly as I can,” he said. “I’ve been accused of doing too much. We are moving full steam ahead on all fronts.” He noted, however, that he did not control the legislative calendar on Capitol Hill. Taking a question about Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s surprise announcement Tuesday that he was leaving the GOP for the Democratic Party, Obama offered Republicans an overture and a warning. He said that he wants to work cooperatively with the minority party, and believes that he can. But he also said that the GOP must be willing to compromise and perhaps rethink long-held nostrums. Obama said that if Republicans believe that bipartisanship amounts to him agreeing to “go along with ideas that have been rejected by the Americans in an historic election, we’re probably not going to make progress.” Advertisement With violence rising in Iraq in recent weeks, the president stood by his plan to draw down American troops. He said that although there had been some “spectacular bombings,” civilian deaths and incidents were low in relation to what was going on last year. Obama said he was confident his military team in Iraq would work with Iraqi officials “to create the conditions for an ultimate transfer after the national elections,” which are scheduled in December. The 100th-day stock-taking was a benchmark the administration embraced only after some initial hesitation. White House aides had dismissed the date as a “Hallmark holiday.” But with the media so focused on the calendar, aides wound up cooperating to the fullest. Advertisement The White House released intimate photos of the president and his family, made aides available for TV interviews and circulated written summaries of Obama’s record. And his opening remarks included a catalog of what he considers his administration’s achievements thus far. Earlier in the day, the president marked the occasion with a campaign-style event near St. Louis. Both there and in his news conference, Obama delivered much the same message: He has put the nation on a better path, although the kind of economic recovery he has promised may be years away. National polls show that his approval rating tops 60%, and that growing numbers of people believe the country is on the right track since he took office. In his opening remarks in the East Room of the White House, Obama said: “We have plenty of work left to do. It is work that will take time. It will take effort. But the United States of America will see a better day.” Advertisement Americans, he said, “can expect an unrelenting, unyielding effort from this administration to strengthen our prosperity and our security -- in the second hundred days, and the third hundred days, and all the days after.” -- peter.nicholas@latimes.com cparsons@latimes.com Advertisement Julian E. Barnes and Noam N. Levey in the Washington bureau contributed to this report. ||||| WASHINGTON, April 30 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama said his administration had "responded to an extraordinary set of economic challenges" in a press conference marking his first 100 days in office. "Our most urgent task has been to clear away the wreckage, repair the immediate damage to the economy, and do everything we can to prevent a larger collapse. And since the problems we face are all working off each other to feed a vicious economic downturn, we've had no choice but to attack all fronts of our economic crisis at once," he said. The U.S. leader called the initial steps introduced to deal with the economic downturn "a good start", but "just a start," and cautioned that "Millions of Americans are still without jobs and homes, and more will be lost before this recession is over." He urged patience, and with the U.S. economy shrinking by 6.1% in the first quarter of 2009 said it would take time to turn the situation round. Obama said that in addition to the economy, the country still faces threats "from terrorism to nuclear proliferation to pandemic flu." The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that one person had died and 91 people in the U.S. had been confirmed with swine flu. The virus, which started in Mexico, has killed at least eight people worldwide. Obama called the public health situation "serious" and said the country would do whatever it takes to deal with the crisis adding: "Because this is a new strain, we have to be cautious." | Official portrait of President Obama.After 100 days in office, United States president Barack Obama gave a speech on Wednesday, speaking about the swine influenza outbreak and the struggling economy, both described by the ''Los Angles Times'' as "two wars." He used a prime time television slot to showcase his message throughout the United States. During his speech, he said, "If you could tell me right now when I walked into this office... that all you had to worry about was Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, getting healthcare passed, figuring out how to deal with energy independence, deal with Iran and a pandemic flu, I would take that deal. I would love a nice, lean portfolio to deal with, but that's not the hand that's been dealt us." Obama also said the economy was not the only problem. There are threats to the country including "...terrorism to nuclear proliferation to pandemic flu." Regarding the swine influenza outbreak, he said that the U.S./Mexico border will not be closed because closing the border does not fix any problems, claiming that this method did not work in the past. Instead, he said that the best method for preventing the spread of the flu is hand washing, covering one's mouth while coughing, and staying home when one feels sick. The ''Los Angeles Times'' described Obama "more like school nurse in chief than commander in chief." On the topic of waterboarding, Obama said, "I do believe that it is torture." |
Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. TEHRAN — Iran has put out an arrest warrant and requested a red notice be published by Interpol for President Donald Trump following the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January, the Iranian state news agency FARS reported Monday. Ali Alghasi Mehr, the prosecutor general of Tehran, said arrest warrants had been ordered for 36 people who were involved in or cooperated with the “terror” of Soleimani, including U.S. military and political officials, the news agency reported. A judicial official has also "declared a red notice on Interpol," Mehr added, according to FARS. The Department of State and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha Trump is at the top of the list of those wanted, according to FARS. No other officials were immediately identified. A red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action. It is at the discretion of local law enforcement authorities whether to act on the notices. When asked whether Iran had requested a red notice for Trump, among others, a spokesperson for Interpol said in an emailed statement that its constitution forbids it from undertaking "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character." The spokesperson did not say whether Interpol had received Iran's request. The U.S. killing of Soleimani, the high-profile commander of Iran’s secretive Quds Force, on Jan. 2, brought simmering tensions between Tehran and Washington to a boiling point. Iran retaliated days later by firing more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi air bases housing U.S. forces. In a statement announcing the death of Soleimani in January, the Department of Defense said that the U.S. military had taken "decisive defensive action" to protect U.S. personnel abroad. "This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," the Defense Department added. "The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world." Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers in 2018 and has imposed a wave of economic sanctions on the country's oil industry, as well as banking and other key sectors. The 2015 nuclear deal eased U.S. and United Nations sanctions on Iran in return for limits on Tehran's nuclear program. ||||| Iran has issued an arrest warrant and asked Interpol for help in detaining President Donald Trump and dozens of others it believes carried out the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad. Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday that Trump and more than 30 others whom Iran accuses of involvement in the January 3 strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani face "murder and terrorism charges", the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Alqasimehr did not identify anyone else sought other than Trump, but stressed Iran would continue to pursue his prosecution even after his presidency ends. Interpol, based in Lyon, France, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alqasimehr also was quoted as saying that Iran requested a "red notice" be put out for Trump and the others, which represents the highest level arrest request issued by Interpol. Local authorities end up making the arrests on behalf of the country that request it. The notices cannot force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, but can put government leaders on the spot and limit suspects' travel. After receiving a request, Interpol meets by committee and discusses whether or not to share the information with its member states. Interpol has no requirement for making any of the notices public, though some do get published on its website. It is unlikely Interpol would grant Iran's request as its guideline for notices forbids it from "undertaking any intervention or activities of a political" nature. The US killed General Soleimani, who oversaw the Revolutionary Guard's expeditionary Quds Force, and others in the January strike near Baghdad International Airport. The assasination came after months of incidents raising tensions between the two countries and ultimately saw Iran retaliate with a ballistic missile strike targeting American troops in Iraq. | On Monday, state-owned Iranian news agency reported Iran issued arrest warrants on 36 people believed to have been involved in the assassination of the general Qasem Soleimani in January and demanded from Interpol to publish a for US president Donald Trump. According to semi-official news agency , the prosecutor general of Tehran, Ali Alghasi Mehr, said the 36 must face "murder and terrorism charges", adding Iran will pursue the prosecution of Trump even after he ends serving as president of the US. Among the 36 arrest warrants, Trump's was the only identity disclosed. Red notices are declared to ask local authorities across the globe to find and arrest a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his/her extradition on behalf of the country requesting it. A red notice doesn't force countries to conduct the arrest but may limit the suspect's freedom to travel. Interpol's constitution prohibits "any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character," an Interpol spokesperson stated. The spokesperson added regarding Iran's request, they "would not consider requests of this nature"; Interpol didn't disclose at the time whether it received any arrest warrants from Iran. On a press conference held in Saudi Arabia, US Special Representative for Iran said, "This is a political nature. This has nothing to do with national security, international peace or promoting stability". He added, "It is a propaganda stunt that no-one takes seriously." |
Tribune The three fathers of four Yuma children killed last week were grieving together near the crime scene Monday night. "It’s something I can’t even believe," said Danny Heredia Jr., father of slain 6-year-old Danny Heredia III. "It feels like a nightmare." Adrienne Heredia, 30, and her four children, Andreas Crawford, 13, Enrique Bedoya, 12, Inez Newman, 9; and Danny III were killed in their home Friday night. Luis Rios, Adrienne Heredia’s boyfriend, was also killed. He was found in the backyard of the home with gun shot wounds. Kenneth Crawford, father of Andreas and Enrique, said he learned of his sons’ deaths Saturday night. "I came back from Los Angeles, and someone with the boxing club told me," he said. William C. Newman Jr. was at work when authorities informed him that Heredia and his daughter Inez had been killed. "People don’t think this type of thing happens to them," Newman said, "but when it does, it hits hard." Heredia Jr. said the family knows little. "We’re hoping somebody knows something," he said. Lt. John Lekan said Rios was alive when police reached him in the backyard, but he was not able to offer any information about what had occurred. "He was unresponsive," he said. A Yuma woman who says she is the wife of Luis Rios says she believes Rios may have been in the backyard cooking. Rebecca said she and Luis have been married for 12 years and have a 9-year-old daughter together. Records in Yuma County Superior Court show that paperwork had recently been filed for a dissolution of the marriage. Heredia Jr. said he was still married to Adrienne Heredia at the time of her death.. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, Yuma County Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have joined the investigation. ||||| This free archive includes more than 200,000 Tucson Citizen articles from the years 1993 through early 2014. It also includes some photographs from that period. The Citizen ended its print edition in 2009, then became an online compendium for blogs until February 2014. Gannett Co. Inc., owner of the Citizen, is providing this archive as a community resource for Tucsonans who want to research the history and traditions of their city. | '''June 29, 2005''' The fathers of Adrienne Heredia's four children, slain together with their mother and her boyfriend Luis Rios, 35, are grieving their loss in Yuma, Arizona, but have little information from the police about the crime. The children, son Danny Heredia III, 6; daughter, Inez Newman, 9; and two other sons - Andreas Crawford, 13, and Enrique Bedoya, 12, were found inside the home with their mother after police were called to the scene the night of June 24th on reports of guns shots. Mr. Rios was found in the backyard, still alive at the time but died later in hospital. "It feels like a nightmare," said Danny Heredia Jr., father of Danny Heredia III. The fathers were contacted by authorities before the names were released to the press. Kenneth Crawford learned of the death of his sons Andreas and Enrique when he returned a trip to Los Angeles, and Inez's father William C. Newman Jr. was contacted at work. Police released very few new details at their June 27th press conference on the case. They have a witness reporting a man fleeing the scene, and a sketch has been released. However, police are unsure if the crime is the work of a single individual, or if others were involved. "This type of investigation, because of the complexity of it, is not going to take a few minutes," Police Chief William Robinson said. Autopsies have been ordered, and the causes of death will not be released until they are completed. |
No picture of Natascha Kampusch aged 18 has been released Natascha Kampusch, 18, said Wolfgang Priklopil was "part of my life, that's why in a certain way I'm mourning him". He killed himself by jumping in front of a train after her escape last week. It is still unclear why he abducted her as she was on her way to school. "Give me time until I can tell my story myself," Ms Kampusch said in her first statement read by her psychiatrist. She said she understood the media "curiosity" about her life with the kidnapper, but insisted that she would not answer intimate questions. "Maybe I'll tell a therapist one day or someone else when I feel the need to. Or maybe never. The intimacy only belongs to me." Ms Kampusch said she and Priklopil had eaten meals and watched television together, and had jointly done the housework. Priklopil "was not my lord, although he wanted to be - I was just as strong", she added. "To give you a metaphor - he carried me in his arms but also trampled me underfoot." She is at a secure location with psychological carers, and police say she has not asked to see her parents again after a brief reunion. In her statement on Monday, she said she realised "how shocking and worrying" her experience must seem to people. But she said she did not feel that Priklopil had robbed her of her childhood. Together they had furnished her room "adequately" soon after he had abducted her, Ms Kampusch said. She is reported to have wept inconsolably when she was told the man she had to call "master" was dead. Mother frustrated Police suspect she may have been suffering from "Stockholm Syndrome" - a condition where some abductees gradually begin to sympathise with their captors. Her parents, who separated after her abduction, have complained that they have not been told where she is staying. Her mother Brigitta Sirny has pleaded to be allowed to see her. She asked in a newspaper interview on Sunday: "Why can I not see my child?" Wolfgang Priklopil was a 44-year-old telecoms technician Austrian police officer Gerhard Lang said the police were not banning contact with Ms Kampusch. He said she had voluntarily gone to a "safe place" to receive psychological care and protection. Ms Kampusch, said to be pale and to weigh less than she did as a 10-year-old, managed to flee her abductor on Wednesday after he moved away to take a phone call as she vacuumed his car, it has emerged. Priklopil threw himself under a train within hours of her escape. It is not clear what the kidnapper's motives were and whether Natascha was sexually abused during her captivity. Photos released by police show the underground hiding place in his house, in Strasshof village outside Vienna, where he had purportedly kept her. The pictures show a small, cluttered, windowless room with wash basin, toilet, bed and cupboards and narrow concrete stairs leading up to a trapdoor. ||||| Further details emerge of Austrian kidnapping case Deutsche Presse Agentur Published: Friday August 25, 2006 Vienna- Further details were published on Friday of modern Austria's most sensational kidnapping case while the 18-year-old female victim remained in psychological care at a secret location. Newspapers published photographs of the underground room where Natascha Kampusch was kept by her captor, apparently for the entire time between her kidnapping aged ten in 1998, and escape to freedom on Wednesday this week. It was also revealed that her kidnapper, 44-year-old Wolfgang Priklopil who committed suicide Wednesday evening, may have had an accomplice. A girl witness eight years ago said she had seen Natascha being dragged into a white minibus with two men inside. Police also acknowledged that Priklopil had been among about 700 drivers of white vans or minibuses questioned in the weeks after the kidnapping, when there was a huge hunt on for Natasha. But investigators at the time saw no reason to search his house 20 kilometres east of Vienna. On Friday Natascha's location was kept secret. There were no up-to-date photos of her. But papers published a computer simulation, based on a picture of the ten-year-old, of what she was expected to look like now. Psychologists said she had the chance of a normal life in future, but would probably need years of psychological care. Natasha's parents gave first interviews, and the girl herself was quoted as saying she would speak to media later on. Her father, Ludwig Koch, said: "Natascha is very thin, has very, very white skin, and patches on her whole body. I don't want to think where they come from." Police and psychologists did not say whether the girl had been physically maltreated or sexually abused. One of the investigators said it was possible, and she might be suppressing it. In the beginning she had been forced to address her kidnapper as "lord" or "master." After her initial statements, Natacha was according to police circles increasingly silent by Thursday evening. "She's closing up. It's getting more difficult to question her," said a source. A psychiatrist warned that traumas could appear in a delayed reaction. Natascha apparently also suffered from the so-called "Stockholm Syndrome" of sympathizing with her captor. Psychologists pointed out that it was no more than basic self-preservation to come to terms with the only human being present during her crucial years of adolescence. But at the same time, they said, Natascha had also been aware of him as a criminal and enemy, which ultimately gave her the motivation for her successful escape. On Friday, papers published pictures and details of the windowless, underground hiding-place the kidnapper meticulously prepared for his victim more than eight years ago. Pictured was a narrow room with a wooden ceiling, high bunk bed, toilet and washbasin, and writing desk with a television set. Leading down to it, from the ground floor of the kidnapper's house, was a narrow, steep flight of steps. The room was sealed off by a heavy steel door. On Friday morning, international reporters and TV camera crews braved pouring rain to converge on the kidnapper's house, which was sealed off by police cordons. Among those at the scene were representatives of TV stations from Germany, Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and the US, and papers from countries as distant as Chile, India and Australia. According to the newspaper Die Presse, there were already offers of up to 30,000 euros by British and German media for a meeting with Natascha. © 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur | An eighteen year old Austrian girl, who was held captive by a 44 year-old man in the basement of his house for eight years, said that she is mourning his , which he committed after she escaped from him. , abducted on her way to school eight years ago, had been "part of her captor's life." Police and investigators, unable to find a single lead or tip of her whereabouts, had all but given up hope of finding her alive and well until last week, when Natascha fled from her captor, , a telecoms technician after he left her cleaning his car to answer the telephone. Natascha's abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil, committed suicide hours after Natascha's escape by throwing himself in front of a train only minutes after he realized her escape. After hearing of Priklopil's death, Kampusch wrote "..Priklopil was part of my life, that's why in a certain way I'm mourning him". believe Kampusch may be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological condition in which captives begin to feel empathy, and even affection, for their captors. Psychoanalysts are well represented in as , the founder of Psychoanalysis was Viennese. After eight years with her captor, Kampusch is spending time receiving care from at a secret location, away from the media and her parents. Natasha spoke at first but later became more reticent and reluctant to answer questions. A feared a "delayed trauma". Kampusch's parents expressed their frustration on not being allowed to have access to their daughter. Nevertheless, psychiatric staff with the girl have said that Kampusch needs time to re-adjust to life in the outside world. In a letter to her parents, Kampush stated that they would have "...all the time in the world..." once she had become re-accustomed to the outside. Psychologists claim she may lead a normal future life but probably will require years of psychological therapy. Ludwig Koch, her father said, "Natascha is very thin, has very, very white skin, and patches on her whole body. I don't want to think where they come from." She may be suppressing physical or sexual abuse. Early on she had to call her captor "master" or "lord". |
NEW DELHI: Eleven people were killed and at least 62 others injured in a powerful blast outside Delhi high court gate number 5 on Wednesday morning.The blast took place at around 10.15 am. Home secretary RK Singh told reporters the explosives were placed in a briefcase at the high court reception where hundreds of people come through every day to attend court cases.The government is investigating an email allegedly sent by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami claiming responsibility for the blast at the court.Television images showed scores of lawyers in black coats running from one of the main gates of the building."This appears to be a bomb explosion and it is at least a medium-intensity bomb... The site has been fully secured and Delhi has been put on high alert. Whatever precautions need to be taken are being taken," said home ministry official UK Bansal.The injured have been taken to AIIMS, RML and Safdarjung hospitals. The Delhi Police have cordoned off the area, not far from Parliament and the Prime Minister's Office. Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.Top officials of Delhi Police including Special Commissioner (law and order) Dharmendra Kumar and Joint Commissioner of Special Cell RS Krishnaiah have rushed to the spot.Jt Commissioner (Crime) Sandip Goyal and Special Commissioner PN Aggarwal also joined them. Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2pm to allow government collect information and make its statement on bomb blast outside Delhi High Court.The blast was the second explosion at the high court this year. On May 25, a small explosion that appeared to be a failed car bomb hit the court parking lot.A high alert in the capital has been sounded and security tighten at public places. ||||| This story is from September 7, 2011 NEW DELHI: The government is investigating an email allegedly sent by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami ( HuJI ) claiming responsibility for the blast at the Delhi high court that killed at least 12 people and injured 62 others on Wednesday, a senior security official said. HuJI, in an email sent to the media, wrote, "We own the responsibility for today's blasts at Delhi high court. Our demand is that Mohammed Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major high courts and the Supreme Court of India." National Investigation Agency chief SC Sinha told reporters it was premature to comment on the veracity of the HuJI email. He, however, added that he was taking the contents of the email seriously as HuJI is a major terror outfit. Afzal Guru was given the death sentence by the Supreme Court in 2004 for his role in the attack on Parliament in 2001. ||||| Video New Delhi: At least 10 people have been killed and 65 others injured in a bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday morning. The terror strike, which was reportedly carried out by Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), took place outside Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court at 10:14 am. The blast took place in a high security area with Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office and India Gate in the vicinity. HuJI in an e-mail sent to media houses claimed that the blast was carried out in retaliation to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's death sentence. There were no CCTV cameras installed at the gate near the blast spot while the scanners, too, were not working. Delhi Police will also release sketches of two suspects. Union Home Secretary RK Singh said that the blast, which was of "medium to high intensity", took place between Gate Nos. 4 and 5 near the reception counter where passes are made for the litigants. UK Bansal, Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that the explosive device was kept in a briefcase. He said that the blast was well planned, of high intensity and created a crater near the counter. The injured were taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Lok Nayak Jay Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital with some of them reportedly in a critical condition. National Security Guard (NSG) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) teams have also reached the blast site. NSG Director General Rajen Medhekar said that ammonium nitrate has been used in the blast. "Whatever we could gather from the blast investigations is that it is an IED (improvised explosive device) with ammonium nitrate. We are working with the Delhi Police to get details," said Medhekar. The investigations into the terror strike will be carried out by the NIA, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram announced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs told CNN-IBN that there was no prior information or intelligence input about the blast. The Delhi Police said that Gate No. 5 is one of the busiest areas of the Delhi High Court and have cordoned off the area. Police officials said that about 100 to 200 people were waiting in queue to get passes for entry into the court complex. Forensic experts have collected the evidence to find out the nature of the blast. The report is expected to be ready by Wednesday evening. The Delhi government announced that Rs 4 lakh would be given as compensation for families who have lost adult members and Rs 1.5 lakh to families who have lost minors. The seriously injured will get Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 will be given to those who sustained minor injuries. Those permanently incapacitated in the blast will get Rs 2 lakh. Court business is usually heavy on Wednesday which is listed as a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) day when the visitors come to the court in large numbers. It is in the second time in four months that a blast occurred outside the Delhi High Court complex. An explosion on May 25 triggered panic prompting the authorities to sound a high alert in the capital and tighten security at public places. But no one was injured in the may 25 blast. In that blast too ammonium nitrate was used and the explosive device was wrapped in a polythene bag and kept close to the car parked near Gate No. 7. The blast took place at 1:30 PM. Along with ammonium nitrate, a battery-like object, wires and some nails were found at the site by forensic experts. This is the the worst terror attack in the capital since the triple blasts on September 13, 2008 in which 25 people were killed. On September 13, 2008 serials blasts had rocked Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash in the capital in which over 150 people were injured. Helpline numbers: Safdarjung Hospital: 011-26707444 RML Hospital: 011-23348200, 23404446, 23743769, 23404478 AIIMS: 011-26588700 (For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+) ||||| Expressing concern over the bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court, DMK chief M Karunanidhi today said that India's capital should not remain unprotected. India's capital should not remain unprotected the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said, recalling an attack had taken place on Parliament itself in December 2001. "It is painful to hear and read such incidents happening in Delhi," Karunanidhi told reporters, reacting to the blast, which has left nine dead and at least 50 injured. ||||| Dhaka: Denouncing the blast outside the Delhi High Court as a "cowardly act of terrorist nature," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked all political parties to unite and crush the scourge. "I just heard the sad news from Delhi about the bomb blast. I am told that 10 people have been killed. This is cowardly act of terrorist nature. We will deal with it. We will never succumb to the pressure of terrorism," Singh said. He said "this is a long war in which all political parties, all the people of India have to stand united so that the scourge of terrorism is crushed". "My heart goes out to the bereaved families and to those who are injured I convey my best wishes," he said in a statement to the Indian journalists accompanying him on his two-day visit here. Singh said he has spoken to Home Minister P Chidambaram on the incident. Related Articles: Delhi blast: Terror module behind attack not identified says Chidambaram Delhi blast: 10 killed, 55 injured outside HC; it's terror attack, says govt ||||| Zeenews Bureau: Mumbai: Bollywood celebrities have condemned the Delhi blast and have expressed solidarity with the victims and their families. Here’s what they had to say on micro blogging site Twitter: Shekhar Kapur: India is seen soft targets fr terror attacks as political system protects only its own Karan Johar: Thoughts and prayers for the families and loved ones of the delhi blast victims..... Sonam Kapoor: Ppl who spread terror are the scum of the earth. Boman Irani: This cannot become a way of life. Anupam Kher: Wake up Mr. Home Minister. Please Protect the citizens of this country. Innocent and ordinary lives are equally important. Neil Nitin Mukesh: Heard about the delhi blast. Hope everyone is ok. Plz be safe. Rajat Kapoor: I am leaving for delhi in a couple of hours! Yuvraj Singh: Hope everybody is safe outside delhi high court Ayesha Takia: Pray for the families of those who`s lives were lost or injured. Hope and pray for the day when we can feel safe again! Sad day,innocent ppl hurt or lost their life Soo deeply saddened by yet another blast,y is this happening!! Minnisha Lamba: Govt showed great preventative action in stopping #AnnaHazare. Y can`t these same resources b used 4 preventative action against terrorism? Vishal Dadlani: Also God bless our politicians with the good sense to value our lives. Is it me, or does nothing change, no matter how often we`re attacked? Ameesha Patel: Pathetic state of affairs.corrupt politicians in tihar n bomb blasts in our capital. Ther was more law n order when we were ruled by England. Loss of innocent lives n injuries.loss of money n reputation 2 our country. Govt doesn`t care cos they know citozens hav no option but to . Sophie Choudry: Heartfelt prayers &condolences 2 all the victims &families of Delhi blast..If thr isn`t adequate security at high court imagine other places Trade analyst Taran Adarsh: Feeling terrible. Deeply saddened for all those innocent people who lost their lives #delhiblast Riteish Deshmukh: Prayers for the families and loved ones of the delhi blast victims- why aren`t we running out of patience. Genelia D’Souza: Jst heard bout d delhi bomb blast,terribly disturbin n sad,, thoughts n prayers 2 innocent victims n der families Pritish Nandy: Now blame game begins. Home Ministry says it had warned the Delhi Police in July. NIA to step in. (Why cant wisdom step in, instead?) Gul Panag: Two dear friends had a very narrow escape this morning at Delhi High Court. Both shaken and numb. Sadly, some weren't so lucky:( #delhiblast Aftab Shivdasani: Shocked and saddened by the bomb blast in delhi.. Praying for all. Detest such ghastly acts of killing innocent people..the people responsible will suffer and meet their fates..in this lifetime itself.. Jaaved Jaaferi: Condolences to the families of the Delhi blast.. Curse the bastards who commit such cowardly and heinous acts Mandira Bedi: When will this ever end? Sad, these times we live in. Prayers for victims and their families | '''A scene from the blast site after this incident'''It is in the second time in four months that a blast occurred outside the Delhi High Court complex. An explosion on May 25 triggered panic prompting the authorities to sound a high alert in the capital and tighten security at public places, however no one was injured in that blast. Twelve people were reported killed and 62 people injured in a terrorist attack outside gate number 5 of , in India's capital New Delhi at around 10:15am (4:45 am GMT) on Wednesday. According to home secretary RK Singh, the explosives were hidden in a briefcase placed in the reception of the high court. At that moment hundreds of people were present on the site to get passes to attend court cases. Islamic fundamentalist organization claimed the responsibility for these blasts. In an email sent to the media, the group demanded immediate repeal of the the death penalty given to , a terrorist involved in the attack on the . They also warned that they could target other high courts and the . Victims injured in the attack have been taken to , , and . As the accident site is not far from the and the Prime Minister's Office, the have cordoned off the area. Politicians including the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, senior leader , former , leader , and BJP president have condemned the attacks, as have numerous celebrities on Twitter. "My heart goes out to the bereaved families and to those who are injured I convey my best wishes," Manmohan Singh said in a statement to the Indian journalists accompanying him on his two-day Bangladesh visit. |
— The man who shot two co-workers inside an Ohio State campus building before committing suicide on Tuesday morning learned last week that he was getting fired. Nathaniel Brown was already struggling to keep his home from going into foreclosure, 10TV's Maureen Kocot reported. Brown, 51, lost his job even as he was working his mortgage lender to keep his north side home on Grasmere Avenue. Although it was stress on top of stress, neighbors who described Brown as polite said that they were stunned. SLIDESHOW: Images From Shooting Scene According to neighbors, Brown was unemployed until October, when Ohio State put him on the maintenance payroll. "He seemed to be a pretty good dude to me," said Hubert Brown, a neighbor. "He was happy to be back at work, so I don't know what went on. He snapped for some reason." Nathaniel Brown served five years in prison in the 1970s and 1980s for receiving stolen property, according to the Ohio Department of Corrections. According to a March 2 letter to Nathaniel Brown from Ohio State, his immediate supervisor rated his job performance "unsatisfactory" for reasons that included getting caught sleeping on the job. The letter that was obtained by 10TV News continued with, "I regret to inform you that you are removed effective March 13." Nathaniel Brown not only lost his job, but he was at risk of losing his home. He was working with his mortgage lender and a mediator to keep his house from going into foreclosure, Kocot reported. No one may ever fully understand why Nathaniel Brown walked into the OSU Maintenance Building, armed with two handguns, and shot two people before he took his own life. "Its surprising to me - for him - for that to go on like that because of the way he carried himself," said Archie Whittington, a neighbor. Neighbors told Kocot that they saw Columbus SWAT officers at the home, likely to search for evidence that could help explain a motive behind the killings. Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage. ©2010 by 10TV.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| US University Employee Kills Co-Worker An employee of a large university in the U.S. state of Ohio has shot and killed a co-worker and wounded another before taking his own life. Officials say the employee, Nathaniel Brown, entered a maintenance building Tuesday at Ohio State University and opened fire, killing a building services manager and wounding an operations shift leader. Police say Brown then shot and killed himself on the scene. No students were hurt and classes went on as scheduled. Police have not determined a motive for the shooting. But media reports say Brown, a 51-year-old university custodian, may have been disgruntled about a poor work evaluation. Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee said in a statement that everyone at the school was shocked and saddened by the shooting. He said the safety of students and staff remains a top priority for the university. Some information for this report was provided by AP. ||||| An Ohio State University custodian who had been told he was being fired killed a co-worker and wounded another before killing himself early Tuesday morning at a university maintenance building, officials said. No students were involved in the 3:30 a.m. shooting, and classes were held as scheduled on Tuesday. The gunman was identified as Nathaniel Brown, 51. The university released documents indicating that Mr. Brown’s supervisors had complained that he was often late to work, frequently slept on the job and refused to follow instructions. The university sent him a letter on March 2 informing him that he was being fired and that his last day of work would be Saturday. University officials said Mr. Brown spent five years in prison for receiving stolen property before his release in 1984. On his job application to the university, he lied about whether he had any prior convictions, officials said. University officials said that the police arrived two minutes after the shooting, and that a text message alert was sent at 4:07 a.m. to more than 25,000 students and Ohio State staff members who had subscribed to the alert system. Larry Wallington, 48, a building services manager, was pronounced dead at the scene. Henry Butler, 60, an operations shift leader, was wounded, the police said, and was in stable condition at a Columbus hospital. Mr. Butler wrote a letter on Feb. 11 recommending that Mr. Brown, a recent hire still on probation, be fired, according to records released by the university. “All of us at Ohio State are shocked and deeply saddened by the shooting that occurred on campus early this morning,” said the university’s president, E. Gordon Gee. The shooting comes as several state legislatures are debating whether to ban guns on college campuses. Those who support the right to carry concealed weapons on campuses argue that having a gun protects the individual and the community and reduces the likelihood of a rampage like the one that at Virginia Tech in 2007 in which 32 students and faculty members were killed. Opponents say that with binge drinking, drug use and the pressures that students face, campuses are the wrong place for guns. | Ohio State University main hall. An Ohio State University employee allegedly killed a co-worker before committing suicide on Tuesday morning. The suspect was Nathaniel Brown, a 51-year-old custodial worker who has worked at the University since October. The victim of the shooting was Larry Wallington, a 48-year-old building service manager. Another employee, Henry Butler, was also shot, but survived and is in stable condition at a nearby hospital. According to officials, the shooting took place at 3:30 A.M. local time. Brown is said to have walked into a maintenance building with two handguns, and then commenced firing. Although police say that there were six men in the room at the time, only Wallington and Butler were shot. Within an hour of the shooting, a text message was sent out to about 25,000 students and faculty on campus alerting them of what had happened. Information gathered following the shooting has revealed that Brown was unemployed and struggling to pay his mortgage prior to his employment at Ohio State. Although a neighbor described him as "happy to be back at work," Brown's tenure at Ohio State ended quickly. Brown had learned from a recent letter from the school that he was going to be let go as of March 13. The letter went on to say that he had gotten an "unsatisfactory" job evaluation, and that was why he was being dismissed. |
BANGKOK — Antigovernment protesters clashed on Wednesday with security forces who fired their weapons in a short, sharp encounter on the edge of the city. One soldier was killed and at least 18 people were injured, according to the government-run Erawan Medical Center. Standing behind coils of razor wire and taking aim from behind concrete pilings, troops fired into the air and into the crowd to disperse the protesters, who had arrived in a long convoy of motorcycles and trucks The Associated Press reported that witnesses said the soldier appeared to have been shot by other security forces. Earlier in the day, an army spokesman, Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, said that soldiers mostly used rubber bullets but were authorized to use live ammunition in self-defense. Protesters charged the razor wire and threw rocks and bottles, some of them from a highway overpass near Bangkok’s second-largest airport, Don Muang. The encounter came after the protesters — who have largely discarded their trademark red shirts — made a rare foray from their camps in the center of Bangkok, where they have forced the closing of shopping malls and major hotels. The protesters, who mostly represent the rural and urban poor and whose demonstrations have paralyzed parts of the capital for nearly seven weeks, say they will not relent until the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva resigns and holds a new election. At least 26 people have been killed in the protests. Many support the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and say they were robbed of their votes when he was ousted in a coup in 2006 and when later governments aligned with him were removed through court rulings. The government has responded that it was duly elected by a parliamentary vote and that it will not give in to street protests. The city is tense, with daily rumors of a military crackdown. On Tuesday, soldiers in body armor set up command posts at several points in the city after the protesters said they would set out Wednesday in convoys around the city. The protesters avoided these posts and headed toward the airport road in a procession led by a pack of hundreds of motorcycles. Thousands of people on the backs of trucks waved flags and sang and danced to loud music that blasted through megaphones. After the clash, soldiers took an aggressive stance, stopping and searching vehicles on the nearby Vibhavadi highway, the main gateway from the north, an area largely sympathetic to the protests. They guarded the road into the airport and patrolled the highway on foot and on motorcycles. For their part, the protesters turned their trucks and motorcycles around and headed back into the city, waving at the police. ||||| Bangkok, Thailand (CNN) -- Thai security forces fired on crowds of anti-government protesters just outside the capital, Bangkok, Wednesday as tensions flared in the latest round of confrontations between the two groups. "This is a very tense and intense standoff," CNN's Arwa Damon reported. "There is row upon row of riot police." Live ammunition and rubber bullets were being used by security forces, according to Damon. The Erawan rescue agency said eight protesters were injured in the clashes. One soldier was accidentally killed by fire from security forces, police said. Riot police and government troops had massed along a major highway to stop the progress of an anti-government convoy headed toward a location where demonstrators have gathered in the past. Security forces and riot police were trying to disperse protesters, while the demonstrators along other portions of the highway stood in the way of troop reinforcements. Rainfall cooled the conflict for a time, stopping the advance of riot police and government troops. iReport: Are you there? Share your story, images Under government rules of engagement that have been published, troops are allowed to used tear gas on demonstrators that come with 100 meters (just over 100 yards), and live ammunition on those that come within 30 meters (about 100 feet). Thousands of anti-government protesters have brought Thailand's capital to a standstill as they seek to unseat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, which they say is illegitimate and undemocratic -- accusations that Abhisit on Monday called "unfounded." The demonstrators -- known as "Red Shirts" because of their clothing -- support Thaksin Shinawatra, who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, before he was ousted in a bloodless coup. More than two dozen civilians and military personnel have died since protesters began occupying key tourism and shopping areas in Thailand's capital. Explainer: What are the protests in Thailand about? The latest fighting came as the British Foreign Office warned British citizens against traveling to Thailand unless absolutely necessary, citing the ongoing political unrest there. "This advice reflects our concern that violence could break out during the increasingly volatile political crisis," the Foreign Office said in a message posted on its website Wednesday. Last week, the U.S. State Department issued a similar advisory for Americans. | Protesters in Thailand clashed today with government police, killing at least one soldier and wounding eighteen more in what media reported as being a "very tense and intense standoff." The violence, unusually outside of the center of Bangkok, included Thai security forces firing on protesters, apparently with both rubber bullets and live ammunition, which police had been authorized to use in self-defense. The conflict took place along a highway that a convoy of protesters was travelling along; government forces were trying to disperse the demonstrators. Casualties of the fighting included one dead — a soldier apparently killed by friendly fire — and at least eighteen injured, including eight demonstrators. Government forces had, according to reports, fired both into the air and into the protestors from behind defenses such as razor wire and concrete pilings in an attempt to disperse the crowd. The demonstrators have largely paralyzed the city of Bangkok for the past seven weeks in protests that have killed at least 26 people. Largely rural and urban poor, they say they will not leave until the Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, resigns and new elections are held; many support former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, and consider they were deprived of their votes when he was ousted in a coup in 2006. The fighting has led to constant rumors of a military crackdown on the city. |
Heavily-armed Islamic militants who took up to 250 Pakistani school children hostage in a northwestern town have surrendered to negotiators and started to release the students, according to witnesses. "They have surrendered themselves to the local jirga (tribal council) along with their weapons and released the children," ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said. Earlier, the gunmen stormed the school in northwest Pakistan and took around 250 children and several teachers hostage. The insurgents, equipped with rocket launchers and grenades, demanded safe passage from the school, which is located in the village of Domail, 250 kilometres (155 miles) west of Islamabad. The students are mostly aged between eight and 12. "About seven terrorists have taken the school children hostage. There about 200 to 250 children," interior minister Hamid Nawaz said. advertisement "The terrorists are demanding safe passage, the provincial government is in negotiations with them. We hope that the matter will be resolved peacefully," he added. Police have surrounded the school and tribal elders are trying to negotiate with the gunmen. The army is ready to help but has not been called in. The incident comes amid a tide of violence in Pakistan's northwestern borderlands with Afghanistan that has raised fears for the country's stability ahead of key elections on February 18. Militants holed up at the school after they abducted a health worker in the village and drove off with him, a senior local police official said. Police gave chase and in the ensuing shoot-out one militant was killed and a policeman was injured, while the medic escaped, he said. ||||| By Zeeshan Haider ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Gunmen who took up to 250 Pakistani school children hostage on Monday in a northwestern town freed them all and surrendered to tribal elders, a government spokesman said. Violence and lawlessness has spread across Pakistan in recent months, seeping out of remote tribal regions on the Afghan border into cities and towns, raising fears about the stability of the nuclear-armed U.S. ally. "All the children have been released and the criminals have surrendered to the jirga," said interior ministry spokesman Javel Iqbal Cheema. A jirga is a council of tribal elders. Cheema said none of the children was hurt. Cheema said the gunmen were members of a kidnap gang but government officials and police had earlier said there were about seven Islamist militants holding the children in the school in Bannu town. President Pervez Musharraf told a news conference in London the gunmen were "extremists". The gunmen fled into the school in the North West Frontier Province town and took the children hostage after they had kidnapped a health department official and his driver, police said. Police chased the gunmen and one was killed in a clash before the rest fled into the school, police said. The health official and his driver were freed. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz had said there were between 200 and 250 children in the school. Continued... ||||| ISLAMABAD, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Militants took hostage up to 250 Pakistani schoolchildren in the northwestern town of Bannu on Monday, the interior minister said. Police had earlier said about 25 children had been taken hostage after the gunman took refuge in the school following a clash with police. "There are 200 to 250 children in the school and about seven militants. The provincial government is negotiating with them," Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz told Reuters. (Reporting by Zeshan Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel) | Officials in Pakistan have confirmed that at least 250 schoolchildren between 12 and 18 years old and several teachers were taken hostage by at least seven militants inside a high school in Domail. After negotiations, the children were released. "There were 200 to 250 children in the school and about seven militants," said Hamid Nawaz, the Interior Minister of Pakistan. "The criminals have surrendered to the jirga along with their weapons. No children have been hurt and all have been released," said Javel Iqbal Cheema a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. At least one officer was injured and one militant was killed in the battle. According to reports, the militants were fighting police officers after kidnapping a "health worker" when they ran into the school for shelter. They were allegedly armed with several weapons including rocket launchers and grenades. |
The U.S. Supreme Court has heard a plea that terrorism suspects being held at the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be given the opportunity to challenge their detention in American courts. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington. Hooded protester in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, 05 Dec 2007 Demonstrators outside the court chanted and waved signs calling on the nine high court justices to grant the detainees habeus corpus, the age-old legal principle that allows prisoners to challenge their detention before a neutral judge. Inside the court, attorney Seth Waxman argued on behalf of a group of 37 detainees, part of the 305 prisoners now being held at Guantanamo. "All have been confined at Guantanamo for almost six years," he said. "Yet, not one has ever had meaningful notice of the factual grounds of detention, or a fair opportunity to dispute those grounds before a neutral decision-maker." But Waxman appeared to have little success in convincing some of the high court's more conservative justices that the Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions in court. Among the skeptical was Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "You are appealing to a common law right that somehow found its way into our Constitution without, as far as I can discern, a single case in which the writ [right] was ever issued to a non-citizen," he said. Some of the other justices appeared more sympathetic, including Justice Stephen Breyer. "Now it has been six years, and habeus is supposed to be speedy, and yet people have serious arguments anyway that they are being held for six years without even having those arguments heard," he said. The Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration in two previous cases concerning the legal rights of the Guantanamo detainees. Congress got involved in the issue in 2006 and passed a law that was designed to keep detainee appeals out of the civilian court system and refer them instead to military commissions. But civil and legal rights groups say the alternative procedures set up by Congress and the Bush administration deprive the detainees of basic rights. "At issue here that the Supreme Court decided was; 'Do we have a king in this country who is not bound by the rule of law and not bound by the Constitution? Or do we have a president that is subject to the Constitution?," said Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Conservative legal scholars argue against U.S. constitutional protections for foreign terrorist suspects. "If the courts are going to be in charge of the conduct of warfare, we are going to be a much less safe country," said Andrew McCarthy, who is with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. A decision by the Supreme Court in the Guantanamo case is expected before the end of June. ||||| By Patti Waldmeir in Washington The Bush administration on Wednesday faced intense grilling from the US Supreme Court about its treatment of detainees at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, in a case that could prove an important test of the power of courts in the battle against terrorism. The nine-person court appeared almost evenly divided over whether to expand the right of Guantánamo prisoners to challenge their detention in court. The court heard two consolidated cases on Wednesday, Boumediene v Bush and Al Odah v United States, both brought by Guantánamo detainees who claim they have the right to dispute their imprisonment using a writ of habeas corpus - an ancient judicial procedure, dating back to the time of England's Magna Carta and enshrined in the US constitution, which allows prisoners to fight arbitrary imprisonment. Story continues below ↓ advertisement advertisement But Congress passed a law in 2006 that stripped federal courts of the authority to hear habeas cases brought by Guantánamo detainees. Detainees were given a limited right to contest their detention in federal court, but it does not allow them to have lawyers or to view all the evidence before them, as would be possible in a habeas case. "Congress has spoken. The political branches have spoken. They have struck a balance," the government's chief Supreme Court lawyer, Paul Clement, the US solicitor-general, told the court on Wednesday. He insisted that judicial review procedures available to Guantánamo prisoners were adequate to replace habeas rights and that federal courts should have no further role in evaluating detentions. But the detainees' lawyer, the former solicitor-general Seth Waxman, said the fact that his clients had been held for six years already without being charged or having a chance to challenge their detention in a fair proceeding suggested that the government's alternative to habeas did not meet constitutional standards. "The time for experimentation is over," he said, arguing that government efforts to come up with an alternative to habeas had failed. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is likely to hold the balance of power in the case, appeared to be seeking a narrow middle ground between the position of the two camps. After more than an hour of lively arguments, in which the advocates and the justices disputed habeas corpus rights in cases dating from 18th-century England to the US after the second world war, it was not clear how they would rule. They are expected to hand down their ruling by June or July. The court has repeatedly rebuked the Bush administration for its handling of detainees in the "war on terror", but may this time duck the issue of the constitutional rights of detainees and issue a narrower ruling. Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. ||||| NEWS AMERICAS US supreme court reviews Guantanamo Lawyers argued the government has an obligation to provide prisoners with a fair trial [AFP] The US supreme court is reviewing the legal status of prisoners held in the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba for the third time in three years. Lawyers argued before the court on Wednesday that Guantanamo inmates should have the right to have the legality of their detention reviewed by US courts. The Bush administration argues that the base is outside the country, so rights under the US constitution do not apply. More than 750 people have been held there since January 2002. Just three prisoners have been formally charged, and only one has been convicted, as a result of a plea bargain. David Hicks, an Australian citizen, who admitted to training with al-Qaeda, was deported to Australia to serve a nine-month prison sentence. Almost all of the 305 prisoners at Guantanamo have been confined for years without charges and many have complained of abuse. About 470 other prisoners have been released over the years, and the United States said it intends to try 60 to 80 of those still in detention. 'Fair hearing' The supreme court has already heard two cases about prisoners' rights and ruled in favour of the inmates. But the White House and congress circumvented its decisions by adopting new measures, including a 2006 law aimed at keeping such cases out of court. Seth Waxman, a lawyer representing 37 detainees, told the supreme court on Wednesday that "if our law doesn't apply, this is a law-free zone", referring to the prison at the US naval base on Cuba . He argued that the US congress wrongly stripped the prisoners in 2006 of their right to challenge an illegal detention. Centuries of US and English legal tradition were examined in the court's oral arguments. Tom Wilner, also a lawyer for the detainees, said: "The question is whether the United States government escapes any obligations under the constitution or law by holding foreigners outside of the United States, or whether they have some obligation to give them a fair hearing." The case is being watched by governments and activists around the world, who say George Bush, the US president, has overreached his powers and committed human rights abuses in his so-called "war on terrorism", launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Detentions 'lawful' The Bush administration contends the detentions are lawful, humane and necessary for a new-style war. Paul Clement, justice department solicitor general, arguing the administration's case, said the prisoners have more rights now than under original US habeas corpus law in 1789. He said: "This is a remarkable liberalisation." Gitanjali Gutierrez of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, said: "The case is a question of executive power, and how much power the courts and congress are going to give the president to hold whoever he wants, wherever he wants, whenever he wants." The judges are expected to hand down their decision in a few months. In Guantanamo on Wednesday, court proceedings at the special military tribunal started against the man whose case prompted the legislation passed in 2006. Salim Ahmad Hamdan is accused of being a member of al-Qaeda and a driver for Osama bin Laden. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | The United States Supreme Court The United States Supreme Court has heard a plea that terrorism suspects being held at the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, should be given the opportunity to challenge their detention in American courts. Demonstrators outside the court chanted and waved signs calling on the nine high court justices to grant the detainees habeus corpus, the age-old legal principle that allows prisoners to challenge their detention before a neutral judge. Inside the court, and former argued on behalf of a group of 37 detainees, part of the 305 prisoners now being held at Guantánamo. "All have been confined at Guantánamo for almost six years," he said. "Yet, not one has ever had meaningful notice of the factual grounds of detention, or a fair opportunity to dispute those grounds before a neutral decision-maker." But Waxman appeared to have little success in convincing some of the high court's more conservative justices that the Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their detentions in court. Among the skeptical was Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "You are appealing to a common law right that somehow found its way into our Constitution without, as far as I can discern, a single case in which the writ right was ever issued to a non-citizen," he said. Some of the other justices appeared more sympathetic, including Justice . "Now it has been six years, and habeas is supposed to be speedy, and yet people have serious arguments anyway that they are being held for six years without even having those arguments heard," he said. Since January 2002, more than 750 people have been held. Many of the 305 prisoners at Guantánamo have complained of abuse and almost all have been confined for years without charges. Around 470 other prisoners have been released over the years, and the U.S. said it intends to try 60 to 80 of those currently in detention. Since 2002, just three prisoners have been formally charged, and only one has been convicted, as part of a plea bargain. , an Australian citizen, who admitted to training with , was repatriated to Australia to serve a nine-month prison sentence. The Supreme Court ruled against the Bush administration in two previous cases concerning the legal rights of the Guantánamo detainees. Congress got involved in the issue in 2006 and passed a law that was designed to keep detainee appeals out of the civilian court system and refer them instead to military commissions. Aerial view of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. But and groups say the alternative procedures set up by Congress and the Bush administration deprive the detainees of basic rights. "At issue here that the Supreme Court decided was; 'Do we have a king in this country who is not bound by the rule of law and not bound by the Constitution? Or do we have a president that is subject to the Constitution?," said Vincent Warren, executive director of the . Conservative legal scholars argue against U.S. constitutional protections for foreign terrorist suspects. "If the courts are going to be in charge of the conduct of warfare, we are going to be a much less safe country," said Andrew C. McCarthy, who is with the . A decision by the Supreme Court in the Guantánamo case is expected before the end of June. |
AUSTRALIA will have a new public and political affairs television network next year. The network, named A-SPAN, is based on the US network C-SPAN which broadcasts proceedings from the US Congress and Congressional committees. A-SPAN includes deals with C-SPAN and British network BSkyB. It is a joint effort from 24-hour news network Sky News and pay-TV providers Foxtel and Austar and is scheduled to kick off next year. Announcing the network, News Limited chief executive John Hartigan promised A-SPAN would provide "live coverage of the internal machinations of government". Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he was a fan of the US version, which was surprisingly addictive for news and politics junkies. He said the concept allowed the public "first-hand, unedited access to records of public debate". He said the idea was mentioned in passing at the Government's 2020 summit earlier this year. Former Victorian premier Steve Bracks, currently chairman of pay-TV body ASTRA, said constant live broadcasting of parliament could have the welcome effect of "moderating" the behaviour of some of Australia's state politicians. The New South Wales Parliament, known as the "bear pit" for its raucous debate, will have its sittings broadcast on the network along with the Queensland and Victorian chambers. Other states will join the coverage later. ||||| Rudd hails new A-Span TV network Posted Updated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hailed the launch of a new public affairs television network as a good move for Australia's democracy. Sky News, Foxtel and Austar have joined together to launch A-Span, a new public affairs television network and an initiative of the Federal Government's 2020 Summit. The public affairs network will be available on digital free-to-air television, cable and online, providing coverage of parliament deliberations as well as industry meetings. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says A-Span, which evolved from the 2020 Summit's C-Span idea, will be 100 per cent industry funded. "Today's announcement is a good thing for our democracy. It's a superb initiative," he said. A-Span will also provide content from United States proceedings on Capitol Hill, as well as from the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. Mr Rudd says it is based on C-Span, a similar network already available in the US. "C-Span educates and informs its viewers giving them a fly-on-the-wall perspective of what's happening on Capitol Hill," he said. "An Australian version of C-Span would make a big difference to the public policy debate. "Political junkies will love it ... but A-Span will also be available to the wider public." Mr Rudd says it will go hand-in-hand with coverage provided by other news outlets in Australia. "It will complement the coverage already provided by the ABC, Sky News and the parliament website," he said. ||||| POLITICAL junkies will have a new way to drive friends mad with the launch of a new pay TV channel devoted to Australian politics, but parliamentary terms including "scumbag" and "sleaze bag" may have to be explained to an international audience, Kevin Rudd said today. Promising to bring the bear pit of state and federal politics into the lounge rooms of homes around the nation and overseas free of editorial comment, A-SPAN, the Australian Subscription Public Affairs Network, will begin broadcasting on January 20 next year with live coverage of the inauguration of US president-elect Barack Obama.Modelled on the C-SPAN service overseas, the Prime Minister launched the new venture today, with former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks also predicting it may lift standards in state politics as the reality of live broadcasts sinks in.“Political junkies will of course love it, they'll now have one more way to drive their family and friends absolutely mad,” Mr Rudd said."I am looking forward to the sub-titling service ... rendered in American English: 'You scumbag'."(Or) 'You sleazebags on wheels.' This is deemed in Australia to be an even less desirable person. I think there's a whole boutique business which will be spawned out of this in terms of the sub-titling of Australian English."The new not-for-profit network is a joint project of FOXTEL and AUSTAR and will jump the gun on ABC managing director Mark Scott's dream of a taxpayer-funded dedicated news and public affairs channel.The Prime Minister joked it was a pity A-SPAN wasn't around when Gough Whitlam threw a glass of water over Paul Hasluck."Or in more recent times, Tony Abbott squaring up to his Majesty's loyal opposition at the time, ready to knock their lights out on the floor of the House of Representatives. (Or) Paul Keating’s great exhortation that he was about to do him slowly. If this was done resplendently across live television across the country I am sure it would have had a palpable impact on the body politic. It would have been for real, live and unplugged."Australian politics will also be shown overseas on the C-SPAN channel and the new channel will also be available online and on a free-to-air basis. Coverage from the British House of Commons, the New Zealand Parliament and US politics will be available.Australian News Channel chairman John Hartigan predicted it would become a major forum to promote political knowledge, awareness and debate.But the Prime Minister joked his Communications Minister Stephen Conroy may have some questions to answer."I was concerned by what John Hartigan said. He said this A-SPAN was about live coverage as it happens of the internal machinations of government. Conroy, you told me none of that. You are in deep trouble,” Mr Rudd laughed.The chief executive of Sky News, Angelo Frangopoulos, said A-SPAN would be available on pay TV from January 20. He expected it would initially be available on free-to-air digital TV only in Sydney.Former Nine and Seven network political correspondent Laurie Wilson will host a program on A-SPAN, which will also provide broadcasts of the British and New Zealand parliaments and question time from parliaments in Queensland, NSW and Victoria, with more to come.There will also be live broadcasts of speeches from the National Press Club, think-tanks such as the Lowy Institute and the Sydney Institute, and from universities. | Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd launched the Australian Subscription Public Affairs Network today. The channel, a production of Sky News and subscription television providers Foxtel and Austar is modeled on the United States' C-SPAN channel. Broadcasts will commence January 20, 2009. A-SPAN will commence broadcasting January 20, 2009 The initiative is solely funded by industry with no contribution from the government. The network will be available on subscription television, the Internet and digital free-to-air television and will show sittings of Federal parliament as well as the United States Congress, New Zealand parliament, British House of Commons and state parliaments in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Live speeches at the National Press Club will also be covered. A-SPAN has also entered into a deal to show Australian politics on the US C-SPAN network. Prime Minister Rudd said that A-SPAN will give a "fly-on-the-wall" perspective of politics, in the same vein as C-SPAN in the US. He said A-SPAN is "a good thing for our democracy" and that "it's a superb initiative". Mr Rudd conceded that the channel will be popular among fans of politics. “Political junkies will of course love it, they'll now have one more way to drive their family and friends absolutely mad,” Mr Rudd said. Mr Rudd said he looked forward to introducing Australian English from the parliament of Australia to an international audience. |
"Wilders is inciting hate" 8 August 2007 THE HAGUE – A lawyer from Lelystad reported to police on Wednesday to bring a case against Geert Wilders. Els Lucas says that the politician's letter published in the Volkskrant on Wednesday incites hate between population groups. In the letter Wilders compares the Koran with Hitler's Mein Kampf and urges that the holy book of Islam be banned. "I think that is really taking it too far. Moreover it is unseemly that a member of Parliament is expressing himself in this manner," Lucas said. In a reaction the leader of the PVV called the lawyer's action "very sad." "I do not want to incite hate; I want the Koran to be banned. That is a political opinion. I am in Parliament in order to express my political opinion," Wilders said. Lucas objects to the tone of the whole article. That is why she went to the police station with a copy of the article and "a pile of legal texts." One of the points she objects to is the fact that Wilders' urging that no more Muslim immigrants be admitted to the Netherlands is in violation of the Aliens Act. The lawyer filed the report in a personal capacity. A spokesperson for the public prosecution department in Lelystad confirmed on Wednesday that the report has been received and said that the public prosecutor would look into it immediately. [Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007] Subject: Dutch news ||||| Hitler Geert Wilders compares the Qur'an with Mein Kampf, which was written by Adolf Hitler in 1924. In his book, Hitler explained his theories about National Socialism, anti-Semitism and the superiority of the Aryan race. The sale of Mein Kampf is outlawed in the Netherlands, but owning or trading old copies is permitted. However, Mr Wilders’ proposal to ban the Qur'an is more drastic than the ban on Mein Kampf because it would also outlaw the possession of the book. “It’s a religious book which of course can be read and discussed. What we really should fight are the radical imams and mosques which use the Qur'an to spread hatred. We must take firmer measures against them.” A warning Geert Wilders says he wants his proposal to serve as a warning to radical Muslims who misuse the Qur'an to justify the use of violence. His statement comes in response to the recent attacks on Ehsan Jami , founder of the Committee for Former Muslims. He says the perpetrators use the Qur'an as an excuse for the attacks. Wilders writes that“The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order.”The jurist, commentator and co-member of the Committee for Former Muslims, Afshin Ellian also thinks that the Qur'an “possesses extremely violent passages with regard to women, Jews and non-believers”. However, he is against a ban. Mr Ellian says you should take measures against the people who abuse the Qur'an, not the book itself: In a letter-to-the-editor in today’s de Volkskrant newspaper, Wilders argues that the Qur'an should only be permitted for research at an academic level.However, the MP - who is known for his controversial statements about Islam - says he knows his proposal doesn’t stand a chance of being approved by parliament. His Freedom Party has nine seats in the 150-seat Dutch lower house of parliament. The leader of the Netherlands' right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur'an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr Wilders says the Qur'an (Koran) is a fascist book which promotes violence and is similar to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Reaction(s): jdpeiper, - UK The former Dutch citizen living in Africa is most welcome to it. I'd like to know where in history Judiasm did as much if any harm to the outside world. It isn't even and has never been a religion that seeks converts. As for Holland being the most liberal, yeah. True, it was and may still be. But we have the Dutch to thank for PC thinking which is wreaking havoc today thru-out the world. Thanks fer nothing. Audrey Chaplain, - Keep at this ban Geert Wilders. We need more BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN like you who will stand up for the truth. Allah is none other than Satan himself and Muhamed spreads hatred and intolerance. They muslims psycologically brainwash their children at young tender ages with hatred and murder of anyone who is a non-muslim. People need to wake up and realise that Islam is a hypocritical religion that needs to banned radically!! Try going into Saudi Arabia with your Bible and see how they will humiliate you and the Bible but they come running to the West with their Qur'ans and Mosques demanding free of religion. Geert Wilders - We Bless you and covet God protection over you and your family. No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that rises against you shall be silenced. Albert Bakker, - Netherlands After evaluating the comments we see the opinions roughly divided into two camps: American Christian Evangelicals who never met a Muslim in their lives but have learned a lot about it from neoconservative propagandists are pro Wilders. The rest of the world see him for what he really is, a worthless man with a load of peroxide fungus on top. Andre, - USA Well, first it was the Turks and the Ottoman empire trying to take over Europe without any luck. Now, without any wars, Islam is taking over the old continent, and no one even notices. Right now, all immigration should be banned, especially from the poor Third World Muslim countries. G, - The book of hate; manual of oppression and cavemanism, has no place in our modern world. If nazism/mien kempf is NOT okay; then why should the book of hate be allowed? Ferdinand Berkhof, - Botswana Although still a Dutch citizen, I left Holland about 15 years back. I still remember it as the country it was in the 70ies and 80ies - probably the most liberal and tolerant place in western Europe. It has since then joined the general European pull to the right. It is actually saddening and frightening to see that a populist, intolerant and xenophobic party like Wilders' "Freedom Party" manages to grab 6% of the seats in Dutch parliament. I grew up as a Christian in Calvinist but tolerant Holland. I am no longer a Christian and strongly believe that in the history of mankind, religion in general, and Christianity, Judaism and Islam in particular, have done much more damage than good. A ban on the Koran? In 1933 the Nazis burned works of Jewish authors and other works considered "un-German" in Berlin. Not much later they were burning people. I am settled in Africa. My wife is an African and my children have a colour that is "un-Dutch". I am not returning to Holland. Don't want my family to be burned. I wish the Dutch good luck. ROGER, - Canada Mr Wilders is a hatemonger spreading hate and racism. The Dutch have the blood of Muslims of Sbrenica on their hands. The Dutch looted and plundered Indonesia and other parts of the world and enslaved people. The Dutch need to atone for their crimes, instead of blaming Muslims for imagined crimes. Liars such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali were given privileged positions from which to attack Muslims, solely for their personal profit and self-interest. Well, Hirsi Ali was exposed for the liar she was and is. She made fools of the Dutch nation. Now there is this clown Geert Wildman. winston, - Canada Good for him. Barb Kish, - USA I totally agree with banning the Koran. It is evil personified and offers nothing good to the individual or society. It is all about control and completely takes away freedom. I pray the entire world wakes up to the threat of continued terrorism perpetuated by Islam. Opagene, - Good old America Allah is figment of the Imagination of Satanic blinded idots and unlearned peoples. The Quran is myths, fables, Christianity, Judiasm, animalism and pure Hog Wash! The Muslims cannot even get along in their own families, they are converted and kept by fear and debouchery! ||||| Ik roep het al jaren: een gematigde islam bestaat niet. Voor wie mij niet wil geloven: lees de speech die de helaas vorig jaar overleden Italiaanse schrijfster Oriana Fallaci op 28 november 2005 hield in New York, toen zij een prijs in ontvangst nam ter ere van haar heldhaftig verzet tegen het islamofascisme en haar strijd voor vrijheid: ‘Een gematigde islam bestaat niet. Het bestaat niet, omdat er geen onderscheid is tussen Goede islam en Slechte islam. Er is islam, en daar houdt het mee op. En islam is de Koran, en niets dan de Koran. En de Koran is het Mein Kampf van een religie die beoogt anderen te elimineren, die die anderen – niet-moslims – ongelovige honden noemt, inferieure wezens. Lees de Koran, dat Mein Kampf, nog eens. In welke versie dan ook, je zult zien dat al het kwade dat de zoons van Allah tegen ons en henzelf begaan, uit dat boek afkomstig is (Oriana Fallaci, The Force of Reason, post-script, pag. 305, februari 2006).’ Ehsan Jami is zo’n ongelovige hond, een afvallige moslim die het lef had de profeet Mohammed een crimineel en sommige bepalingen uit de Koran achterlijk te noemen. En die het ook nog in zijn hoofd heeft gehaald op te komen voor andere afvallige honden en daar zelfs een comité voor heeft opgericht. Allah vindt voor afvalligheid de doodstraf gepast. Afgelopen zaterdag werd dat bijna realiteit: de ongelovige Jami werd door twee Marokkanen en een Somaliër tot bloedens toe in elkaar geramd. Genoeg is genoeg. Laten we ophouden met politiek correct gedraai en gekonkel. Het is goed dat Jami nu beveiligd wordt en een schande dat dit niet eerder is gebeurd, maar het lost de kern van het probleem niet op. De kern van het probleem is de fascistische islam, de zieke ideologie van Allah en Mohammed zoals neergelegd in de islamitische Mein Kampf: de Koran. De teksten uit de Koran laten weinig aan de verbeelding over. In verschillende soera’s worden moslims opgeroepen joden, christenen, andersgelovigen en niet-gelovigen te onderdrukken, vervolgen of vermoorden, vrouwen te slaan en te verkrachten en met geweld een wereldwijde islamitische staat te vestigen. Soera’s te over die moslims oproepen en aanzetten tot dood en verderf. Verbied dat ellendige boek zoals ook Mein Kampf verboden is! Geef zo een signaal aan de overvallers van Jami en andere islamisten dat de Koran in ons land nooit en te nimmer als inspiratie of excuus voor geweld mag worden gebruikt. Wat schaam ik me voor de Nederlandse politici. Hun naïviteit en ziekelijke streven naar de utopische gematigde islam, die ons land alleen maar hel en verdoemenis brengt. Wat schaam ik me voor al diegenen in en buiten kabinet en Tweede Kamer die de islamitische invasie van Nederland weigeren te stoppen. Wat schaam ik me voor de Nederlandse politiek die dag in dag uit de oververtegenwoordiging van allochtonen in de criminaliteit en misdaad accepteert en er geen antwoord op heeft. Den Haag zit vol met laffe lieden. Bange mensen die laf zijn geboren en laf zullen sterven. Die vinden en bevorderen dat de Nederlandse cultuur gestoeld zal zijn op een joods-christelijke-islamitische traditie. Die een generaal pardon verlenen aan leugenaars en criminelen. Die de andere kant op kijken als homoseksuelen inmiddels bijna dagelijks in elkaar worden geramd. Die sharia-hypotheken willen invoeren. Die met vertegenwoordigers van de terroristische Hamas in gesprek gaan. Die werkzaamheden verrichten voor de dictatoriale Marokkaanse koning. Die extremisten van de Moslimbroederschap als gesprekspartner zien. Die toestaan dat moslimmannen weigeren hun zieke vrouw te laten behandelen door mannelijke artsen. Die lak hebben aan de belangen van de Nederlandse burger en meewerken aan de transformatie van Nederland in Nederabië als provincie van de islamitische superstaat Eurabië. Ik heb genoeg van de islam in Nederland: geen moslimimmigrant er meer bij. Ik heb genoeg van de aanbidding van Allah en Mohammed in Nederland: geen moskee er meer bij. Ik heb genoeg van de Koran in Nederland: verbied dat fascistische boek. Genoeg is genoeg. Geert Wilders is fractievoorzitter van de Partij voor de Vrijheid. | In a letter published this morning in the paper ''de Volkskrant'', Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders advocated proscribing the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. The right-wing politician, who is the leader of the Party for Freedom, compared the Muslim holy book with Adolf Hitler’s book ''Mein Kampf'', which is currently one of the few books proscribed in the Netherlands today. According to Wilders, the Qur'an is "a fascist book" that promotes violence and should only be allowed for academic studies. In the letter, Wilders stated that the people who had beaten up local politician Ehsan Jami had been inspired by the Qur'an and that he was ashamed of "the cowards" in the political capital The Hague. Wilders said that he probably will not get a majority in parliament for the proscription, but he will not let that stop him from introducing legislation to this effect. On the same day the letter ran in ''de Volkskrant'', Els Lucas, a lawyer from Lelystad, filed a police complaint against Wilders, saying that the politician is inciting hatred between groups within the population. Responding to the news of the police report, Wilders said "I do not want to incite hate; I want the Koran to be banned. That is a political opinion. I am in Parliament in order to express my political opinion." A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office in Lelystad confirmed receipt of the complaint and said the office would investigate the report. Since his election to parliament in 1997, Wilders has been in Dutch news a number of times with statements about immigration and the Islam. In 2004, he left right-wing liberal party People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to set up his own party. In the election of 2006, his party won 9 seats in the Dutch parliament which has 150 seats. |
Jindal Wins Louisiana Governor's Race BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal won the Louisiana governor's race Saturday, becoming the nation's youngest governor and the first non-white to hold the state's post since Reconstruction. Jindal, the Republican 36-year-old son of Indian immigrants, carried more than half the vote against 11 opponents. With about 92 percent of the vote in, Jindal had 53 percent with 625,036 votes — more than enough to win outright and avoid a Nov. 17 runoff. "Let's give our homeland, the great state of Louisiana, a fresh start," Jindal said to cheers and applause from a crowd that began chanting his name at his victory party. His nearest competitors: Democrat Walter Boasso with 208,690 votes or 18 percent; Independent John Georges had 1167,477 votes or 14 percent; Democrat Foster Campbell had 151,101 or 13 percent. Eight candidates divided the rest. "I'm asking all of our supporters to get behind our new governor," Georges said in a concession speech. The Oxford-educated Jindal had lost the governor's race four years ago to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. He won a congressional seat in conservative suburban New Orleans a year later but was widely believed to have his eye on the governor's mansion. Blanco opted not to run for re-election after she was widely blamed for the state's slow response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. "My administration has begun readying for this change and we look forward to helping with a smooth transition," she said in a prepared statement. "I want to thank the people of Louisiana for the past four years, though there is still much work to do in my last few months as your governor." When he takes office in January, Jindal will become the nation's youngest governor in office. He pledged to fight corruption and rid the state of those "feeding at the public trough," revisiting a campaign theme. "They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way, they will go," he said, adding that he would call the Legislature into special session to address ethics reform. Political analysts said Jindal built up support as a sort of "buyer's remorse" from people who voted for Blanco last time and had second thoughts about that decision. Blanco was widely criticized for the state's response to Hurricane Katrina and she announced months ago that she would not seek re-election. "I think the Jindal camp, almost explicitly, (wanted) to cast it this way: If you were able to revote, who would you vote for?" said Pearson Cross, a University of Louisiana at Lafayette political scientist. Jindal has held a strong lead in the polls since the field of candidates became settled nearly two months ago. But the two multimillionaires in the race — Boasso, a state senator from St. Bernard Parish, and Georges, a New Orleans-area businessman — poured millions of their own dollars into their campaigns to try to prevent Jindal's victory. Campbell, a public service commissioner from Bossier Parish, had less money but ran on a singular plan: scrapping the state income tax on businesses and individuals and levying a new tax on oil and gas processed in Louisiana. The race was one of the highest-spending in Louisiana history. Jindal alone raised $11 million, and Georges poured about $10 million of his personal wealth into his campaign war chest while Boasso plugged in nearly $5 million of his own cash. A victory Saturday would be a rare trip to statewide office for a minority in the South — in a state that 16 years ago famously saw a former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke, in a runoff for governor. Duke lost that race. The victory marks a rare trip to statewide office for a minority in the South — in a state that 16 years ago famously saw a former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke, in a runoff for governor. Duke lost that race. Some black political leaders complained Saturday of problems at polls in New Orleans, where many people have moved around since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. State Elections Commissioner Angie LaPlace said she had expected many complaints because a check of voters' addresses found that a "ton" had moved, and those whose mail is forwarded must vote in the precinct where they now get mail. Associated Press writers Mary Foster and Cain Burdeau contributed to this report. ||||| Mr Jindal has promised to fight corruption in Louisiana Mr Jindal, 36, also becomes the youngest US governor and the first Indian-American to head a state. The Republican took 54% of the vote to win outright over his nearest rival, Democrat Walter Boasso, who got 18%. Outgoing Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco chose not to run again after she was widely criticised for her handling of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina crisis. The Oxford-educated son of Indian immigrants, Mr Jindal narrowly lost the 2003 election to Ms Blanco. In his victory speech, Mr Jindal repeated his election pledge to fight corruption in the state. "They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way they will go," he said, referring to people who were "feeding at the public trough". He has also promised to cut taxes and improve education. ||||| Registration is FREE and offers great benefits. Please be aware that your browser must accept cookies in order to successfully login, so that we can identify your account.You may also need to adjust your firewall or browser security to login. | United States House of Representatives and newly elected Governor of Louisiana. On Saturday, it was announced that the first non-white Governor had been elected for the State of Louisiana in the United States in over 100 years. He is also the youngest Governor ever elected in Louisiana. Bobby Jindal, 36, an Indian-American and Republican, won the election receiving 54% of the votes, with the nearest opponent, Walter Boasso having only 18% of all votes. "Let's give our homeland, the great state of Louisiana, a fresh start. They can either go quietly or they can go loudly, but either way, they will go," said Jindal during his victory speech. He plans to improve education throughout the state and cut taxes. The local and statewide results from Louisiana's primary election yesterday have cast doubt upon the theory that the Republican Party was injured politically from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Jindal will be sworn in as the fifty-sixth Governor of Louisiana on January 14, 2008. |
NEWS: Nunavut Rescue mission underway for stranded Resolute hunter Man stuck on ice floe drifting in open water NUNATSIAQ NEWS January 24, 2010 - 12:24 pm A rescue operation was underway Sunday for a hunter stranded on an ice floe near Resolute Bay. In a news release, RCMP said Saturday that the man was stuck on a piece of ice that had broken away from the floe-edge and was drifting in open water. Local searchers, along with the Nunavut Emergency Measures Organization and the military’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax located the man. A Cormorant helicopter from CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia was en route to pick up the man, who was stranded about 15 kilometres from Resolute Bay, between Griffith Island and Cornwallis Island. At 10:30 this past Friday, a Hercules aircraft dropped supplies including food, water, shelter, a camp stove with fuel, communication gear and an emergency locator beacon. Police said the man had a snow machine and limited supplies when he got stranded. They haven’t released his name or age. ||||| Alone and adrift upon the Arctic Ocean, a stranded Inuk hunter was anticipating an overdue rescue late Sunday night, two-and-a-half days after the ice floe he was snowmobiling across broke away and began floating aimlessly across the Northwest Passage. David Idlout, a 39-year-old hunter from Resolute, Nunavut, set out from his home Friday morning to check on the sorry state of local hunting grounds when he ran into trouble. For much of the winter, warm weather had softened his favoured sealing grounds, turning them into a chunky porridge of floe ice. With temperatures plunging below minus-30, Mr. Idlout hopped on his snowmobile to see if conditions had improved. They hadn't. As he roared homeward from the floes, making sure to re-trace his icy path, he noticed the trail ahead fall away into an expanse of open water. He realized then that the pan of ice he'd been whizzing across had broken away and was now drifting slowly across the Arctic Ocean. A seasonal hunting guide, he was prepared for disaster. He dug a satellite phone from his gear and called his common-law wife, Tracy Kalluk. “I kind of panicked,” Ms. Kalluk said. “But he was very calm. He even managed to calm me down and tell me who to call.” Authorities in the 252-person town notified the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, based in Trenton, Ont. Within hours, the Centre scrambled two Hercules cargo planes from Winnipeg and a Cormorant helicopter from Greenwood, N.S. But the first of the Hercs wouldn't arrive for several hours. As the day wore on, the temperature fell to -50 in the wind and Mr. Idlout built a makeshift windbreak out of snow. Eventually the planes dropped a tent, a stove, food and extra sat-phone batteries. “He's set up the tent, popped up the stove and, from what I understand, made himself quite comfortable,” said Canadian Forces spokesman Captain Noel Paine. Delays have tested that comfort. During its trip north to Iqaluit, the Cormorant helicopter developed a mechanical problem, postponing the last 850 kilometres of its 1,950-kilometre journey to Resolute until Sunday afternoon. It was expected to arrive at Mr. Idlout's location by 10 p.m. local time. The floe has drifted at least 15 kilometres since Friday, but the family said Mr. Idlout had an emergency locator beacon to assist rescuers in finding him. “I know he's safe and he's not cold or hungry or thirsty,” said Ms. Kalluk, who's waiting at home with friends and the couple's two children, eight-year-old Natasha and 11-year-old Joshua. “But he's tired of being out there. That helicopter is coming all the way from Nova Scotia. I'm not sure why they don't keep one closer by.” A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre said that Cormorant helicopters are best-suited for the job. They are currently stationed on the West Coast and East Coast, but not the North Coast. “This was the closest Cormorant we had,” said Scott Miller. “Unfortunately, there are no helicopters for charter up there.” One of Canada's northernmost communities, Resolute lies roughly 1,000 kilometres north-east of Yellowknife. Late Sunday afternoon, Ms. Kalluk, was agonizing over how to properly welcome Mr. Idlout home. “I have to figure out what to cook,” she said. “Luckily he's not a picky eater. But before any of that, I'll tell him he should be more careful.” ||||| New licensing option: POST all or part of this article on a web site, intranet or blog. Nunavut hunter's rescue nears: wife Man stranded on ice floe for a 3rd day The rescue of a hunter stranded on a drifting ice floe in the Northwest Passage is only hours away, his wife said Sunday. A Canadian Forces helicopter from Nova Scotia is expected to lift David Idlout to safety from his icy raft in the darkness south of Resolute, Nunavut, early Monday, Tracy Kalluk said. Blizzard-like conditions had delayed the helicopter's journey, but Kalluk reiterated forecast reports that the weather was improving. Idlout, 39, left Friday on a seal hunt and was hunting at the edge of the sea ice, about 15 kilometres from Resolute, Nunavut, when a large chunk of ice broke free and he drifted out to sea. The experienced hunter had a satellite phone with him and called his wife, Tracy. She called her father who called the coast guard. Idlout built himself an ice shelter and has spent two nights on the ice. Idlout's wife, who has been talking to him every two hours said, her husband is well-versed in cold weather survival. Early attempts at a rescue were thwarted when a helicopter sent to Resolute to pluck the man off the ice was unable to take off due to mechanical problems. Rescuers have since dropped food, water, a tent, fuel and a locator beacon to him — but they haven't been able to get any closer to pick him up because of strong winds, snow and ice pellets in the area. Resolute remains under a blizzard warning. There's poor visibility and winds of 50 km/h, gusting to 80 km/h. But a gradual improvement in the weather was expected Sunday evening. With files from The Canadian Press | Stranded on a floe since it broke loose while he was snowmobiling across it on Friday, 39 year-old David Idlout is huddled in a tent dropped by rescue planes awaiting the arrival of a rescue helicopter that is scrambling from CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, the closest rescue helicopter to Resolute, Nunavut. While many places are experiencing cold temperatures, much of the Arctic has had an unusually mild winter. Too much so for professional hunter and hunting guide Idlout, who was out checking if conditions had improved after a cold snap. The breakaway floe is just more evidence conditions are still too warm, the ice too soft. Idlout's survival gear included a satellite phone, and he called his wife Tracy Kalluk as soon as he became aware the floe had broken free and was drifting into the Northwest Passage. She in turn contacted local authorities in the population 252 remote village, who got in touch with the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, based in Trenton, Ontario The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre scrambled two Hercules aircraft which were able to drop gear to the stranded man on Friday. The floe has been moving into the water between Griffith and Cornwallis Islands, and is approximately 15 kilometres from Resolute Bay. The supplies included a tent, stove, and additional communications gear including a locator beacon. Now well into his third night on the ice, Idlout's rescue is expected within hours. An earlier attempt was delayed when the helicopter, after its long journey from its home base, experienced mechanical failures when trying to lift off from Resolute. Weather conditions are not helpful either, as Resolute remains under blizzard warning with poor visibility and 50 km winds. His wife is speaking with Idlout every two hours, and expects the helicopter to lift him off the ice early Monday local time. |
Rescuers worked through the night to try to find victims A bridge under construction has collapsed in Andorra, killing at least five workers, officials say. Six more people were injured in the accident near the north-western town of Massana and are being treated in hospital. The road bridge collapsed at about noon on Saturday close to the Dos Valires tunnel. Most of the victims were said to be Portuguese nationals. The cause of the accident was not immediately known. A police investigation has been launched. Andorra is a tiny principality in the Pyrenees Mountains on the French-Spanish border. Three fatalities had been confirmed by Saturday evening but another body was found late on Saturday and a man who was pulled from the rubble in the early hours of Sunday later died of his injuries. A 20m section of the concrete bridge collapsed in the accident. ||||| AFP - Two more workers died overnight after a bridge under construction in the Pyrenees principality of Andorra collapsed, bringing the death toll to five, the government said Sunday. Six other workers were recovering in hospital after the concrete structure of the road bridge gave way around midday Saturday near the Dos Valires tunnel in the Massana valley in northwest Andorra. Emergency teams worked throughout the night to rescue a man who was trapped up to the waist in rubble, but he died shortly after being pulled from the debris in the early hours on Sunday, according to a government spokesman. The body of another missing worker was also recovered late Saturday. The government has said most of the workers were Portuguese nationals. Six of the injured were rushed to hospital with head and limb injuries. One was later transferred to Barcelona for specialist treatment. Some 20 metres (22 yards) of the concrete structure collapsed in the accident that occurred after workers had just finished pouring new concrete at the site. Police are investigating to determine the causes of the accident at the bridge that was to link the tunnel to a road leading to two nearby villages. Rescue services said some 60 workers were on site when the accident occurred, but the remainder escaped unharmed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the title of co-prince of Andorra along with a Spanish bishop, expressed condolences in a statement and pledged "France's support and solidarity during this ordeal." The head of government, Jaume Bartumeu, was to travel to the scene later in the day and visit the injured workers in hospital. | At least five construction workers have died in a bridge collapse in Massana, Andorra. A 20 meter section of the bridge which was under construction collapsed at around noon on Saturday. Three fatalities had been confirmed by the evening after the accident. Another body had been retrieved from the rubble. A worker pulled from the site died of his injuries in hospital the next day. Six others were injured in the incident. Most of the workers were Portuguese. Around 60 workers were on site at the time of the collapse. French President and Co-Prince of Andorra Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his condolences and stated "France's support and solidarity during this ordeal”. Head of Government for Andorra, Jaume Bartumeu is set to travel to the accident site and visit the injured workers in hospital. The cause of the collapse is still unknown. A police investigation is underway. |
A ferry carrying more than 1,000 passengers has partly capsized in southern Bangladesh, police say. The accident happened as the MV Coco-4 was approaching a river station near the town of Lalmohan on Bhola Island, a local police chief said. The ferry was crowded and the weight of disembarking passengers caused it to tip and partially sink, reports said. At least 10 people are reported to have died and police say they fear some passengers may be trapped on the boat. Divers searched for bodies on the lower deck of the triple-decked vessel, the emergency services said. A rescue ship was called in to salvage the sunken ferry. "So far we have rescued more than 50 people alive by cutting open lower cabins. They have been shifted to a local hospital, with the conditions of seven very critical. "Scores are still trapped underwater," police inspector Nazrul Islam told AFP news agency. Many of the passengers were travelling home from Dhaka to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. The MV Coco-4 is one of Bangladesh's largest inland vessels. Ferry accidents occur frequently in Bangladesh - typically blamed on unsafe, ageing boats and overcrowding. ||||| At least five people died and a further 50 are missing after a ferry carrying several hundred passengers partially sank in southern Bangladesh. Local police said the accident happened as the MV Coco-4, one of the country's largest inland vessels, approached a river station near Lalmohan on Bhola Island, around 300km south of Dhaka. The ferry listed as passengers, many travelling home for the Eid al-Adha festival, rushed to one side of the boat to disembark. Speaking to AFP local police chief Zakir Hossain said: "It was overcrowded with over 1,000 passengers. It tilted and part of it sank due to crowd pressure as it arrived near the Nazirpur river station." The majority of the missing passengers are feared to have been on the lower tier of the triple-deck ferry as it went down. Divers are searching for survivors and a rescue boat is at the scene attempting to salvage the ferry. Ferry accidents are frequent along Bangladesh's waterways and are typically attributed to overcrowding and unsafe vessels. Ferry operators frequently fail to keep lists of passenger numbers. An officer from the inland water transport authority said: "At festival time it is really difficult to stop passengers and relevant ferry operators from flouting rules." | File photo of a boat on water near Bhola. A ferry has sunk in Bangladesh earlier today, killing at least five people, according to authorities. About fifty more people were missing after the incident. Police said that the accident occurred as the vessel, called the ''MV Coco-4'', came near a river station at Bhola Island, located 300 kilometres from the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. The ferry was reportedly overcrowded, and the boat tipped to one side as all its passengers moved to disembark. "It was overcrowded with over 1,000 passengers. It tilted and part of it sank due to crowd pressure as it arrived near the Nazirpur river station," said a local police chief, Zakir Hossain, to the Agence France-Presse news agency. He also added that "many passengers have managed to land safely. But we believe some others who were staying in the cabins were trapped under water. We are trying to rescue them," Rescue teams and divers are reportedly searching underwater for bodies. Ferry accidents are not infrequent in the country; incidents have usually been due to overcrowding, or the use of old vessels. "At festival time it is really difficult to stop passengers and relevant ferry operators from flouting rules," said an officer for the Bangladesh water authority. |
Story highlights China and India announce a new system for consultation on their border Chinese diplomat says there is a huge potential for cooperation The two have border disputes dealing with an area near Tibet and Kashmir China is India's largest trading partner Locked in a long-running border dispute, India and China Tuesday agreed to set up a new system aimed at maintaining peace along their treacherous Himalayan boundary. Called a "working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs," the system will be composed of civilian, military and diplomatic officials from both sides, the Asian neighbors said in a joint statement in New Delhi. The statement came after the second day of delegation-level talks led by China's state councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian national security adviser Shivshankar Menon. "The working mechanism will address issues and situations that may arise in the border areas that affect the maintenance of peace and tranquility and will work actively toward maintaining the friendly atmosphere between the two countries," it said. The two nuclear-capable nations, armed with heavy military power, stated that peace was "very significant" for "mutual trust and security." In the past too, both countries had signed several agreements to ward off tensions along their contentious borders. Ahead of the talks that began Monday, Dai noted in an article in an Indian publication that both nations were required to tap what he called a huge potential for cooperation. "We are now in the second decade of the 21st century. Looking ahead, China-India relations have huge potential and broad space for cooperation," he wrote in the Hindu newspaper. "What we face is a golden period to grow China-India relations. The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together," Dai added in the column. Fifty years ago, the two Asian giants fought a brief but bitter border war. Both sides accuse each other of occupying parts of its territory along the Himalayas. New Delhi, for example, regards Arunachal Pradesh along Tibet as its "integral" and inalienable" part of India. China lays claim to 90,000 square km (34,750 square miles) of land in that mountainous region governed by India. India accuses Beijing of "occupying" about 38,000 square km (14,670 square miles) in the Kashmir region. India also alleges Pakistan has ceded 5,180 km (3,220 miles) in Kashmir to China. India's refuge for the Dalai Lama has also been a major irritant in its ties with China, which calls the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader a "splittist" -- a charge he denies. Still, commerce between the two rising economies has flourished over the years. Bilateral trade, wrote Dai, has jumped 20-fold in the past decade to $61.7 billion in 2010. "As neighbors and two big countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion, China and India can join hands, seize the historic opportunity, and work together to further advance our friendship and cooperation," he said. ||||| NEW DELHI: India and China have begun the year on an unprecedented positive note with strong assertions of friendship in a year that will observe 50 years since the 1962 border conflict.As special representatives Shivshankar Menon and Dai Bingguo met for the 15th round of boundary talks, Dai stressed both nations "face a golden period to grow China-India relations . The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together." Dai echoed a statement by Menon last week, expressing similar sentiments.In an unusual move, China put out a statement by Dai, saying China has no intentions to "attack India" or "suppress India's development". "Our Indian friends may have confidence in China's tremendous sentiment of friendship towards India. While working hard to develop itself, China is fully committed to developing long-term friendship and cooperation with India. It is our genuine hope that India will enjoy prosperity and its people, happiness. There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to "attack India" or "suppress India's development".Emerging from a year of strained ties, it is clear that both countries are stepping back and repairing the image of bilateral ties. There is a growing realization in India that the deterioration of India-China ties into an adversarial state would be counter-productive, particularly as New Delhi is looking for a peaceful periphery to provide a smoother road for itself. Between visa rows, oil exploration in South China Sea and the thorny issue of the Dalai Lama , India and China have frequently faced off each other in the past year. Chinese diplomacy too has been clumsy - with its ambassador to India letting off spleen against Indian journalists, and getting the wrong end of the stick from the Indian media.On the Chinese side, analysts say, there is even more reason to step back. With continuing economic troubles an uncertain and sometimes even hostile neighbourhood, China is unlikely to want to open up another front on the west with India. Secondly, China is in the midst of what appears to be a painful leadership transition. Its two main allies, North Korea and Pakistan , are deep in their own crises. China's neighbouring countries - from Japan to Australia, Vietnam etc - are all hedging against Beijing Most importantly, the US' "return to Asia" strategy has China at its core, and India as one of its crucial allies. In this situation, China, like India, would like the bilateral relationship to get on an even keel. ||||| NEW DELHI: India and China on Tuesday signed a border mechanism framework to maintain peace on the disputed boundaries between the two countries.The framework was signed at the end of the 15th round of boundary talks between special representatives of the two countries.It will facilitate real-time contact between the foreign office of the two countries in case of intrusions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) -- the de facto India-China border."The two sides agree to establish a working mechanism for consultation and coordination to deal with important border affairs related to maintaining peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas," according to the agreement.Chinese state councillor Dai Bingguo and India's national security adviser Shivshankar Menon , special representatives for boundary talks, began the two-day negotiations here on Monday.The talks, aimed at firming up the framework for delineating the border on the map, were scheduled for November last year.But these were postponed after India refused to yield to Chinese objections to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's participation in a global Buddhist conclave in New Delhi.Recently, Menon described the boundary question as a "difficult issue" and clarified that the two sides were "in the second stage of the three-stage process of agreeing to principles, a framework and finally a boundary line". ||||| A day after beginning talks on the boundary question, India and China on Tuesday agreed to set up a working mechanism on border management to deal with important affairs related to maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas. The working mechanism, mooted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, was finalised here at the conclusion of the 15th meeting of the Special Representatives (SR) on the boundary question — National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo. The agreement to establish the “Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs'' was signed by India's Ambassador to China S. Jaishankar and China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin. It will “undertake other tasks that are mutually agreed upon by the two sides, but will not discuss resolution of the Boundary Question or affect the Special Representatives Mechanism.'' The working mechanism will “study ways and means to conduct and strengthen exchanges and cooperation between military personnel and establishments of the two sides in the border areas.'' According to the text of the agreement, the working mechanism “will explore the possibility of cooperation in the border areas that are agreed upon by the two sides.'' It will be headed by a joint secretary-level officer from the Ministry of External Affairs and a Director General-level officer from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and will comprise diplomatic and military officials of the two sides. “The Working Mechanism will address issues and situations that may arise in the border areas that affect the maintenance of peace and tranquillity and will work actively towards maintaining the friendly atmosphere between the two countries,'' according to the text of the agreement, released by the External Affairs Ministry. The working mechanism will hold consultations once or twice every year, alternately in India and China. Emergency consultations, if required, may be convened after mutual agreement. “Can work miracles” Mr. Dai said on Monday that Sino-Indian ties have made “substantial progress'' and “can work miracles'' together. He observed that the two sides have “scaled much height'' and “produced some results'' on the framework for settlement of the boundary issue. The two sides expressed their belief in respecting and abiding by the Line of Actual Control, pending a resolution of the boundary question. They noted that strengthening peace and tranquillity on the India-China border areas was “very significant'' for enhancing mutual trust and security between the two countries, for resolving the boundary question at an early date and for building the India-China strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. While establishing the working mechanism, the two sides aimed for timely communication of information on the border situation, for appropriately handling border incidents and for earnestly undertaking other cooperation activities in the border areas. During the two-day talks, the Special Representatives also agreed to prepare a joint record on the progress made so far on the border question. “Making a positive appraisal of the current state of bilateral relations, the SRs noted the importance of regular high-level exchanges and strengthened cooperation across different areas between the two countries,'' an External Affairs Ministry statement said here. | India and China. India and China planned to resolve boundary disputes peacefully and develop friendly relations with each other in the 15th round of boundary talks begun Monday. , , represented India while represented China. To control the Sino-Indian border effectively, Liu Zhenmin, China's Assistant Foreign Minister, and S. Jaishankar, India's ambassador to China, signed an agreement titled "Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs". The text of the agreement, as released by the , states, "The mechanism will undertake other tasks that are mutually agreed upon by the two sides but will not discuss resolution of the Boundary Question or affect the Special Representatives Mechanism." The agreement allows live contact between the countries' foreign offices for problems along the Sino-Indian border, officially called the (LOAC). Also, meetings are to be held in each of the two countries alternately, once or twice annually. The two sides see the agreement as an important step in gaining trust and strengthening each other. have not been good since the of 1962. The relations lapsed in 2011 due to visa rows and exploration of oil in . Further, the Dalai Lama's refuge in India has caused friction with China. China also claims 90,000 square kilometers of land governed by India in the Tibetan region and India claims 38,000 square kilometers of Kashmir held by China. Analysts say China is facing both economic problems, and difficulties with neighbouring countries. Its major allies North Korea and Pakistan have their own troubles. China maintains unfavorable relations with other neighbours like Vietnam, Australia, and Japan. The 'return to Asia' strategy of the United States focuses on China, and India figures in it as an important ally. Dai wrote in a newspaper column, "What we face is a golden period to grow China-India relations. The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together". He further added during the session, "While working hard to develop itself, China is fully committed to developing long-term friendship and cooperation with India." Dai claimed trade between the two countries has increased by a factor of 20 in the last ten years. He summarized, "As neighbors and two big countries with a combined population of 2.5 billion, China and India can join hands, seize the historic opportunity, and work together to further advance our friendship and cooperation". The boundary talks were to be held in November, but were postponed over Chinese disapproval of India allowing the Dalai Lama into a Buddhist meet in New Delhi. |
The federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, has reignited factional warfare in the Liberal Party with the revelation that he made offensive remarks mocking John Brogden only hours after the former state Opposition leader's apparent suicide attempt. Liberal MPs condemned Mr Abbott yesterday, while the NSW Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, branded his comments "stupid and insensitive" and refused to be drawn on whether he should resign. Mr Abbott said he "never claimed to be the world's most sensitive person" when confronted with claims that he began an address to a Kenthurst party meeting last Wednesday by saying: "I just want to make it clear I have never told an inappropriate joke, I've never pinched a woman on the backside and I never make inappropriate gestures to women." Earlier that day, when asked about a health proposal at a Liberal Party fund-raiser, Mr Abbott had said: "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects." Twelve hours earlier, Mr Brogden had been rushed to hospital with self-inflicted wounds, having resigned in disgrace at the news that he pinched a female journalist's bottom, propositioned another and referred to Bob Carr's wife as a mail-order bride. Mr Abbott did not deny making his remarks when questioned by Barrie Cassidy on the ABC's Insiders program yesterday. When contacted by the Herald, Mr Abbott refused to confirm or deny that the Prime Minister had reprimanded him. "I don't comment on when I speak to the PM ... I think the PM sometimes likes me and sometimes he likes me more and sometimes he likes me less." Mr Abbott added: "I said on the program this morning, if anyone is upset, I'm happy to apologise." Asked why his apology could not be unconditional, Mr Abbott said: "If you'd prefer it that way I'm happy to apologise." But this was not enough for some moderate Liberal MPs, who saw the outburst as further proof that the right of the party was behind moves to undermine Mr Brogden and the leadership contender Barry O'Farrell last week. "The Liberal Party will not appreciate that kind of gloating and endorsing the extremists' tactics used to bring John Brogden down," said the NSW Opposition's juvenile justice spokeswoman, Catherine Cusack. The deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council, John Ryan, said: "I'm sickened, saddened and disgusted ... If we can't be seen to care for each other, in a time of need, the public will hardly believe that we care about them." The former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett, who chairs the national anti-depression initiative beyondblue, said the comments were "at best insensitive, and doubly so because they come from the senior politician charged with ... issues relating to mental health and depression". Mr Debnam, who met the Prime Minister yesterday morning at Kirribilli House for more than an hour, said of his factional ally, Mr Abbott: "I can't believe you'd make such stupid and insensitive remarks but I understand he's apologised." The Labor leader, Kim Beazley, said Mr Abbott should consider resigning, but the Health Minister told the Herald: "From time to time all of us say things that are more or less crass and in the great scheme of my mind ... I think my comments ... are fairly low on the Richter scale. If I was resigning every time I upset someone, I would have lasted about a week." ||||| When he went off air after his live humiliation on ABC television yesterday, Tony Abbott did not immediately rise and remove his wiring. He sat there, stunned, saying nothing, looking at no one. He sat there for a long time - so long, in fact, that the Melbourne producer of the Insiders program asked up the line to Sydney where Abbott was, adding: "Is he OK?" After several cataleptic minutes, Abbott was unplugged and led away. He was not OK. He had just become the latest victim of the internecine warfare ravaging the NSW Liberal Party. Last week his ideological fellow travellers in the party's right had conspired to bring down their moderate state leader, John Brogden. Yesterday it was payback time. Two hours before Barrie Cassidy's demolition job on the Health Minister, at the show's 7am production meeting, the Insiders team had no more idea than Abbott of what was to come. Then, about 7.10am, the phone rang. An anonymous caller told them about comments made by Abbott at a party branch meeting on the night after Brogden's apparent suicide attempt. According to the caller, Abbott said to the Kenthurst branch on Wednesday night: "Whenever you hear that David Clarke [leader of the faction that brought down Brogden] is doing bad things, you know he is really doing a great job." Not sure they weren't being sold a pup, the show's producers hurriedly set about getting confirmation. In doing so, they learnt of a second, worse, comment. Earlier the same day, 12 hours after Brogden was rushed to hospital, Abbott answered a question at another function by saying: "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects." Confirmation received, they put it to Abbott, who also confirmed it and offered the weak excuse: "If you want to accuse me of insensitivity, by all means. I have never claimed to be the world's most sensitive person." Rare understatement from Abbott. His comments were arguably as insensitive as those about Bob and Helena Carr's marriage that cost Brogden his leadership. Nasty as Brogden's words were, they were said in an informal social context, after beer had flowed and without apparent premeditation. Abbott, stone-cold sober and with clear forethought, danced on Brogden's political grave at a formal function. The Health Minister later offered a mild apology. Last night the word from John Howard's office was that Tony Abbott's was not a career-ending offence. No such support was forthcoming for Brogden; but then, Abbott is a right-wing mate and Brogden is not. So, the question now is: was this payback directed at Abbott because the Liberal left believed him to be directly implicated in the downfall of the former NSW opposition leader? The indications last night were that it was not - that Abbott was simply the first factional target to appear in the Liberal left's sights. But not the last. Moderate sources said there was more to come. Lots more. ||||| A Liberal backbencher has labelled "disgusting" comments made by Health Minister Tony Abbott about John Brogden, who is recovering from an apparent suicide attempt. George Brandis, a Liberal senator for Queensland, said he would not have made such remarks in relation to the former NSW Opposition leader. "No, I think it was a disgusting thing to do," Senator Brandis told reporters in Canberra today. Mr Abbott has apologised for comments he made at two functions about the circumstances that led to Mr Brogden's apparent attempt on his own life and the state of his political career. The minister has attracted a storm of criticism about the insensitivity of the comments, particularly because he is the minister responsible for mental health issues. Mr Abbott reportedly told a party function in relation to the possible introduction of a new health measure: "If we did that we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects." The following day, he said in a speech to Sydney's Kenthurst Liberal Party Branch: "I just want to make it clear I have never told an inappropriate joke, I've never pinched a woman on the backside and I never make inappropriate gestures to women." His jokes followed Mr Brogden's resignation as Opposition leader and subsequent apparent suicide attempt last week. But Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett said that, although the comments were insensitive and in bad taste, the focus should be on the Federal Government's lack of action on mental health issues. "What says more about this Government's attitude to mental health is their lack of action," he told reporters. "Focusing just on one-off comments by people taken out of the context of when they are made and trying to make them the issue, rather than the policy failures that are actually directly affecting millions of peoples lives, is the problem. "It actually distracts from the real issue." People would make up their own minds about Mr Abbott's comments, he said. But Australian Greens senator Bob Brown said Mr Abbott's "jokey-blokey" response to a life-threatening problem demonstrated a significant lack of sensitivity. "The jokey-blokey response that he's got to a very serious problem that exists in our community, and that needs to be handled with a bit of commonsense and insight, is not good enough for a minister," Senator Brown said. "The Health Minister's got to do a lot better than that. "He's in charge ... of the psychiatric health of the country, as well as the physical health of the country, and the attitude he's displaying there will simply distress many people." Senator Brown said people should not joke about life-threatening conditions and Mr Abbott's actions threw into question the appropriateness of his position as Health Minister. "You don't joke about people who ... are in a life-threatening condition. You just don't joke about people who have been to the brink of death," he said. "He proclaims that he's an insensitive person and in health you need a sensitive person as minister. "So he proclaims himself that he doesn't really have a key qualification for the position of Minister for Health. "And that's something the Prime Minister's got to consider because it's not the first time and it won't be the last that we see that insensitivity coming from this minister." AAP | Australia's Federal Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, has made a number of comments about the previous New South Wales Australian Liberal Party leader, John Brogden, who recently attempted suicide, which have been widely thought to be inappropriate. Abbott is reported to have made comments such as "If we did that, we would be as dead as the former Liberal leader's political prospects" and "Whenever you hear that David Clarke is doing bad things, you know he is really doing a great job", referring to the factional leader claimed to have led the campaign against Brogden. The comments were made at a party function approximately twelve hours after Brogden's suicide attempt. Abbott is also reported to have said "I just want to make it clear I have never told an inappropriate joke, I've never pinched a woman on the backside and I never make inappropriate gestures to women" at a Kenthurst Liberal Party branch meeting, in reference to Brogden's reported behaviour at a function approximately two months ago. There have been calls for Abbott to resign or be sacked by Prime Minister John Howard from some sectors, such as persons involved in mental health care, as well as the Federal Opposition. They claim that the comments show that Abbott is not mindful of mental health issues when they should be foremost in his mind. The comments were first raised with Abbott by the ABC ''Insiders'' program yesterday. He confirmed that he had made the remarks and offered to apologize "if anyone is upset", and later that day made such an apology. The extent of the apology was criticised in the House of Representatives in Federal Parliament that day, with Julia Gillard, the Shadow Health Minister, calling it "half-arsed" during debate on a motion to censure the minister for his comments. The motion was rejected as the Liberal/National coalition form Government federally. There is suspicion that the tipoff about Abbott's comments was made by a member of the left-wing faction of the Liberal party, of which Brogden was a member, as a form of payback against members of the right-wing faction, of which Tony Abbott is a member. The Liberal right are said to have been involved in the campaign against Brogden. |
Montréal (Quebec), June 19, 2007 – The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have seized close to 160 kilograms of cocaine in buckets of frozen mango puree transported by container from Mexico. Five Mexicans, holding a visitor status in Canada, were arrested and are detained with respect to this import. They are: Juan Manuel Huerta Canela, age 31, Jose Gerardo Bernal Vasquez, age 52, Jose Luis Navarro Ochoa, age 33, Jesus Manuel Villa Quiroz, age 32, and Alfonso Strag Estrada, age 50. The suspects are charged with importing and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking. In buckets of frozen mango puree Indicators lead the CBSA to target a container originating in Mexico in the Port of Montréal. The vigilance of a border services officer at the Container Examination Center in Montréal, combined with the use of various contraband detection tools, enabled the CBSA to find and seize the cocaine. The drug was bagged in individual plastic packets of roughly 4 kilograms each. (Click on photos to enlarge) The investigation lead by federal officers of the RCMP Drug Section, in collaboration with CBSA Intelligence officers, the Marine Security Enforcement Team and the Port of Montréal Security Group, revealed that the alleged drug importers operated under the cover of a company created in 2005 under the name Quality Mexport. -30- For media information Canada Border Services Agency Communications Office 514-350-6130 Royal Canadian Mounted Police Communications Office 514-939-8308 ||||| The RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency have seized 160 kilograms of cocaine they discovered in a shipment of frozen mango puree from Mexico. Five Mexican nationals with visitor status in Canada have been charged, RCMP said at a news conference on Tuesday in Montreal. The haul is the largest maritime-bound drug seizure in the RCMP's history, Sgt. André Potvin told reporters. The quantity of cocaine works out to about 1.9 million half-gram doses, Potvin said, "so basically, if you look on the street level, at $20 a half-gram, that's in the vicinity of $38 million." The CBSA said it searched the frozen fruit puree cargo on May 28 after the shipment arrived at the port of Montreal. The cocaine was stored in plastic bags of four kilograms apiece stashed in several containers included in the seized shipment of 1,200 vats of frozen mango puree. The suspects are accused of importing the cocaine under the cover of a Montreal food distribution company called Quality Mexiport, created in 2005. Charged with importing and possessing drugs with the intent to traffick are: Juan Canela, 31; Jose Vasquez, 52; Jose Ochoa, 33; Jesus Quiroz, 32, and Alfonso Estrada, 50. With files from the Canadian Press | Cocaine found in mango puree. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced Tuesday that they had seized approximately 160 kilograms of cocaine discovered in buckets of frozen mango puree imported from Mexico. Investigations led the police to a shipping container destined for the Port of Montréal, in the Canadian province of Québec. A CBSA officer at the Container Examination Centre in Montréal identified the suspect container. The drug was found in brick-shaped plastic wrapping of about 4 kilograms in weight each. There were 1,200 buckets of frozen mango puree in the shipment, not all with cocaine inside. RCMP Sgt. André Potvin told reporters that the value of the shipment was significant and was the largest maritime port drug haul in the force's history. At CA$20 per half-gram, "that's in the vicinity of $38 million," said Potvin. The investigation by the RCMP Drug Section, CBSA Intelligence officers, the Marine Security Enforcement Team and the Port of Montréal Security Group, determined that an import company, named Quality Mexport, was allegedly a front for the drug-smuggling operation. Five Mexicans, holding visitor status in Canada, were arrested in the matter. They are: * Juan Manuel Huerta Canela, 31; * Jose Gerardo Bernal Vasquez, 52; * Jose Luis Navarro Ochoa, 33; * Jesus Manuel Villa Quiroz, 32; and * Alfonso Strag Estrada, age 50. The suspects have been charged with importing and possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking. The charges are allegations at this point in time. |
US 'supercop' Bill Bratton says riot arrests not only answer Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Communities cannot "arrest their way out" of gang crime, the prime minister's new crime adviser, US "supercop" Bill Bratton, has warned. The former New York police chief meets David Cameron next month to discuss violence in English cities and says the issue is for society as a whole. About 2,250 people have been arrested after days of riots, arson and looting, with dozens facing court on Saturday. Extra police numbers will be maintained on city streets through the weekend. But the Chancellor, George Osborne, has dismissed calls to reverse cuts to police budgets. He welcomed the advice from Mr Bratton, saying that he would help tackle the "deep-seated social problems" behind the riots. Mr Bratton, who is also credited with restoring law and order in Los Angeles after the riots there in 1992, told US broadcaster ABC: "You can't arrest your way out of the problem. "Arrest is certainly appropriate for the most violent, the incorrigible, but so much of it can be addressed in other ways and it's not just a police issue, it is in fact a societal issue." Continue reading the main story Bill Bratton is not a complete outsider to British policing. He's been a consultant advising different forces. His initial success in New York relied on big increases in resources - recruiting 5,000 new better trained officers. They needed a local crime tax to pay for that. In London, flooding the streets has only been possible as a temporary measure. In Los Angeles he worked on smaller budgets, specifically tackling gangs, using Big Society ideas of local areas taking responsibility for fighting crime in their neighbourhoods. He's talked of using escalating force - rubber bullets, water cannon, tasers - something David Cameron has also been talking about. There are people in this country saying "we invented neighbourhood policing". It's a bit of a slap in the face for some of Britain's top police. Accepting that the necessary changes would not be easy, he added: "Part of what the government is going to do is to take a look at what worked and what didn't work during the course of the last week." He said he would share his experience of combining tough tactics with community outreach to reduce US gang violence in a bid to prevent recurrences of the violence in the UK. Ahead of their first Saturday night policing the streets since trouble first flared seven days earlier, forces across the country are also contending with their usual Saturday commitments, including the start of the Premier League football season and a full programme of lower league matches. Meanwhile, several courts around the country are opening over the weekend to fast-track cases, with some magistrates sitting until 20:00 BST. The number of people across England charged with offences such as violent disorder, burglary and theft has now passed 1,000, including 704 in London. Other developments related to last week's rioting in London, the East and West Midlands, Manchester, Liverpool and Gloucester, include: A man has been charged with robbery in connection with the attack on Malaysian student Asyraf Haziq, 20, who was mugged by apparent Good Samaritans after being hurt in riots in east London Two men have been arrested over the death of Trevor Ellis, who was found with bullet wounds in a car in Croydon, south London, during Monday night's rioting Families of three men killed when hit by a car in Birmingham during the riots have praised people for their response, as police get more time to question three suspects Images of suspects continue to be displayed to shoppers on a large city centre screen in Birmingham Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been visiting Manchester, where more than 100 premises in the city and in nearby Salford were looted during disturbances A judge commended the parents of a boy, 14, who handed him to police after seeing a CCTV image of him, in a newspaper, stealing chewing gum through a shop window Merseyside Police have released CCTV images of suspects thought to be involved in rioting On a visit to riot-hit Hackney in east London, Labour leader Ed Miliband reiterated his calls for a public inquiry into the riots, saying it was imperative to have a "national discussion" to address the issues behind the disturbances. Chancellor George Osborne insisted the government was committed to reforms aimed at trimming £2bn from the annual budgets of forces in England and Wales, which could see 16,000 fewer officers by 2015. "This is not just about police budgets," he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme. "This is about a far bigger challenge for our society, which is dealing with people who we have ignored for too long; helping them feel they have got a stake in society." 'Different culture' Downing Street said Mr Bratton would not be a long-term, paid consultant and would not be formally appointed to any UK police force. However, Metropolitan Police Federation chairman John Tully said he did not think American advice would help. "Although he has a glittering record across in the States, it's a different style of policing. The gang culture's different," he said. Bill Bratton (left) is credited for cutting crime after the 1992 LA riots Former Scotland Yard Commander John O'Connor was also sceptical. "The Americans didn't cure the social problems in New York. What they did is they locked people up. That's how zero tolerance works. We haven't got the heart for that over here," he said. Meanwhile, Manchester magistrate Richard Monkhouse warned against a "knee-jerk reaction" to the violence. "Simply to say that locking somebody up is the only option is not sensible," he said. "Sometimes you think, well, are we actually trying to do this too quickly. Are we trying to do this without all the full information that magistrates can assess what the seriousness of the offence and who the offender is?" And human rights barrister Matthew Ryder said rushing cases through court was a "recipe for problems". "A fair result's much harder to attain if you're trying to do things very, very quickly. It may mean that people who have a minor role will be elevated and people who have a serious role won't be properly identified," he added. ||||| * Osborne says UK needs to tackle deep-seated problems * Cameron to get advice from U.S. gang expert * Britons unhappy with PM's response to riots (Adds victim's father quote, screens showing suspects at soccer matches) By Avril Ormsby LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Britain needs to tackle deep-seated social problems following riots and looting in English cities this week, the centre-right government said on Saturday, and a U.S. street crime expert it has brought in said arrests alone would not solve the problem. "There are communities that have just been left behind by the rest of the country. There are communities that are cut-off from the economic life-blood of the rest of the country," Finance Minister George Osborne said. Prime Minister David Cameron, criticised by some in his Conservative party as being too liberal on crime and punishment, has taken a hard line on rioting in statements this week after returning from his summer holiday and recalling parliament. He has also come under attack for austerity measures his government is introducing to tackle a huge debt burden. Osborne said throwing money at the issue was not the answer and the government would press on with deep cuts to the numbers of police, who have been criticised by Cameron for their handling of the riots. The Conservative mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has said the riots, which broke out a week ago after a demonstration against the police shooting of a suspect, weakened the case for those cuts. Cameron has said political and economic grievances had little to do with days of looting and violence which followed in which five people were killed, calling it "criminality pure and simple" and saying gang violence lay at its heart. He enlisted U.S. street crime expert William Bratton on Friday to advise the government on handling it. Bratton, credited with curbing street crime as police chief in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, said he would offer advice based on his experience tackling gangs. "You can't arrest your way out of the problem," he told U.S. broadcaster ABC on Saturday. "Arrest is certainly appropriate for the most violent, the incorrigible, but so much of it can be addressed in other ways and it's not just a police issue, it is in fact a societal issue." Cities were largely quiet on Friday and Saturday. British police flooded the streets again to ensure weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting that shocked Britons and sullied the country's image a year before it hosts the Olympic Games. More than 1,200 people have been arrested in connection with violence disorder and looting and hundreds have been charged. Police have set up screens in city centres showing pictures of suspects and plan to display them at soccer matches on Saturday. THANKS Tariq Jahan, whose 21-year-old son was one of three men who died in an apparent hit-and-run incident in Birmingham on Wednesday, told reporters he was "humbled" by the letters of support from people around the world. "I also want to thank the young people in Birmingham for listening to what I had to say and staying calm," he said. Osborne said lessons needed to be learned. "There are very deep-seated social problems which we need to tackle," he said in the interview with BBC radio. "This about a far bigger challenge for our society which is dealing with people who we have ignored for too long and helping them feel they have a stake in society, feel that they know the difference between right and wrong, understand their responsibilities to other communities, not just their rights." About 200 people took part in a demonstration on Saturday in north London calling for more support for youngsters living in grim and violent housing estates, a Reuters reporter said. A ComRes poll for The Independent newspaper showed 54 percent of Britons say Cameron failed to provide leadership early enough to control the riots. Most offenders are unemployed young men, though they have included a millionaire's daughter, a charity worker, a journalism student and a soldier. The scale and ferocity of the rioting, not only in inner-city areas but also in some middle-class suburbs, has generated a debate with starkly different views, with many people saying the police should have been tougher. The former leader of one of London's most feared street gangs said the riots were not the brainchild of gang leaders but, in many cases, the result of a build-up of frustration among young people growing up on grim housing estates with little hope. "The fire's there, secured in a room, locked away and then someone's opened the door and it's spread through the house," Elijah Kerr, who transformed his gang into an organisation helping young people, told Reuters in an interview. (Additional reporting by Keith Weir and Stefano Abrogi in London and Ray Sanchez and Daniel Trotta in New York; Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Louise Ireland) ||||| Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Labour leader Ed Miliband has called on the prime minister to reconsider cuts to police budgets in the light of recent riots in England. He said police on our streets "make our communities safer and make the public feel safer". Speaking in the Commons, Mr Miliband also said David Cameron should re-examine his position with regard to the use of CCTV. ||||| U.K. May Block Twitter, Blackberry Messaging Services in Future Riots David Cameron, the U.K. prime minister, said the government is considering whether it should block social-networking websites and messaging services during violent unrest after the country’s worst riots since the 1980s. The government is working with police, the intelligence services and companies to look at “whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality,” Cameron said today in parliament. He mentioned Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)’s BlackBerry Messenger service as one of the tools that were used by rioters. Police have said they are investigating the use of social- networking services such as those operated by Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and BlackBerry Messenger. Three people were arrested by police in Southampton, England, on suspicion of using social media and messaging to encourage rioting. “If you try to stop people communicating, you create more of a problem,” said Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, an organization promoting freedom of expression on the Internet. “People are angry because their freedoms are threatened.” RIM “welcomes the opportunity for consultation” with the British government and other technology companies, according to an e-mailed statement. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, also said it continues to respect both U.K. privacy laws and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which allows police to gather encrypted information that might otherwise be private as part of an investigation. Twitter spokespeople couldn’t immediately be reached. Temptations Tactics such as blocking social networks invite comparisons with toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said Daniel Hamilton, director of Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties group that argues for privacy and the reduction of government monitoring. The U.K. government must “avoid the temptation to engage in populist authoritarianism,” in response to the riots. All social media will be reviewed, Cameron’s spokesman Steve Field told reporters. The government is still investigating how useful and practical blocking the websites and services would be and hasn’t reached any conclusion, he said. More than 1,300 people have been arrested in the U.K. since the disorder began on Aug. 6, with 888 of those in London. “Free flow of information can be used for good, but it can also be used for ill,” Cameron said today. “When people are using social media for violence, we need to stop them.” To contact the reporters on this story: Amy Thomson in London at athomson6@bloomberg.net; Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net ||||| England riots: Government mulls social media controls Curbs on social media and texting are being considered by the government The government is exploring whether to turn off social networks or stop people texting during times of social unrest. David Cameron said the intelligence services and the police were exploring whether it was "right and possible" to cut off those plotting violence. Texting and Blackberry Messenger are said to have been used by some during this week's riots. Rights groups said such a measure would be abused and hit the civil liberties of people who have done nothing wrong. The prime minister told MPs the government was exploring the turn-off in a statement made to the House of Commons during an emergency recall of Parliament. Mr Cameron said anyone watching the riots would be "struck by how they were organised via social media". He said the government, using input from the police, intelligence services and industry, was looking at whether there should, or could, be limits on social media if it was being used to spread disorder. Under social media, Mr Cameron includes Facebook, Twitter and specific technologies such as text messaging. The semi-private BBM messaging system on the Blackberry is said to have been widely used during the riots. Home Secretary Theresa May is believed to be meeting representatives from Facebook, Twitter and RIM (maker of the Blackberry) to talk about their obligations during times of unrest. Civil liberty implications In the statement, Mr Cameron said law enforcement was considering "whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality". Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote The only realistic answer is the courts must judge” End Quote Jim Killock Open Rights Group Questions about the technical feasibility and civil liberty implications of cutting off networks have been raised within the coalition, with many expressing scepticism about the proposal's workability. Rights campaigners also criticised the idea. Jim Killock, director of the Open Rights Group, said events like the UK riots were often used to attack civil liberties. He questioned who was going to decide whether texts or tweets were an incitement to disorder. "How do people 'know' when someone is planning to riot? Who makes that judgement?" he asked. "The only realistic answer is the courts must judge. If court procedures are not used, then we will quickly see abuses by private companies and police." Any government policy to shut down networks deprived citizens of a right to secure communication and undermined the privacy required by a society that valued free speech, he said. "David Cameron must be careful not to attack these fundamental needs because of concerns about the actions of a small minority," he said. John Bassett, a former senior official at GCHQ and now a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Reuters that the government should resist a clampdown. "The use of social media in the unrest looks like a game-changer," he said. "But any attempt to exert state control over social media looks likely to fail." Far better, he said, would be to encourage community groups and individuals to report when they see disorder brewing online and ensure police have the tools to extract intelligence from social media. ||||| RELATED: Britain will consider calling in the army in future riots to free up police to deal with troublemakers, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday.The government will also give the police powers to demand people remove face coverings and it will compensate people whose houses or businesses were damaged in riots in London and other English cities this week, he said."It is the government's responsibility to make sure that every future contingency is looked at, including whether there are tasks that the army could undertake that might free up more police for the front line," Cameron told parliament, holding an emergency session to discuss the mayhem.Earlier, the BBC reported that in London alone, 888 people were arrested in connection with the riots that started in London and spread throughout the country in the past five days. Three hundred and seventy-one of those arrested, have already been charged, according to the report.London returned to a sense of calm Wednesday night, the BBC reported. The only serious incident that took place Wednesday night was when police officers had objects thrown at them in a north London neighborhood, which ended with 150 arrests, according to the report. ||||| British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking to Parliament about the recent riots in London, said street gangs were partly to blame and he will consult with former Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton to tackle them. "I also believe we should be looking beyond our shores to learn lessons from others who have faced similar problems," Cameron told Parliament. "That is why I will be discussing how we can go further in getting to grips with gangs with people like Bill Bratton, former commissioner of police in New York and Los Angeles." Bratton, now overseeing a private security firm, said that while L.A. had a large number of gangs, only a small proportion of them were responsible for violent crimes. Working with federal authorities, Bratton helped reduce gang homicides and overall gang crime. Cameron's comments about Bratton come as his name has been repeatedly mentioned to potentially head London's Metropolitan Police. Bratton, who also served as New York's police commissioner, has long coveted the job. The British Home Secretary has insisted applicants to head the Met be British citizens. But Cameron told Parliament last month that non-citizens should be considered for the post. ALSO: John Wayne's beloved yacht gets historical protection 'Most hated person': Octomom Nadya Suleman near top of poll Bell ex-police chief's pension cut by more than $100,000 a year -- Richard Winton Photo: Former LAPD Chief William J. Bratton. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times ||||| PARIS — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said Thursday that the government, seeking to prevent a repeat of riots and looting in London and other British cities this week, might bar suspected troublemakers from using social media and other digital communications tools. Mr. Cameron said that Theresa May, the Home secretary, would meet with executives of the Web companies Facebook and Twitter, as well as Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, to discuss possible measures that could be put in place. “Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organized via social media,” Mr. Cameron told Parliament during a special debate on the riots. “Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. “And when people are using social media for violence we need to stop them. So we are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these Web sites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.” ||||| Mark Duggan death: 'No evidence' Tottenham man opened fire Mark Duggan was shot dead by police in Tottenham There is no evidence Mark Duggan opened fire at police before being shot dead by a firearms officer, the Independent Police Complaints Commission has said. Mr Duggan, 29, whose death sparked the first riots in Tottenham on Saturday, died from a single bullet wound to the chest, an inquest has been told. He was shot in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, north London, on Thursday. The police watchdog said ballistic tests showed "no evidence that the handgun found at the scene was fired". Investigations by the IPCC show the father of four died after two shots were fired by a Scotland Yard CO19 firearms officer. Forensic officers have told the IPCC it may not be possible to "say for certain" whether the handgun found near Mr Duggan was fired. Further tests are being carried out to establish this. After an inquest into Mr Duggan's death was opened and adjourned a statement from his family said they were "deeply distressed" by the disorder affecting communities across England. Coroner Andrew Walker at the North London Coroner's Court in High Barnet adjourned the hearing until 12 December. Search for truth Mr Walker told members of Mr Duggan's family: "Can I just offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Mark Duggan. "As members of the family will know, in due course there will be an inquest touching the death of Mark Duggan and this is the first stage in that process. "Of course, as well as offering our deepest sympathies to members of the family, I would like to reassure members of the family that we will be working closely with the IPCC throughout the process." Colin Sparrow, deputy senior investigator for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is looking into the shooting, told the hearing the inquiry could take up to six months. Exchange of fire A statement released by Mr Duggan's family read: "We want to establish the truth about Mark's death. "The family want everyone to know that the disorder going on has nothing to do with finding out what happened to Mark. "They also want everyone to know that they are deeply distressed by the disorder affecting so many communities across the country." Mr Duggan's death occurred during an operation where specialist firearms officers were attempting to carry out an arrest. The 29-year-old, a passenger in a minicab, was shot after an apparent exchange of fire with the officers from Operation Trident, the unit which deals with gun crime in the African and Caribbean communities. A police officer's radio was later found to have a bullet lodged in it. The IPCC immediately announced it would investigate the incident and later said it believed two shots had been fired by police. It also confirmed an illegal firearm was recovered from the scene. | Metropolitan Police in Lewisham preparing for the riots. British Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that a change in police strategy is appropriate following what many feel to be an inadequate response to the rioting that has overrun many cities across England. Riots started in on Saturday night after the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old taxi driver who the state was in possession of a handgun, but did not fire it. During the Parliamentary debate on the riots, , the Labour leader, called on Cameron to reconsider cuts to police budgets. described the communities where the rioting occurred as being "left behind" and "cut-off from the economic life-blood of the rest of the country", and called for solutions to the "deep-seated social problems" One avenue the Prime Minister is said to be considering is changing regulations on services like Twitter, Facebook and , the latter being used to communicate between groups of rioters. The and came out in opposition to any plans to restrict communication using social media, with Jim Killock of the Open Rights Group warning that such regulation would be abused by the police and private companies. In , England, three people were arrested by police for the suspicion of using Twitter or BlackBerry Messenger to encourage the rioting. The government is "working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these Web sites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality," said Cameron. The Prime Minister also announced that he would consider using the to support the police in controlling future rioting, and also that he would consult with , CBE, who had been the chief of police in Los Angeles and a police commissioner in New York City and Boston. Bratton is quoted as saying that arrests are not the only way to solve societal problems which lead to rioting and unrest: "You can't arrest your way out of the problem." |
Air traffic plunges to a 5-year low on fuel prices 18 Oct, 2008, 0424 hrs IST,Nirbhay Kumar, ET Bureau Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text: NEW DELHI: Hit by high aviation fuel prices and a meltdown in the financial sector, domestic air traffic has plummeted to a five-year low — traffic declined by a whopping 19% in September 2008. This is the fourth consecutive month of negative growth in air traffic since June. Airline companies, which have been feeling the pinch, are now resorting to large-scale downsizing to cut costs. Almost all domestic carriers saw their load factor sharply declining during September this year. Faced with further uncertainties, airline companies are rationalising routes, surrendering aircraft and cutting costs. The recent layoff plans by Jet Airways and Kingfisher, and Air India’s plan to offer its staff voluntary leave schemes, only highlights the extremity of the situation. According to industry sources, Kingfisher Red (formerly Air Deccan) saw the sharpest fall of around 20% in its load factor in September. Air India’s seat factor declined by 10% to 53% during the same period. “The average load factor of airlines came down to 55% in September this year, as against over 65% during the same month last year,” a source said. The domestic carriers carried about 2.6 million passengers during September 2008 as against close to 3.3 million passengers in the corresponding period last year. The sharp month-on-month fall in air traffic is forcing airlines to reduce capacity and trim manpower. The domestic carriers, which have cut down over 20% of their capacity, are weighing the option to cut more. The average flight movement has come down to less than 8,000 per week now from a peak of around 10,500 during the April-June period. Industry experts maintain that the current round of crisis in the domestic aviation sector is severe, but may not continue for long. “The current downturn in the sector is temporary and may not prolong for more than 6 to 9 months,” Boeing vice-president (sales) Dinesh Keskar said. In a bid to tide over the crisis, two of India’s largest private airlines — Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines — have decided to form an alliance for cross-selling of seats, common ground handling and code-sharing. The sector is expected to post a cumulative loss of over $2 billion in the current financial year. Jet Airways, however, managed to maintain a 64% seat factor during this period, higher than the industry average of nearly 55%. To read business stories in हिंदी click here. Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text: ||||| By Neil Heathcote Editor, India Business Report, BBC World, Hyderabad India's airline industry has asked the government for assistance Half of India's airlines could disappear during the current downturn, Air India boss Raghu Menon has told BBC News. The chairman of the country's flagship carrier, Air India, believes that no more than four or five airlines will still exist once the downturn is over. "A process of further consolidation may take place," he said, soon after rivals Jet and Kingfisher signed an alliance. India's loss-making airlines are seeking $1bn (£500m) in government aid. "It's really been one bad thing after another for quite some time," said Mr Menon in an interview with India Business Report. We were competing with both these airlines separately Raghu Menon, chairman, Air India Indian airline dreams hit turbulence "What really hit us badly was the constant and dramatic rise in fuel costs from April to August. "Five continuous months? I don't think that sort of hit is something any industry can bear." New challenge In common with other airlines in South Asia, Air India is battling a slump in demand triggered by rising ticket prices and the economic slowdown. Cost cutting is inevitable, though so far the industry's efforts to do have been controversial. Earlier this week, two of Air India's biggest rivals - Jet and Kingfisher - announced they were forming an alliance, in an effort to stem their losses. Together they will control half the market, posing a serious challenge to the national carrier. "We were competing with both these airlines separately," said Mr Menon. "Now we'll be competing with them perhaps as one entity. "It'll be a challenge." E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? ||||| New Delhi / Hyderabad: The country’s bleeding airline firms such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and National Aviation Co. of India Ltd (Nacil) owe the country’s oil firms, themselves suffering losses on account of retailing fuel at government mandated rates, at least Rs1,800 crore. This number is the amount owed by the airlines in excess of their credit limits with the oil companies. “The airlines should have honoured the credit limit, but some airlines are not honouring it,” Murli Deora, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas, said. Union oil secretary R.S. Pandey named the three airlines as defaulters on Thursday. The country’s airlines are suffering significant losses on account of higher fuel prices and lower passenger traffic. Aggregate losses are expected to touch $2 billion (Rs9,780 crore) this year. Two of the airlines, Jet and Kingfisher announced an alliance on Tuesday that would rationalize routes, workforce and costs for both. Of the total amount owed by the airlines, 60% has to be paid to Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC) and the balance to Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. A Jet executive, who did not want to be named, admitted that the airline owed Rs850 crore for fuel purchases. A spokesperson for Kingfisher Airlines said the airline did not want to disclose the amount it owed towards fuel purchases and said the airline was “in compliance with the settlement terms made between oil marketing companies as agreed (to) time to time”. Jitendra Bhargava, Nacil’s executive director for corporate communications, declined comment on the subject. Jet fuel, or aviation turbine fuel, accounts for 45% of the operational costs of Indian carriers and is 70% more expensive than in foreign markets because of multiple taxes, including one levied by the states. “Jet has overshot the credit cycle by 30 days. They have to pay us the interest on delayed payment, arrange for secured credit and take other measures like any other business. They have to repay,” said Sarthak Behuria, chairman and managing director, IOC. Around 4.7 million tonnes of jet fuel is sold every year and domestic airlines buy half of this. An IOC executive, who did not want to be named, said the company had “no issues with international airlines”. He added that while the local airlines had been the oil company’s customers for some time, “beyond a time frame and amount, we cannot stretch our credit terms”. According to IOC, Jet Airways has exceeded its credit limit of Rs600 crore by Rs330 crore, Nacil has no credit limit in place with the company and owes it Rs606 crore, and Kingfisher, which has a credit limit of around Rs60 crore, has breached the limit by around Rs40 crore. Despite falling crude prices, oil firms are expected to register significant losses because they continue to sell below cost at government mandated rates, and because the weakening rupee increases their cost of servicing dollar debts. IOC alone expects to end 2008-09 with Rs70,000 crore in losses. “These are difficult times for them (airlines) and oil companies. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum practically live on borrowings and so the airlines have to clear their outstanding (at the earliest)... If there are demands for reduction in taxes (on jet fuel), the issue is to be addressed by the finance ministry and the respective state governments,” said Pandey. “Notwithstanding the current situation, airlines would want to settle the dues with oil marketing companies since that is their commitment. However, with the ongoing financial turmoil, some inter-ministerial interventions from the ministry of civil aviation and ministry of petroleum is possible,” said Kapil Arora, an aviation analyst with audit and consulting firm Ernst and Young. Arora expects the issue to be settled “amicably”. India’s airlines have been lobbying for a bailout package from the government. utpal.b@livemint.com PTI contributed to this story. ||||| Kingfisher cancels orders for three A340s 16 Oct, 2008, 2058 hrs IST, IANS Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text: HYDERABAD: Private domestic carrier Kingfisher Airlines has cancelled orders for three Airbus A-340 aircraft, a top Airbus official said here Thursday. Airbus chief operating officer (customers) John Leahy told reporters his company held talks with Kingfisher on the issue. This was the only cancellation from India, he said. Asked if Kingfisher was deferring deliveries of A-320s, he said: "There is nothing new in it." Kingfisher, which announced a cost-saving alliance with Jet Airways this week, has deferred deliveries of 32 narrow-bodied A-320 aircraft. Leahy said India remained a key market for Airbus despite the slowdown. Airbus forecast that India would be the fastest growing country for air travel for the next decade. The growth rate is expected to be 9.7 percent against the average global growth rate of 5.4 percent. The company has forecast that India's aircraft fleet would grow five-fold by 2026. The demand for Indian market over next two decades would be for about 1,000 aircraft worth $120 billion. The largest number 670 will be in single-aisle category. "Few years from now these numbers might look small as we keep revising our forecast once every two years," Airbus executive vice-president (sales and marketing) Kiran Rao. Airbus has strong partnership with seven Indian carriers. Out of 508 orders from India during 2005-07, Airbus account for 68 percent. It has the biggest share (57 percent) of aircraft in India. Kiran said the number of engineers at Airbus Engineering Centre in Bangalore would go up from 65 to 100 by the end of this year. The number is expected to go up to 400 by 2010. The CAE Airbus training centre in Bangalore will be opened in February 2009 during the Bangalore air show. To read business stories in हिंदी click here. Print EMail Discuss Share Save Comment Text: ||||| HYDERABAD: European planemaker Airbus has said that the tie-up between India's top two private carriers, Jet and Kingfisher, would make both the carriers strong. "I think the alliance with Jet definitely creates consolidation in the industry and that makes the carriers stronger and more substantial. We have been very pleased with our partnership with Vijay Mallya in Kingfisher. We think he has the ideal showcase for our product we have been flying. We have seen it is one of the best products of the world in terms of its business class service," said John Leahy, chief operating officer, Airbus. Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines on Monday set up an alliance to cut costs through code-sharing, sharing of ticketing, ground services, fuel management, crew training and utilisation. Both airlines were mired in losses with Jet expecting to break even only by March 2010. Falling share markets have delayed their plans for capital raisings. Jet and Kingfisher had bought rivals in 2007 as they fought for top position in a booming domestic market. Jet bought smaller Sahara Airlines and Kingfisher acquired India's first low-cost carrier Deccan Aviation. But higher ticket rates due to fuel prices coupled with a slowing economy have hurt demand, forcing airlines to trim costs, exit loss-making routes and raise funds to stay afloat. Following tie-up with Kingfisher, Jet Airways had retrenched 800 flight attendants on Wednesday and said it would cut flights and lay off more staff due to a slowdown in demand. The Indian aviation industry, which has combined revenue of $6 billion, is expected to lose $2 billion in the current financial year ending in March 2009. Jet and Kingfisher airlines are collectively losing $1.30 billion and have urged the government for a Rs 40.7 billion bailout package. | The Indian aviation sector looks set to shrink amid financial turmoil, with the nation's air carriers in schemes to try and ride out the problems and domestic air traffic at a five year low. Air traffic has fallen by 19% in September, the fourth month in a row of negative growth. The news comes as a joint result of the current financial crisis and high jet fuel prices, with Indian airlines in debt to the tune of Rs1,800 crore after surpassing their credit limits with oil companies, who are themselves making losses due to government controls on the price of jet fuel. Kingfisher Red - originally known as Air Deccan, India's first budget carrier, until Kingfisher Airlines bought the company out - suffered the biggest drop in passenger numbers at 20% of their load factor. Flag carrier Air India is running at 53% of capacity after a 10% fall, and the average for airlines is now 55% as opposed to 65% this time last year. Kingfisher Airlines has decided to enter an alliance with Jet Airlines that will see them collectively control half the Indian aviation market. Both airlines are in debt over fuel payments with Jet owing Rs850 crore while Kingfisher refused to disclose the amount they needed to pay. The money is owed mainly to the Indian Oil Corporation, with the rest owed to the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation. 45% of costs for Indian carriers is fuel, which is 70% more expensive than abroad due to multiple taxes. Air India's head Raghu Menon expressed concern about what the Kingfisher-Jet alliance meant for his own airline. "We were competing with both these airlines separately. Now we'll be competing with them perhaps as one entity. It'll be a challenge," he said. Kingfisher have cancelled an order for three A340 aircraft from European airframer Airbus. Airbus executive John Leahy said that Airbus had discussed the issue with Kingfisher before the choice was made and that this was the only cancellation from India. He also maintains that India will be an important area for Airbus, with the firm predicting Indian aviation growth will be at 9.7% compared to a global rate of 5.4%. Airbus predict that 1,000 new aircraft will increase the Indian fleet fivefold by 2026. Airbus have also welcomed the partnership between Jet and Kingfisher, saying it will help consolidate the carriers. Airlines are cutting capacity to reduce costs, with around 20% gone already. Average flight movements are down to 8,000 a week compared to 10,500 in the period from April to June. The aviation industry in India is expected to post a collective loss of US$2 billion. One executive at Boeing, Dinesh Keskar , predicted the downfall to be brief. “The current downturn in the sector is temporary and may not prolong for more than 6 to 9 months,” he said. Airlines, however, feel that the risk is very much immediate; Jet and Kingfisher are requesting a government bailout package worth Rs 40.7 billion. They are currently losing a combined US$1.3 billion. |
Photo: PA Ian Stafford, 59, was a church-goer and highly respected member of the community and Mayor of Preesall in Lancashire before his ''bluntly revolting'' behaviour was uncovered, Preston Crown Court heard. A part-time handyman and gardener, he had been employed for years by some of his victims who trusted him with keys to their homes. But while alone Stafford, a bachelor, would creep into their bedrooms, rifle through underwear draws and masturbate before replacing the knickers and also stealing some of the garments. One suspicious homeowner who began to notice the thefts then planted hidden cameras - which captured one episode with Stafford in the bedroom naked from the waste down acting out his fantasy, the court was told. The 14-minute DVD was passed to police and Stafford's home searched where officers found stolen underwear which were marked with the women's names on them, the court heard. Stafford, of Sandycroft Place, Preesall, who resigned as mayor after being arrested, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of burglary with a further count taken into consideration. The charges relate to the homes of four women in Poulton-le-Fylde and Stalmine in Lancashire. After hobbling into court using a walking stick, past his victims in the public gallery, his jaw dropped as he was sent down by Judge Heather Lloyd, who told him his actions were ''bluntly revolting''. ''Your private desires or fantasies which should only be your concern became public when you decided to do what you did in the homes of those who trusted you,'' she told him. ''To masturbate into a woman's underwear and place it back in the draw, repeatedly, as seen in the DVD, as you have done in other homes is bluntly revolting and the impact on your victims is high.'' The court heard the victims were ''embarrassed, disgusted and shocked'' to discover how the man they trusted was getting his ''sexual kicks''. ||||| Jail for town mayor found guilty of breaking into homes to steal women's underwear By James Tozer Last updated at 6:34 PM on 05th February 2010 Jailed: Ian Stafford today When they chose him as mayor, residents of the seaside town of Knott End no doubt hoped Ian Stafford would personify their decent, respectable values. Instead, the 59-year-old was yesterday beginning a two-year prison sentence after admitting breaking into local women's homes and stealing their underwear. Several residents had become worried by the disappearance of items from their underwear drawers, and one even had a covert camera installed in her bedroom to catch the culprit. But local people were shocked when they learned the thief was none other than the twice elected Mayor of Preesall and Knott End in Lancashire. Police were handed tapes showing the respected bachelor breaking in and helping himself to personal items, carrying out sex acts and then leaving. Yesterday Stafford, who resigned as mayor and as an independent councillor following his arrest, was told by a judge he was guilty of a 'revolting' breach of trust and jailed. The bachelor, who worked as a handyman or gardener, was entrusted to enter the houses on his own. But after the damning CCTV footage showing him wandering around, naked from the waist down, police raided his home. There they found up to £900 worth of women's underwear - some in bags with the names of victims written on them. When interviewed, Stafford told them: 'I feel deeply ashamed at the whole scenario because I have hurt people who have been excellent friends - I could not wish for better. 'I wish I had said something to someone earlier. I am not proud of any of this, I am sickened. I wish I could turn the clock back.' Yesterday at Preston Crown Court the respected church-goer admitted four counts of burglary, one for each house he had broken into. Richard Howarth, defending, said the ex-mayor wished to send his 'profuse and abject apologies' to his victims and had to bear the 'stigma and shame' of what he had done. Jailing him for two years, Judge Heather Lloyd told him he was guilty of 'a gross violation of the trust placed in you as an employee and friend'. 'The victims would never have dreamed that trust would have been abused in such a revolting fashion,' she added. 'You were well respected as the Mayor of Preesall and you were in that prominent position when these offences were committed.' She advised Stafford - who showed no emotion as he was sentenced - to undergo therapy, a call backed by his fourth victim. Writing to the court, she said: 'He has been punished severely but I hope he can put it all behind him and show himself to be the kind and caring man known to so many.' Detective Constable Steve Montgomery of Lancashire police said: 'This has been a distressing ordeal for the victims who are pleased with the sentence.' ||||| Ian Stafford resigned as mayor of Preesall over the underwear thefts The ex-mayor of a Lancashire village who got "sexual kicks" from breaking into women's homes to steal underwear has been jailed for two years. Ian Stafford, 59, who admitted three counts of burglary, resigned his post in Preesall after his arrest last year. Preston Crown Court heard how he would creep into their bedrooms and search drawers for the underwear, before carrying out a sex act. He was caught after one victim set up a hidden camera, catching him in the act. The burglaries took place at buildings in Poulton-le-Fylde and Stalmine between 1 January and 26 June last year. Stafford had been working as a part-time handyman and gardener at his victims' homes for years and was trusted with access. The victims are relieved that the court process is now over Det Con Steve Montgomery But the female residents called in police after their underwear kept disappearing - one even installed a hidden camera in her bedroom. The resulting 14-minute DVD was passed to Lancashire police and Stafford's home searched, where officers found stolen underwear marked with the women's names, the court heard. He stole some items, while placing others back in the drawer. Judge Heather Lloyd, who told him his actions were "bluntly revolting", sentenced Stafford, of Sandicroft Place, Preesall, to two years for each offence, to run concurrently. 'Breach of trust' "Your private desires or fantasies which should only be your concern became public when you decided to do what you did in the homes of those who trusted you," she told him. The court heard the victims were "embarrassed, disgusted and shocked" to discover how the man they trusted was getting his "sexual kicks". Speaking after the hearing, Det Con Steve Montgomery, said: "This has been a distressing ordeal for the victims involved, all of whom had let Mr Stafford into their homes, trusting him to carry out maintenance. "They certainly did not expect him to search for, and steal, their possessions. There has been a breach of their trust in a very intimate nature." "The victims are relieved that the court process is now over." Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version | A man who was formerly a mayor of a village in Lancashire, England has been jailed for two years after being found guilty after admitting four charges of burglary. England with Lancashire in red. 59-year-old Ian Stafford, a bachelor, was formerly the mayor of the village of Preesall, however he had to resign from his position in 2009 after being arrested for burglary. His crimes would involve going into houses of people who had entrusted house keys to him as he was employed by them as a handyman or a gardener. He then searched through drawers for underwear before carrying out sex acts and stealing or replacing the underwear, and then leaving the properties. He also stole some garments. The burglaries took place in the villages of Stalmine and Poulton-le-Fylde between the dates of January 1 and June 26 in 2009. One person became suspicious and installed a hidden camera inside her bedroom. As a result, a 14 minute DVD was recorded which shows the former mayor walking naked from the waist downwards. The DVD was passed on to the police. Police officers later raided Stafford's residence and found the underwear, which had been marked with the names of the owners. The underwear is said to have been worth up to £900 (US$1407). The trial was held in Preston Crown Court. There the Court heard of how the victims had been "embarrassed, disgusted and shocked" by the "sexual kicks" which the man had been getting. During a previous interview with police, Ian Stafford commented at how he felt "deeply ashamed at the whole scenario because I have hurt people who have been excellent friends - I could not wish for better. I wish I had said something to someone earlier. I am not proud of any of this, I am sickened. I wish I could turn the clock back." Inside the court on Thursday, Judge Heather Lloyd said to Stafford: "Your private desires or fantasies which should only be your concern became public when you decided to do what you did in the homes of those who trusted you. To masturbate into a woman's underwear and place it back in the draw ''sic'', repeatedly, as seen in the DVD, as you have done in other homes is bluntly revolting and the impact on your victims is high." She sentenced Ian Stafford to two years in prison, with the recommendation that he takes therapy, a decision which was supported by Stafford's fourth victim. After the court trial had concluded, Detective Constable Steve Montgomery, who comes from Lancashire Police, stated: "This has been a distressing ordeal for the victims involved, all of whom had let Mr Stafford into their homes, trusting him to carry out maintenance. They certainly did not expect him to search for, and steal, their possessions. There has been a breach of their trust in a very intimate nature. The victims are relieved that the court process is now over." |
Ventriloquist Ray Alan has died suddenly at the age of 79, his agent has announced. The showman was known for his upper class puppet Lord Charles, who usually appeared to be drunk. Alan, from Reigate, Surrey, was a TV regular from the 1950s to the 1980s, appearing on shows including variety serial The Good Old Days. In later years he was an entertainer on QE2 cruises, taking a break from showbusiness in 2008 due to ill health. Old age had also made it increasingly difficult for him to control his puppet. Alan - always accompanied by Lord Charles - was often a guest on TV shows including Celebrity Squares, Give Us A Clue and 3-2-1. He clocked up the most appearances on The Good Old Days, where he and Lord Charles made their TV debut. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Alan began his career as a teenager, with his ventriloquism act developing from pretending there were voices coming from a box on stage. Lord Charles' character was based on a man he saw at a cabaret show, with his face modelled on Stan Laurel. In 1954 he worked with Laurel and Hardy after fellow ventriloquist Harry Worth was forced to pull out of a show. His puppet became famous for his catchphrase "you silly arse" and having an eye for glamorous women. His agent Peter Pritchard, who worked with him for 30 years, said: "Technically he was regarded as Britain's top ventriloquist. You couldn't see his mouth moving. "He was tremendously well-liked in the business and he had been in the entertainment business all his life," he added. Speaking to the BBC in 2006, Alan said of his puppet sidekick: "Oh, no, I'm not one of those ventriloquists who thinks he's real. "When I finish my work I put it back in the tool box and I don't take it out again until the next job." ||||| Ray Alan, the ventriloquist voice behind Lord Charles, dies aged 79 Ventriloquist Ray Alan, famous for his act with monocled, upper-crust puppet Lord Charles, died suddenly in his sleep yesterday. Alan, 79, was best known to millions of television viewers from the 1950s to the 1980s for his appearances on variety shows. He also had his own children’s series, Tich And Quackers, featuring a schoolboy puppet and his pet duck. 'Tremendously well-liked': Ventriloquist Ray Alan with his doll Lord Charles But it was for Lord Charles, first seen on the BBC’s The Good Old Days, that he was best known. The dinner suit-wearing puppet appeared to be tipsy, was noted for his catchphrase ‘You silly arse’ and would often be distracted by glamorous women in the audience. Alan’s agent Peter Pritchard said the ventriloquist ‘passed away very suddenly’ at his home in Reigate, Surrey. He had complained of feeling unwell and had not worked for several months because of ill-health. Mr Pritchard, who worked with Alan for 30 years, said: ‘Technically he was regarded as Britain’s top ventriloquist. You just couldn’t see his mouth moving. He was tremendously well-liked in the business and he had been in the entertainment business all his life.’ Born in Greenwich and raised in South-East London, Alan left school at 14 and was a ‘call boy’ – alerting actors that they were due on stage – at the Lewisham Hippodrome Theatre. His own act originally involved impressions and conjuring tricks before he developed as a ventriloquist. The eyes have it: Ray Alan and Charles with the British boxer Charlie Magri, who tries out a monocle for himself at his gym in 1979 Lord Charles was inspired by a boozy toff spotted by Alan at a table during a cabaret show. He later based the puppet’s face on Stan Laurel, having performed with Laurel and Hardy on their last tour in 1954. Alan once recalled: ‘I looked at Stan Laurel’s face and I thought “Good God, that’s the face I want – just change the hair and put a monocle on it”.’ He was also a writer, publishing his third crime novel, A Fear Of Vengeance, earlier this year. Alan, who is survived by his wife Jane, said of Lord Charles in 2006: ‘I’m not one of those ventriloquists who thinks he’s real. When I finish my work I put it back in the tool box and I don’t take it out again until the next job.’ Asked if he ever felt upstaged by the puppet, he added: ‘I’m delighted to say yes! It’s just what I planned, I can sit back and say nothing and let him take the blame.’ | British has died at the age of 79. Alan was best known for his sketches with his puppet, Lord Charles. His death was announced by his agent. Alan died in his sleep. Alan received the majority of his fame in the 1950s and 60’s appearing on several children’s television shows including and also as a guest artist on the series . Later in his career he worked as an entertainer on the Cruise ship. He stopped work in 2008 due to ill health. Peter Pritchard, Alan's agent for 30 years, released a statement saying that Alan "passed away very suddenly". He spoke about Alan’s career saying that "Technically he was regarded as Britain's top ventriloquist. You just couldn't see his mouth moving. He was tremendously well-liked in the business and has been in the entertainment business his whole life". Alan spoke to the BBC in 2006 speaking about his puppet. He said "I'm not one of those ventriloquists who thinks he's real. When I finish my work I put it back in the tool box and I don't take it out again until the next job." |
Consumer Confidence Please see the Consumer Research Center Website for: detailed consumer confidence data additional consumer information benefits of center membership The Latest Press Release Consumer Confidence Index Improves in October October 28, 2003 The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which declined last month, advanced in October. The Index now stands at 81.1 (1985=100), up from 77.0 in September. The widely-watched Expectations Index rose to 90.7 from 88.5. The Present Situation Index increased to 66.8 from 59.7. The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup. NFO is one of TNS group of companies (LSE: TNN). The cutoff date for October’s preliminary results was the 21st. Climb in confidence could boost retail sales “After declining for five consecutive months, the Present Situation Index reversed course in October,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “A more favorable job market was a major factor in the turnaround. And, the belief that this trend will continue has boosted expectations. With the holiday season around the corner, this improvement in consumers’ spirits is a good omen for upcoming retail sales.” Consumers' appraisal of present-day conditions ended a five-month slide in October. Those reporting jobs are “hard to get” eased to 33.8 percent from 35.1 percent. Those claiming jobs are “plentiful” rose to 11.8 percent from 9.9 percent. Consumers’ assessment of current business conditions also improved, with families rating conditions as “good” increasing to 17.2 percent, up from 16.2 percent. Those claiming conditions were “bad” fell to 28.4 percent from 29.5 percent. Consumers’ short-term outlook also picked up in October. Those expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months rose to 23.2 percent from 21.3 percent. Consumers expecting business conditions to become worse edged down to 11.3 percent from 11.9 percent. The employment outlook was also more upbeat. Those anticipating more jobs to become available in the next six months increased to 19.7 percent from 16.6 percent. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available decreased to 20.8 percent from 21.1 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes, however, fell to 16.7 percent from 19.0 percent. Source: October 2003 Consumer Confidence Index, The Conference Board. For further information contact: Lynn Franco at (1) 212 339 0344 lynn.franco@conference-board.org ||||| Concerns are mounting over the state of the US jobs market The Conference Board said its gauge of consumer sentiment fell to 103.2 from a revised 106.2 in June. Analysts had forecast a reading of 106. The board said morale slipped as consumers took a more mixed view of their job and wage prospects. The percentage of people in the survey who believed jobs were hard to get rose to 23.8%, from 22.5% last month. Economic barometer However, the percentage of people who believed that jobs were plentiful remained at 22.5% for a second month in a row. The overall state of the economy remains healthy and consumers' outlook suggests no storm clouds on the short-term horizon Lynn Franco, Conference Board However, analysts say that in recent years the link between confidence and retail sales seems to be diverging, with consumers making big purchases - such as cars - despite telling surveys they believe times are getting harder. Earlier this month, big US stores said a heatwave had generated better-than-expected sales in June - with retail giant Wal Mart reporting its biggest sales leap in 13 months. Petrol jitters Experts claimed surging oil prices may have prompted the dip in consumer morale - recent record crude prices have now fed through to the petrol pump resulting in record fuel prices. Government figures earlier this month showed that petrol prices hit a new record of $2.33 a gallon - leaving prices up 41 cents compared to the same period last year. Lynn Franco, the head of the board's Consumer Research Center, said July's dip in confidence - which ended a three month winning streak - was "no cause for concern". "The overall state of the economy remains healthy and consumers' outlook suggests no storm clouds on the short-term horizon," she said. ||||| Why did this happen? Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy. | The confidence of American consumers in their economy has slipped unexpectedly in July after it had risen the previous three months. The Consumer Confidence Index dropped from 106.2 in June to 103.2 this July, the ''Conference Board'' said in New York. Analysts blame it on Amercians' increased fear over job security, wage perspectives, and rising gas prices. But Lynn Franco, director of the board's ''Consumer Research Center'', is unconcerned: "The overall state of the economy remains healthy and consumers' outlook suggests no storm clouds on the short-term horizon." In the last months, several large American corporations have announced job cuts. Among them are Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, and Kimberly-Clark. Private consumer spending is considered to be the backbone of the U.S. economy since it accounts for two-thirds of its Gross Domestic Product. However, in the last few years, the correlation between consumer confidence and actual retail sales has been questioned since consumers were spending money even when survey figures said they wouldn't. |
NORTH KILLINGHOLME, England British workers voted on Thursday to end a week-long unofficial strike over the use of foreign labour at a French-owned oil refinery in eastern England. Workers at the Total-owned Lindsey plant told Reuters they would return to work on Monday after accepting a union-backed deal that would give British skilled workers around 100 jobs at the site. "We've agreed to go back to work on Monday because we've reached our objective," said Tony Ryan, a local representative of Britain's biggest union Unite. "We didn't want British labour to be excluded and now they are not going to be." The dispute over the use of Portuguese and Italian contractors at the refinery instead of British labour at a time of surging unemployment had triggered sympathy strikes across Britain. The strikes had not affected energy supplies because they involved workers involved in maintenance and construction. Although they have not organised the strikes, unions hope most of those sympathy protests will cease but also warn other cases where foreign skilled workers have been drafted in to British sites could trigger further industrial action. Unions argue that foreign workers can be employed for lower wages than British staff and are depriving qualified Britons of jobs. The Lindsey dispute started last week when British contract workers in the welding and machine-engineering trades launched protests against the employment of about 200 Italian and Portuguese on a new construction plant. The strike has embarrassed Prime Minister Gordon Brown who pledged "British jobs for British workers" in 2007, with many protesters holding placards bearing that same slogan. Brown, currently urging nations around the world not to retreat into protectionism as the global economy weakens, is now under pressure to ensure British skilled workers are not excluded from applying for contracts on British soil. "This fight hasn't stopped this is only the start of the battle to get equal rights for our workers," said Ryan. (Reporting by Luke Baker, Editing by Matt Falloon) ||||| The week-long strike over the use of foreign labour at the Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire ended today after workers voted to accept a deal, negotiated between unions and management, that will see an additional 102 jobs offered to British workers on the site. But the strikers, who will return to work on Monday, promised they would take their fight to other refineries employing foreign labour, starting with Staythorpe, in Newark. As part of the deal the employment minister, Pat MacFadden, has also reached an agreement with the engineering construction industry association to ensure non-UK contractors "will always explore and consider the local skills availability and to consider any applications that may be forthcoming". Speaking in the Commons, Gordon Brown insisted ministers were eager to work with the European commission to counter recent European court judgments if they undermined the right of unions to strike against foreign labour undercutting wages. The agreement, hammered out in talks late on Tuesday night, was formally put to the 695 strikers in a vote this morning. Around 300 workers packed into a marquee at the North Killingholme site to vote on the proposals, and loud cheers could be heard coming from the behind-closed-doors meeting. Phil Whitehurst, a member of the negotiating committee for the GMB union, said the result had been unanimous. "It was an excellent decision," he said. "We have now got the chance to go back to work, but the fight does not stop here. "The fight continues at Staythorpe and anywhere else where an injustice is being done. It was a unanimous decision. It was an excellent vote. "We have got the MPs worried. I think we have got Gordon Brown worried. I don't think they know how to deal with us. We are not trying to bring the government down, we're just trying to get them to listen." The wildcat strike, supported by a wave of unofficial solidarity action at energy and construction plants around the country, began after the Unite union claimed that the Italian firm IREM, a subcontractor at the Lindsey plant, had exclusively hired Italian labour – a practice the union said was spreading across the construction sector. The government and the site owner, Total, insisted the Italian workers had been hired at rates set by British national agreements, and that IREM had not broken the law in bringing over its own direct labour. The firm had been hired after the preceding contractor was deemed to be failing to deliver on time. Unite insisted the strike had not been directed against the Italians and, under the agreement, no Italian workers will lose their jobs. Privately, ministers have been appalled by the anti-European rhetoric on the picket line and even among some Labour MPs. They argued that the dispute set a dangerous precedent, pointing out that 150 British workers were employed by IREM in Italy. Overall, there are 47,000 UK workers "posted" in Europe on temporary work, compared with 15,000 foreign workers posted in the UK. Ministers fear UK-posted workers could be driven out of jobs on the continent if European unions followed the lead of the British strikers. The Unite general secretary, Derek Simpson, insisted his union had been neither protectionist nor xenophobic. "The problem is not workers from other European countries working in the UK, nor is it about foreign contractors winning contracts in the UK," he said. "The problem is that employers are excluding UK workers from even applying for work on these contracts. "The flexible labour market is a one-way street that only benefits the employers. We have seen the backlash as the recession bites. "The government must act to level the playing field for UK workers. No European worker should be barred from applying for a British job and absolutely no British worker should be barred from applying for a British job." The newly agreed deal gives British workers 102 jobs out of a total of 195 on the bulk of the new desulphurisation plant contract, including 67 skilled positions – welders, electricians and platers. It is not clear why new jobs have become available. The Unite chief negotiator, Bernard McAuley, said: "We've made sure that no Italians have been made redundant, we've got jobs for 102 British people and we've also made sure that Fabio Capello stays as England manager. We want integration now, not segregation." Brown was again forced to defend his phrase "British jobs for British workers" in the Commons after David Cameron, at prime minister's questions, accused him of a lack of judgment and pandering to protectionists' fears. The prime minister countered: "Can anybody here say that they do not want British workers to get jobs in our country?" ||||| Login Enter your details below to login If you are an existing member of The Times and The Sunday Times enjoying the full benefits of thetimes.co.uk, then simply enter your Times+ login details below and press 'Enter' Enter your details to login Email address Password Keep me logged in information Keeps you logged in for a rolling 30 days or until you logout | Workers at the UK's Lindsey Oil Refinery have voted to return to work. The week-long strike at the refinery began over the issuing by French owners Total S.A. of a contract to an Italian company, who brought in Italian and Portuguese workers. The unofficial strike had led to similar unofficial sympathy strikes across the country. The deal to end the strike will see around 100 jobs being offered to British workers. Additionally, the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who had repeatedly criticized the strikers, has agreed to review laws governing foreign workers. Unions have warned that, while this action was now over, the country could see further action at other sites with larger numbers of foreign workers. Phil Whitehurst of the GMB union said "It was an excellent decision. We have now got the chance to go back to work but the fight does not stop here". Derek Simpson of the Unite union pointed to Staythorpe Power Station in Nottinghamshire as a potential source of problems. The site has Spanish contractors, although Unite said that they had no evidence the foreign workers there were undercutting UK staff. North Lincolnshire Gordon Brown's agreement to look into laws on the free transfer of labour within the European Union came during the weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. A review has been set up to look into the issue and he told the House, "When they have reached their conclusions we will look at what they have to say". ''The Times'' points out that this may conflict with Business Secretary Lord Mandelson's statement on Sunday, where he said that "it is not European law that has caused this problem for us". German politicians have called for a European-wide review, something opposed by the British and Polish governments and the European Commission. |
Information dated 15.09.2007 DRC: MSF specialists and material arrive in area of Ebola outbreak On September 14, a team of medical and logistician specialists arrived in the area of the Ebola outbreak in DRC, bringing with them medical and logistical material. They will reinforce the team already on the ground. Some 18 tons of relief supplies have been sent by road from Kananga, the capital city of West Kasai province. A team of seven Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) workers landed today at noon at Luebo’s airstrip, 15 kilometres from Kampungu, Democratic Republic of Congo, where seven of their colleagues have been working since September 2. The new team consists of an epidemiologist, a doctor, a nurse, a logistician, an expert in water-and-sanitation, a psychologist and an administrator. The MSF epidemiologist, in collaboration with representatives from the Congolese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), will assess the situation in the whole area where suspected cases have been recorded. The objective is to have as soon as possible a clearer picture of the outbreak, including learning more about case definition, identifying the places where cases come from, and tracing people who have been in contact with those who are sick. MSF experts will then ensure deceased people are buried in a way that prevents contamination, using specific materials such as body bags and spraying. An important part of MSF’s work will be to keep the population informed about the disease, the epidemic, and ways to avoid as much as possible the spread of the outbreak. Since the arrival of the first MSF team in Kampungu, 25 severe cases suspected to be Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been hospitalised at Kampungu's health centre. Among them, eight patients have died. "Currently, we have five patients in the isolation ward," said Rosa Crestani, the MSF emergency team coordinator in Kampungu. "Three of them are extremely sick and two moderate." These patients are followed up and treated as much as possible by the MSF team in the isolation structure set up by MSF. "Our isolation centre is basically divided in three parts," addded Crestani. "One is completely isolated, where the sick patients are; another is where the staff dresses with the complete protection uniform and then undresses after having been in contact with the patients; and the third part is a space for disinfection in between. In the coming days, we will decide with the Ministry of Health and the WHO whether we set up isolation structures in other locations of the health zone." Eighteen tons of MSF logistical material, water and sanitation material, and medical supplies have now been transported to the province of West Kasai. Transporting this material from airstrips to the area of the outbreak is a logistical challenge, given the extreme bad state of roads, worsened by the rainy season that just started. Travel between Kananga, the provincial capital city, and the outbreak zone (250 kilometres) takes up to three days. In addition, MSF is carrying out external consultations in Kampungu. On September 13, two suspected cases were referred from the outpatient department to the isolation ward. ||||| DRC: Ebola outbreak "contained" - Kabila Photo: Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) President Joseph Kabila says the Ebola outbreak has been contained KINSHASA, 14 September 2007 (IRIN) - Measures have been taken to prevent the spread of Ebola following the deaths of at least 160 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southern province of Kasai Occidental during the past two months, President Joseph Kabila said. "The village of Kampungu [the worst affected] has been quarantined to prevent population movement towards Kananga," Kabila told reporters on 13 September. Kananga is the main town in the province. "The situation is at the moment, I cannot say under control, but at least the problem has been contained very well in the area," he said. "There is no risk that the whole country will be affected," said Kabila. Health experts had been deployed to Kananga on 12 September, the health minister, Victor Makwenge Kaput, said. This followed the analysis of blood samples from five infected people at the referral laboratory in Franceville, Gabon, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA, and the national institute for biomedical research (l’Institut national de récherche bio-medicale), which confirmed the outbreak of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever. According to Kaput, the crisis committee, made up of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC, was conducting investigations to confirm whether all the deaths had been caused by the Ebola virus. More doctors needed After the arrival of CDC health experts, local health personnel numbers in the affected areas were boosted, but Kaput said more doctors, epidemiologists, nurses and medical supplies were needed to isolate all suspected cases. "It is necessary that we continue with the action on the ground," said Kaput, who is also coordinating aid donations from WHO and other partners. A health team from South Africa is also expected to join the control operation. Meanwhile, Kaput said an evaluation would be carried out to determine how the epidemic evolved, with two new cases being detected in Kananga, 100km to the southeast. One of the suspected cases was that of a trader from Mweka, one of the worst affected parts of the province. At least 395 people, including the fatalities, have been affected in the province, according to the provincial health inspector, Jean-Constantin Kanow. ei/aw/cb/mw ||||| printable version Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - update 13 September 2007 Following the confirmed laboratory diagnosis of the presence of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus in samples taken from cases in the province of Kasai Occidental of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, WHO is currently upgrading its field operations to support the Ministry of Health in managing and containing the outbreak. A team from the WHO Country Office has been present in the affected area since 3 September 2007 with further staff from the WHO Regional Office for Africa joining the field operations on 7 September and this week from WHO Headquarters. The WHO team is working closely with representatives of the Ministry of Health and Médecins Sans Frontières to upgrade the existing facilities. Of high priority is the establishment of a mobile field laboratory to be attached to the existing isolation ward in order to expedite rapid diagnosis of patients and to differentiate between the different pathogens, such as Shigella dysenteriae type 1, that have also been associated with this outbreak. Ongoing surveillance and case finding is also being enhanced and social mobilization activities are under-way to provide the local population with all relevant information in order to contain the outbreak. WHO is also establishing a logistics platform in the vicinity to support the field operations and to facilitate access to the affected area. | Location of DRC within Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO), non-governmental aid organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent experts to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to assist local health authorities with a recent outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Kasai Occidental province of DRC. The illness had been unidentified until laboratory test results confirmed the presence of the virus. DRC President Joseph Kabila described the situation as being contained. "The village of Kampungu has been quarantined to prevent population movement towards Kananga," Kabila said on Thursday. Kananga is the provincial capital. "The situation is at the moment, I cannot say under control, but at least the problem has been contained very well in the area," he continued. "There is no risk that the whole country will be affected." WHO is working closely with officials from the DRC Ministry of Health and MSF to improve local facilities in order to better contain the virus. A mobile field laboratory is to be established in order to provide rapid sample analysis and, subsequently, diagnosis of patients. There are concurrent outbreaks of other diseases, such as dysentery (Shigellosis), that have been complicating diagnoses and need to be identified as well. Ebola haemorrhagic fever generates mortality rates in the range of 50 to 90 percent, typically. There is currently no vaccine or effective treatment for Ebola. WHO describes the symptoms of Ebola as being "characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings show low counts of white blood cells and platelets as well as elevated liver enzymes." MSF, who now have 14 experts in DRC, arranged for eighteen tons of supplies, such as medical and sanitation material, to be delivered to the province of West Kasai. MSF indicated that the transportation of supplies from the airport to the affected areas has been a challenge, due to poor road conditions. It has taken up to three days to travel the 250 km to the outbreak area from the provincial capital city, Kananga. A patient (non-Ebola) in a public hospital in DRC, May 2006. MSF experts will provide advice on sanitary burial procedures, which would include the use of body bags and spraying. Both the WHO and MSF will disseminate information to the local population regarding the transmission of the virus and measures that could be taken to reduce the spread of the disease. The MSF emergency team coordinator in Kampungu, Rosa Crestani, described the isolation ward set up at Kampungu's health centre. "Our isolation centre is basically divided in three parts. One is completely isolated, where the sick patients are; another is where the staff dresses with the complete protection uniform and then undresses after having been in contact with the patients; and the third part is a space for disinfection in between," said Crestani. "In the coming days, we will decide with the Ministry of Health and the WHO whether we set up isolation structures in other locations of the health zone." Neighbouring countries, such as Rwanda and Zambia have issued alerts to their citizens, warning of travel to and from DRC. Zambian Health Minister Brian Chituwo stated that all people coming into Zambia from DRC will be watched for symptoms of Ebola for up to eight hours. Chituwo noted, however that it would be unlikely for an infected person to travel into the country, as the time between onset and death is very rapid and that the symptoms are severe. There has been a minimum of 395 people affected by haemorrhagic fever, including 160 deaths, in DRC in the past few months. Since arriving in Kampungu in early September, MSF have seen 25 patients admitted with suspected Ebola haemorrhagic fever, of which eight have died. |
(CNN) -- Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, one of the most powerful Democrats on Capitol Hill, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a sixth term in November. "I have been a Connecticut senator for 30 years," the 65-year-old, white-haired senator told reporters and supporters in East Haddam, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife and two young daughters. His wife, Jackie, held one of the couple's daughters and stood behind him as he spoke. "I'm very proud of the job I've done and the results delivered. But none of us is irreplaceable. None of us is indispensable," he said. Dodd was first elected to the Senate in 1980, and had won congressional elections in his state since 1974. Recently, however, he has been considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election in 2010, and has trailed likely Republican challengers in recent polls, even though Connecticut typically leans Democratic. He acknowledged his more precarious political standing in his remarks Wednesday, as well as his tumultuous last year. "Over the past 12 months, I've managed four major pieces of legislation through the United States Congress, served as chair and acting chair of two major Senate committees, placing me at the center of the two most important issues of our time -- health care and reform of financial services," he said. "I lost a beloved sister in July, and in August, Ted Kennedy. I battled cancer over the summer, and in the midst of all of this, found myself in the toughest political shape of my career," Dodd said. "None of these events or circumstances, either individually or collectively, is the cause for my decision not to seek re-election." He added: "Yet, together these challenges have given me pause, to take stock and to ask questions that too few of us in elected public life ever do -- why am I running?" Dodd has been criticized for ties to the financial industry, which is particularly influential in Connecticut. The senator was criticized last year for his role in handing out big bonuses at American International Group, after the insurance giant received taxpayer bailout money. AIG's Financial Products unit is based in Connecticut. Dodd initially denied having anything to do with paying out millions in bonuses at AIG, then later acknowledged his role. Dodd, who is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, acknowledged that he was responsible for language added to the stimulus bill to ensure that existing contracts for bonuses at bailout recipients, such as AIG, were honored. Soon after that, Dodd acknowledged that his poll numbers had slipped. Rumors about Dodd's retirement have swirled around Washington for months. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, among the state's most popular Democrats, planned to announce his candidacy for Dodd's seat later Wednesday, a highly placed Connecticut Democrat told CNN. A senior Democratic source involved in Dodd's campaign said Democratic party officials had become convinced that Dodd's re-election bid was "virtually unwinnable for us." The source and others have said there have been quiet conversations among party officials for some time about Dodd stepping aside, but they said it does not appear that party leaders specifically asked him to do so. Democratic sources said Dodd began making calls to associates about his decision Tuesday. However, a source with knowledge of the conversations told CNN that he did not call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid until after midnight, after the news had already been reported. "Let me be clear," Dodd said Wednesday. "I'm very aware of my present political standing here at home in Connecticut, but it's equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or defeat nearly a year from now would be absurd." Dodd's news conference comes a day after another Democratic senator, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, announced that he will not seek re-election in November. Dorgan's seat, unlike Dodd's, was considered safe for Democrats, who are trying to hold on to their 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate majority. Most observers believe North Dakota will now become a top GOP target. Some top Republicans are urging that state's popular GOP governor, John Hoeven, to run for the seat. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said Tuesday that Dorgan's decision "highlights just how vulnerable both Senate and House Democrats have become since deciding to walk in lockstep with President Obama's government-run policies." Rob Simmons, a Republican who had been leading Dodd in recent polls, said Thursday that he is still in the race. Simmons said Wednesday that any Democratic nominee will have to defend "failed Democratic policies." Dodd's retirement will, at least for the moment, silence his family's long-powerful voice in Connecticut politics. His father, Thomas Dodd, represented the state in the U.S. House from 1953 to 1957, and in the U.S. Senate between 1959 and 1971. Shortly after the announcement, President Obama said in a statement that Dodd has "worked tirelessly to improve the lives of our children and families, support good jobs for hard-working Americans, and keep our nation strong and prosperous, building a remarkable record of achievement for the people of Connecticut and our country." Vice President Joe Biden said Dodd will "be long recognized as one of the most significant senators of my generation." He added, "I believe the nation will miss his wisdom, wit and compassion. I count myself lucky because I know he's not going too far and will always be a source of advice and counsel." Sen. Joe Lieberman, Dodd's fellow senator from Connecticut, said Dodd has been an "unusually skillful and productive legislator." He "leaves a great legacy of accomplishment that has improved the lives of millions of American families and children," Lieberman, an independent, said. Reid said in a statement that he knew how "much of an honor" it was for Dodd to serve the people of Connecticut, and "how truly difficult this decision was for him to step away." CNN's John King, Dana Bash and Ed Hornick contributed to this report. ||||| By LIZ SIDOTI AP National Political Writer With the 2010 election year barely under way, two senators and one governor—all Democrats—ditched plans to run for re-election in the latest signs of trouble for President Barack Obama's party. Taken together, the decisions by Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota as well as Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter caused another bout of heartburn for Democrats as they struggle to defend themselves in a sour political environment for incumbents, particularly the party in charge. As 2009 ended, Democrats watched a string of their House members announce retirements and one congressman defect to the GOP. Now, with Dodd, Dorgan and Ritter out, Republicans have even more to crow about, if not better opportunities to pick up Democratic-held seats. Democrats, who have a 60-40 Senate majority that includes two independents who vote with them, now will have to defend four open seats in the Senate. The others are Delaware and Illinois, where Sens. Ted Kaufman and Roland Burris were appointed to the seats vacated by Vice President Joe Biden and Obama. Kaufman and Burris are not running for election to the seats. Among governors, Democrats are seeking to maintain their 26-24 majority in a year when those elected will oversee the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts for the next decade. Republicans and Democrats alike say they now expect competitive races for the Senate seat in North Dakota, a GOP-tilting state, and the governor's seat in Colorado, a pivotal swing state that has trended toward Democrats in recent years but may be shifting back toward Republicans. But in Democratic-leaning Connecticut, Dodd's retirement may actually heighten the likelihood that the seat he's held for five terms will remain in Democratic hands. The party can now recruit a more popular candidate to run, bolstering the prospects of thwarting a Republican victory. Longtime Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told The Associated Press on Wednesday morning that he will run for Dodd's seat. Blumenthal, a Democrat, is seen as one of the state's most popular politicians. He planned to publicly announce his candidacy later Wednesday. Considered by many insiders to be the most endangered Senate Democrat, Dodd planned to announce his retirement Wednesday, according to Democratic officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly pre-empt the senator's remarks. Dodd told Democrats of his plans late Tuesday and scheduled an announcement on Wednesday. Dodd, 66, is chairman of Senate Banking Committee, which was at the center of efforts to deal with the economic meltdown. And he has played a prominent role in the debate over overhauling health care, taking over for his friend Sen. Edward Kennedy during his illness and then after his death. Dodd underwent surgery for prostate cancer in August; he said it was in an early, treatable stage. His poll standing has fallen precipitously since 2008. Dodd ran for the Democratic presidential nomination that year, moving his family to Iowa for weeks before the caucuses and angering Connecticut constituents. He dropped out after a poor showing in Iowa. The senator also has drawn criticism for his role in writing a bill that protected bonuses for executives at bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc. and for allegations he got favorable treatment on mortgages with Countrywide Financial Corp. Early polling in the race showed him consistently trailing potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons, a former House member who is competing for the Republican nomination against World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon. Dorgan, the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, said Tuesday he reached his decision after discussing his future with family over the holidays. "Although I still have a passion for public service and enjoy my work in the Senate, I have other interests and I have other things I would like to pursue outside of public life," said Dorgan, 67. The move stunned Democrats. They were confident heading into the new year that Dorgan, a moderate Democrat in a GOP-leaning state, would run for re-election even as rumors intensified that Republican Gov. John Hoeven would challenge him in November. Early polling showed Dorgan trailing Hoeven in a hypothetical contest, and Democrats expected a competitive race if the matchup materialized. Hoeven has not announced a candidacy but he told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he was "very seriously" considering one. Democrats quickly started recruiting a candidate to run in Dorgan's place. Democratic Rep. Earl Pomeroy may be interested as well as Heidi Heitkamp, a former state attorney general and tax commissioner who was defeated by Hoeven in the 2000 gubernatorial race. In Colorado, Democratic officials informed Tuesday of Ritter's decision said the governor planned to announce Wednesday that he won't run for a second term in November. Elected in 2006, Ritter was among those Democrats who helped the party make inroads into what was once a solidly Republican state. He helped pave the way for Obama to win Colorado in 2008 and had been widely considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. Top contenders to replace Ritter on the Democratic ticket include Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. Two Republicans are seeking the GOP nomination: former Rep. Scott McInnis and businessman Dan Maes. ||||| It was a culmination of reasons--the deaths of his sister and his friend Sen. Ted Kennedy, his 2009 battle with prostate cancer, and his shaky political standing--that led Chris Dodd to decide on retirement, the five-term senator said this morning in a speech outside his home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Dodd acknowledged, briefly, the reason for his tough chance at reelection--that "there have been times when my positions and actions have caused some of you to question that confidence," most likely a reference to his association with Countrywide that led to a drop in his poll numbers. "I regret that, but it is equally important that you know I never wavered in my determination to do the best job for our state and nation. I love my job as your Senator, I always have, and still do," Dodd said. He also threw in some humor, noting that he's not just retiring to be with his family: "Now there is nothing more pathetic than a politician who announces they are only leaving public life to spend more time with their family. The result of this announcement today will, I hope, create that opportunity - but it is not the reason for my decision," Dodd said. Here's the full speech: "Every six years over the past three decades, I have invited you to join me at our home to share in my decision to seek election and re-election to the United States Senate. On each of these occasions I have begun my remarks by observing that every important journey in life begins and ends at home. Today is no exception. What is different about today, however, is not to announce the beginning of yet another campaign for the Senate, but rather to announce that after 35 years of representing the people of Connecticut in the United States Congress, I will not be a candidate for re-election this November. I want to begin these brief remarks by expressing my deepest gratitude to the people of Connecticut for the remarkable privilege of being elected eight times over the past four decades to our national assembly. You have honored me beyond words with your confidence. Let me quickly add that there have been times when my positions and actions have caused some of you to question that confidence. I regret that, but it is equally important that you know I never wavered in my determination to do the best job for our state and nation. I love my job as your Senator, I always have, and still do. However, this past year has raised some challenges that insisted I take stock of my life. Over the past 12 months, I have managed four major pieces of legislation through Congress; served as Chair and acting Chair of two major Senate Committees, placing me at the center of the two most importance issues of our time - health care and reform of financial services; lost a beloved sister in July and in August - Ted Kennedy; battled cancer over the summer; and in the midst of all this, found myself in the toughest political shape of my career. Now let me be clear, I am very aware of my present political standing here at home; but it is equally clear that any certain prediction about an election victory or defeat nearly a year from now, would be absurd. Strange as it may sound, I'm not confident I would be standing here today making this announcement if these situations had not occurred. None of these events or circumstances either individually or collectively is the cause of my decision not to seek re-election. Yet together these challenges have given me pause, and to take stock, and ask the question that too few of us in elected public life ever do - why am I running? On a cold morning two weeks ago tomorrow I asked myself that very question. On the early frigid dawn of December 24th, Christmas Eve, with snow piled high along the streets of our nation's Capitol, I cast one of the most important, if not the most important votes of my years in the Senate - a bill to fundamentally reform the health care system of our country. An hour later I was standing on the Virginia hillside at Arlington Cemetery, where Ted Kennedy rests, along with his brothers in eternity, as he is in history, wishing I could have seen the look in Teddy's eyes as the Senate took that historic step only an hour before. I thought about the dozens of fine public servants, Democrats and Republicans, who have joined me in serving Connecticut over the course of my career at the local, state and national level. I thought about the countless Connecticut families - ordinary people with extraordinary courage and spirit, whose lives have touched me, and whose stories have profoundly affected my decisions in the Senate. I thought about the dozens of patriotic Senators with whom I have had the privilege of serving in an institution I dearly love. I have been a Connecticut Senator for 30 years. I'm proud of the job I've done and the results delivered. But none of us are irreplaceable. None of us are indispensible. Those who think otherwise are dangerous. The work to make our nation a more perfect union began long before I was elected to the Senate, and it will go on long after I'm gone. Our country is a work in progress. And I am confident it always will be. That is what I thought about as I stood on that hillside in Arlington on Christmas Eve morning. That is what I've talked about with Jackie over this holiday season. And that is how I came to the conclusion that, in the long sweep of American history, there are moments for each elected public servant to step aside and let someone else step up. This is my moment to step aside. There will be time to reflect in more detail on the years I've spent in public service. There will be time to celebrate victories, mourn setbacks, share laughs and memories, and to thank profusely the talented, tireless, and numerous staffers, many of whom are here today, who have made my Senate work possible. But that time is not now. My service is not over. I still have one year left on my contract with the people of Connecticut. One year from this week, our state will have a new Senator. In the meantime, we have important work to do. A few closing thoughts. I believe in bipartisan solutions, but I also believe you only achieve those results with vibrant, robust, and civil partisan debate. I am a Democrat and very proud of my party's contributions to the vitality and strength of America. I would never have had the opportunity to serve in the Congress had I not had the support and backing of my political party over the years. I appreciate the passionate party activists who have never faltered in their support of my efforts. I want to say thank you to my family for their tolerance of yet another generation of our family in the political arena. I am especially indebted to Jackie for her fierce loyalty, unyielding commitment to fairness, and her unlimited capacity of empathy for the needs of others. She has been my anchor to windward in these stormy political waters. Now there is nothing more pathetic than a politician who announces they are only leaving public life to spend more time with their family. The result of this announcement today will, I hope, create that opportunity - but it is not the reason for my decision. I am a very late arrival to fatherhood, and I am told repeatedly how rapidly these young children - Grace who is 8 and Christina who is 4 - will grow up. So while these young ladies are not the reason for my decision - they will be an incredible benefit of my choice. On this, the 6th of January, the Epiphany, 2010, I am still driven by the same passions that motivated me to try my hand at politics so many years ago. Just as I've encouraged the people of Connecticut, I am looking to the future with a spirit of optimism and confidence. Finally, once again, thank you for the opportunity you've given me to serve." ||||| DENVER -- Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat who played a key role in his party's resurgence across the West, abruptly ended his bid for a second term Wednesday, telling stunned supporters that in prioritizing politics, he had shortchanged his family and needed to make amends. View Full Image Associated Press Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said he needed to spend more time with his family. Mr. Ritter, 53 years old, was expected to have a tough re-election fight. A Rasmussen Reports poll last month showed him trailing the Republican front-runner, former congressman Scott McInnis, by eight percentage points. But Mr. Ritter had been raising money at a steady clip and insisted Wednesday that the November election was "absolutely winnable." His decision, he said, came after deep "soul-searching" and reflected nothing more than his desire to be a better husband to his wife, Jeannie, and a better father to their four children. "Quite frankly, they need me," he said. "I haven't made them the priority they deserve." While Mr. Ritter called his decision "intensely personal," some analysts saw it as an indication that the Democratic Party is faltering, especially in the West -- a region crucial to the party's success in 2008 and one that party strategists saw as a counterweight to the Republican stronghold in the South. "This is a very ominous sign for Western Democrats," said Floyd Ciruli, a pollster based in Denver. "While Ritter made a number of political mistakes, his problem really has been the collapse of the Democratic brand." Still, the Denver mayor, John Hickenlooper, is believed to be considering jumping into the race on the Democratic side, an indication that at least some in the party see the weak poll numbers as more associated with Mr. Ritter than a larger problem for the Democrats. Mr. Hickenlooper's staff declined to comment. Party strategists liked to hold up Mr. Ritter, who often wore cowboy boots with his pinstriped suits, as the type of authentically rooted candidate who could deliver the West for Democrats. He grew up poor on a farm with 11 siblings and began working construction full time at age 14. A Catholic who opposes abortion except in rare instances, Mr. Ritter won the governor's race in 2006 by a 15-point margin. In the summer of 2008, with Democrats fixated on the West as the key to their national fortunes, Denver hosted the party's nominating convention. That fall, the governor helped deliver Colorado's electoral votes to Barack Obama. Democrats boasted that they had turned a classic swing state deep blue. A year later, it was clear the celebration had been premature. The state's junior senator, Democrat Michael Bennet, is also well behind in polls and struggling to gain traction with unaffiliated voters. Ken Bickers, a political scientist at the University of Colorado, said Mr. Ritter's decision -- even if it was purely personal -- indicates the Democrats' Western strategy has faltered. Yet some political analysts in Colorado said they wouldn't write off the Democrats. Mr. Ritter had the advantage of incumbency, but he had angered key Democratic constituencies, including labor unions and Latino voters. He also made several unpopular moves, such as raising fees, eliminating tax breaks and cutting public-school funding. By stepping aside, Mr. Ritter opens the race to Democrats who won't have the baggage that comes with balancing state budgets. One potential candidate is former Sen. Ken Salazar, now U.S. secretary of the interior, who has statewide name recognition, rural roots and strong support among Latinos. Mr. Salazar declined to comment on his plans. Write to Stephanie Simon at stephanie.simon@wsj.com Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A6 | Christopher Dodd (D-CT) Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Bill Ritter (D-CO) With this year's November midterm elections fast approaching, three prominent United States Democrats announced their plans for retirement from public service on Wednesday. Powerful and influential—yet controversial for his alleged close ties to the financial sector and his handling of last year's bailout—Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut announced that he would not be seeking a sixth term this year. In a speech to his supporters in East Haddam, Connecticut, the sixty-five-year-old senior senator—with his family at his side—said, "I have been a Connecticut senator for thirty years. I'm very proud of the job I've done and the results delivered. But none of us is irreplaceable. None of us is indispensable." He then went on to say, "Over the past twelve months, I've managed four major pieces of legislation through the United States Congress, served as chair and acting chair of two major Senate committees, placing me at the center of the two most important issues of our time—health care and reform of financial services." In addition to highlighting some personal travails, Dodd alluded to his precarious political situation, "I lost a beloved sister in July, and in August, Ted Kennedy. I battled cancer over the summer, and in the midst of all of this, found myself in the toughest political shape of my career." Despite this, Dodd adamantly maintained that none of the above reasons were the causes for his retirement. He said that his reasons were more "personal," and that his retirement would hopefully give him a much-wanted opportunity to spend more time with his family. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota announced that he would not run for re-election this year either. "Although I still have a passion for public service and enjoy my work in the Senate, I have other interests and I have other things I would like to pursue outside of public life," said the sixty-seven-year-old, three-term senator who said he came to this decision after discussing his future with his immediate family over Christmas. Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter announced that he too would not seek a second term. The fifty-three-year-old freshman governor said that although he felt his race was "absolutely winnable," after some deep "soul searching," he realized that he truly wanted to retire from politics nonetheless. This due to the fact that he felt his main priority should be to be a better husband to his wife as well as a better father to their four children. When asked to comment on Senator Dodd's retirement on behalf of the Administration, Vice President Joseph Biden said Dodd would "be long recognized as one of the most significant senators of my generation." He furthermore stated, "I believe the nation will miss his wisdom, wit and compassion. I count myself lucky because I know he's not going too far and will always be a source of advice and counsel." Biden gave similar comments and expressed like sentiments about the retirement of his other two Democratic colleagues as well. |
By Chris Bevan Crouch scored his eighth goal in his last 10 Champions League starts Peter Crouch put the Reds ahead when he stretched to meet Dirk Kuyt's cross and Liverpool, who were inspired by Yossi Benayoun, went on to dominate. Crouch missed with two more headers but Sami Hyypia did make it 2-0 when he met Benayoun's corner at the near post. Kuyt, who also hit the bar, netted with a low shot to make it 3-0 then ran clear to slot home a fourth goal. It was an emotional night at Anfield, with the Reds paying their own tribute to murdered 11-year-old Everton fan Rhys Jones before kick-off. The Toffees' theme of Z-Cars was played and the crowd applauded as Rhys's parents stood on the touchline in their Everton shirts. Given the circumstances it could have been difficult for the Liverpool players to focus on the task in hand but they soon settled once the game began. Benayoun has had limited first-team chances since joining from West Ham in the summer but he showed Benitez why he feels he deserves more opportunities. Rhys Jones's parents received an emotional reception at Anfield The Israeli had already set up Kuyt to force a diving save from Toulouse keeper Nicolas Douchez when he won back possession to start the move that led to Crouch opening the scoring. Kuyt ran on down the left before supplying a peach of a cross which the tall striker turned in at the far post. The tie should really have been wrapped up by half-time but Crouch somehow headed another Benayoun ball over the bar before wasting an inviting ball from Alvaro Arbeloa. Toulouse, who had come to Anfield trailing by a single goal, still had hope at this point but in truth they never looked like finding a way back into the tie. Their only chances came from two sloppy clearances by Jose Reina and their best effort was a scuffed shot by Andre Gignac which summed up their night. 606: DEBATE Having made seven changes from our league win on Saturday against Sunderland this just shows what a quality squad we have SR Liverpool were home and dry when Hyypia rose unmarked at the near post after the break to head home Benayoun's corner and from then on they coasted home. Substitute Ryan Babel went close before Kuyt, who had already had one shot deflected on to the bar, exchanged passes with his compatriot and drilled his shot past Douchez. The home side were not finished yet and Benayoun was again the creator, sliding a ball through for Kuyt to slot home a fourth goal. It was the first time since 1997 that neither Steven Gerrard or Jamie Carragher had featured in a European tie for the Reds but, even without their two talismans, this was a thoroughly convincing display. "We scored four good goals and could have scored a lot more. We now have two players for each position and you can see our squad is stronger than it was. "I have players everywhere who want to play and have the ability to play." "There is a difference between the French league and the English league. "Liverpool were fresh, fit and strong and it showed at the end of the match. We struggled once they got their second, they play in a far stronger league." Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Agger (Finnan 81), Riise, Benayoun, Sissoko (Lucas 68), Mascherano, Leto (Babel 75), Crouch, Kuyt. Subs Not Used: Itandje, Torres, Alonso, Pennant. Goals: Crouch 19, Hyypia 49, Kuyt 87, 90. Toulouse: Douchez, Cetto, Ilunga, Paulo Cesar, Mathieu (Sissoko 81), Dieuze, Fofana, Sirieix, Elmander, Emana (Fabinho 76), Gignac (Bergougnoux 54). Subs Not Used: Riou, Jonsson, Mansare, Batlles. Att: 43,118. Ref: Wolfgang Stark (Germany). ||||| Liverpool complete safe passage - Peter Crouch blows a kiss to the crowd after scoring (©Getty Images) Liverpool FC cruised into the UEFA Champions League group stage as last season's beaten finalists completed a 5-0 aggregate victory against Toulouse FC. Beyond doubt Leading 1-0 from the game in France two weeks ago, Liverpool scored on 18 minutes through Peter Crouch before Sami Hyypiä and Dirk Kuyt with two late goals put the result beyond doubt. The five-time European champions will find out their opponents in their fourth consecutive group stage campaign on Thursday; the following day Toulouse will be in the UEFA Cup first round draw for the first time in 20 years, after this unsuccessful end to their debut appearance at this level. Early goal The home side were missing Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher but Crouch was restored for his first start since the trip to Toulouse, in place of first-leg scorer Andriy Voronin, and Liverpool attacked from the off. John Arne Riise immediately tested Toulouse goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez with a free-kick. Crouch headed a 16th-minute corner off target but was soon on the scoresheet as he turned Kuyt's clever pass into the net. Chances Crouch went close again, shooting past the post and then heading over as Liverpool continued to dominate. Kuyt, selected ahead of Fernando Torres, also threatened with an effort from inside the box and the nearest Toulouse came was just before half-time when Johan Elmander cut out a Riise back-pass but the defender recovered to win back the ball. Victory sealed Within three minutes of the restart it was 2-0, a Yossi Benayoun corner being nodded in by Hyypiä. Liverpool were sailing through the tie and Kuyt provided still more attacking menace yet missed the target when set up by Crouch. The Dutchman was also denied by the crossbar after his shot had taken a touch off Mauro Cetto but he finally got his reward three minutes from time after a fine one-two with substitute Ryan Babel. Deep into stoppage time, Benayoun played him in for his second. ©uefa.com 1998-2007. All rights reserved. | Liverpool went into Tuesday's game knowing they would struggle if they conceded. Liverpool were without or due to injury but managed an easy win at home to . put Liverpool 1-0 up after 18 minutes with a header scored from a cross. From here, Liverpool dominated the game. scored the second goal with a header from a corner. In the second half Kuyt was denied by the crossbar after his shot had taken a touch off Cetto but he got his first goal of the season on the 87 minute mark after a fine one-two with substitute, and Dutch compatriot, Ryan Babel. Kuyt then scored his second, and Liverpool's fourth, with the last touch of the game from a Benayoun assist. ---- |
Guatemala City. On the 8 of March, 20011, Guatemala’s First Lady Sandra Torres de Colon announced her run for the presidency. On March 11, 2011, the presidential couple applied for divorce, the news was published today in the newspaper La Hora. La Hora published the following information: It was confirmed that the presidential couple Alvaro Colom and Sandra Torres de Colom filed for divorce at the Second Family Court. It is a civil enforcement proceeding and thereby it is private. However, the spokesman of the judiciary, Edwin Escobar, confirmed that on 11 of March, 2011, divorce proceedings where presented. Opponents and constitutionalists call this strategy as a joke and immoral. Escobar did not state the names of lawyers acting on behalf of the Presidential couple; he confirmed that the divorce was applied in terms of mutual consent. Some hours earlier, Roxanna Baldetti, secretary general and vice-presidential candidate of the Patriotic Party, had warned about the possibility of a divorce process for electoral purposes, since there is a constitutional ban on the president's wife. When asked, Fernando Barillas, spokesman for the National Unity for Hope Party (UNE), denied the divorce process.” Representatives of the UNE Party stated that they had no comment at this time, but that there would be a press release or a press conference to announce the official party position. ANALYSIS The constitutional lawyer Carlos Molina Mencos said that despite circumventing the constitutional prohibition, the strategy of divorce must be regarded as a "mockery" and "immoral." The Guatemalan Constitution prohibits relatives of the President to qualify for the candidacy of President. According to Molina Mencos, although technically the divorce evades this ban, the action has no moral and ethics. Molina Mencos indicates that constitutionally when the divorce is signed, the candidacy of Sandra Torres will be legal. There are four legal requirements: 1) change of address, 2) stop using the surname Colom, 3) complete separation of property, and 4) settlement of marital property. On the other hand, from the moral point of view, he described the event as “immoral." "No presidency should be worth a marriage, for me, her campaign touched bottom, it is based on an immoral act, meaning that the marriage, the foundation of the family, does not apply to the presidential candidate," says the expert. Given that marriage is a guarantee of protection for women and family, Molina Mencos believes that whoever does not respect marriage, does not respect any of those principles. "In addition it denigrates the husband, when I need him there I have him, and when he becomes an obstacle I thrown him into the trash” Molina Mencos said. REACTIONS For her part, Ninth Montenegro, Member of Encuentro por Guatemala, stated that "all I can say is it's amazing where your ambitions to be the next President of this country can lead you, even, to leave her husband. This is not ethical or moral. When she is no longer the wife of the President, it does not mean that it never was his wife. " Zury Rios, Member of the Guatemalan Republican Front, FRG, Party, stated: "First, it is sad that for the love of power she left the love of her life. One can divorce for many reasons, but for the love of power, is unthinkable. Sandra de Colom has to change her electoral platform, divorced she is no longer eligible for any security service or access to the media, also she has to vacate the presidential palace, and I do not know if the President will leave her a pension. " (End of free translation of La Hora´s article). Prensa Libre published this afternoon the comments of ex- general Otto Perez, Presidential candidate of the Patriotic Party, concerning the divorce proceedings of the first couple. He stated that it was a fraud, he said that they where using the law to do something illegal. He explained that this divorce will not eliminate the constitutional ban of relatives of the president to run for the presidency. “The law does not state a time frame of when a person ceases to be a relative of the President.” He stated that they would not allow that the law should be mocked and fraud would be committed. The members of the new Constitutional Court in Guatemala have been elected. They will take position on April 15, 2011.The legal experts who have followed the election proceedings have serious concerns about the honorability and impartiality of the elected magistrates, there where ominous signs of political pressures of different power sector of Guatemala. Serious concerns exist that the new magistrates elected will be defending the interests of political parties and will not be impartial. The Constitutional Court of Guatemala is the highest legal authority that decides the legitimacy of the presidential candidates and interprets the Guatemalan constitution. The other presidential candidate whose legitimacy is questioned is Congresswomen Zury Rios Mont, the daughter of ex-general and military dictator Efraín Rios Mont. Sources: La Hora, Prensa Libre, The Guatemala Times Photo: Sandra Torres de Colom, First Lady of Guatemala ||||| London, Mar 22 (ANI): Guatemala’s first lady Sandra Torres de Colom is ending her eight-year marriage so she can seek to succeed her husband as president, according to a court official. Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom and his wife have filed for divorce. Judiciary spokesman Edwin Escobar said divorce proceedings began on Monday between Sandra and Alvaro, who cannot run for re-election, reports the Telegraph. If both parties agree, the divorce could be final in about a month. Guatemala’s constitution bans close relatives of the president from running for the presidency. Torres announced March 8 that she would be the presidential candidate of the governing National Unity for Hope party in the September election. (ANI) ||||| In a bid seen as a political maneuver ahead of this year's election, Guatemalan President Álvaro Colom and his wife, First Lady Sandra Torres, have filed for divorce, a top judicial official said Monday. The divorce is seen by many political observers as a move by the couple that would allow the first lady to run for president. Under Guatemala's Constitution, close family members of the president cannot run for top office. Although the petition for divorce was confirmed by a judicial officer, Edwin Escobar, presidential spokesman Giusseppe Calvinisti said he had no information concerning the first couple's split. Fernando Barillas, a leader of the National United Hope party (UNE), which is expected to nominate Torres as its candidate, denied that Colom and his wife were divorcing. But just hours before Escobar made the announcement, opposition leader Roxanna Baldetti, of the Patriot Party, warned that the couple was planning to officially split so that Torres could run. Constitutional experts called the maneuver "unethical" and "immoral." "No president should be allowed to dissolve their marriage. To me, her campaign has just fallen apart because of this immoral act. She is trying to say that marriage, which is the foundation of the family, shouldn't apply to presidential candidates," said lawyer Carlos Molina Mencos. Escobar said that the couple filed for a divorce on March 11, but he declined to name the president and first lady's lawyers. Reaction to the news was fierce. "In the first place, it is sad that the love for power has replaced the love of her," said Zury Ríos, a lawmaker from the Frente Republicano Guatemalteco. "One can divorce for many reasons, but to do so for the love of power is inconceivable." In February, the UNE held its first rally, which Torres attended, with many supporters holding up campaign posters carrying her picture. The election is scheduled for September. | President Colom in 2010 According to judicial spokesman Edwin Escobar, , president of Guatemala, and , the first lady, have applied for a divorce. It is said that the couple, who have been married for eight years, have done so so that Torres can apply for presidency. The couple applied for divorce on March 11, Escobar said. He says the couple have given mutual consent and did not reveal the names of their lawyers. Presidential spokesman Giusseppe Calvinisti has denied having any information about the planned divorce. Before Escobar made the announcement, opposition leader Roxanna Baldetti had warned that the couple were planning to split to let Torres run for the presidency. Many political observers believe the couple filed their request so that Torres can stand to succeed her husband when his term ends in September, as the Guatemalan constitution does not allow close relatives of the president to do so. Comments on the divorce have ranged from 'unthinkable' to 'a fraud', the latter description by candidate . According to Perez, the divorce will not let the Torres run for presidency. "The law does not state a time frame of when a person ceases to be a relative of the President." The in Guatemala, the highest legal authority that determines the legitimacy of a presidential candidate, is to be taken over by new members in April. Legal experts doubt the impartiality of the new judges. They noticed 'ominous signs of political pressures' that would cause them to defend partisan interests rather than uphold justice. |
UN to investigate report of peacekeepers sexually abusing children UNITED NATIONS, New York: The United Nations will investigate allegations by a leading children's charity that UN peacekeepers were involved in widespread sexual abuse of children, Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said. The report, released Tuesday by Save the Children UK, was based on field research in southern Sudan, Ivory Coast and Haiti. It describes a litany of sexual crimes committed by peacekeepers and international relief workers against children as young as 6 years old. According to the report, some children were denied food aid unless they granted sexual favors; others were forced to have sex or to take part in child pornography; many more were subjected to improper touching or kissing. "The report shows sexual abuse has been widely underreported because children are afraid to come forward," Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK, said. "A tiny proportion of peacekeepers and aid workers are abusing the children they were sent to protect. It ranges from sex for food to coerced sex. It's despicable." Calling the sexual exploitation of minors a "very serious issue," Ban reiterated to reporters that he has a "zero tolerance" policy for UN personnel who engage in such behavior. "I think that the report is very valuable and does give us some good points to which the United Nations should continue to address this issue," Ban said Tuesday. "On all these cases which have been raised, we will very carefully investigate" and will take "necessary measures" where appropriate. Earlier, a UN spokeswoman, Michele Montas, praised the report. "It's fair, and I think it's essentially accurate," she said. Abuses have been reported in peacekeeping missions ranging from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor, West Africa and Congo. The issue moved into the spotlight after the United Nations found in early 2005 that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money. Several month later, Jordan's UN ambassador at the time, Prince Zeid al-Hussein, wrote a report that described the UN military arm as deeply flawed. He recommended withholding the salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to pursue legal action against perpetrators. In response, the UN adopted a zero tolerance policy toward sexual exploitation and abuse, and a universal code of conduct. The UN requires training for all peacekeepers, but punishment for offenders is left to individual countries. Montas said the report stated that the UN had already undertaken steps designed to tackle the problem, from establishing conduct and discipline units in all UN missions to strengthening training for all categories of UN personnel. She said the UN also needed to strengthen its investigative capacity. The study was based on research, confidential interviews and focus groups conducted last year. The charity emphasized that it did not produce comprehensive statistics about the scale of abuse but did gather enough information to indicate the problem was severe. The report said that more than half the children interviewed knew of cases of sexual abuse and that in many instances children knew of 10 or more such incidents carried out by aid workers or peacekeepers. The Save the Children UK researchers, who met with 129 girls and 121 boys between the ages of 10 and 17, as well as with a number of adults, found an "overwhelming" majority of the people interviewed would never report a case of abuse and had never heard of a case being reported. The threat of retaliation, and the stigma attached to sex abuse, were powerful deterrents to coming forward, the report said. ||||| COTONOU (Reuters) - Benin will vote for a new president on Sunday in a crowded race focused on boosting the flagging economy, though logistical problems may keep hundreds of thousands from casting their ballots. ||||| Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the United Nations will investigate allegations by a British children's charity that peacekeepers and aid workers have sexually abused children in conflict and disaster zones. From United Nation's headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon Save the Children alleges in a new report that boys and girls as young as six years old are victims of widespread sexual abuse perpetrated by aid workers and U.N. peacekeepers, but that they are often too afraid to report it. Mr. Ban said the allegations are serious and the U.N. will investigate. "I have made it always clear that my policy on this sexual exploitation abuse cases is 'zero tolerance'. We will address this issue with the same level of emphasis. However, on all these cases, which have been raised, we will very carefully investigate and whenever there is necessary matters we will take necessary measures from this," he said. Save the Children interviewed 129 girls and 121 boys between the ages of 10 and 17 in Southern Sudan, the Ivory Coast and Haiti. The study charges that aid workers and peacekeepers traded sex with young victims in exchange for food, money, soap and sometimes cell phones. The United Nations maintains it is a very small proportion of international peacekeepers who are involved in such acts. The world body deploys troops to many countries, but does not have the authority to discipline those that commit crimes. It can only send accused peacekeepers back to their home countries to be prosecuted. But Mr. Ban did not shy away from the issue, saying the Save the Children study is very valuable and raised several good points. Peacekeeping officials also addressed the report Tuesday, saying the British charity made a compelling case that reporting mechanisms need to be strengthened so that victims can speak out in safety. The United Nations says that even one incident is one too many, and it is working hard to address the issue. | A study by the non-profit organisation Save the Children UK claims that a number of aid workers and peacekeepers from organisations such as the United Nations and Save the Children itself have engaged in sexual abuse of children in the course of their humanitarian efforts. The study also says that many of these incidents remain unreported, and those involved often go unpunished. The study was based on field data from Sudan, Ivory Coast and Haiti, where they held focus groups followed by in-depth interviews. In 20 of the 38 focus groups, United Nations representatives were the main perpetrators of sexual abuse, possibly due to the larger number of peacekeepers than aid workers, but 23 organisations were identified as being involved across the three countries. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon While 14 and 15 year olds were the most common victims, the study found cases of abuse in children as young as 6. Most offenders were men, and most of the victims were girls. One 14-year-old boy who works in a peacekeeping camp on the Ivory Coast told the study that "often it will be between eight and 10 men who will share two or three girls". An "overwhelming" majority of those interviewed said they would never report a case of abuse, and did not know of anyone who had reported a case, despite more than half knowing of incidents of sexual abuse, and many knowing of 10 or more. The study reported that unless this silence was dealt with, any attempts to eliminate the abuse would be "fundamentally flawed". In response to the study, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that the organisation's policy on such abuse was "zero tolerance." The U.N. "will very carefully investigate and whenever there is necessary matters we will take necessary measures from this". Both Save the Children and the U.N. have pointed out that, while it does not reduce the seriousness of the offences, the offenders represent a small proportion of all peacekeepers and aid workers in foreign countries. As the U.N. does not have any prosecutory powers of its own, peacekeepers found to be involved in child sexual abuse are either fired or sent back to their home countries to face prosecution. |
Americans go online to donate to tsunami relief (CNN) -- Thousands of Americans were clicking Internet sites Friday, donating millions to help victims of Sunday's earthquake and tsunamis. The giant Internet retailer Amazon.com placed a link to the American Red Cross prominently on its opening page. By midday Friday, more than 100,000 people had donated more than $8 million. The Internet portal, Yahoo.com, also set up a link to the Red Cross and other charities. In the first 18 hours, according to Yahoo spokeswoman Nicki Dugan, more than 12,000 donors had contributed over $1.2 million to the Red Cross. Dugan said Yahoo was also hosting the Red Cross donation site because the Red Cross had become overwhelmed with donations. She said the site was getting "around 450 clicks a minute." Other Internet portals and providers such as Google.com and AOL.com were also carrying links to the Red Cross and other charities. Amazon said in a statement that it offered its site because it "provides a safe and secure platform where those wishing to help can easily make a financial contribution to the relief efforts." Amazon said 100 percent of the donations go to the Red Cross. The world's largest online trading community, eBay.com, is offering donation opportunities to eight aid organizations through its Web site. Sellers on eBay can also sell items through the company's eBay "giving works" program and donate 10 to 100 percent of the proceeds to one of the eight charities. The NonProfit Times, a publication for nonprofit managers, reported that online fund raising for nonprofits brought in about $2 billion in 2003, a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Overall, Americans gave $241 billion to charity in 2003. ||||| WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- US President George W. Bushannounced on Friday that the United States is pledging 350 milliondollars to help tsunami victims in Asia, a tenfold increase overits first wave of aid. The vacationing US president said in Crawford, Texas, that heis sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to areas ravaged byearthquake and tsunami to assess what more the United States needsto do. The newly announced aid came after some critics claimed thatthe initial US contribution of 35 million dollars was too meagerconsidering the vast wealth of the nation. Enditem | While complaints about the 'miserly' generosity of the Bush Administration have surfaced in recent days, donations and actions at the grassroots level have quietly illustrated the concern and sympathy felt by ordinary Americans. On Monday of this week, , the UN's chief of emergency relief, said that rich nations like the U.S. were being "stingy" by making small contributions. Egeland later recanted his statement, adding that America's contributions to Asia's tsunami relief was "one of the most generous pledges so far." The Bush administration has pledged $350 million in aid for the relief effort. Critics have been quick to compare this to the $177 million spent every day in Iraq to conduct war in that country. In comparison, there was a $500 million pledge made recently by the government of Japan. Independently of the government, individual Americans have been directly contributing money to aid organizations. Amazon.com placed a link for the American Red Cross, collecting more than $8 million from 100,000 people as of Friday, December 31st. 12,000 donors have donated over $1.2 million to the Red Cross through Yahoo.com. Scores of International aid organizations are accepting donations for helping victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Many major companies including Apple Computer, Microsoft, , eBay, Google, and AOL are helping enable donations through the web. |
Federal regulators on Tuesday made public the details of their ambitious policy to encourage the spread of high-speed Internet access. But their 376-page proposal, the National Broadband Plan , was met with a chorus of questions, even from the staunchest advocates of its goals. Telecommunications companies praised the intent but worried that new regulations might impede rather than encourage their progress in expanding Internet access. Industry analysts said the plan was both too ambitious and not detailed enough, and consumer advocates doubted it alone would lead to more affordable broadband service at adequate speeds. The criticisms were largely tempered by a strong embrace of what is by far the most aggressive effort to date by regulators to encourage widespread adoption of broadband at much higher speeds than most Americans have today. The plan, put forth by the Federal Communications Commission, also proposes to allot more wireless spectrum for mobile devices, redirect some subsidies toward broadband access, develop a nationwide network for emergency first responders and create a “digital literacy corps” to train new users. “They should be commended for the document’s remarkable breadth,” said Craig Moffett, a telecommunications industry analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, but he added that such scope could also be a liability. The plan “sets up a hundred different battles over funding and spectrum and even set-top box design, and each on its own would represent an ambitious agenda.” He added, “The risk is that the plan’s very scope will limit its real-world impact.” For its part, the F.C.C. on Tuesday characterized its Congressionally mandated plan as a much-needed step for keeping the nation competitive. The policies echo a generations-old effort to provide every home with a telephone, itself once seen as a communications tool central to economic and social development. The broadband proposal, which the agency sent to Congress on Tuesday, “is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues,” the agency chairman, Julius Genachowski, said in a statement. President Obama said the plan recalled the way “past generations of Americans met the great infrastructure challenges of the day, such as building the transcontinental railroad and the Interstate highways.” For most Americans who already have broadband access the most important part of the 10-year plan may involve speed. The F.C.C. hopes that by 2020 at least 100 million households will have access to broadband capable of running 100 megabits a second, and for community institutions like schools and hospitals to have access at 10 times that speed. The average at-home connection is three to four megabits a second now, speeds seen as ultimately unable to deliver increasingly rich multimedia content. But industry analysts say that the government’s ability to influence access speeds is limited. Some aspects will take years to put into place and require Congressional action. Notably, legislators would have to allow some proceeds from the spectrum auctions to be diverted to broadcasters. The F.C.C. hopes to use that spectrum to lead to the creation of wireless Internet access, to enhance competition and keep consumer costs in check. But some television station owners are wary of the auction plans. That is one of the little battles that seems likely to emerge involving deep-pocketed advocates, industry analysts said. One F.C.C. commissioner, Mignon Clyburn, said in a statement that she was “very concerned” about the tradeoff. “It is unclear at this point whether the Internet can currently replace these trusted sources,” she said. And some analysts said that even if the spectrum ultimately became available, it might create wireless access but fail to create competition for the much higher-speed Net access. Wireless access is roughly one-twentieth of the speed of the envisioned 100-megabit lines, said Dave Burstein, editor of DSL Prime, an industry newsletter. “They talk, talk, talk about affordability, but when you look at the plan, most peoples’ prices are going to go up,” Mr. Burstein said. It typically costs $100 a month for Net access at speeds of 50 megabits to 100 megabits. Mr. Burstein said those prices were double the cost in places like France and England and yet the plan, he added, does little to bring those down. He also asserted that the goal of getting high-speed access to 100 million homes was already within reach. About 50 million homes have access to broadband service of 50 to 100 megabits, and the cable industry says 100 million homes will have such access within five years. Chief among its goals, the F.C.C. wants future broadband investment to be focused on the areas where gaps in service remain. It will direct this investment in part through the Universal Service Fund, a program for telephone and Internet access, costing $8 billion annually, paid through a phone bill surcharge. Over time, the subsidies for Internet will increase and those for phone will dissipate, with the knowledge that people can make online calls. “Some of the details are lacking, particularly on Universal Service Fund reform,” said Dan Mitchell, a vice president for the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association, a group that represents rural providers and worries that the proposals to change phone carrier costs will curtail the providers’ abilities to expand infrastructure. “Broadly, they’re stating the right things,” he added. “But the devil is always in the details.” ||||| By Maggie Shiels Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley The US ranks 15th in the world for providing access to high-speed internet A plan to help the US lead the world in providing its citizens with super-fast internet has been officially released. The Federal Communications Commission, FCC, aims to ensure every American in the country has broadband connections by 2020. It claims a third of all US households - 100 million Americans - do not have a broadband connection. Congress will now consider whether to introduce legislation to enact some parts of the 360-page plan. Some of the 200 recommendations will be decided on by other government agencies such at the Federal Trades Commission and Homeland Security department. The FCC's five commissioners did not vote to approve the document because not all agree on its recommendations. Instead they gave their backing to a statement of support for some of the plan's goals. These include ensuring every American has access to affordable high-speed internet and shifting airwaves to mobile services. "We finally have a clear objective and a considered strategy aimed at ensuring that everyone in this country has equal opportunities in this new Digital Age, no matter who they are, where they live, or the particular circumstances of their individual lives," said Michael Copps, a Democratic FCC commissioner. 'Critical question' The broadband plan comes at a time when the internet is playing an increasing role in the lives of individuals, businesses and government. The FCC has called this the "greatest infrastructure challenge of the 21st century" and said it represents a "foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life". Wide differences in broadband access are revealed by statistics The plan aims to increase internet speeds from the average 4 mbps (megabits per second) to 100mbps. One thorny issue will be the cost of implementing the plan which has been estimated at $350bn (£231bn). Who will pay and how much will undoubtedly be fiercely debated. "It is an important question, but I think the critical question we have to ask is what is the cost of doing nothing?" said Dean Garfield, the chief executive officer of the Information Technology Industry Council. "We have to ask where do we want to be globally? The internet, and broadband by extension, can lay the foundation for the growth of a brand new economy and the public sector can't do this alone. The private sector, and really the country in general, needs to be a part of this," Mr Garfield told BBC News. 'Opportunity' Another issue that is likely to result in a major fight is how the FCC will wrest spectrum from TV companies to wireless carriers. Mobile companies like AT&T and Verizon have said they will need more spectrum in future to provide super-fast, reliable internet connections to every customer. The problem is that most of the spectrum is occupied by someone else. Republican FCC commissioner Robert McDowell has called for the commission to encourage broadcasters to lease their spectrum to broadband providers rather than using "coercive" action. The Centre for Democracy and Technology, CDT, is also gearing itself up for a tough time ahead to ensure that strong privacy rules are weaved into everything the plan enacts. "We have a real opportunity here because so far we have had this patchwork of privacy rules and regulations that don't work as well as we need them to," said Leslie Harris of CDT. "WE don't have the comprehensive privacy framework you see in Europe. We have old rules that apply to government and how government uses information and laws that have been outstripped by technological advances. "The more people are connected to the network the greater the potential for data being collected and misused," Ms Harris told the BBC. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version ||||| Federal regulators detailed a $20 billion, 10-year plan to ensure all U.S. households access to high-speed Internet service, but the proposal faces resistance from industry groups and possible questions from lawmakers over how to pay for it. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to formally release its strategy Tuesday to bring high-speed Internet access to the seven million U.S. homes that lack it, while making existing broadband connections that serve some 100 million households at least 10 times as fast. The plan is designed to encourage more Americans to go online through new proposals like a free or low-cost national wireless broadband network. But for the telecommunications industry and its critics, the more important aspects of the plan will have to do with how the FCC could soon propose to use its regulatory powers to generate more competition for the existing broadband networks run by big phone and cable companies. Consumer groups have been pressing the agency to propose rules that would require companies to open up their networks to rivals. But the plan doesn't specifically call for broadband providers to share their networks under so-called open-access rules, a win for the telecommunications industry. "A lot of the hardest questions have been moved down the road," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, a public-interest group. "How will we get those higher broadband speeds and how will we get lower prices?" The other critical issue for the broadband and Internet industries will be how the agency and Congress propose to auction off unused airwaves—electromagnetic real estate valued at billions of dollars. Aides to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski privately briefed industry lobbyists and consumer groups about parts of the plan over the past few weeks, including details about how the FCC proposes overhauling a $8 billion federal subsidy phone program to cover expanding Internet service to poorly served areas, according to people familiar with the discussions. Agency officials asked companies and industry groups to say positive things about the broader plan, according to some people who received the requests. The private briefings could raise questions about whether the agency has offered special access to business interests, but the FCC said all groups have had input in shaping the proposal. "We have kept an open line of communications with all stakeholders throughout the broadband plan process," an FCC spokeswoman said in a statement. Many of Mr. Genachowski's recommendations could be politically difficult to enact, however, and the FCC plan barely mentions a controversial proposal that officials are considering to impose more regulations on Internet lines. Industry lobbyists vigorously pushed back against the idea of more regulation and are expected to fight any future efforts as well. "We are concerned about increasing regulation on things that don't need to be regulated. Don't fix something that's not broken," said Jeff Campbell, senior director of technology and trade policy at Cisco Systems Inc., who offered a generally positive view of the plan. Meanwhile, broadcasters face the prospect of paying a new government fee under the plan for use of airwaves. Television station owners currently don't pay an annual fee to the FCC. The plan also calls for recovering and auctioning off about 20 television channels' worth of airwaves from TV broadcasters. "We are concerned by reports today that suggest many aspects of the plan may in fact not be as voluntary as originally promised," said Dennis Wharton, a National Association of Broadcasters spokesman. The FCC plan proposes more than $20 billion in new government spending, including $12 billion to $16 billion for a new wireless network for police and firefighters and "a few billion dollars per year over two or three years" for broadband lines in rural areas. FCC officials say their plan is "revenue-neutral" because the proposed federal spending will be offset by proceeds from future airwaves auctions. The FCC's last airwaves auction in 2008 raised almost $20 billion. But Congress, not the FCC, decides how to spend money raised in spectrum auctions and lawmakers have historically used the money for deficit reduction or to offset other spending. It isn't clear if lawmakers will agree with the FCC on how to spend proceeds from future auctions. "Certainly, the $16 billion for public safety would enjoy bipartisan support," predicted Rep. Rick Boucher (D., Va.), chairman of the House subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, which plans to hold a hearing on the report on March 25. Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A8 | The United States Federal Communications Commission released a plan to provide broadband Internet access to at least 90% of the American population today, and sent a copy of the plan to Congress, which will consider whether to introduce legislation to enact portions of the proposal. Other parts will be decided on by various government agencies. The plan is intended to spur adoption of broadband Internet in the US by extending broadband access to areas of the country, such as rural areas, that do not currently have such access, as well as substantially increasing the speed of existing broadband installations. Currently, only around 65% of American households have broadband connectivity; if approved, the new plan would increase that number to 90% by 2020. According to a statement from the FCC, the plan would provide a "foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life." Opposition to the plan is largely based on two points, which are cost, estimated be as much as $350 billion, and the effect on current users of airwaves, which new broadband access would use. According to the FCC, the plan would end up being revenue-neutral, thanks to income from the auctioning of airwaves, although in past such auctions revenue has gone to the US government. Separately, the proposal would include some changes to regulations over Internet lines, which are largely opposed by the industry, as well as plans to introduce a new fee for use of the airwaves, which are currently untaxed. |
Coca-Cola's brand and logo has become part of US culture According to the claims, administration worker Joya Williams went through files and stuffed a new Coca-Cola product and documents into her personal bag. Also accused of stealing trade secrets are Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney. PepsiCo said it co-operated with the FBI and Coca-Cola after being contacted by someone looking to sell information. Coca-Cola said the secret formula of its main drink - sold in the distinctive red and white cans - had not been compromised. Its chief executive, Neville Isdell, wrote in a memo to staff: "Information is the lifeblood of the company". Coca-Cola, he wrote, would be reviewing its security procedures. Dave DeCecco, a PepsiCo spokesman, said that the company was happy to have helped out its rival. "Competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal," he said. 'Valuable secrets' According to investigators a letter was sent to PepsiCo in May from someone calling themselves "Dirk" and claiming to be a high-level employee at Coca-Cola with information to trade. An undercover FBI agent claims to have met with Mr Dimson, who was said to be posing as "Dirk", at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta in June. During that meeting, Mr Dimson is alleged to have handed over an envelope containing documents and a glass bottle containing a liquid sample. Coca-Cola's recipe has been made a trade secret for 120 years The undercover officer claims to have paid "Dirk" $30,000 (£16,000) and promised to pay another $45,000 at a later date. On 27 June, another agent offered to buy the remaining trade secrets for $1.5m, and it is alleged that two of the suspects opened a bank account in order to receive the funds. The three suspects were arrested on 27 June. Investigators say they have footage showing Ms Williams going through files and "holding a liquid container with a white label, which resembled the description of a new Coca-Cola product sample, before placing it into her personal bag". Ms Williams, Mr Dimson and Mr Duhaney are due to appear before magistrates in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday. "We are committed to protecting the intellectual property that is so critical for our corporate citizens to remain successful in the 21st century economy," said US Attorney David Nahmias said. "Theft of valuable trade secrets will not be tolerated, not by the Justice Department and not even by competitors, as this case shows," he added. ||||| By Andrew Ward in Atlanta A Coca-Cola employee and two accomplices are expected in court on Thursday on charges of attempting to sell company secrets to PepsiCo for $1.5m. The suspects include a Coca-Cola administrative assistant, who is accused of stealing confidential documents and a sample of a new Coke product from the company's Atlanta headquarters. Story continues below ↓ advertisement advertisement The attempted scam was halted when PepsiCo informed Coke that it had received a letter offering "very detailed and confidential" information about its rival in return for cash. Coke immediately informed the FBI, which launched a surveillance and sting operation ending with the arrest of the three suspects on Wednesday. Prosecutors said that video footage filmed at Coke's headquarters showed Joya Williams, a company employee, rifling through corporate files and stuffing documents and the drink sample into her bag. According to prosecutors, another of the conspirators attempted to sell the documents to an undercover FBI agent, posing as a go-between for PepsiCo, for $10,000 and the product sample for $75,000. Later, the FBI agent struck a deal with the same suspect to buy additional trade secrets for $1.5m. In a memorandum to staff on Wednesday, Neville Isdell, Coke's chief executive, expressed "sincere appreciation" to PepsiCo for alerting the company to the attempted crime. He said a review was under way of the company's information protection policies to safeguard its intellectual property. PepsiCo said it was pleased to have helped its rival identify the security breach. "We only did what any responsible company would have done in the same circumstances," said a spokesperson. "Competition can be tough but it must always be fair and legal." The US department of justice said the case showed the government was serious about protecting intellectual property. "Theft of valuable trade secrets will not be tolerated, not by the Justice Department and not even by competitors, as this case shows," said David Nahmias, US Attorney, raising Coke and PepsiCo for their co-operation with the investigation. Ms Williams, a 41-year-old executive administrative assistant with Coke, was charged with wire fraud and unlawfully stealing and selling trade secrets together with Ibrahim Dimson, 30, of New York, and 43-year-old Edmund Duhaney of Decatur, near Atlanta. Mr Isdell said the "breach of trust" by an employee was "difficult for us all to accept". "It underscores the responsibility we each have to be vigilant in protecting our trade secrets," he said in the memorandum. "Information is the life-blood of the company." Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Rate this story Low High • advertisement | Three people have been charged in the United States for trying to sell Coca-Cola trade secrets to PepsiCo. The main suspect, administration worker Joya Williams, tried to sell documents and a liquid sample of a new Coca-Cola product to the rival, prosecutors said. When being offered to buy the trade secrets in May, PepsiCo immediately contacted the FBI. A person calling himself "Dirk" wanted to meet a PepsiCo representative at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta in June. Instead, an undercover FBI agent met with Ibrahim Dimson, the man posing as "Dirk". During the meeting it is said the undercover agent gave Dimson $30,000 for the trade secrets and promised to pay an additional $45,000 later. Then later that month, another agent later offered to buy the remaining trade secrets for $1.5m. The same day the suspects were arrested. A third person, Edmund Duhaney, was also arrested. PepsiCo said in a statement that "competition can sometimes be fierce, but also must be fair and legal". Coca-Cola said that it would review its security measures. The corporation's top-secret formula of its main drink was not affected in this security breach. |
Man and woman die after head-on crash near Oban A man and woman have died and several other people - including three children - have been injured in a head-on crash involving two cars in Argyll. The collision happened on the A85, just outside Connel, north of Oban, at about 18:30 on Thursday. The woman, aged 74, who died was a back seat passenger in a blue Honda CRV. The man, aged 32, who died was a front seat passenger in a blue Vauxhall Vectra. Both died at the scene. Police have appealed for witnesses. A 32-year-old woman who was driving the Vauxhall Vectra was taken by helicopter to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, where she is in a critical but stable condition. Three children, aged two, five and 14, who were also in the car were treated for minor injuries at Oban Hospital. The 51-year-old woman driver of the Honda CRV and two other female passengers, aged 49 and 46, were also treated for minor injuries at Oban Hospital. ||||| Two people have been killed in a road traffic collision on the A85 in Argyll and Bute. The incident, which took place in Connel around 6:40pm on Thursday (August 1) and involved two cars, claimed the lives of a man and woman and left seven people injured. A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said: "Crews from Oban arrived to find people trapped inside the vehicles and the firefighters used hydraulic cutting equipment in a bid to rescue all those involved. "Ambulance personnel and police officers worked closely with our team throughout the incident but sadly one passenger from each car lost their life. “The thoughts of all emergency responders who were at the scene will be with the casualties and their loved ones as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened." An elderly woman who was travelling in one of the cars was confirmed to have died at the scene. The driver and two other passengers – all women – suffered only minor injuries and were taken to Oban Hospital. A man travelling in the other vehicle was also killed in the head-on collision and a woman, who had been driving, suffered serious injury. She was flown by air ambulance to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, where her condition is described as “critical but stable”. Three children who were travelling in the same car were taken to Oban Hospital for treatment to minor injuries. A Police Scotland spokesperson added: "We are appealing to anyone who witnessed the accident or who saw the blue Vauxhall Vectra or the blue Honda CRV just before it to come forward. “Enquiries are ongoing into the cause of the crash and any witnesses, or anyone with information that may assist police, is asked to contact PC Stephen Cole of the Divisional Road Policing Unit based at Dunoon on 01369 763 001. "Alternatively, you can contact us by calling 101, the non-emergency number for Police Scotland.” | A man and a woman have been killed in a road traffic accident near in the west of Scotland. Seven people, including three children, were also injured in the head-on collision on the in at approximately 1830 (1730 ) yesterday. A 74-year-old female passenger of a blue and a 32-year-old male passenger of a blue died at the scene of the crash. The Vauxhall driver, a 32-year-old woman, was transported by helicopter to Glasgow's , where she is reportedly in a critical albeit stable condition. Three child passengers in the Vauxhall, aged fourteen, five and two, were taken to Oban Hospital and given treatment for minor injuries, as were the Honda's 51-year-old female driver and two female passengers aged 49 and 46. A spokesperson said hydraulic cutting equipment was used during rescue efforts. "Ambulance personnel and police officers worked closely with our team throughout the incident but sadly one passenger from each car lost their life", the spokesperson continued. "The thoughts of all emergency responders who were at the scene will be with the casualties and their loved ones as they attempt to come to terms with what has happened." Police have appealed for potential witnesses to contact them. == Sources == * * * |
New Zealand 21-11 Ireland: Unlucky Irish are caught cold Published Date: 08 June 2008 AFTER an hour at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington it was all there for Ireland, history at their finger-tips. For over a hundred years they've tried to beat the All Blacks and have never managed it, a draw in the 1970s as close they have come. But heading into the final quarter they were looking at immortality. It was a try apiece and 11-11 at that point. The home fans were shifting uncomfortably in their seats and it wasn't all to do with the incessant rain (it never stopped) and wind (it swirled like a dervish) and bitter cold. No, it had more to do with the possibility of an upset, of an Irish win that would surely have seen Graham Henry out of a job. The natives are restless enough after the failure at the World Cup without losing to a side they routinely trounce. That fear was not realised in the end, though. New Zealand dug out the win. They did so on the back of some hugely physical performances up front and by eating into the Ireland lineout, dismantling it bit by bit until there was pretty much nothing left to dismantle. That the visitors were still well in the game after an hour was a tribute to their own doggedness, their own massive effort in the forward collisions. Along with their lineout, their scrum was in bother for most of the Test but they battled on, making life difficult for their hosts who were clearly lacking in confidence. Lacking in players, too. This was a much-changed New Zealand team. There was no Carl Hayman, no Tony Woodcock, no Chris Jack, no Jerry Collins, no Byron Kelleher, no Doug Howlett or Luke McAllister, no Joe Rocokoko either. All of them bar the injured Rocokoko are away in Europe now and ineligible. In the circumstances, Henry will be pleased with the win. For Ireland, it began to go pear-shaped from just past the hour-mark, when Marcus Horan idiotically threw a punch at a ruck and got penalised. Dan Carter, who stood out on the night for the general awfulness of his game, popped over the penalty and New Zealand had a three point lead. Two minutes later, they added another seven and virtually ended it as a contest, Ma'a Nonu sliding over after Carter had finally found a gap and went through it in thrilling fashion. In fairness to Carter, it was an evening of unparallaled foulness on the weather front. "I don't know if I've played in much colder than that," said Brian O'Driscoll, the Irish captain. Richie McCaw, his counterpart, backed him on that. "It's probably the coldest game I've ever played in. I've never got cold out on the field but after half-time I was shivering. It was nasty." Henry echoed the sentiments of the captains. "The game became a lottery," said the relieved All Blacks coach. "It's very difficult to try and keep yourself focused in those conditions when you're shaking like a leaf out there and wondering if you'll get through the next five minutes." This was New Zealand's first game since their demise at the World Cup and the first time this season their players have not been governed under the new ELVs. Ireland thought this would give them an edge and none of the early exchanges would have disabused them of the notion. They went ahead through a Ronan O'Gara penalty after seven minutes but the main eye-opener in the opening minutes was Carter's malaise. He kicked terribly, had no control in his game and looked a bit of a lost soul out there. Class act that he is, he produced one moment of absolute magic later on and it won the Test. New Zealand's nerves were eased after 16 minutes when a fantastic break by Conrad Smith, bamboozling O'Driscoll in the process, set up a score in the corner for Sitiveni Sivivatu but they were anxious again when Ireland struck back three minutes later. When the All Blacks allowed the restart to bounce in their 22 it was the start of it. Multiple scrums and drives later, O'Gara put Paddy Wallace over to give Ireland the lead, 8-5. Carter's restart then went out on the full then he missed a penalty. However, before the break he made it 8-8 with a straightforward kick. O'Gara eased Ireland into an 11-8 lead just after the break but New Zealand got busy thereafter. The Irish lineout folded and the intensity of the home forwards upped several gears. They may have been without many top boys in that pack but there doesn't appear to much wrong with the new generation. Carter's penalty and his break for Nonu's try settled it. Afterwards, Ireland bemoaned the loss of a fine opportunity, a tune they have sung many times. New Zealand: M Muliaina; A Tuitavake L MacDonald, 50), C Smith, M Nonu, S Sivivatu; D Carter, A Ellis; N Tialata, A Hore (K Mealamu, 55), J Afoa (J Schwalger, 31), B Thorn, A Williams, R So'oialo, J Kaino (A Thomson, 76), R McCaw (capt). Ireland: R Kearney; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), P Wallace, T Bowe; R O'Gara, E Reddan (P Stringer, 70); M Horan (T Buckley, 60), J Flannery (R Best, 52), J Hayes, P O'Connell, D O'Callaghan, D Leamy, J Heaslip, D Wallace. Scorers: New Zealand – Tries: Sitiveni Sivivatu, Ma'a Nonu; Convs: Daniel Carter; Pens: Carter (3). Ireland – Try: P Wallace; Pens: R O'Gara (2). Referee: Chris White (England) The full article contains 934 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper. Page 1 of 1 ||||| All Blacks defeat Ireland in freezing conditions WELLINGTON (AFP) — The All Blacks say Saturday's 21-11 victory over Ireland in freezing, driving rain was the coldest weather they have ever played in. With a chilly wind whipping through the Westpac Stadium, the conditions were worse than when they played in hail against the British and Irish Lions in Christchurch three years ago, according to All Blacks captain Richie McCaw. "I've never really got cold out on the field but after half-time I was shivering," he said. Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll was still shaking, even after a hot shower, when he fronted for the post-match press conference nearly an hour after the final whistle. In an even match, the score was tied 11-11 with 20 minutes remaining when All Blacks flyhalf Dan Carter swung the result New Zealand's way with a penalty and then a telling break that resulted in a try to Ma'a Nonu. Carter's cut through the Irish line to set up Nonu's try was "a moment of genius", according to Ireland coach Michael Bradley as he saw an end to Irish hopes for an historic first win against New Zealand in 103 years. "In the first couple of minutes we possibly would have been over the line twice but for the bounce of the ball, and that maybe would have been enough to carry us for the entire match on the basis of the conditions," Bradley said. "But to their credit the All Blacks stuck at it as well, and they were patient and it probably took one moment of genius to create the critical line break in the second half. "We have a very disappointed dressing room because we thought we had a really good chance to beat New Zealand." With the All Blacks looking to start a new era in their first Test since last year's failed World Cup campaign, they knew success against Ireland would depend on gaining parity against the vastly experienced, Munster-based pack. "We realised it was probably going to be nasty weather so we adapted pretty well. The forwards took charge of the set piece, we won most of our lineout ball, our drive was right there and we got some go forward," McCaw said. "Even when we were 11-11 early in the second half there was no panic, there was composure there and belief in what we were doing." But if the forwards, doing most of the hard work up front, were feeling the cold then life was much worse for the outside backs. "It got to the point where you couldn't feel your hands or anything really," said All Blacks centre Conrad Smith. "There was one point there are the end when one of the Irishmen went down that both teams were running around in circles doing their own thing (to keep warm). I just looked around and thought 'this is stupid'." His opposite, O'Driscoll, agreed. "They were horrible conditions to play a Test match but sometimes you get them and it's disappointing to push it as hard as we did, with the intensity we had, and to slip up once at that line break and be punished." Tries to All Blacks wing Sitiveni Sivivatu and Ireland's inside centre Paddy Wallace plus a penalty apiece by Carter and Ronan O'Gara saw the scores level at 8-8 at half-time. Four minutes after the turn is was 11-11 after O'Gara and Carter traded further penalties and the match became a dour struggle of kicking for territory, ruck and counter-ruck, until Carter broke the deadlock. All Blacks coach Graham Henry said that while pleased with the outcome of his new-look side's first outing, little could be read into the game because of the weather. "I think that game was just a one-off, it is very difficult to judge that game compared to most of the other games you play," he said. "It was a one-off for tactics, a one-off for putting up with those conditions out there and getting through them." The All Blacks meanwhile have added Canterbury Crusaders prop Ben Franks to their squad ahead of the two-Test series against England which begins in Auckland next week. Franks replaces front rower John Afoa who injured his right knee in the Test and is expected to be out of rugby for a month. | The New Zealand national rugby team has defeated the Irish equivalent 21-11 in a home rugby test match at Wellington's Westpac Stadium. New Zealand has not lost to Ireland for 103 years, with one draw being the closest Ireland have come to a victory. The score was tied at 11-11 with 20 minutes remaining in what was New Zealand's first match since exiting the World Cup. However, New Zealand's All Blacks were able to break through Ireland's defences to score a victory. Conditions at Westpac were unusually bitter for the match. "I don't know if I've played in much colder than that," said Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll, and similar thoughts were echoed from All Black counterpart Richie McCaw. "It's probably the coldest game I've ever played in. I've never got cold out on the field but after half-time I was shivering. It was nasty." New Zealand centre Conrad Smith commented that "There was one point there are the end when one of the Irishmen went down that both teams were running around in circles doing their own thing (to keep warm). I just looked around and thought 'this is stupid'." Graham Henry, All Black coach, said that he felt the match had been "a lottery." |
By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday a planned missile shield in Europe is vital to protect against an "emerging Iranian threat" as he pressed an escalating U.S.-led campaign against Tehran. Laying out his position in the clearest terms so far, Bush used a policy speech at the National Defense University to hammer home the theme that Iran poses a grave danger because of its simultaneous pursuit of nuclear and missile technologies. Bush's latest verbal salvo followed his stark warning last week that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War Three, a remark that drew criticism from political opponents at home who accuse him of stoking tensions with Tehran. "The need for missile defense in Europe is real, and I believe it's urgent," Bush said. "Iran is pursuing the technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them." Bush sought to reassure Russia that it need not fear U.S. plans to locate components of the anti-missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, and said Iran would be the key target of such a shield. Trying to shore up international opposition to Iran, the Bush administration has sharpened its rhetoric in the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. Western countries accuse Iran of seeking to build atomic bombs under cover of a civilian program. Tehran denies this. Iran also maintains that its missile program is strictly for self-defense. Bush has said he wants a diplomatic solution, although he has not ruled out military action if all else fails. Continued... ||||| "Russia is not our enemy," said Mr Bush Mr Bush said the missile threat was from the Middle East, not Russia, which strongly opposes sites for the shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. He warned that Iran could have a ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe or the US by 2015. Earlier, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the shield could be delayed while Russian concerns were tackled. Iran threat In a speech at the National Defence University in Washington, Mr Bush said: "The need for missile defence in Europe is real and I believe it's urgent." The mayor of nearby Slubsk is disappointed that the base may be put to this use [US missile defence], rather than turned into a civilian airport and business centre Mark Mardell BBC Europe editor Euroblog: Poland's fears He said the planned system was not designed to tackle missiles from Russia as it would be easily overwhelmed by Moscow's arsenal. "The Cold War is over. Russia is not our enemy," he said. Mr Bush said the US had invited Russia to "join us against an emerging threat that affects us all... we ought to respond to this threat together". The president said if "rogue states" had less confidence their missiles would strike, they would be "less likely to engage in acts of aggression in the first place". Mr Bush also attacked the US Congress for reducing funding to missile shield systems. Earlier, Mr Gates had said activation of the European shield could be delayed until there was "definitive proof" of a missile threat from states such as Iran. He said after meeting Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek in Prague: "We would consider tying together activation of the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with definitive proof of the threat - in other words, Iranian missile testing and so on." The missile shield system would see a radar site set up in the Czech Republic and a missile interceptor base in Poland. Russia has vehemently opposed bases on the territories of its former Warsaw Pact allies. Mr Gates and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received a frosty reception when they tried to sell the plan in Moscow this month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow saw the shield as a "potential threat" to its security and wanted to "neutralise" it. Russian President Vladimir Putin widened the debate by also threatening to abandon a key nuclear missile treaty. He said it would be difficult to remain part of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty unless it was expanded to include more countries than just the US and Russia. ||||| By Kristin Roberts PRAGUE (Reuters) - The United States has proposed delaying the activation of parts of its European missile defense shield if Russia cooperates on the project, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. The U.S. plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of a system Washington says is needed to counter possible attacks from "rogue states" including Iran and North Korea. Russia argues the system would be a threat to its security. Gates said the possible delay was one of the proposals he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice put forward in talks with Russian officials to try to ease Moscow's concern and win its cooperation over the defense system. "We continue to encourage the Russians to partner with us in missile defense and continue our efforts to reassure them that these facilities are not aimed at Russia and could benefit Russia," he said. Gates said activation of the missile shield could depend on "definitive proof" of a threat. "We would consider tying together the activation of the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with definitive proof of the threat, in other words, Iranian missile testing and so on," Gates said. "We have not fully developed this proposal, but the idea was we would go forward with the negotiations, we would complete the negotiations, we would develop the sites, build the sites but perhaps we would delay activating them until there was concrete proof of the threat from Iran," he told reporters in Prague. The Americans also offered to allow the Russians to maintain a presence at the Czech site, to promote transparency. Gates, after meeting with Czech officials, said such an agreement would not be completed without Prague's approval. "Nothing will be done without consent of the Czech government," he said. RUSSIAN OPPOSITION Under Washington's best-case scenario, the European shield would be fully operational in 2013. The Bush administration will be long over by then, leaving to the next president the responsibility to fulfill such promises. President Vladimir Putin said the United States should use a Russian-operated early warning radar in Azerbaijan instead. U.S. officials view that as a potential addition to their plan, not a substitute. Washington's negotiations are ongoing with both the Czech Republic and Poland. Talks with Poland may be delayed after last weekend's election brought to power a party that has promised tougher negotiations over the U.S. plans. Continued... | George W. Bush speaking at NDU on October 23, 2007. In a speech on Tuesday, U.S. President George W. Bush said that deploying a missile shield in Europe is necessary to counter an emerging nuclear threat from Iran. The planned missile shield is strongly opposed by Russia, which sees it as a threat to its security. "The need for missile defense in Europe is real and I believe it's urgent. Iran is pursuing the technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them," Bush said in a speech at the National Defense University. "Today, we have no way to defend Europe against the emerging Iranian threat, so we must deploy a missile defense system there that can." In his speech, Bush emphasized the threat posed by the range of Iran's missiles. "Last November, Iran conducted military exercises in which it launched ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and Turkey," Bush said. He warned that, with "continued foreign assistance", Iran could develop an ICBM capable of reaching the United States by 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that the United States and the West could rely on Russian-operated early warning radar in Azerbaijan to counter missile threats from Iran. The U.S. missile defense plan includes 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said previously that the shield was seen a "potential threat" by Russia and that Russia could take measures to "neutralize" it. In his speech, Bush said that the missile shield was not designed to intercept missiles from Russia and "would be easily overwhelmed by Russia's nuclear arsenal." Also on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates proposed delaying the activation of part of the missile shield if Russia cooperates with the project. "We continue to encourage the Russians to partner with us in missile defense and continue our efforts to reassure them that these facilities are not aimed at Russia and could benefit Russia," Gates said. He also suggested that the missile shield could remain inactive until "definitive proof" of a threat arose. "We would consider tying together the activation of the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with definitive proof of the threat, in other words, Iranian missile testing and so on," he said. |
Google To Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock Combination Will Create New Opportunities for Users and Content Owners Everywhere MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community. The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google's expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet. The combined companies will focus on providing a better, more comprehensive experience for users interested in uploading, watching and sharing videos, and will offer new opportunities for professional content owners to distribute their work to reach a vast new audience. "The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google. "Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers." "Our community has played a vital role in changing the way that people consume media, creating a new clip culture. By joining forces with Google, we can benefit from its global reach and technology leadership to deliver a more comprehensive entertainment experience for our users and to create new opportunities for our partners," said Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube. "I'm confident that with this partnership we'll have the flexibility and resources needed to pursue our goal of building the next-generation platform for serving media worldwide." When the acquisition is complete, YouTube will retain its distinct brand identity, strengthening and complementing Google's own fast-growing video business. YouTube will continue to be based in San Bruno, CA, and all YouTube employees will remain with the company. With Google's technology, advertiser relationships and global reach, YouTube will continue to build on its success as one of the world's most popular services for video entertainment. The number of Google shares to be issued in the transaction will be determined based on the 30-day average closing price two trading days prior to the completion of the acquisition. Both companies have approved the transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006. Webcast and Conference Call Information The company will host a conference call and webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) today to discuss the acquisition. To access the conference call, please dial 800-289-0572 domestic and 913-981-5543 internationally. A replay of the call will be available until midnight Monday, October 16 at 888-203-1112 domestically and 719-457-0820 internationally. Confirmation code for the replay is 2260624. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available at http://investor.google.com/webcast.html. About Google Inc. Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising program provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.google.com. About YouTube Founded in February 2005, YouTube is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, blogs, and e-mail. YouTube currently delivers more than 100 million video views every day with 65,000 new videos uploaded daily and it has quickly become the leading destination on the Internet for video entertainment. Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This document includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding Google's and YouTube's ability to improve their services, create new business models and content-owner opportunities, integration plans, the expected timing for the closing of the acquisition and the plans to operate YouTube independently. These statements are based on the current expectations or beliefs of management of Google Inc., and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the statements herein due to (1) changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, (2) failure to receive regulatory approval for the acquisition, (3) failure to retain the levels of traffic on the YouTube site, (4) failure to compete successfully in this highly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace, (5) failure to retain key employees, (6) other factors affecting the operation of the respective businesses of Google and YouTube, and (7) the failure of YouTube and Google to work together effectively. More detailed information about these factors may be found in filings by Google, as applicable, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including their respective most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Google is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter their respective forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Press Contacts: Google Media: Jon Murchinson 650.253.4437 jonm@google.com Investors: Maria Shim 650.253.7663 marias@google.com YouTube Media: Julie Supan 650.685.6401 press@youtube.com ||||| Error 404 The page you are looking for could not be found. It may have been removed, or is otherwise unavailable. ||||| YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen speak in an online video posted on their website. On this clip on the YouTube website, President Bush is seen giving German Chancellor Angela Merkel an impromptu back rub. YouTube co-founders post online video after deal CTV.ca News Staff The grinning co-founders of YouTube posted their own online video this week, after Google announced it would buy their company for US$1.65 billion. In a message typical of YouTube's many low-quality video blogs, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen briefly discuss the deal before breaking down in laughter. "The most compelling part of this is being able to really concentrate on features and functionality for the community," Chen says in a serious tone. Hurley then adds: "This is great: two kings have gotten together, and we're going to be able to provide you with an even better service and build even more innovative features for you." At the mention of "kings," Chen breaks away from his business partner and starts giggling. Hurly tries to bring him back but Chen laughs and says, "Get your hand off of me!" The sale marks the highest price yet paid for a consumer-generated media site. The all-stock deal also makes YouTube by far the most expensive purchase made by Google during its eight-year history. The deal combines two of the most popular Internet brands: Google, the leading global web search engine and YouTube, a Silicon Valley upstart synonymous with the video-sharing craze. Google is betting YouTube will provide it an increasingly lucrative marketing hub as more viewers and advertisers migrate from television to the Internet. "This is the next step in the evolution of the Internet," Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt told reporters Monday. Selling to Google will give YouTube more technological muscle and advertising know-how, as well as generate a staggering windfall for a company that was running on credit card debt just 20 months ago. YouTube will continue to retain its brand, its new headquarters in San Bruno, CA., and all 67 employees, including co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Meanwhile, Google will continue to run a less popular video service on its own site. "We are excited to have the resources to move faster than ever before," Hurley, YouTube's 29-year-old CEO, told the Associated Press during a Monday interview. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year. Copyright issues However, some cynics have questioned the staying power of YouTube, which grew in 19 months from a start-up in a garage to now serve up 100 million videos daily. While most videos posted on YouTube are homemade, the site also features volumes of copyrighted material -- an issue that has prompted some critics to predict the startup eventually would be sued into oblivion. But Hurley and Chen have spent months cozying up with major media executives in an effort to convince them that YouTube could help them increase profits by connecting them with the growing number of people who spend most of their free time on the Internet. The Google deal was announced the same day that YouTube revealed new partnerships with CBS, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment to allow video clips and music to be featured on its site. "YouTube is committed to balancing the needs of the fan community with those of copyright holders," Hurley said in a statement Monday. The arrangement with CBS allows for short videos from news, sports, primetime programs as well as Showtime to be shown. CBS said it will also offer brief clips from popular series such as Survivor and mini-previews for some of its new fall shows. YouTube's truce with Universal represents a particularly significant breakthrough because the world's largest record company had threatened to sue YouTube for copyright infringement less than a month ago. Google and online video Up to now, Google has been hauling away huge profits from the booming search market, but it hasn't been able to become a major player in online video. That should change now, predicted U.S. Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li. "This gives Google the video play they have been looking for and gives them a great opportunity to redefine how advertising is done," she told AP. In anticipation of the deal, investors pushed shares of Google up US$8.50, or 2 per cent, on Nasdaq on Monday to a closing price of US$429.00 -- a level not seen since late April. In extended hours trade, Google climbed to US $431.55. "This deal looks pretty compelling for Google," Standard & Poor's analyst Scott Kessler told AP. "Google has been doing a lot of things right, but they are not sitting on their laurels." Since the company started in Hurley's garage in February 2005, YouTube has blossomed into a cultural touchstone that shows more than 100 million video clips per day. The video library is eclectic, featuring everything from teenagers goofing off in their rooms to William Shatner singing "Rocket Man" during a 1970s TV show. Most clips are submitted by users. YouTube's worldwide audience was 72.1 million by August, up from 2.8 million a year earlier, according to comScore Media Metrix. Google has around 8,000 employees and is based in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. With files from the Associated Press | 125px On Monday, October 9, 2006, Google Inc. announced its decision to purchase YouTube, the popular video-sharing site, for $1.65 billion in stock. Following the closure of the deal, YouTube will operate independently, "to preserve" its user community and its brand, the announcement said. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google stated "The YouTube team has built an exciting and powerful media platform that complements Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. Our companies share similar values; we both always put our users first and are committed to innovating to improve their experience. Together, we are natural partners to offer a compelling media entertainment service to users, content owners and advertisers." "We are excited to have the resources to move faster than ever before," co-founder Chad Hurley, YouTube's 29-year-old CEO, told the Associated Press during a Monday interview. 100 million videos are watched on the YouTube's flash based site every day, including professional movie and TV clips and music videos, as well as amateur content. |
Mr Thaksin remains a highly divisive figure in Thailand Fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has flown to the Cambodian capital to take up a job as economic adviser to the government. He was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail in neighbouring Thailand in a conflict of interest case. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered Mr Thaksin the advisory post on the eve of a regional summit hosted by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. The Thai government has expressed anger and embarrassment about the deal. Ties between Cambodia and Thailand have been tense in recent months as disputes around a cross-border temple complex have flared. Campaign base fear Mr Thaksin landed in a small private aeroplane and was then escorted into the Cambodian capital by a convoy of cars under tight security. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. "Thaksin is now in Cambodia. He flew in on a special flight and just landed at the military airport," said Khieu Kanharith, Cambodian information minister and the top government spokesman. "We are looking forward to learning from Thaksin's great economic experience and we are convinced that his experience will contribute to our country's economic development," he said. Mr Thaksin, a former telecoms billionaire, is in self-imposed exile and spends much of his time in Dubai. He is scheduled to give a lecture on Thursday to 300 economists at the ministry of finance. Thailand's government is outraged at the Cambodian move, and at Cambodia's apparent rejection of Thailand's judicial imperative to send Mr Thaksin to jail. The Thai government and its supporters also fear that Mr Thaksin could use his new home just across the border as a campaign base. Mr Abhisit's government was appointed after defections in parliament followed a period of military rule since the coup in 2006 which deposed Mr Thaksin. It recalled its ambassador from Cambodia over its appointment of Mr Thaksin after Cambodia would refuse to extradite the tycoon because it considered him a victim of political persecution. A government spokesman told the BBC that Cambodia valued Mr Thaksin's leadership qualities and business experience and that he would be an asset to the country. ||||| AFP - Fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra arrived in Cambodia to start work as a government economic adviser Tuesday, fuelling tensions after deadly clashes between the two countries. Thailand has expressed outrage at Cambodia's appointment of Thaksin, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006, and says it will seek the extradition of the billionaire tycoon to serve a two-year jail term for corruption. In the field: "It's almost certain that Cambodia is taking advantage of Thailand's domestic problems and adding to it" To take advantage of all the features on FRANCE24.COM, please click here to download the latest version of Flash Player. By The row has plunged relations between the neighbouring countries to their lowest for years, with Thailand and Cambodia recalling their respective ambassadors and Bangkok threatening to close their border.Thaksin landed in a small private jet at Phnom Penh International Airport and was then escorted into the capital by a convoy of cars under tight security after his early morning arrival, said an AFP photographer at the scene."It is an honour for Cambodia's economic sector and we hope that Cambodians nationwide welcome him warmly," Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan told a press conference after Thaksin's arrival.Thaksin is due to address 300 Cambodian economics experts in Phnom Penh on Thursday.Phay Siphan said Thaksin and Cambodian premier Hun Sen, who are close friends, would likely share a welcoming lunch, and the fugitive leader was expected to stay in the country for "two or three days".Thaksin, the colourful former owner of Manchester City football club, is living in a variety of foreign locations including Dubai to avoid the jail term imposed by a Thai court in absentia in September 2008.Thaksin won two elections and remains a massively influential figure in Thai politics after his five years in power, stirring up mass protests by so-called "Red Shirt" supporters against the current government.His presence on Thailand's doorstep is the closest he has come since he last fled the country in August 2008, a move that is likely to alarm the shaky coalition government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.Thaksin insisted in an open letter published on his website late Monday that he would "not go to Cambodia to help Cambodia fight with Thailand"."As I travel to Cambodia to discuss poverty and the world economic situation, I will try to preserve Thai interests with our friends in Phnom Penh, despite the Thai government still hounding me wherever I go," he wrote.But tensions between Thailand and Cambodia remain high following a series of deadly skirmishes on their disputed border near Cambodia's 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, the last of which was in April.The temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in July 2008, stoking nationalist tensions on both sides.Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Bangkok would seek Thaksin's extradition from Cambodia "in one or two days" as soon as the foreign ministry has confirmed Thaksin's address in Phnom Penh.Thailand's cabinet had also formally agreed to cancel an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia that was signed during Thaksin's time in power.Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said his country would not send Thaksin home to face justice in Thailand and was "not concerned about these issues"."We will not extradite him (Thaksin). We already clarified this case because he is a political victim," Koy Kuong told AFP Tuesday.Thailand stepped up pressure on Thaksin Monday, accusing him of "violating" the country's revered monarchy after he was quoted in an interview as calling for the reform of royal institutions.Thailand remains bitterly divided between Thaksin's main support base among the poor, especially in rural areas, and his foes in the Bangkok-based elite power circles of the palace, military and bureaucracy.Thaksin's visit to Cambodia meanwhile threatens to take the shine off a summit of Southeast Asian leaders with US President Barack Obama that Thailand's Abhisit is due to chair on Sunday in Singapore. | Thaksin ShinawatraFormer Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived today in Cambodia where he will take up a post as the government's economic advisor. The appointment has caused a diplomatic incident between the two countries, as Shinawatra was condemned to two years in jail ''in absentia'' for corruption. Tension is already mounting, with the Thai government expressing both anger and embarrassment over the appointment. They have withdrawn their ambassador and have decided to cancel plans with the Cambodian government for trade and oil exploration. This comes amidst disputes over the Preah Vihear temple complex which spans both countries. Thailand has further threatened to close borders with its neighbour. Thaksin will address 300 Cambodian economics experts on Thursday in Phnom Penh and is expected to remain "two or three days" according to Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan. "It is an honour for Cambodia's economic sector and we hope that Cambodians nationwide welcome him warmly," he announced. Cambodian information minister Khieu Kanharith also welcomed Thaksin. "We are looking forward to learning from Thaksin's great economic experience and we are convinced that his experience will contribute to our country's economic development," he said. A coup in 2006 ousted Thaksin after members of parliament defected during military rule. Since then he has been in exile, mostly living in Dubai. He is still influential in Thailand, using protests by the Red Shirts, and the Thai government fears that Thaksin will use Cambodia as base to campaign. However, Thaksin published a letter on his website on Monday indicating that he did not intend to "go to Cambodia to help Cambodia fight with Thailand ... As I travel to Cambodia to discuss poverty and the world economic situation, I will try to preserve Thai interests with our friends in Phnom Penh, despite the Thai government still hounding me wherever I go," he stated. Cambodia has made it clear that they will not extradite Thaksin. Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said that regarding the jail sentence they are "not concerned about these issues ... We already clarified this case because he is a political victim." |
By dpa news. Indonesian authorities lifted off double tsunami warnings Thursday after two more strong aftershocks rocked the Sumatran island, adding fresh fears among thousands of residents that stayed outdoors following the initial powerful tremblor the night before. Officials at Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said another 6.7-magnitude aftershock rattled Sumatra shortly before 9 am (0200 GMT), after an earlier 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 6:49 am (2349 GMT Wednesday). Both aftershocks triggered government authorities to issue tsunami warnings, but they were lifted after no waves materialized, officials said. The USGS said the first new quake on Thursday was centered about 200 kilometres from Bengkulu, a city on Sumatra. It occurred at a shallow depth of about 10 kilometres. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii warned Thursday's quake had the potential to generate a destructive regional tsunami along coasts within 600 miles of the epicentre. It advised authorities to take immediate action to evacuate coastal areas. Thursday's quake caused extensive damage in Padang, a local official said. "Many buildings collapsed after this morning's quake," Fauzi Bahar, the mayor, told El Shinta radio. "We're still trying to find out about victims. On Wednesday, a powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake shook South-East Asia, collapsing buildings, killing at least five people and injuring dozens in Indonesia. That tremor triggered a small non-destructive tsunami off the coastal city of Padang on Sumatra, the Indonesian island ravaged by the 2004 tsunami disaster. A tsunami warning was issued for wide areas of the region and nations as far away as Sri Lanka. Officials said at least three people were killed in Bengkulu provincial capital from Wednesday's powerful quake, while more than a dozen were injured. dpa ff sh pw ||||| A resident looks at a collapsed building after a strong earthquake struck in Padang, Indonesia's West Sumatra province. (REUTERS/Singgalang- Muhammad Fitrah) Second earthquake rattles western Indonesia PADANG, Indonesia: Powerful earthquakes and dozens of aftershocks jolted Indonesia, damaging hundreds of houses and spawning a three-meter-high (10-foot-high) tsunami. But a quirk of nature sent the full force of the waves out to sea, and there was no repeat of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. At least 10 people were killed and scores injured in the three strongest tremors, which struck within a 24-hour period. Afraid the worst was yet to come, hundreds of residents spent Thursday night sleeping in parks or on sidewalks. The 8.4-magnitude quake that first shook Southeast Asia on Wednesday was the strongest this year. But the huge mass of water it spawned was pushed to sea rather than land, said Mike Turnbull, a seismologist at Australia's Central Queensland University. "It's a quirk of nature that this is how it happened," he said, noting that pressure between the shifting Australian Indian and Asian plates has been building up over hundreds of thousands of years. "It could have quite easily have been the other way." A three-meter (10-foot) wall of water slammed into at least one fishing village on Sumatra, the island ravaged by the 2004 disaster that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen nations. Rukhlan, a 43-year-old angler, said residents of the village, Muara Maras, were horrified when they saw the ocean retreat and then race back to shore. "I heard people screaming and yelling tsunami! tsunami!" he said. "I ran to find my children, but they had already gone to the hills." A 65-year-old woman, Asiah, felt weak when the earth started moving beneath her. "I was having difficulty breathing or walking," she said. "I was afraid. My son grabbed hold of me and carried me out of the house. All I could do was pray." A dozen houses were swept out to sea. Smaller waves were recorded further down the coast and on at least one nearby island. Two powerful temblors — magnitudes 7.8 and 7.1 — followed on Thursday off Sumatra and a smaller quake also shook Sulawesi island, thousands of kilometers (miles) to the east, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Indonesia issued and then lifted tsunami warnings throughout the day, the last one for a 6.2-magnitude tremor that struck at 11:09 p.m. The worst destruction was caused by the jolts along the coast, especially in the Sumatran city of Padang. Almost all the quakes were less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the shore and around 20 kilometers (12 miles) deep, the USGS said. "At least five large buildings — including mosques, houses and a school — collapsed," said Surya Budhi, who was overseeing emergency response in the area, and rescuers were searching for survivors at a badly damaged car dealership. A fire also broke out on the fourth floor of a shopping mall. Yulinar, a fisherman's wife who lives with her husband and five children in a wooden shack at a waterfront market in Padang, said the magnitude-7.8 quake that struck at 6:49 a.m. was so powerful she had to grab onto a table to keep from falling down. "It was very bad," said Yulinar, who fled inland with her family after a tsunami warning from the mayor was broadcast through mosque speakers. "I was so scared the tsunami was coming." The 7.1 quake pounded Sumatra at 10:35 a.m. More than 30 aftershocks have rattled the region in the last day and many people refused to return to their homes, fearing a repeat of the 2004 tsunami. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths in that disaster were in nearby Aceh province. Telephone lines and electricity were disrupted across a large swath of Indonesia, making it difficult to get information about damage and casualties. Death tolls released by several agencies ranged from five to 10. Rustam Pakaya, the chief of Health Crisis Center, gave the latter figure, which was based on information gathered from local hospitals, clinics and regional health offices. He said at least 49 people were injured. Sensitive to criticism about slow responses to the 2004 tsunami triggered by a monster magnitude-9 quake, governments issued alerts as far away as Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, telling people to leave beaches. People in Mombasa, Kenya, crowded into buses after hearing the warning over the radio. Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center sent cell-phone text messages alerting hundreds of officials in six southern provinces, and authorities also were told to prepare in India's remote Andaman and Nicobar islands. Sri Lankans were told to move at least 200 meters (650 feet) inland. ||||| Versión en Español Earthquake Summary Earthquake Summary Poster The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred IN THE KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI REGION, INDONESIA, about 185 km (115 miles) SSE of Padang, Sumatra or about 755 km (470 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java at 5:49 PM MDT, Sep 12, 2007 (Sep 13 at 6:49 AM local time in Indonesia). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. Earthquakes of this type sometimes cause tsunamis, however the USGS has no information that an actual tsunami has been generated. For information about tsunamis, contact the NOAA Tsunami Warning Centers at http://tsunami.gov. Felt Reports Casualties and damage are included with the event at 11:10 UTC. Felt (VI) at Padang and (IV) at Aceh Singkil and Sibolga. Tectonic Summary The magnitude 8.4 and 7.8 southern Sumatra earthquakes of September 12, 2007 occurred as the result of thrust faulting on the boundary between the Australia and Sunda plates. At the location of these earthquakes, the Australia plate moves northeast with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of about 60 mm/year. The direction of relative plate motion is oblique to the orientation of the plate boundary offshore of the west coast of Sumatra. The component of plate-motion perpendicular to the boundary is accommodated by thrust faulting on the offshore plate-boundary. Much of the component of plate motion parallel to the plate boundary is accommodated by strike-skip faulting on the Sumatra fault, which is inland on Sumatra proper. The magnitude 8.4 earthquake of September 12, 2007 is the fourth earthquake of magnitude greater than 7.9 to have occurred in the past decade on or near the plate boundaries offshore of western Sumatra. This earthquake occurred just north of the source region of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake on June 4, 2000. The September 12, 2007 magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred about 225 km northwest of the magnitude 8.4 earthquake at the northern end of the aftershock zone. These two earthquakes and their aftershocks overlay the southern portion of the estimated 1833 rupture zone, which extends from approximately Eggano Island to the northern portion of Siberut Island. The great magnitude 9.1 earthquake of December 26, 2004, which produced the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of that date, ruptured much of the boundary separating the India plate and the Burma plate. Immediately to the south of the great 2004 earthquake, the magnitude 8.6 Nias Island earthquake of March 28, 2005, ruptured a segment of the plate boundary separating the Australia and Sunda plates. Since the December 26, 2004 earthquake, much of the Sunda trench between the northern Andaman Islands to Eggano Island, a distance of more than 2,000 km, has ruptured in a series of large subduction zone earthquakes. Tectonic Summary PDF Modern Ruptures PDF Earthquake Information for Asia Earthquake Information for Indonesia Tsunami Information | Shake map of the quake. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a second massive earthquake, magnitude 7.8 struck Indonesia at 6:49 a.m. (local time) 23:49 (UTC). The epicenter of the earthquake was located 185 kilometers (115 miles) south, southeast of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia with a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). Just hours ago on September 12, a massive 8.4 quake struck in the same region killing six people and injuring hundreds. Several aftershocks have rocked the same area, the latest measuring 7.1, had a depth of 10 km. It was first reported to be a 7.3 aftershock. Location map of quake. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had issued a tsunami warning saying that the quake had the potential to "generate a destructive local tsunami and sometimes regional destructive tsunamis along coasts located usually no more than a thousand kilometers from the earthquake epicenter," but it was later lifted because no tsunamis were generated. Australia was also included in the warning. An advisory was sent out for the 6.5 aftershock stating that there was "no widespread tsunami threat based on earthquake historical data." There is no word on injuries, deaths, or damage, but the USGS states that damage could be "moderate to heavy." The quake was felt in Singapore where buildings are reported to have shook. |
From the White House to the West Coast, first-time urban gardeners are getting their hands dirty Click photo to enlarge « 1 » Zig-zagging her cart past the wall of compost manure, around the few brave pots empty and shivering out in the late winter sunlight, Andrea Versenyi arrived, at last, at the root of her night-rousing visions: row upon row of bright, shiny seed packets. She was, she admitted, a tad leery about carrots, intimidated by broccoli. But still, she forged on, fingering her way through the vegetable alphabet — arugula straight through zucchini. "Let it be known that I have no idea what I'm doing, but that's OK. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed," she announced, more or less to the packets themselves, as she lifted one marked Early Sweet Sugar Pie Pumpkin. She then whirled into what would become her mantra, intended to calm her newborn agricultural angst: "This is an experiment. This is my starter garden, right?" Versenyi, 48, calls herself a "timid urban gardener." Only once before, back in the side yard of her childhood home in the Berkshires, has she ever dabbled in underground foods, back then trying for potatoes and carrots. "Not much yield," she deadpans. "Three 2-inch carrots was all." This year, though, she sees a patch thick with beans and cherry tomatoes in her Evanston side yard. She dares to dream of one sweet cantaloupe. And leaf after leaf of lettuce. Heck, she's already set on the vinaigrette — tremulous optimist that she is. Versenyi is hardly alone, wide-eyed and quaking out in her not-yet-turned vegetable plot. On March 20, Michelle Advertisement Obama and 23 fifth-graders from Washington, D.C.'s Bancroft Elementary broke ground on what will be the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn of the White House. The 1,100-square-foot plot will grow 55 varieties of vegetables, from tomatilloes to Thai basil; the whole family, even President Obama, will be enlisted for weed-pulling duties. According to the National Gardening Association, some 9 million Americans are set, for the very first time, to press sole to shovel and carve out a swath of what might be called the New American Kitchen Garden — or the Liberty Plot, or Just Plain Old Common Sense Laid Out in Rows — we might, this growing season, be a nation in need of some collective back-forty quelling. What's rumbling just under the sod here is part reclaiming the Earth, part a chance to swat back the Recession and part the ol' American can-do credo. It adds up to a vigor for vegetable plots — everywhere, it seems, they're being sketched, laid out with strings and stakes and sky-high hopes — that hasn't been seen since one Eleanor Roosevelt dug up the White House lawn amid the food crunch of World War II and birthed a nation of victory gardens. All in all, it's estimated that 43 million American households will be poking in seeds and, if all goes according to plan, plucking backyard edibles. With so many vegetable-coaxing virgins among the hoe-heaving masses, we dug up Five Vegetable Tonics guaranteed — OK, so you might want to cross your fingers here — to soothe those first-time jitters and put to bed the new-farmer blues. Tonic No. 1: If you can figure this out, you'll never go hungry. "The ability to grow a vegetable is a survival skill akin to swimming," says Versenyi, as she steers her blue van toward the big-box store with the A-to-Z seed rack. "I wouldn't let my children grow up without knowing how to swim. I feel like if something ever were to happen ..." She lets the sentence dangle, before picking up again. "I mean, who expected World War II to ravage my father's peaceful little village in Hungary? Who expected earthquakes in China? Things happen. I should know how to grow food." Tonic No. 2: This growing thing, it's in your genes. Really, just dig, dig, dig. Jeanne Pinsof Nolan is a former "eco-extremist" who lived and worked on three organic farms before returning to her North Shore Chicago roots. Five years ago she launched The Organic Gardener, her full-service garden firm (theorganicgardener.net), and, this year, she can barely keep up with demand. "People need a lot of coaching the first year," says Pinsof Nolan, who will swing by for a one-time consult or plant and maintain the whole plot, right down to the white picket fence with climbing sweet peas and pole beans. "As a whole, our society is quite a few generations removed from when everyone grew most of their food. Not a lot of people feel confident buying a book and going for it. But I find that the instinct is rekindled pretty quickly once you teach the basic principles." Pinsof Nolan has had her share of frantic calls from first-timers. There's the did-I-let-my-broccoli- go-too-long hysteria. And "I've definitely had some rabbit emergencies," she adds. Tonic No. 3: It's not as hard as it looks. In Hyde Park, Justin Shelton — who grew up on a large hobby farm in, get this, Farmland, Ind. (ZIP code 47340, look it up, lest you think we're yankin' your carrot here) — has become something of the neighborhood vegetable-growing guru to his flock of timid urban gardeners. "You would think that gardening was alchemy," says Shelton, who works in the University of Chicago's department of human genetics but astounds his neighbors even more so with his knack for making broccoli pop up from the ground. "People just don't know where vegetables come from, or how they're grown," says Shelton, who tills a small plot in a Hyde Park community garden, and has inspired three or four backyard gardeners on his block. "I was raised growing plants from seed. This stuff, I kind of absorbed it just as I grew up." His prescription for those suffering vegetable qualms: "Just plant something and see what happens. I'm always afraid that people think it's going to be a lot more difficult than it is. Plants want to grow. Seeds want to grow. And it will happen." Tonic No. 4: Lookin' for a second chance at livin'? "Your life begins when you start growing your vegetables," declares Vicki Nowicki of Downers Grove, Ill., who has been teaching and preaching the gospel of backyard organics for some 30 years, and whose classes this year at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle filled to capacity and spilled onto a waiting list. "You just come alive as a human being. This is your birthright, our oldest profession." Come the height of summer, you can barely see clear across Nowicki's backyard Eden, the 80-by-60 plot she calls her "exuberance of biologic diversity," what with the 20-some varieties of heirloom tomatoes, kale, pole beans, Brussels sprouts, rhubarb, squash, carrots and, oh, that's just the start of it. But once upon a time, Nowicki, too, felt like a worm out of dirt, the first time she set foot in a garden. She'd grown up with a "mother who opened up cans" when it came time for feasting. But somewhere deep inside, from generations ago, "I just think (the knack for growing) was in me and it didn't get pounded out of me." Tonic No. 5: What, you think it's harder than raising a human? Here's how that timid urban gardener Versenyi, who, by the way, is a mother of two — Beni, 7, and Ada, who is about to turn 5 — puts it: "You know what I'm thinking? I make a million parenting mistakes a day, and my kids are still alive at bedtime. I assume I can make mistakes with vegetables, too, and they'll still grow. They're going to be forgiving, don't you think?" ||||| Des Moines, IA – Some Iowa families may not spend as much time as usual in the produce aisle at the supermarket this summer. They have planted "recession gardens" to save money on their food budget. A report by the National Gardening Association predicts a 19-percent increase in home gardening this year. Veteran Iowa gardener Beverly Bernhard, who is also a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa, warns people not to count on saving lots of money by growing their own food instead of buying it. However, she tells them, the real savings are in the quality of food that makes it to their table. "I do believe you'll find there's an extra expense in actually producing your own food, but the food quality you get is far better than what you can purchase in a store." A lot of people would like to have access to organic foods but can't afford to buy them, she says, but now they can - by growing their own. Bernhard says you don't need a lot of land, just something to grow plants in. "The easiest way to get started is to find a container or a little piece of ground, till it up and throw a seed in it. It isn't that difficult." Some items, like zucchini and lettuce, provide a lot of food value with little work. Bernhard says the best return on your investment of time and money is to care for what you've planted, so you get the highest yield. ||||| TALKBACK First Lady Promotes Healthy Eating with White House Vegetable Garden By Laura Weiss -- School Library Journal,03/23/2009 Like a high school cheerleader determined to fire up the fans before the big game, First Lady Michelle Obama pumped her arm in the air and let out a rousing cheer. “Let’s hear it for vegetables,” she yelled. “Let’s hear it for fruits.” The First Lady, White House Horticulturist Dale Haney, and kids from Bancroft Elementary School break ground for a White House garden. Photo:White House / Joyce N. Boghosian The occasion was the March 20 groundbreaking of the new organic White House kitchen garden—the first full-fledged vegetable plot on White House grounds since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a victory garden during World War II. On a crisp first day of spring, about two dozen fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, DC, dug and raked the soil to get it ready for planting. The students, who already tend a garden at their school, will return later in the spring and summer to plant and harvest the crops. Then, they’ll be invited into the White House kitchen to help prepare them. The gardening effort reflects the First Lady’s persistent call for healthful eating. Obama has spoken often about the importance of nutritious eating, the problem of childhood obesity, and of the challenges involved in getting her two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, to eat more healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. “I’ve been able to have my kids eat so many different things that they would have never touched if we had bought them at a store,” Obama told the gathering of students and about a half dozen White House kitchen staff. The 1,100-square-foot L-shaped plot is situated on the White House South Lawn and will produce a variety of fruits and vegetables—from spinach and peas to herbs, shallots, and berries. The food will be used to help feed the first family (the entire Obama family, including the president, will be expected to pull weeds and harvest crops), as well as guests at state dinners and other official functions. There will also be two beehives installed. After years of lobbying for a White House garden—and for strengthened child nutrition and sustainable agricultural policies—food activists voiced praise for the First Family’s foray into food growing. “For advocates of sustainable and healthy foods, this harvest of good news was as welcome as the summer’s first red-ripe tomato,” says Roger Doiron, founder of the nonprofit Kitchen Gardeners International and leader of a petition campaign asking the Obamas to plant a White House Garden. But others, while expressing support for the Obama’s gardening initiative, said more concrete steps need to be taken to bolster nutritious eating among the nation’s children and families. “It’s such a wonderful first step for the Obama family,” says Ann Cooper, a staunch advocate for school lunch reform and nutrition services director for the Berkeley school system. But Cooper insisted that if the First Lady “really cares about kids and food,” that her efforts should focus on reauthorizing the federal child nutrition program, which funds the school lunch and other school efforts. The law is up First Lady breaking ground with kids from Bancroft Elementary School. Photo: White House / Joyce N. Boghosian . for reauthorization this year. “We need more money, better guidelines, and training for staff before we can really have an impact,” she says. Though recent presidents have undertaken only modest gardening projects, there’s plenty of presidential precedent for the Obamas’ agricultural initiative. President John Adams planted the first garden in 1800, Andrew Jackson erected a greenhouse to grow tropical fruits, and in 1918, Woodrow Wilson enlisted sheep to mow and fertilize the White House lawn. Millions of Americans planted gardens during World War II, inspired by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s White House garden. Post a comment Return to article View other article discussions Submitted by: Trudy V. M-Skibbe (tskibbe@verizon.net) 3/26/2009 8:19:01 PM PT Location: United States Occupation: retired health & physical education teacher Submitted by: sarah farr 3/25/2009 8:08:06 PM PT Location: maryland As a retired teacher from the Great Valley School District in Malvern, PA, I am excited to be working with a new program our food service coordinator has initiated - "From Farm to Fork". We will be growing vegetables to serve our students, enlisting the services of the school and community population, using the garden as an educational tool,etc. It is a wonderful way to get all people of all ages working towards a healthy community.As a parent, I am so happy that Mrs. Obama is promoting fruits and vegetables. The government can do so much to help encourage healthy eating habits. When Congress renews the Child Nutrition Act it must encourage schools to serve healthier meals. Low-fat, cholesterol-free vegetarian foods need to be more affordable, and schools that serve nutritious foods (fruits, vegetables, vegetarian options) should receive additional funding. There is a group that is collecting signatures to try to get vegetarian options in school lunches. You can find it online at www.HealthySchoolLunches.org. Post a comment Return to article View other article discussions ||||| CantonRep.com staff writer Worries about health and the economy have more people turning to their backyards for food. A successful garden takes much work, caring and some knowledge, experts say. “There is more interest in vegetable gardens similar to the victory gardens,” said Fred Hanacek, a master gardener who volunteers Tuesday mornings at the Ohio State University Extension Service office in Massillon. He answers gardening questions and provides information to those who call in. “Because of the economy, they are being called recession gardens.” Another reason for the rising popularity? People want to know where their food is coming from. “In addition to saving on groceries, there has been a movement to organic gardening, leading to more vegetable gardens being planted and enjoyed,” said Hanacek’s wife, Marielies. “Recent salmonella scares have made growing your own vegetables more desirable. Not only that, but when you grow your own, the vegetables are fresher.” WHAT TO GROW So what can you grow in Stark County’s clay-based dirt? Hanacek said a variety of vegetables grow here, including lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green and snap beans, beets, radishes and peppers. Sweet corn also grows great, but it takes more space than the other plants, Hanacek said. The Hanaceks already have started their vegetable garden in cold-frame beds, where they have planted spinach, celery, rosemary and lettuce. Cold frames are used for tempering or hardening plants to outdoor conditions before transplanting. There is no quick and easy way to have a garden, said the master gardener. “You just can’t wave a magic wand over an area and expect to have a garden.” Richard Downin of Plain Township knows that’s true. “It takes a lot of work, especially in the beginning, when starting a garden,” he said, noting he has been gardening off and on for the past 25 to 30 years. “I have built my soil up over the years with grass clippings and leaves. I mulch up the leaves and put them over my garden area, and I add some lime every couple years. It isn’t that expensive, because I have a bagger on my mower so I keep the grass clippings every year and add that to my mulched leaves. READY TO PLANT “If you do the work in the fall, the ground is ready for planting in the spring,” he said. “What I do is I put a heavy coat of clippings and mulch on in September or October, then take my tiller and work it under. If you leave the leaves on top, the ground won’t dry out.” He also adds the lime in the fall to help break down the soil. Of course, he said, once he plants his crop in the spring, he keeps them watered until they start blooming, then he lets nature take its course. “I plant about 15 tomato plants and about six pepper plants,” he said. He either freezes or cans his vegetables so he has them all year long. His preference are celebrity tomatoes and block peppers. “They grow pretty well for me.” See the show The Repository and the Building Industry Association of Stark County’s Home and Garden Show kicks off today at noon and will continue through Sunday at the Stark County Fairgrounds at 401 Wertz Ave. NW in Canton. Admission is $7 at the door. Children 12 and younger will be admitted free. Visitors will be able to purchase plants from landscapers. Old Carolina Barbecue Co. will be the featured food vendor and the Home Appliance Co. booth will provide soup for a donation to benefit the Canton Ex-Newsboys Association. Featured landscapers will include Slaughter Landscaping, Classico Landscaping, Andy’s Lawn Care, Miller’s Green House, Green Acres Lawn & Landscaping, Rock Hill Landscaping, Foraker Landscaping, Brothers Grimm Landscape & Design and Anthony Petitti Garden Center & Landscape. Hours are noon to 8 p.m. tonight, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Stark County Fairgrounds. | A Victory garden poster from World War II. With the United States in a recession, more and more people are looking for ways to spend less money and get a better bargain at the same time. In a time where prices are higher, 'recession gardens' are becoming increasingly popular, echoing the victory gardens which were planted during World War I and World War II which helped to reduce the stress and pressure of food shortages. "There is more interest in vegetable gardens similar to the victory gardens. Because of the economy, they are being called recession gardens," said a master gardener who volunteers at Ohio State University's Extension Service office, Fred Hanacek. The new fad recently caught on in Iowa where families have began to plant the recession gardens to save money in the produce sections of supermarkets, especially organic fruits and vegetables. Public News Service quotes the National Gardening Association (NGA) as saying that they expect a nearly 20% increase in personal home garden across the U.S.. Some of the increase is also due to people wanting to know what goes onto their vegetables and in their foods. "I do believe you'll find there's an extra expense in actually producing your own food, but the food quality you get is far better than what you can purchase in a store," said Beverly Bernhard a veteran gardener from Iowa. The new trend has also gotten the attention of U.S. president Barack Obama who recently stated that he plans to plant a vegetable garden at the White House. It will be the first vegetable garden to be planted at the White House in over 20 years. The last time a garden of this kind was planted at the White House was in World War II when Eleanor Roosevelt planted her Victory Garden. In 1800, former U.S. president John Adams is reported to have planted the first White House garden. Andrew Jackson went a bit further, building a greenhouse. Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the United States, broke ground on the new garden with the fifth grade class at Bancroft Elementary located in Washington, D.C. on March 20. The garden, which will be 1,100 square feet and an 'L' shape, will be located on the White House's South Lawn and the Obamas plan to grow over 55 varieties of vegetables. "Let’s hear it for vegetables. Let’s hear it for fruits," yelled Mrs. Obama as they broke ground on the garden. "I’ve been able to have my kids eat so many different things that they would have never touched if we had bought them at a store," she added. Mrs. Obama also said that it will be the entire family's responsibility to maintain the garden, including the U.S. president. Many vegetables grow easily, without having to do a lot of work to maintain them. Some examples are lettuce and zucchini. The NGA says at least 9 million Americans will grow vegetable gardens for the first time ever in 2009. An estimated 43 million Americans will plant their own personal vegetable gardens this year. |
Bounty raised for radioman’s killers CATARMAN, Northern Samar -- The Catholic church, local officials and media here condemned the killing of broadcaster Leo Luna Mila in San Roque town on December 2, and called on authorities to ensure the arrest of the killers. The police provincial office has formed a task force to handle the investigation of the murder as two local politicians raised a P100,000 reward for any information leading to the capture of the killers The Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development (SIPPAD), a group composed of representatives from various sectors and government agencies, and organized by the three dioceses in Samar, has condemned Mila's killing, which they described as "another assault on press freedom." The joint statement was signed by the three bishops of Samar -- Emmanuel Trance of Catarman, Isabelo C. Abarquez of Calbayog City, and Crispin B. Varquez of Borongan -- Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone and 20 other SIPPAD members. Northern Samar Governor Raul Daza, in a separate statement, also denounced the killing of Mila, whom he described as a "hardworking mediaman" and "a close friend." The Media Organization as Vehicle for Empowerment (MOVE) in Northern Samar also drafted a resolution condemning the murder of their colleague. Daza and San Roque Mayor Andre Avalon offered a cash reward of P100,000 for anyone who could give information leading to the arrest of Mila's killers. Senior Inspector Eusebio Mejos, Northern Samar police provincial director, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) by phone that his office has organized Task Force Mila to investigate the killing. The task force is composed of Chief Inspector Jesus Miranda, head of the police provincial investigative and detective management services office; the San Roque police chief, Inspector Enrique Dino; and the other investigators of the police provincial command. ||||| HEADLINE FEARING IT may not be able to hold credible elections in May, the Commission on Elections suggested it may have... ||||| Posted at 12/03/2008 9:22 AM | Updated as of 12/03/2008 9:22 AM A broadcast journalist was gunned down in front of a radio station in San Roque town in Northern Samar province, police said Wednesday. Chief Superintendent Abner Cabalquinto, Eastern Visayas regional police director, identified the slain journalist as Leo Mina of Radyo Natin. Cabalquinto said Mina was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in front of the Radyo Natin station in Barangay Poblacion. The police official said Mina could have been killed for being a hard-hitting radio commentator. He said the broadcast journalist has been hitting the New People's Army’s extortion activities in Samar in his radio program. With Noel Alamar, dzMM ||||| Sections Links Looking for the list of sections? Click here Breaking News LOCAL NEWS: IFJ: RP most dangerous country in Asia-Pacific for radio broadcasters By Alexa Villano The International federation of Journalists (IFJ) has ranked the Philippines as the most dangerous country in Asia-Pacific, following the murder of a radio broadcaster in Northern Samar Tuesday. The group is demanding an explanation from President Arroyo for the government’s “lack of protection” for journalists. Leo Luna Mila, 35, of Radyo Natin was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. “It is with great despair that we report the loss of another courageous journalist in the Philippines at the hands of murderers,” IFJ Asia-Pacific said in a statement. “The failure of Arroyo’s government to show true resolve in protecting journalists in the Philippines is a disservice not only to the media as a pillar of democracy but to the general public whose right to information these journalists defend,” the group added. View previous articles from this author. Article Options Printer Friendly | Email Article | Share » | Translate to Tagalog Delicio.us Digg Reddit Related Articles DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in this section are those of the readers and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of philstar.com or any of its sister publications. Philstar.com does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. FEEDBACK POLICY: Only comments directly related to the article open for comment will be allowed for posting. The moderator will delete all other comments. Even when the comment is relevant to the topic, the moderator will also delete posts that contain foul language, personal attacks against anybody or against institutions, are sarcastic and promote an atmosphere of negativity, those posted more than once and written in bold or capital letters or contain special characters and images, and those that promote products, services, and blogs. ||||| 12/04/2008 | 08:51 AM - Dismayed over the killing of a radio commentator in Northern Samar last Tuesday, a New York-based media watchdog group urged the Philippine government Thursday to act on what it called a rise in fatal attacks on journalists.The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) lamented that no witness has so far come forward to provide clues on the killing of Leo Mila."It is time for the central government, as well as local authorities, to promptly address the climate of impunity that is facilitating rising violence against Philippine journalists," CPJ Asia program coordinator Bob Dietz said in a statement on its website Thursday morning (Manila time)."Mila's murder is a reminder that police throughout the Philippines must respond immediately with investigations and protection when journalists are threatened for their work," he added.Mila was shot dead outside the local station office of Radyo Natin in San Roque town in Northern Samar province Tuesday night.Radio employees alerted police after hearing gunfire and finding Mila's abandoned motorcycle still running outside.Mila had reported receiving death threats, even as colleagues believe he was targeted for his work.Department of Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor on Wednesday said he has dispatched a team to look into the killing. Blancalfor heads Task Force 211, an agency under the DOJ looking into journalist killings in the country.CPJ noted at least five other journalists have been ambushed and slain this year, with the gunmen attacking in public areas and escaping by motorcycle.The CPJ is investigating the November 17 murder of another Radyo Natin journalist, Arecio Padrigo, for links to his work.Padrigo was gunned down on southern Mindanao Island in an incident that appeared to be a targeted attack.Outspoken radio commentators Dennis Cuesta and Martin Roxas both received death threats before being shot and killed for reports on politic issues in their local areas, CPJ confirmed.The unrelated attacks occurred within a few days of each other in August.On the other hand, two print journalists, publisher Benefredo Acabal and columnist Bert Sison, were also shot dead this year. The motive for these two attacks has not been confirmed.CPJ noted its global campaign to combat impunity for journalist murders focuses initially on Russia and the Philippines. ||||| Broadcaster slain in N. Samar CATARMAN, Northern Samar -- (UPDATE 4) A broadcaster was shot dead by unidentified assailants in San Roque town, 20 kilometers east of here, early Tuesday evening, police said. Police said Leo Luna Mila, 35, a news anchorman and commentator of Radyo Natin, was found lying in a pool of blood a few feet from the gate of the station, an affiliate of the Manila Broadcasting Company, in Sitio (sub-village) Napiris, Barangay (village) Zone 3, a kilometer from the San Roque town center. Police said Mila bore about 12 gunshot wounds, several of them in the head. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Mila is the seventh journalist murdered this year and the 62nd since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power. Mila had just finished his afternoon program Himig Waraynon (Sound of the Waray) and was about to leave the station compound on his motorcycle when he was shot, Maricel Pedernales, caretaker of the radio station, said. Pedernales said she heard a burst of gunfire from the compound's gate, about 100 meters from the radio station's main building. When she went to check, she found the victim's motorcycle lying on the ground but she could not see Mila as it was very dark in the area. People living in nearby houses also heard the gunshots but no one claimed to have seen the shooting. San Roque police chief Senior Inspector Enrique Dino told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) that he had cautioned Mila about his commentaries because the broadcaster had received threats through text messages last September. Dino said he was certain that Mila's death was related to his work as a broadcaster. Mila was known in the locality as being vocal in his opinions and commentaries on local issues. He was also publisher of the local fortnightly magazine Peryodista and hosted another radio program "Bungkaras? (Wake Up). Chief Superintendent Abner Cabalquinto, police director of Region 8, who claimed Mila had been critical of communist rebels? forced taxation, said they are looking into the possibility the broadcaster was killed by New People?s Army hitmen. However, he also said they are also considering a personal grudge against the victim. The Department of Justice (DoJ) said it is sending a team of prosecutors and investigators to Northern Samar to probe the murder of Leo Mila. Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, chairman of the Task Force Against Political Violence and Extra-Legal Killing, said they are already working with police for the immediate solution of the case. Blancaflor urged those with knowledge of the crime to come forward and help investigators. "I can assure you that the confidentiality of the information you will give will not be disclosed," Blancaflor said. Mila had been a journalist for about 15 years. He left behind a wife and two children. He was the first media practitioner based in Northern Samar to have been murdered and the second in the entire region. Ramon "Monching" Noblejas was shot to death by a still unidentified assailant inside the compound of radio station dyVL in Tacloban City on October 4, 1987. The case has remained unsolved. ||||| MANILA, Philippines: A radio commentator was shot dead as he was leaving work, becoming the eighth journalist killed in the Philippines this year, police said Wednesday. Leo Mila, 38, of Radio Natin in San Roque township in Northern Samar province, was heading to the gate of the station's compound on his motorcycle when shots rang out late Tuesday, police and colleagues said. Authorities found his bullet-riddled body sprawled in a grassy area near the toppled motorbike, said police investigator Amer Lagrimas. Police have no immediate suspects and no witnesses have come forward, he said. Station manager Alice Cagro told The Associated Press that Mila recently discussed alleged anomalies involving money collected from students' parents in a local school. Lagrimas said two teachers from the high school will be questioned. Cagro said Mila's early morning program was devoted to public service, mainly discussing citizen complaints sent by text message. He also wrote reports for various tabloids in his province and recently published a local magazine, An Peryodista. Cagro is survived by his wife, 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. Attacks on reporters exposing graft and wrongdoing are frequent in the Philippines, especially in far-flung provinces. At least seven others were killed this year, including another Radio Natin commentator, Arecio Padrigao, who was fatally shot on Nov. 17. More than 60 journalists have been killed since 2001, making the Philippines one of the world's most dangerous places for reporters. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has criticized the government for moving too slowly to solve the cases. Philippine officials complain investigations are often hampered by witnesses who are reluctant to come forward for fear of retribution. ||||| Manila: A radio journalist was killed in central Philippines, police said on Wednesday, the seventh journalist murdered this year. Leo Luna Mila, who worked for "Ang Radyo Natin" (Our Radio), was shot seven times in the head and body in San Roque town late on Tuesday, provincial police chief Eusebio Mejos said. "We're still trying to establish the motive for the attack," he said. He had received death threats for exposing corruption in public life a few weeks before he was ambushed, said Carolina Montilla, head of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in central Leyte and Samar islands. Mila was the 62nd journalist to be murdered since 2001 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo rose to power, the NUJP said. ||||| New York, December 3, 2008 --The Philippine government should work with police to investigate the rise in fatal attacks on journalists following Tuesday's shooting death of Radyo Natin commentator Leo Mila on central Samar Island, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. No witnesses came forward after the attack, which occurred outside the national radio network's local station office in the town of San Roque , Northern Samar province, according to local press freedom groups and international news reports. Radio employees alerted police after hearing gunfire and finding Mila's abandoned motorcycle still running outside, according to the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility. Police discovered the journalist's body, which had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, at the scene, the center said in a statement. Mila had reported receiving death threats to local police, and colleagues believe he was targeted for his work, according to the center. Local news reports said his hard-hitting shows tackled sensitive political issues. He had recently reported on irregular funding issues affecting a local high school, according to The Associated Press. "It is time for the central government, as well as local authorities, to promptly address the climate of impunity that is facilitating rising violence against Philippine journalists," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "Mila's murder is a reminder that police throughout the Philippines must respond immediately with investigations and protection when journalists are threatened for their work." At least five other journalists have been ambushed and slain by gunmen--who attack in public areas and escape by motorcycle--in the Philippines this year, according to CPJ research. Three of those were also radio commentators. CPJ is investigating the November 17 murder of another Radyo Natin journalist, Arecio Padrigo, for links to his work. Padrigo was gunned down on southern Mindanao Island in an incident that appeared to be a targeted attack. Outspoken radio commentators Dennis Cuesta and Martin Roxas both received death threats before being shot and killed for reports on politic issues in their local areas, CPJ has confirmed. The unrelated attacks occurred within a few days of each other in August. Two print journalists, publisher Benefredo Acabal and columnist Bert Sison, were also shot dead this year. The motive for these two attacks has not been confirmed. | Leo Luna Mila, 35, a news anchorman and commentator of Radyo Natin, was gunned down Tuesday in San Roque, Northern Samar, Philippines. Mila was shot 12 times while leaving work. As publisher of the local magazine Peryodista and host of another radio program "Bungkaras" (Wake Up), he had been critical of the New People's Army's forced taxation. He had received threats through text messages last September. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Mila is the 8th journalist killed in the Philippines this year and the 62nd since 2001, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power. A total of 122 media people have been murdered since President Cory Aquino overthrew the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice's Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, chairman of the "Task Force 211" - Against Political Violence and Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines, announced that a probe team would be sent to Northern Samar. The Northern Samar provincial police office has also formed "Task Force Mila" to investigate the killing. Two local politicians, including San Roque Mayor Andre Avalon, have offered a P100,000 (US$2 067.80) bounty for any information leading to the capture of the suspects. Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said, "it is time for the central government, as well as local authorities, to promptly address the climate of impunity that is facilitating rising violence against Philippine journalists. Mila's murder is a reminder that police throughout the Philippines must respond immediately with investigations and protection when journalists are threatened for their work." |
Register for NYTimes.com. Complete New York Times articles Up-to-the-minute breaking news In-depth multimedia presentations It's free and it only takes a minute! Member ID: Password: Forgot Your ID or Password? Remember my Member ID and password on this computer. ||||| U.N. Wants To Beef Up Sudan Force Sept. 1, 2004 Displaced Sudanese women carry firewood at Abu Shouk camp, in North Darfur, Sudan. (Photo: AP) "Attacks against civilians are continuing and the vast majority of armed militias has not been disarmed." U.N. report updating sudan situation Sudanese workers stand outside the Sudanese Red Crescent compound in al-Fasher, North Darfur. (Photo: AP) (AP) A U.N. report on Wednesday called for a quick increase in the international monitoring force in Sudan, saying the government has not stopped attacks against civilians or disarmed marauding militias in the western region of Darfur. The report to the U.N. Security Council does not mention or recommend sanctions. On July 30, the council gave the government 30 days to demonstrate that it was taking action to curb Arab militias accused of attacking, raping and killing villagers in Darfur, and improve security and humanitarian access. It threatened punitive economic and diplomatic measures if Khartoum didn't move quickly. After 18 months of conflict in the western desert region, and 30 days after the adoption of the council's resolution, the report said, "the government of Sudan has not been able to resolve the crisis in Darfur, and has not met some of the core commitments it has made." It cites "some progress" by the government in improving security in several areas where Sudanese have taken refuge, the deployment of additional police and the beginning of disarmament and the lifting of restrictions to humanitarian relief. It also said the government has made a commitment not to force those who have fled to return, and has established human rights monitors and investigations of the conflict. But despite its commitment, the report said, the government has not "fully" met its obligation to stop attacks against civilians and ensure their protection. "Attacks against civilians are continuing and the vast majority of armed militias has not been disarmed," it said. Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent the report to the council ahead of Thursday's briefing to its 15 members by his top envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, whose observations form the basis of its conclusions and recommendations. Meanwhile, international aid agencies were stepping up efforts in rebel-controlled areas of Darfur, with UNICEF saying on Wednesday it had vaccinated up to 50,000 children against polio during a mission that saw workers traveling by camel and donkey to reach people sheltering in the bush. A U.N. official also said six Sudanese aid workers held since Saturday by the rebel Sudan Liberation Army were released early Wednesday. But rebel secretary-general Minni Minnawi denied that his group had detained the workers, saying instead that civilians held them until rebel intervention freed them. It was the second time rebels had been accused of detaining aid workers in North Darfur, one of the three states in a region the United Nations has said is the scene of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The Darfur crisis ensued after two African rebel factions took up arms in February 2003 claiming discrimination by the Arab-dominated government in the capital Khartoum. The U.N. World Food Program also appealed for $12 million to provide extra food for Darfur refugees in neighboring Chad for six months, particularly 55,000 children aged under five and pregnant and nursing women. "We must catch the most vulnerable groups before their conditions deteriorate, setting off a graver crisis than already exists," said WFP's Chad deputy country director, Jean-Charles Dei, in a press release. Human rights groups, the U.S. Congress and U.N. officials accuse Sudan's government of trying to crush the rebellion by backing Arab militiamen in a scorched earth campaign. Khartoum has repeatedly denied backing the Janjaweed militia blamed for killing thousands, raping women and driving more than 1 million villagers from their homes. Sasha Westerbig, an Al-Fasher-based UNICEF spokeswoman, returned late Tuesday from the polio-vaccination campaign in a barren region nine hours' drive north of Al-Fasher, North Darfur's capital. She said the joint UNICEF-World Health Organization team had received excellent cooperation from Sudan Liberation Army field commanders and planned to vaccinate 150,00 children against measles between Sept. 4-7. Westerbig said many in the region were sheltering in the bush, living on berries and goat meat, too afraid to stay in their mud-and-straw hut settlements in case they were attacked by government helicopters or planes. Few wells and little basic infrastructure existed in the area, she said, adding the team has encountered people suffering from malaria and waterborne diseases. "We took the SLA (rebels) with us to go from village to village," Westerbig told The Associated Press. "They were going out on donkeys and camels to vaccinate the people. It was heartwarming to see how dedicated they were." Sudanese authorities have accused the rebels of hampering aid efforts by violating an April 8 cease-fire and abducting aid workers. Both sides have been accused of truce violations. Barry Came, of the WFP, said the six aid workers three from WFP and three from the Sudanese Red Crescent were safe and well after negotiations with their Sudan Liberation Army captors secured their release. He said a helicopter picked them up Wednesday in Tabit, south of Al-Fasher. Officials had originally said eight workers were missing, but Came said two workers scheduled to have gone with the team missed the trip because of illness. The rebels have denied holding the missing workers. In June, rebels detained 16 relief workers from international aid organizations for several days in North Darfur to ascertain their identities because they were in a military zone. Besides objecting to rebel detention of workers, aid agencies have complained about the government preventing them from getting workers and aid to Darfur. In recent weeks, though, U.N. and other aide officials have said the government was more cooperative and had removed obstacles. ©MMIV, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. U.S. Toll In Iraq Nears 1,000 Figures Come Amid Fresh Clashes Between GIs And Sadr City Fighters No Word On Pitcher's Abducted Mom Venezuelan Cops Say Captors Haven't Contacted Urbina Family ©MMIV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. | In anticipation of a Security Council vote on trying alleged Darfur war criminals at the , Sudan announced today it would reject any United Nations resolution that required war crimes suspects to be tried abroad. The resolution before the UNSC was drafted by the French delegation, and is expected to be voted on this week. Sudanese foreign minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said, "Any resolution that is going to include the taking of a Sudanese — whether he is a rebel or government official — outside the Sudan: we are totally against it." In contrast, some rebel groups are in favor of the resolution. Tajeddin Nyam, of the rebel group "Justice and Equality of Movement," said he thought the resolution would contribute to peace. Perhaps in an effort to avoid such extradition, Sudan has begun arresting officials in relation to human rights abuses in Darfur. Government officials announced that 15 members of the military and security forces in Darfur had been arrested this week, and were to be sent immediately to local courts. The region of Darfur has been the center of civil strife for over two years, during which time tens of thousands of people in the black African population have been killed, and many more wounded or abused, by government-supported Arab militias. It has often been suggested that this qualifies as , and that Darfur is enduring the world's most severe and localized abuse of civil rights. |
ATHENS: Armed robbers on Friday seized dozens of items on display at the antiquities museum in Ancient Olympia , the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southern Greece , after tying up an employee.Greece's culture minister Pavlos Geroulanos submitted his resignation after the robbery, state television reported.Police and museum authorities did not have an immediate account of the items taken from smashed display cases, but local authorities and police said about 60 artifacts are estimated to have snatched.Sporting authorities are to hold a ceremony at the museum on May 10 to light the Olympic flame for the London Games.Today's robbery is the second major museum theft in the past two months in Greece. In January, thieves made off with art works by 20th century masters Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian from the country's National Gallery in central Athens.In that pre-dawn heist, the burglars also took a pen and ink drawing of a religious scene by Italian 16th century painter Guglielmo Caccia. A fourth work by Mondrian also was removed from the National Art Gallery in one of the best-guarded areas of central Athens , but the thieves abandoned it as they fled. No arrests have been made. ||||| Robbery at Ancient Olympia museum The robbers are said to have overpowered a female guard Armed robbers have stolen dozens of artefacts from a museum in Ancient Olympia - the birthplace of the Olympics, Greek officials say. Local mayor Thymios Kotzias told media two masked men had broken into the museum after overpowering the sole guard, a woman. He said items of "incalculable" value had been stolen, but gave no details. Culture Minister Pavlos Geroulanos has tendered his resignation, state television reported. Officials say the thieves broke into the museum early on Friday, smashed glass displays and took about 60 items - mostly bronze and clay statuettes. Ancient Olympia, in Western Greece, is regarded as one of the most important cultural sites in the country. Mr Kotzias was quoted by AFP as saying: "There were two of them, and they had a gun. "They immobilised the guard as the shift changed at 7am (0500 GMT), having previously knocked out the alarm. "We must wait and see what the local archaeology supervisor will say, but the items were of incalculable value," Mr Kotzias added. | Culture minister Pavlos Geroulanos, pictured from file, has resigned over the robbery Armed robbers stole around 60 valuable statuettes from a museum in , Greece this morning. A state television channel reported that the Greek culture minister tendered his resignation upon hearing of the robbery. "We must wait and see what the local archaeology supervisor will say, but the items were of incalculable value," local mayor Thymios Kotzias said. The value of the articles hasn't been calculated yet. The masked robbers initially demanded a female employee to hand over the articles. When she refused, they tied her up and snatched the articles through the glass planes themselves. This is the second major robbery in the country recently. Paintings by , and others were stolen from in January. Olympia is the place where the first Olympic Games were held. |
Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement Actress Brittany Murphy, star of Hollywood films such as Clueless and 8 Mile, has died at age 32 after collapsing at home in Los Angeles. Coroners said that Murphy, who was pronounced dead in hospital, appeared to have died of natural causes. However, the official cause of death may not be determined for some time as toxicology tests are required. Ashton Kutcher, co-star of the 2003 comedy Just Married, paid tribute to her as a "little piece of sunshine". Murphy was pronounced dead at 1004 (1804 GMT) on Sunday at a hospital near Beverly Hills. When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me The late Brittany Murphy She had been taken there after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at the Hollywood Hills home she shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack. She is reported to have been found unconscious in the shower. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the authorities were looking into her medical history. "It appears to be natural," he added. Los Angeles police have opened an investigation into the death. 'An absolute doll' A neighbour, Clare Staples, said she had seen firefighters working to resuscitate the actress on Sunday morning, The Associated Press reports. Murphy collapsed at her home The actress's husband, wearing pyjama bottoms and no shoes, appeared "dazed" as the firefighters tried to save her, Ms Staples added. Murphy's father, Angelo Bertolotti, said: "She was just an absolute doll since she was born. "Her personality was always outward. Everybody loved her - people that made movies with her, people on a cruise - they all loved her." Kutcher, who once dated the actress, paid tribute to her on Twitter: "2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine." "My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany's family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon," he added. Going to California Born in Atlanta, Murphy grew up in New Jersey but moved to Los Angeles with her mother to pursue acting. Murphy was married to British screenwriter Simon Monjack "When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me," Murphy once said. "I was really grateful to have grown up in an environment that was conducive to creating and didn't stifle any of that." The actress got her start in the sleeper hit Clueless and rose to stardom in 8 Mile alongside rapper Eminem. Speaking to the BBC about 8 Mile, she said: "What I love is the way it explores the willingness to get out of where you are, and the fact that you actually can make it, no matter what." Her on-screen roles declined in recent years but Murphy voiced characters for the hit US television series King of the Hill and animated movie Happy Feet. She is due to appear in Sylvester Stallone's film, The Expendables, set for release next year. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version ||||| The Hollywood actress Brittany Murphy has died in Los Angeles, according to reports. Officials at the Los Angeles county coroner's office confirmed that the Cedars-Sinai medical centre in Beverly Hills reported the death there earlier today of a person named Brittany Murphy. The Los Angeles fire department said it responded to an emergency call from the home of actress Brittany Murphy's husband. Fire department spokesman Devon Gale said the call was made at 8am from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to British screenwriter Simon Monjack, who is married to Murphy. One person was transported to a hospital. The entertainment website TMZ reported that Murphy, 32, went into cardiac arrest and could not be revived. She was said to have been pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The actor, who was born in Atlanta, began her career on television as a teenager before her breakthrough role in the 1995 film Clueless, which starred Alicia Silverstone. Murphy went on to star opposite rapper Eminem in 8 Mile and appeared in the comic book adaptation Sin City. She also provided the voice for Luanne Platter in long-running animated television series King of the Hill and Gloria the penguin in box office smash Happy Feet. She had a brief relationship with actor Ashton Kutcher in 2002 after filming the comedy Just Married, in which they both appeared, and married Monjack in 2007. ||||| Actress Brittany Murphy Dies Aged 32 Neal Walker, Sky News Online Actress Brittany Murphy has died aged 32, a Los Angeles hospital spokesman has confirmed. Brittany Murphy starred alongside Eminem in '8 Mile' in 2002 Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre spokeswoman Sally Stewart would not provide a cause of death, or any other information. Murphy's publicist, Nicole Perna, released a statement regarding her death. "In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support," she said. "It is their wish that you respect their privacy." Website TMZ.com says Murphy suffered a cardiac arrest at a home listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack. TMZ sources say the 32-year-old actress' mother discovered her unconscious in the shower. The website says that when paramedics arrived, they quickly determined Murphy was in full cardiac arrest and immediately administered CPR. They continued CPR en route to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre. Murphy was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. LA County Coroner's Office is expected to launch an investigation. Jeanne Wolf, Editor of Parade Magazine, told Sky News that Murphy suffered from a heart murmur. "This is a girl who was so full of life," she said. "She lit up the room when she entered. To think of her dying so young is very, very sad." Murphy starred in 'Clueless' and '8 Mile'. ||||| Brittany Murphy Dies Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ. She was 32. A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ. We're told Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Her time of death was listed as 10:04 AM. Murphy starred in such films as "Clueless," "8 Mile," and "Don't Say a Word." Murphy was reportedly fired from last film, "The Caller," after reports she was problematic on set. UPDATE 3:11 PM ET -- Sources tell TMZ Brittany Murphy's mom discovered her unconscious in the shower. We're told when paramedics arrived, they quickly determined Murphy was in full cardiac arrest and immediately administered CPR. They continued CPR in route to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center -- several miles away -- and Murphy was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the hospital. We're told the LA County Coroner's is picking up Murphy's body from Cedars later today and will launch a death investigation. UPDATE 4:00 PM ET -- We're also told the LAPD has launched a death investigation. UPDATE 4:07 PM ET -- A rep for Murphy tells TMZ, "In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support. It is their wish that you respect their privacy." UPDATE 5:21 PM ET -- Two LAPD officers were just spotted going into Murphy's home. UPDATE 5:34 PM ET -- A neighbor of Brittany's tells TMZ she saw Brittany getting taken out on a stretcher with paramedics performing CPR. The neighbor said Brittany "looked dead." UPDATE 10:00 PM ET -- Through Brittany's rep, the family released a statement: "The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy. She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a shining star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this time." | American actress has died at the age of 32 in Los Angeles, California, US, according to reports. She had been married to her husband Simon Monjack since 2007. Brittany Murphy in 2006 According to entertainment website , the actress had suffered a cardiac arrest in the shower of the house of her husband, Simon Monjack, and could not be revived. The received a call from the house at around 0800 local time. The cause of death has not been released from a spokeswoman for Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, the location where she was pronounced dead. She was famous for appearing in such films as '''', '''' and ''''. The has now launched an investigation into the death. Nicola Perna, who is Murphy's publicist, has released a statement saying: "In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support. It is their wish that you respect their privacy." As well as the films that she has already appeared in, Brittany Murphy is expected to appear in film '''' upon its release in 2010. |
Does Your Company Belong on the List? Give your organization the opportunity to gain valuable recognition, increase employee engagement, attract and retain top talent, and transform its culture with data-based insights. Nominate your company for a Top Workplaces award. > ||||| Buy Photo Demonstrators from both sides of the HJR-3 issue shout and sing outside the Indiana Senate chamber at the Statehouse before the start of the scheduled second reading for the proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage on Thursday, February 13, 2014. Two amendments have been filed to restore the ban on civil unions. (Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)Buy Photo In the end, neither opponents nor supporters were totally satisfied Monday when the debate over Indiana's same-sex marriage ban came to a close — at least for the rest of this legislative session. After an hourlong debate, the Senate voted 32-17 in favor of the weakened constitutional ban, which had encountered many ups and downs over six weeks. Some conservatives who had fought for the constitutional ban for years weren't all that happy with its passage because it didn't include original language that also would have banned civil unions. The House removed that provision last month. DATABASE: How Indiana senators voted on HJR-3 After a weekend Twitter tirade that in part blamed inactive churches for the weakened ban, Sen. Mike Delph announced at a news conference that he was voting against it because it was too watered down. "For my faith and plain-spokenness, I make no apologies," Delph said. Opponents were pleased it didn't include the broader ban but still saw the measure, known as House Joint Resolution 3, as a form of discrimination against gays and lesbians. MORE COVERAGE: Errika D. Smith: Tepid vote on HJR-3 proves times are changing "We have the opportunity to make history today by puttting an end to HJR-3 once and for all," Democratic Leader Tim Lanane of Anderson urged the Senate. "Time is not on the side of discrimination." Despite Monday's favorable vote, the measure will not go on the November ballot as supporters, such as Gov. Mike Pence, had hoped. Two separately elected legislatures must approve constitutional amendments with identical language before they can go to voters, and the amendment approved this year now differs from the one passed in 2011 because it does not include the ban on civil unions. Consequently, the General Assembly would have to approve the revised ban again in 2015 or 2016 before a public referendum could be held in November 2016. Senate President Pro Tempore David Long said he expects the General Assembly to take up the ban again next year. "That is our intent right now," he said. "I'll have to sit down with all of our caucus and decide that, but I think right now that's our mindset." Lobbying groups supporting the constitutional ban expressed mixed feelings about the outcome. "We applaud this symbolic statement affirming the truth that marriage is not just any relationship, but the special union of a man and a woman," said Micah Clark, executive director of the American Family Association of Indiana. But he said it is "disappointing the legislature decided to leave the future of marriage in the hands of judges and activists for another two years." Clark said the "ideal of marriage deserved to be protected and passed on to the next generation. Hoosiers should have been allowed the right to vote on this, rather than risk another two years of having a new definition of marriage forced upon every church, school and business in Indiana." A 'sigh of relief' Megan Robertson, campaign director of Freedom Indiana, a group formed to fight the amendment, said, "We can finally breathe a collective sign of relief that lawmakers are finished with the amendment this session, and it will not appear on the ballot this November." She characterized opponents as "underdogs" in this fight from the beginning and said everyone involved should be proud of their hard work. "Our success reflects the strength of the incredible coalition we were able to build in just six months," she said. Quickly shifting public opinion away from such bans and recent court opinions against them make it unclear how well a constitutional ban on gay marriage would be received a year from now. Three years ago, only 10 senators, all Democrats, voted against the amendment. While more from each party voted against it this year, the amendment was eight votes short of being defeated. Still, Monday's vote revealed a shift among lawmakers in the Senate. Six members who voted for the amendment in 2011 — including Delph — voted against it this time. Others who changed their votes were: Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette; Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville; Sen. Phil Boots, R-Crawfordsville; Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond; and Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute. All the supporters were Republicans, with the exception of Sen. Richard Young, D- Milltown. Becker said she switched her vote because of strong opposition among constituents, universities and the business community in the Evansville area. "I heard back from over 1,000 constituents, and 800 were opposed to HJR-3," she said. While she added she supports traditional marriage, Becker said, "Since we already have a law on the books, we really don't need to deal with this issue." Current state law bans gay marriage, but some conservatives also want the ban to be enshrined in the state constitution so it would be more difficult to undo. Alting, who previously had announced his opposition, said he changed his mind because the constitution should grant people rights, not take them away. He said the amendment sends a "terrible message to the rest of the country about Indiana not being very tolerant. The perception is that it's just mean." No arm-twisting During this whole process, Alting said, there was "no arm-twisting or baseball bat approach" by leadership. "In the old days, there might have been a threat: 'You vote this way with leadership, or I'll pull your chairmanship.' There was none of that, none of that." With the issue decided for this session, it's now going to be up to another legislature to consider whether to pass it again. "It's passed (the House and Senate) four times now," said Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek. "So I think historic evidence is it can pass the General Assembly, and I think the polls suggest that even though public opinion has changed somewhat, a clear majority of people want the opportunity to vote on the issue, either pro or con." Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony. Read or Share this story: http://indy.st/1eJuzOa ||||| New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the central government's petition seeking a review of the apex court's verdict that had declared gay sex a punishable offence. In Dec 2013, the apex court held that the provision of section 377 of the Indian Penal code would continue to govern non consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors. It held that the verdict would hold till the parliament chose to amend the law. "It is relevant to mention here that Section 377 IPC does not criminalize a particular people or identity or orientation. It merely identifies certain acts, which if committed, would constitute an offence. Such prohibition regulates sexual conduct regardless of gender identity and orientation," Justice Singhvi said, while pronouncing the verdict. Why Supreme Court's verdict is correct? According to the court, Section 377 is merely to define the particular offence (Gay sex) and prescribe punishment for the same. "What Section 377 does is merely to define the particular offence and prescribe punishment for the same which can be awarded if, in the trial conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and other statutes of the same family, the person is found guilty. Therefore, the High Court was not right in declaring Section 377 ultra vires Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution," said Justice Sanghvi. Here are some reasons why the top court held that gay sex was unnatural. ||||| In a nearly 30-minute speech, Governor Mike Pence discussed a wide range of issues in Tuesday night’s State of the State address – including taxes, health care, and education. But already it’s his brief remarks on a pending same sex marriage ban that are already capturing many of the headlines. Pence reaffirmed his support Tuesday for the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, known as HJR3. “I believe in traditional marriage, and I have long held the view that the people, rather than un-elected judges, should decide matters of such great consequence,” said Pence, who also called for a civil debate on the controversial issue. “Reasonable people can differ, and there are good people on both sides of this debate,” Pence said. “No one, on either side, deserves to be disparaged or maligned because of who they are or what they believe. So let’s have a debate worthy of our people with civility and respect. Let’s protect the rights of Hoosier employers to hire who they want and provide them with benefits that they earn. And let’s resolve this issue this year once and for all.” “I thought his comments were appropriate, and I thought he was pretty clear on where he stood,” said House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis. “His speech was 85 or 90 percent dealing with other issues,” said Senate minority leader Tim Lanane, D-Anderson. “I find this to be a common theme from members of the Republican party. They want to run from this resolution which they have written.” Democrats also criticized the governor’s speech for being short on specifics. “Mike Pence believes a governor should do very little, and he’s succeeding,” said House minority leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City. “It was in broad brush strokes, obviously, but that’s what State of the State speeches do,” said Senate majority leader David Long, R-Fort Wayne. “I though he painted a picture of where he wanted to see the state go in a positive way.” Pence spent much of his speech focusing on agenda items he’s been pushing in recent weeks, including a phase out of the state’s business personal property tax, a tax on business machinery that Pence and some Republicans want to eventually eliminate. “Taxing equipment and technology in a state that leads the nation in making and creating things just doesn’t make sense,” said the governor. On education, Pence spoke against the federal Common Core standards. “When it comes to setting standards for schools, I can assure you, Indiana’s will be uncommonly high,” said the governor. Pence also thanked the sparring State Board of Education and Superintendent Glenda Ritz, who got a loud ovation in the chamber. The governor also took time to thank those who helped rescue Hoosiers from last week’s winter storm, including members of the Indiana National Guard. “It could have been a lot worse were it not for the efforts of our first responders,” said Pence, who also thanked those who helped clean up from the recent tornado outbreak in Kokomo and Lafayette. “From all that I’ve seen, I can say with conviction that the state of our state is strong and growing stronger every day,” Pence said. | '''Laws regarding same-sex partnerships in the United States''' ---- 1May include recent laws or court decisions which have created legal recognition of same-sex relationships, but which have not entered into effect yet. 2Same-sex marriage laws in California are complicated, please see the ''Wikipedia'' article on . Indiana's passed a proposed constitutional amendment Monday that would ban same-sex marriage in the state's . Indiana's already prohibits same-sex marriage. A sentence banning was removed from the proposal. For a constitutional amendment to be approved in Indiana, it must pass both the and the Senate during two separately elected legislatures, which means there has to be an election between the two sets of votes. The proposed amendment cannot be changed from one voting session to another and cannot be changed from the House of Representatives to the Senate. Once the proposed amendment has passed those hurdles, then the amendment goes to Indiana voters who vote yea or nay on the amendment. Following the House of Representatives' approval, the Senate passed the proposed amendment, which is known as House Joint Resolution 3, with a vote of 32–17 Monday. Opponents needed eight more votes to stop the proposed amendment from reaching the necessary margin of support. The proposed amendment already passed both houses in 2011. A change was made this legislative session when the second sentence was deleted first by the House of Representatives and then was passed in a similar form by the Senate Monday. The failure of the second sentence, which proposes to ban same-sex civil unions, could possibly open the door for civil unions in the future. Following the process, will be reviewed again by the next elected legislature in either 2015 or 2016 to remain in process. Although the amended version grants the possibility for civil unions in the future, some in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community say it isn't enough. "I think it's still bad because it fails to legitimize us as human beings, since it's trying to deny us basic rights,” said Myranda Wanden, program director at , an organization that provides support and advocacy for LBGT teens and young adults. Indiana supported the proposed amendment. Pence, in his "State of the State" speech for 2014, said, “I believe in traditional marriage, and I have long held the view that the people, rather than unelected judges, should decide matters of such great consequence". Pence also called for a civil debate for the matter and to treat everyone with respect. “I think the rest of the country is moving towards being more open and accepting about gay marriage," Wanden said. "I think Indiana, which is a conservative red state, saw this and wanted to resist the changing tide. I think it caused fear in many legislators, but I definitely don't think it's reflective of a majority of the Indiana population.” Indiana is not the only state that prohibits same-sex marriage by law or as proposed by constitution. There are 29 other states that prohibit same-sex civil marriages under their constitutions, while Indiana and three other states prohibit it by statute. The states that allow for some form of same-sex marriage number 17 plus Washington, DC. Worldwide, there is a wide diversity in same-sex marriage and rights laws. At this time, 17 countries allow same-sex marriage, the most recent being Scotland. Most of the countries that allow same-sex marriage are concentrated in Europe, but there are also countries in South America and Africa, as well as New Zealand, Canada, and parts of Mexico that have legalized same-sex marriage. Homosexual sex is legally criminal in at least 78 countries, and punishable by death in five. |
KHARTOUM, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Eleven men drowned when a boat that was carrying them sank on the river Nile near the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday, police reported. Officers said overcrowding on the boat was partly to blame for the accident which took place off Islanj island north of the city. A police statement said the boat was carrying 40 passengers as it crossed from the island towards the river's eastern bank. It added that divers were still searching for some of the bodies, but 29 passengers had survived. "Police said the accident was caused by the severity of the current and the overloading of the boat," the statement said. "People on the island said they had not seen an incident like it for more than 40 years." Residents of the more remote banks and islands on the river Nile often rely on traditional wooden boats to ferry them back and forth and safety standards can be low. (Reporting by Andrew Heavens) ||||| Mr. Osha or Oshy whatever you calls yourself. You should not call people stupid. You are the only ID10T I have ever read his comment plus your bulldog Logic Boy. The gentleman you responded to his comment is right. People who have destroyed lives are staying alive such as your Beshir who have no conscience to respect human life. I do not blame him at all for what he is doing because he has nothing to care about since he his no kids who are being affected by the cause of his action. Please allow people to say the truths. You may needs to find some ways to strategically defend your statement by not depreciating yourself and those you may represent. Those days are coming closer for the most ferocious leader to come to an end. People will appreciate it if you happens to accept the realities before God strike. You do not need to waste your education by trash talking and by turning yourself upside down and than talk. You need to sit upright so that you can see the environment you lives in more clear. Open your eyes and see the horizon. Every single time you over reacts to a comment indicates that what ever have been said is a binding truth. Anyways, I feel sorry for the families of those who lost their lives in drown incident. May God comfort them and rest the soul of their lost one in peace. My prayers goes out to them. Peter Nhiany. | Twenty-nine persons survived when the engine stopped on a boat near Islanj Island, about north of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on August 4, 2009. Eleven of the forty passengers trying to cross the Nile River drowned when the boat sank. "Police said the accident was caused by the severity of the current and the overloading of the boat," a police statement said. "People on the island said they had not seen an incident like it for more than 40 years." Forty farmers, along with their goods, had boarded the boat, overloading it. State ministers from Khartoum, the commissioner of Karrary district, and the police visited Islanj Island following the accident. |
Harper Tories on the brink of majority, poll finds OTTAWA The Harper Conservatives will enter a federal election campaign with a polling lead that puts them within striking distance of winning a majority government, according to a new survey taken on the eve of an expected vote. The new poll for The Globe and Mail-CTV News finds Canadian voters satisfied with the direction of the country and significantly more confident in the leadership abilities of the Tories and Prime Minister Stephen Harper than they are in those of his main rival, Stéphane Dion and the Liberals. According to the poll, conducted by the Strategic Counsel, 37 per cent of Canadians would opt to vote for the Tories were an election to be held today, compared with 29 per cent for the Liberals, 17 per cent for the NDP and 9 per cent for the Green Party. In the 2006 election, the Tories polled 36 per cent, compared with the Liberals' 30, the NDP's 18 and the Greens' 5. “With these numbers, a majority is within the reach of the Conservatives, but not yet in their grasp,” said Peter Donolo of the Strategic Counsel. “I think that's the really important difference.” The Tory gains are significant when compared with June, when scandals such as the Bernier affair left the two major parties statistically even in terms of voter support. The Conservatives have built their lead on increased backing in British Columbia and parts of Ontario. In areas of Ontario outside Toronto, they have turned the tables on the Liberals from the last election and now lead in popular support, 41 to 35. The survey also finds that 45 per cent of Canadians believe it's time for a new government, down from 63 per cent in January, 2006, when voters threw the Paul Martin Liberals out of office. “The number of people who believe the country is on the wrong track has declined,” Mr. Donolo said. Canadians told pollsters the biggest issue facing the country is the economy, with 18 per cent saying it is the most pressing current concern. That's followed by health care at 15 per cent and then the environment at 14 per cent. The survey shows that, of the major parties, the Conservatives are picked by 38 per cent of voters as the best able to manage the economy should there be a slowdown. The Liberals are picked by 27 per cent, the NDP by 8 per cent and the Greens by 3 per cent. Mr. Harper's campaigners have already signalled they will run the campaign on their economic credentials, lashing out at the Liberal plan for a carbon tax, saying the plan would harm the economy. In head-to-head comparisons, Mr. Harper is found by Canadians to lead Mr. Dion in a number of areas, including who is better to deal with the United States and the economy, and who offers the most positive vision of the country. Mr. Harper is also seen by 53 per cent of Canadians as the most decisive leader, compared with 17 per cent for Mr. Dion. “The Conservatives would like this election to be about Harper versus Dion and leadership,” Mr. Donolo said. Mr. Dion, on the other hand, must try to draw the votes of other left-of-centre voters, most of whom would opt for the Liberals as a second choice. The Liberal Leader, said Mr. Donolo, will have to try to coax those voters away by arguing that the Liberals are the only way to prevent a Tory majority government. If there is a silver lining for Mr. Dion, it is in Quebec, where both his and his party's appeal have ticked upward. Of those Quebeckers surveyed, 26 per cent would opt for the Liberals, up five points from the last vote. The Tories, for their part, are down two points to 23 per cent, while the NDP has jumped four points to 12. The Bloc Québécois has lost eight points to 34. Pollster Greg Lyle said Mr. Dion can maximize his chances by focusing on a Liberal advantage on the issue of compassion. “That may already be paying off in the province of Quebec,” said Mr. Lyle, of Innovative Research Group Inc. Mr. Lyle said the more robust Ontario numbers for the Tories probably stem from a fairly quiet summer that was free of controversy. “There were lots of stories, but no coffee-talk stories,” he said. On the matter of the Bloc Québécois drop, Mr. Lyle said Gilles Duceppe's flirtation with the Parti Québécois may have harmed the party and there have been few issues involving national unity that the BQ can capitalize on. Mr. Lyle added, however, that the BQ may be able to make up lost ground by arguing that it is the only party that stands strictly for Quebec's interests. The survey of 1,000 Canadians was conducted Aug. 25 to 31 and is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time. ||||| Harper determined to call election: Duceppe Stephen Harper "absolutely wants to call an election" for the fall, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said after meeting with the prime minister on Friday. Gilles Duceppe talks to reporters on the grounds of 24 Sussex, the official residence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after meeting with Harper. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) Gilles Duceppe talks to reporters on the grounds of 24 Sussex, the official residence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after meeting with Harper. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press) Harper should instead be seeking common ground with the opposition parties to pass legislation during the next session of Parliament, scheduled Sept. 15, Duceppe told reporters, but "the game plan has been set by the prime minister." Harper has said the workings of the House of Commons, where his party's 127 seats give him a minority, have become "dysfunctional." The Liberals hold 95 seats, the Bloc 48 and the NDP 30. There are four independent MPs and four vacant seats. Without providing details, the Bloc leader said he and Harper laid out their positions, but did not talk about compromises. "We explained our positions and he will consider them. I told him what our position was on all of the issues. Now, I think that beyond that, he is determined to have an election," Duceppe said. "He could try and act for the benefit of the people and see what kind of arrangment he could make with one or the other of the parties, but he's thinking of the interests of his own party," the Bloc leader added. The two men met at the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Dr. to talk about whether it's best to swap the fall parliamentary session for an election campaign and a mid-October vote. Many observers are predicting Harper will go to Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean sometime late next week to dissolve Parliament and clear the way for an early election. The Reuters news agency said it spoke to an unidentified aide to Harper on Friday who said the prime minister sees Sept. 2-7 as the first window to call a general election, meaning a vote could be held on Oct. 14. Duceppe is the first opposition leader to respond to Harper's call for one-on-one meetings. Earlier this month, Harper said he wanted to gauge support for Conservative policies before the resumption of Parliament. NDP Leader Jack Layton will meet with Harper at 24 Sussex Dr. on Saturday. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's office has told Harper he would be available to meet with the prime minister on Sept. 9, a day after three byelections are to be held in Quebec and Ontario. So far, Dion has not heard back from the Prime Minister’s Office. The meeting with Duceppe was held as the Conservatives released new television commercials portraying Harper as a strong, steady leader who has lowered taxes and shored up the military. The election-style ads, in both English and French, feature Canadians who offer a positive assessment of Harper. "Stephen Harper's the kind of person who knows where he stands. He's a straight-up guy," one man says in the advertisement. The 30-second spots are in sharp contrast to a spate of Conservative commercials released earlier in the summer, which focused on attacking Dion and his proposal to tax carbon emissions. ||||| Layton predicts fall election call after meeting with Harper NDP Leader Jack Layton emerged from a brief meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday saying that a fall election appears to be imminent. At the end of the 30-minute meeting at Harper's residence in Ottawa, Layton told reporters that nothing had changed from before their discussion. "He seems intent on quitting his job. I told him if he's prepared to quit his job he can explain that failure to Canadians," Layton said outside the gates of 24 Sussex Dr. around 1:30 p.m. ET. Harper has sought meetings with all three opposition leaders to see if they can agree on an agenda for the fall session of Parliament, scheduled to begin Sept. 15. Layton said he noted health care, the economy, the environment and food security and the listeriosis outbreak as key priorities for parliament, but that Harper said there was little common ground between his Conservative party and the NDP. "As prime minister, I told [him] I would have been convening the leaders to figure out how we work on these key issues," Layton told reporters. "I got no sense the prime minister is prepared to do what I would do if I were prime minister." Layton's forecast echoed that of Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, who met with the prime minister on Friday. Following their discussion, Duceppe said the Conservative minority could continue to work with various opposition parties to pass legislation, as it has over the last two years, but that Harper "absolutely" wants to call a snap election. "Instead of making efforts to try finding solutions in the best interest of the population, he wants an election in the best interest of his party," Duceppe said. Later in the day, senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office said it's probable Harper will seek to dissolve Parliament next week, sending the country to the ballot box on Oct. 14. Harper, who earlier this month said Parliament is becoming increasingly dysfunctional, said he wants to meet all three opposition leaders to see whether they will support his government in the fall session. The Liberals' Stephane Dion declined to hold talks around the same time as the two other opposition leaders, but said he'll be willing to meet Harper after the Sept. 8 byelections and before Parliament's scheduled resumption on Sept. 15. With files from the Canadian Press ||||| Harper to ask GG to set Oct. 14 as election date: sources Prime Minister Stephen Harper will later this week ask Governor General Michaëlle Jean to set Oct. 14 as the date for the next federal election, senior government officials said Monday. Harper will visit Jean at Rideau Hall, her official residence in Ottawa, to establish the election date, the officials told the Canadian Press, speaking on condition of anonymity. The prime minister will declare that, after having met with all three opposition leaders over the last few days, he no longer has the confidence of Parliament, the sources said. As per tradition, it will then be up to Jean to decide whether to dissolve Parliament and set the election date. The official election call is expected to be made either Friday or Saturday. "It will happen between [September] 5th and the 7th," a senior government source told the Canadian Press. "There will be an election kickoff between Friday and Sunday." The news came just hours after Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion came out of a brief meeting with Harper in Ottawa saying he had no doubt Canadians will face an election this fall. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion speaks to reporters outside the prime minister's residence in Ottawa on Monday. (CBC) Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion speaks to reporters outside the prime minister's residence in Ottawa on Monday. (CBC) Calling the meeting a "charade," Dion said the two were unable to agree on how to make the upcoming session of Parliament, slated to begin Sept. 15, more productive. "There is no agreement … but there wasn't one six months or 12 months ago," Dion said outside the gates of the prime minister's official residence, less than 30 minutes after the meeting began. "There's nothing new there. It's nothing but an excuse." Dion said Harper looked directly into his face during the meeting and told him there will be a vote this fall. The Conservatives had set Oct. 19, 2009, as the date for the next federal election. However, the prime minister has recently suggested he is ready to pull the plug on his current minority government. "The prime minister is not going to respect the fixed-date election legislation that he himself proposed and got passed in the House," Dion said. The Liberal leader said he told Harper "it was really unfortunate that he has so little respect for the rule of law here in Canada." Harper has said fixed election dates do not apply to minority governments. His spokesperson, Kory Teneycke, said Monday that a fall election called at the behest of the prime minister is perfectly legal. "The fixed election date law provides for this exact situation. It's not a violation of that law. Mr. Dion may not understand what that law is, but this is clearly provided for," Teneycke said. "If Mr. Dion wanted to avoid an election date … he would give some assurance that the government could survive until [2009]." Government officials have said Harper is prepared to trigger an election call any time after Tuesday. Election call a way to dodge byelections, Dion alleges Dion suggested Harper is eager to hold the vote a year ahead of schedule because he "doesn't want Canadians to have too much time to see how much he is ill-prepared to face the economy, how much he has difficulties with some ethical problems, and he doesn't want to see the results of byelections." Three federal byelections have been scheduled in Quebec and Ontario on Sept. 8, while a fourth byelection is slated to take place in Ontario on Sept. 22. Dion said he knew Harper was determined to hold an election this fall, but met with him Monday to tell him face-to-face that he thought the move was irresponsible and violated Canadian law. Shortly after taking office in 2006, Harper touted his fixed-election law as a major step towards reforming Canadian democracy. "Fixed election dates stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar," Harper said at the time. "They level the playing field for all parties. The rules are clear for everybody. "Unless we're defeated or prevented from governing, we want to keep moving forward to make this minority parliament work over the next 3½ years," Harper said. The prime minister has since declared that the workings of the House of Commons, where his party's 127 seats give him a minority, have become "dysfunctional." The Liberals hold 95 seats, the Bloc 48 and the NDP 30. The Greens recently gained their first MP, former Independent Blair Wilson, while there are three Independent MPs and four vacant seats. The prime minister has met with other opposition leaders in the past few days to determine whether there is common ground to avoid a fall election and to secure their support on an agenda for the fall session of Parliament. Meetings with NDP Leader Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois, however, followed a similar script: the opposition leaders emerged to say Harper is intent on calling an election this week, with a vote to be held in mid-October. Opposition leaders could avoid an election if they provided some certainty that legislation could be passed during the upcoming session of Parliament, Teneycke said Monday. Dion, however, said he refused to provide Harper with a "blank cheque" when asked if he would support the government until October 2009. "Because he's confusing two things. Does the Parliament work? The answer is yes. Does the government have the certainty to survive? The answer is no." With files from the Canadian Press ||||| Members of The House Of Commons Search Criteria Parliament: -- ALL -- 39th (2006.04.03 - ) 38th (2004.10.04 - 2005.11.29) 37th (2001.01.29 - 2004.05.23) 36th (1997.09.22 - 2000.10.22) 35th (1994.01.17 - 1997.04.27) 34th (1988.12.12 - 1993.09.08) 33rd (1984.11.05 - 1988.10.01) 32nd (1980.04.14 - 1984.07.09) 31st (1979.10.09 - 1979.12.14) 30th (1974.09.30 - 1979.03.26) 29th (1973.01.04 - 1974.05.09) 28th (1968.09.12 - 1972.09.01) 27th (1966.01.18 - 1968.04.23) 26th (1963.05.16 - 1965.09.08) 25th (1962.09.27 - 1963.02.06) 24th (1958.05.12 - 1962.04.19) 23rd (1957.10.14 - 1958.02.01) 22nd (1953.11.12 - 1957.04.12) 21st (1949.09.15 - 1953.06.13) 20th (1945.09.06 - 1949.04.30) 19th (1940.05.16 - 1945.04.16) 18th (1936.02.06 - 1940.01.25) 17th (1930.09.08 - 1935.08.14) 16th (1926.12.09 - 1930.05.30) 15th (1926.01.07 - 1926.07.02) 14th (1922.03.08 - 1925.09.05) 13th (1918.03.18 - 1921.10.04) 12th (1911.11.15 - 1917.10.06) 11th (1909.01.20 - 1911.07.29) 10th (1905.01.11 - 1908.09.17) 9th (1901.02.06 - 1904.09.29) 8th (1896.08.19 - 1900.10.09) 7th (1891.04.29 - 1896.04.24) 6th (1887.04.13 - 1891.02.03) 5th (1883.02.08 - 1887.01.15) 4th (1879.02.13 - 1882.05.18) 3rd (1874.03.26 - 1878.08.17) 2nd (1873.03.05 - 1874.01.02) 1st (1867.11.06 - 1872.07.08) New members only Current Members Only Name starts with: Party Affiliation: -- ALL -- Anti-Confederate Bloc populaire canadien Bloc Québécois C.C.F. Canadian Alliance Conservative Conservative (2003) Independent Independent C.C.F. Independent Conservative Independent Labour Independent Liberal Independent Progressive Independent Progressive Conservative Labour Labour Progressive Laurier Liberal Liberal Liberal (Reformer) Liberal Progressive Liberal-Conservative Liberal-Labour McCarthyite National Government Nationalist Nationalist Conservative Nationalist Liberal New Democracy New Democratic Party New Party No affiliation Patrons of Industry Progressive Progressive Conservative Ralliement Créditiste Reconstruction Reform Social Credit Unionist Unionist (Liberal) United Farmers United Farmers of Alberta United Farmers of Ontario United Farmers of Ontario-Labour United Reform Movement Unity Riding's name contains: Province or Territory: -- ALL -- Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Gender: -- ALL -- Men Women ||||| Vote set for Oct. 14: Harper expects tight, tough election Federal election day after Thanksgiving is 3rd in just over 4 years Canadians will head to the polls in a general election on Oct. 14, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday in Ottawa after meeting with the Governor General. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, in calling for an Oct. 14 federal election, says Canadians will 'choose the way forward.' (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press) Harper made the announcement outside Rideau Hall after his conversation with Michaëlle Jean. "Her Excellency, the Governor General, has seen fit to dissolve Parliament," he said. The vote will take place one day after the Thanksgiving holiday. Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion says the Oct. 14 election may be the most 'crucial' campaign in election history. (CBC) "Between now and Oct. 14, Canadians will choose a government to look out for their interests at a time of global economic trouble," Harper said. When asked about what the outcome might be, the Conservative leader said, "We believe it is going to be a tough election. We believe it will be a tight election. And, yes, we believe in all likelihood it will be a minority." Before taking questions, Harper paused briefly to praise Canada as the "best country in the world," and said serving as prime minister has been an honour. Harper took direct aim at the Liberals, led by Stéphane Dion, and their promotion of large-scale spending and a new carbon tax. "This tax will pack a cost on to every expenditure every family and every business makes," said Harper who is the MP for Calgary Southwest. Dion's plan would levy $15.4 billion in new taxes on Canadian industries that produce high carbon emissions. The higher prices for energy that people would face would be offset by broad-based tax cuts, according to the plan. Dion has countered that his plan is revenue neutral — offset by income-tax cuts. Leaders react to election call, outline platforms The Liberal leader said the October vote poses "a stark choice" for the country, and slammed Harper's party for not planning for future generations. "Stephen Harper has formed the most conservative government in our history," Dion said in the foyer of the House of Commons. Dion, who represents the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, said he would champion a "richer, fairer, greener Canada," and said he does not mind being "the underdog" going into the campaign. NDP Leader Jack Layton, speaking in Gatineau, Que., urged Canadians to bid farewell to Stephen Harper. (CBC) Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said it was important to send a large number of Bloc MPs to Ottawa, and said his goal was to prevent Harper from gaining a majority. "In order to have Quebec respected in Ottawa, we need to have a team that puts Quebec first," Duceppe said in Montreal. He represents the riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie. "With the Bloc, Quebec can present a united stand in Ottawa," he said. 'We want Quebec to be the winner." New Democrat Leader Jack Layton, speaking in Gatineau, Que., with the Parliament Buildings behind him, touted his team of MPs and called for a campaign of hope and optimism. Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe, speaking in Montreal, said the campaign should put Quebec first. (CBC) "Unlike Stephen Harper, I will be a prime minister who puts you and your family first," he said in English, after a lengthy start to his speech in French. Layton, whose riding is Toronto-Danforth, urged Canadians to tap into the political "winds of change" in the United States, saying in French that it was time to say "goodbye to George Bush and Stephen Harper." Green party Leader Elizabeth May, speaking in Guelph, Ont., said her top priority would be the environment. "We must live on this planet as if we plan to stay," May said, saying the election "makes all the difference in the world." May, who is a candidate in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova, called for "a better world for us and for our children," and said she would continue to challenge the "massive unfairness of excluding me from the leaders debate." Green party Leader Elizabeth May, speaking in Guelph, Ont., urged Canadians to make the environment the election's top priority. (CBC) May's party has been shut out of the leaders debate, usually held in the last few weeks of a federal leadership campaign, because the Greens have never held a federal seat in Canada. Just last week, they gained their first-ever member of Parliament when former Liberal MP Blair Wilson, a Vancouver-area Independent, joined the party on Aug. 30. Harper now heads to Quebec City on Sunday and then to Vancouver. Dion will arrive in Montreal later in the day. Layton will speak in Calgary later Sunday, while Duceppe will attend events in Montreal. May will remain in Guelph before heading to Ottawa. Conservatives won minority in 2006 Harper's Conservative party has been in power since Jan. 23, 2006, when it won a minority of seats. Heading into this election, the Conservatives held 127 seats, while the Liberals had 95. The Bloc Québecois had 48 seats, the New Democratic Party 30, and there were three Independent members of Parliament. The Green party had one MP and four seats were vacant. The calling of the Canada-wide vote means the cancellation of four federal byelections. Three were set for Monday in the ridings of Guelph, Saint-Lambert , and Westmount-Ville-Marie. A fourth was to be held on Sept. 22 in Don Valley West. After Harper made his announcement, Canada's chief electoral officer, Marc Mayrand, issued a press release confirming that the byelections would not take place. This will be Canada's fifth general election in 11 years and the third in just over four years, dating back to June 2004. The Conservatives had set a fixed date of Oct. 19, 2009, for the next vote, but Harper recently suggested he was ready to go sooner, and pulled the plug on his current minority government. With files from the Canadian Press ||||| Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apparent plan to call a general election this coming week, in defiance of the government's own legislation fixing October, 2009, as the date of the next federal election, has triggered a good deal of controversy this past week. A number of commentators have argued that calling an election without waiting for the House of Commons to reconvene on Sept. 15 would violate established constitutional conventions or norms. Some have even claimed that the election call would be illegal, in light of the government's fixed-election date legislation, and suggested that the Governor-General, Michaelle Jean, should carefully consider whether she should accept the Prime Minister's request. In fact, while the Prime Minister's election gambit may violate political commitments, it is perfectly consistent with constitutional norms and practices, and would not violate the fixed-date election legislation. The first point to recognize is that, under Westminster-style parliamentary systems such as our own, a prime minister has virtually absolute discretion to determine the date of a general election. While the formal legal power to trigger an election rests in the hands of the governor-general, there is a firm constitutional requirement that she will exercise her powers only on the advice of the prime minister. Thus when the prime minister asks the governor-general to dissolve Parliament and fix the date of the election, the governor-general is expected to automatically grant the request without making an independent assessment of its merits. It has been suggested that there may be exceptional circumstances in which a governor-general might be justified in exercising a "reserve power" and refusing to grant a prime minister's request for a dissolution. For example, in her 2006 memoir Heart Matters, Adrienne Clarkson, the former governor-general, revealed that in 2005 she would have refused a request for a dissolution from Paul Martin, if he had made the request within six months of the previous election. Ms. Clarkson claimed that "to put the Canadian people through an election before six months would have been irresponsible, and in that case I would have decided in favour of the good of the Canadian people and denied dissolution." Ms. Clarkson reported that she had formulated this six-month principle on the basis of the opinions of "constitutional experts whom I consulted regularly." Yet the constitutional basis for the principle seems unsound, since it is surely for the elected prime minister, and not the unelected governor-general, to decide what is in the best interests of the Canadian people. Ms. Clarkson's constitutional advice suggesting that a government must wait six months before seeking a dissolution was likely based on the celebrated "King-Byng" incident of 1926, the only time in Canadian history where a governor-general refused the request of a prime minister to dissolve Parliament. Mackenzie King's minority government had been in office for a little more than six months when, facing likely defeat on a vote of confidence, he asked Governor-General Byng to dissolve Parliament and fix an election date. Byng refused and, instead, called upon the leader of the Opposition, Arthur Meighen, to form a government. Constitutional scholars have long debated whether Lord Byng acted properly in refusing the prime minister's request. But a number of quite distinctive circumstances prevailed in June, 1926, none of which is present today. First, the prime minister was seeking a second election within a span of about six months, having previously sought and been granted a dissolution that led to the election of November, 1925. Second, it was virtually certain that King was about to be defeated on a confidence vote, which suggested that he no longer enjoyed the confidence of the House of Commons. On this basis, the governor-general might have regarded it as appropriate to refuse the prime minister's advice, since the governor-general is only required to follow advice from a first minister who has the support of the House. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the Conservatives under Arthur Meighen had in fact won significantly more seats than King's Liberals in the 1925 election and were just eight seats short of a majority, but King had continued to govern with the support of the Progressives. Thus Meighen could plausibly claim that he should be given the opportunity to form a government before another election. (In fact, Meighen's government was defeated within days of taking office, triggering the election of September, 1926, which returned King to office.) | Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set October 14 as the date for the 40th Canadian federal election. The Prime Minister met with Governor General Michaëlle Jean at her official residence of Rideau Hall today to request that the 39th Parliament of Canada be dissolved. The Queen's representative agreed to drop the writ and hold the election on Harper's recommended date. Throughout the duration of Harper's minority parliament, there have been several times where an election call had been predicted, but it managed to survive longer than any true minority government in Canadian history, despite having the smallest relative caucus. Nevertheless, today's announcement has been a near-certainty for the past week, and each party has already begun campaigning and putting up signs. The Conservatives began airing TV advertisements before the official election call was made. After meeting individually with the leaders of the three other parties represented in the House of Commons, Harper said that he does not have confidence in the ability of the Parliament to continue to work. After each of his meetings at 24 Sussex Drive, opposition leaders emerged saying that Harper was intent on calling an election and had already decided that there could be no common ground with opposition parties. Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe said after his August 29 meeting with the Prime Minister that "instead of making efforts to try finding solutions in the best interest of the population, he wants an election in the best interest of his party". Over the course of this past Parliament, the governing Conservatives rarely found compromises with the other parties, and his small caucus has survived largely because the Liberal Party chose to abstain from crucial bills rather than vote against them. The move is somewhat unusual. While minority governments rarely last long in Canada a request for the dissolution of Parliament is normally not made until the government is defeated on a motion of confidence by the opposition parties. The move is also unusual because it appears to violate a law passed by Harper himself; Bill C-16 of the first session set fixed election dates for federal elections, reading "each general election must be held on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year following polling day for the last general election". Under the law, the next election was not to be held until October 19, 2009; however, the government has stated that the bill was never intended to be used in minority parliaments. Harper argues, however, that the parliament could no longer function and opposition parties intended to defeat the government. With that rationale, Governor General Jean had little choice but to follow her prime minister's advice. A recent poll conducted by Ipsos Reid for CanWest News Service reported that half of all the 1,003 Canadians surveyed said Harper would make the best Prime Minister, with New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton at 31%, and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion at 20%. NDP leader Jack Layton is at 38% support for being "sincerely committed to dealing with global warming," with Dion at 30%, and Harper last at 27%. "If this election is going to be a referendum on leadership, Stephen Harper has a heck of an advantage," says Ipsos Reid president Darrell Bricker. He also says Dion has to "to rough up Stephen Harper a bit" if he wants to win the election. Harper is also at 50% for being the best to lead in tough economic times, 47% for having "what is takes" to lead the country, and 43% for "a vision of Canada that you can support." The Conservatives currently hold 127 of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, up from 124 at the last election, while the Liberals hold 95 seats, down from 103. Recent polls show the Conservatives polling at 37% support among voters, just below the 40% usually required to form a majority government. |
Soldiers killed in chopper crash A NUMBER of British soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in the southern city of Basra overnight and several more were injured in ensuing clashes on the ground, the Ministry of Defence said. The situation was still "volatile" after British troops who deployed to the site were attacked with petrol bombs, blast bombs, stones and gunfire, it said. An Iraqi police officer said four Iraqi civilians, including two children, were killed and another 19 wounded in the fighting. Des Browne, Britain's newly-appointed defence minister, was unable to give an exact casualty toll from the downed chopper, but said: "At this early stage I can confirm the tragic deaths of a number of British service personnel." An AFP correspondent at the crash site saw two bodies of the chopper crew completely burned. Browne said the cause of the crash was unclear, but a policeman in Basra said the helicopter was downed by a rocket. The British minister said: "Together with the Iraqi emergency services, British forces are securing the crash site, which will help to ensure a thorough investigation of all possible causes of the incident." Mr Browne, who only took over the defence job on Friday after a cabinet reshuffle, urged people to resist speculating on what happened "until the situation in Basra is calmer and we are able to establish the facts." Violence flared after the helicopter came down, with a mob attacking British soldiers who were setting up a cordon to secure the area. "British troops have come under attack with a variety of weapons including guns and petrol bombs as well as blast bombs and stones," the defence ministry said in a statement. "A number of UK personnel received minor injuries in the attacks. We cannot confirm reports of Iraqi injuries or fatalities from cross-fire." Britain has some 8,000 soldiers deployed in and around Basra. Not including the death toll from Saturday, it has lost 104 soldiers, 79 of them in combat operations, since joining the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Have your say Print this story Also in Breaking News Beatles, Apple await court ruling Four dead in military plane crash Miner to be buried tomorrow Senators air concerns on CIA chief More Reports Cuts would hurt economy: Greens Powers seek unity on Iran Plan to lure UK doctors Overhaul child care: Democrats RBA 'saw tax cuts coming' Mine rescuers speed up blasting Fire in hay load destroys truck Welfare card 'should be voluntary' Fake charity collector warning Light plane struck by lightning United jet in emergency landing Dollar opens higher Hunt for trio who fled stabbing Man charged over break-ins US 'not ready' for bird flu pandemic Man charged over stabbing Baillieu to be elected Libs leader Ute hits tree, man killed Democrats pledge Bush probe 100,000 Iraqis 'flee homes' ||||| Soldiers cordoned off the area around the crash site The scenes in Basra Iraqi police claimed five local people were shot dead in the unrest, although they did not know who fired the shots. The city has been placed under a night-time curfew to defuse tensions. Earlier Basra police said the aircraft crashed into a house after being hit by a rocket, but British ministers said the cause of the crash was unclear. Defence Secretary Des Browne offered his sympathies to the families of the servicemen who died. BBC correspondents in Iraq say the events have opened a new chapter for British forces in the area - and it will be increasingly difficult for them to control Basra's streets. Basra police said four people were killed in subsequent clashes According to police in the city, two children were among those killed and a further 19 people were wounded during the disturbances after the helicopter came down. Gen John Cooper, commander of the British forces in Iraq, said troops did not fire directly into the crowds but fired live rounds at targets threatening them. Major Sebastian Muntz, in Basra, could not confirm claims that people had died in the disturbances. He said the curfew, in force from 2000 to 0600 local time, was doing its job and the situation near the crash site was calm. Mr Browne, who has only been in the job since Friday, said he was "deeply saddened" by news of the crash, but warned against speculation over what had caused the incident. "The situation on the ground is still developing and facts are still coming in. We must be careful to allow those investigating the incident to do their job." In other developments: A suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi army uniform entered an Iraqi army base in Tikrit and detonated an explosives belt, killing three army officers Two Iraqi policemen were injured by a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul In Baghdad, two children were killed and a woman injured when a mortar landed on their house in the north of the city Crowds of Iraqis cheered and celebrated near the site of the helicopter crash as the wreckage burned. Iraqi youths threw stones at British troops after the crash The BBC's Andrew North said it was a sign of a "dramatic change in attitude" towards the British presence in southern Iraq. As the troops moved in to secure the area, they came under a hail of stones and several armoured vehicles were set alight by petrol bombs. Exchanges of gunfire took place but it was not clear where from, and it is thought the troops may have been the target of mortar shells that came down among the crowds of Iraqis. Maj Muntz said although the scenes in the city had been "horrible", the general situation had been improving recently. But our correspondents said Saturday's events made it clear that the number of people who wanted the British out was rising. If confirmed, it would be the first time a British military helicopter had been shot down in the area. The Liberal Democrats described it as an "appalling incident" and called for a "clear exit strategy" for British forces from the area. Shadow defence minister Liam Fox said: "This incident raises a number of questions about the state of our airmen, which I am keen to pursue with the new secretary of state as soon as possible." The MoD said it was not the right time to be discussing strategy, saying their efforts were concentrated on dealing with the situation on the ground. More than 100 British service personnel have been killed in Iraq in total. A hotline has been set up for families seeking information: 08457 800 900. | A British military helicopter crashed in Basra on Saturday killing four crew members. Local Iraqis filled the surrounding streets celebrating the crash before a clash occurred with British troops upon their arrival. "We can confirm it was a British military helicopter that has crashed and an investigation is ongoing," a British military spokesman in London said. An AFP reporter on the scene heard from a local policeman that the helicopter was hit by a rocket fired by local militia. According to Basra police spokesman Lieut. Colonel Kareem al-Zaidi, "a multinational forces helicopter was hit by a rocket and went down on houses in central Basra". He also added that fire-fighters later found the four British crew members charred in the wreckage and that no causalities on the ground resulted from the impact. Earlier, an AFP journalist sighted the downed British military helicopter and reported he saw two burnt crew members after the impact which caused the helicopter to burst into flames. After the crash, it is reported that hundreds of people from the local area, many of them youths, celebrated the helicopter's downing in the streets surrounding the crash. On the arrival of British troops at the scene, including two tanks and one land rover, the crowd allegedly attacked the British forces with rocks, debris and petrol bombs. A British spokeswoman, Capt. Kelly Goodall, said British soldiers who responded came "under attack by a variety of weapons, including small arms fire, petrol bombs, as well as blast bombs and stone." British soldiers used foam to extinguish their vehicles, escaping uninjured. Members of the crowd allegedly shouted slogans such as "victory for the Mehdi Army!" and "we are all soldiers of al-Sayed" in support of local militants lead by Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. During the conflict, An AFP photographer was shot and wounded in the leg by a rubber-coated bullet. Contrary to reports from the British defence department, the journalist said that British soldiers raised their rifles and shot one man dead and also later shot the driver of a car in a local street dead. As conflict was escalated, British and Shi'ite gunmen exchanged fire which resulted in the addition deaths of four Iraqis including two children. An estimated 30 civilians were reportedly injured in the melee. An Iraqi policeman in Basra said the helicopter was downed by a rocket and said four Iraqi civilians, including two children, were killed and another 19 wounded in the fighting. Military forces later cordoned off the scene and imposed a curfew on the surrounding area in Basra. |
2012 Primary Process Delegate Allocation: The 12 at-large delegates at stake represent nearly half of the original total, due to penalties imposed by the Republican National Committee for scheduling the primary in January. Delegates are allocated proportionally based on statewide results, with the state's three Republican National Committee members remaining as unpledged to any candidate. Eligibility: New Hampshire residents who are registered Republicans or who have not declared a party may vote in the Republican primary. ||||| “He wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society,” he said in his victory speech after winning the New Hampshire primary. “We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity. This president takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America.” Romney’s rhetorical attack — on Obama, and on Europe — made clear that he’s running for president of the United States in part by running against European values. European analysts with experience tracking the interplay between Europe and the United States say this tactic has been tried before, but may be effective at a time when many American voters know Europe is gripped by a financial crisis with frightening global overtones. Rosemary Hollis, director of the Olive Tree Scholarship program at London’s City University, said Romney may succeed in putting Obama on the defensive, putting Obama in the awkward position of either defending Europe’s social systems or letting the attacks go unanswered. “Associating Obama with Europe links him to the current malaise in Europe, and Americans know it’s a basket case,” she said. “It plays to the stereotypical notion that the USA has about Europe, that they are freeloaders, with no defense capability, and live on welfare benefits.” Hollis said Romney is “relying on a history of socialism being viewed as the enemy.” The anti-European vitriol came not just from Romney, but from all the Republican candidates, said Willem Post, an American politics expert with the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations who returned from New Hampshire on Wednesday. “It is turning into something dangerous,” he said. “The way ‘socialism’ is used is totally out of place and wrong. Now in Europe, you see a decline of the welfare state and increased privatization, so it is factually wrong.” He was also in New Hampshire eight years ago, when anti-Europe sentiment centered on the Iraq war and France’s opposition to the U.S. “At the time there was a specific reason for Euro-bashing,” he said. “Now it is woven into the campaign of every (Republican) presidential candidate. One remark isn’t that bad, but now there was something fundamental about the Euro-bashing.” Despite Romney’s harsh words, he has in the past spoken highly of his experiences in Europe. More than four decades ago, during his college career, Romney spent more than two years as a Mormon missionary in France, where he was involved in a car accident that wasn’t his fault and left one of his passengers dead. During the campaign, Romney has reminisced about living in France on $500 to $600 a month. When asked last month about a formative experience in his life, he spoke about living with people who “lived very modestly” in France. But those nostalgic memories has not prevented him from trying to use Europe’s perceived weakness as a campaign weapon. Dominique Moisi, a senior adviser at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, said Romney’s hostile comments are a political tactic that would not be taken too seriously in Europe. “This is nothing new. This was the Republican line back when Kerry was running — and it’s continuing,” said Moisi, referring to the 2004 presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry. “The ‘Europeanization of America’ has been a slogan for a while.” Moisi said such political bluster would have little impact on Romney’s policies if he is eventually elected president. “Once he is president of the United States, he has to rule, so to speak, with Europe, and America can’t afford to lose Europe as China rises. It’s a campaign trick — very illustrative of the campaign mind of the Republicans,” he said. In Nordic countries that have maintained a system of high taxes and extensive welfare benefits without sacrificing economic competitiveness, Romney’s views were seen by some as ill-informed. Professor Stein Kuhnle of the University of Bergen, Norway, who researches the welfare state, laughed when he heard Romney’s comments. “It’s amazing that this kind of rhetoric works,” he said. “But I think it plays on ignorance to some extent. Most American voters don’t know very much about Europe.” “Maybe we should hold a class for American politicians,” he said. ___ Jamey Keaten in Paris, Raf Casert in Brussels, and Karl A. Ritter in Stockholm contributed to this report. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ||||| Candidate Jon Huntsman, at his primary night party in Manchester, N.H., now must prove he is more than a one-state candidate. MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jon Huntsman, finishing third in yesterday’s New Hampshire primary, declared last night he will remain in the race and go on to South Carolina. To cheers from his supporters, Huntsman took the stage around 9:30 p.m. and vowed to continue competing. “I’d say third place is a ticket to ride,’’ he told the crowd. “Hello, South Carolina!’’ Huntsman paid homage to the voters in New Hampshire, where he was propelled from behind in the polls through a strong campaign of retail politics. “We have pounded the pavement. We have shaken hands, had conversations, won people over person by person,’’ the former Utah governor said. “This is the old way to get politics done in New Hampshire. My confidence in the system is reborn because of the people of New Hampshire,’’ he added. With 78 percent of precincts reporting last night, Huntsman had grabbed 17 percent of the vote. Several supporters said they were disappointed in a third-place finish, given the intense effort Huntsman put forth in the state. “I was hoping it would be second place,’’ said Karen Schmidt, a stay-at-home mother and independent from Hollis. Schmidt said she remains hopeful that Huntsman will continue fighting. Jim Rubens, former New Hampshire state senator and a Republican, said he believes Huntsman is still the most electable candidate because of his appeal to independent voters. “He showed up in the state in June and moved very significantly in this complicated, crowded field,’’ Rubens said. “I’m happy.’’ A strong showing was critical for Huntsman, who bypassed campaigning in Iowa and elsewhere to concentrate on New Hampshire. He hoped his more-moderate positions on social issues, such as supporting civil unions for gay couples, would resonate with a GOP electorate that is less socially conservative than in other states. Now, Huntsman must prove he is more than a one-state candidate. After spending more than $2 million of his own money - and relying heavily on an independent group to buy ads for him in New Hampshire - he will face considerable hurdles to compete in South Carolina, where he travels today. He has failed to get his name on the ballot in Virginia and Arizona. Huntsman’s biggest challenge will be proving he is conservative enough to win over the GOP base. To do that, he is relying on his conservative fiscal principles. He talks about his record cutting taxes and promoting job creation as Utah governor. Huntsman is a former ambassador to China and Singapore. His foreign policy focuses on economics over military might, and he supports withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. He has also recently taken a populist tack, speaking about the lack of trust people have in government, vowing to support congressional term limits. From day one, Huntsman made New Hampshire central to his strategy, visiting three times before he launched his campaign June 21, and flying to New Hampshire the day of his announcement. In September, after gaining little traction in the polls, Huntsman moved his national headquarters from Florida to New Hampshire. But he surged only in the last week, suddenly attracting hundreds, if not thousands, of new supporters. Huntsman drew backing from independents and moderates seeking a candidate other than Romney who has executive experience, the ability to work across party lines, and a focus on fiscal rather than social conservatism. Steve Bykowski, an independent voter from Derry who works at State Street Bank, said he voted for Huntsman yesterday. “I like his economic policies, that he will tackle the too-big-to-fail banks,’’ Bykowski said. “He knows China, which is a big plus. He seems sincere.’’ Romney criticized Huntsman over the weekend for serving as ambassador to China under President Obama. Huntsman fought back, arguing that while he made his country a priority, Romney puts politics first. He unveiled a new slogan: “Country First.’’ ||||| In a rousing speech to his supporters a little after 9 p.m. on Tuesday night after placing second in the New Hampshire primary, Ron Paul talked about the case for freedom, free markets, and “a sensible foreign policy so we don’t waste our resources.” As supporters thronged around him at his Manchester, New Hampshire, headquarters, the 76-year-old Texas congressman said that he had called Governor Mitt Romney to congratulate him on his win in the primary (as Rick Santorum told his supporters that he did as well). “He [Romney] certainly had a clear-cut victory. But we’re nibbling at his heels,” added Paul with a grin as his enthusiastic supporters nearly drowned him out. “There was another victory tonight,” said Paul as the din cleared for a moment. “We have had a victory for the cause of liberty. There is no doubt that this whole effort that we are involved in will not go unnoticed. And I think the intellectual revolution that is going on now to restore liberty to this country is well on its way and there’s no way they’re going to stop the momentum we have started.” At a little before 10 p.m., returns from the first 48 percent of the New Hampshire precincts indicated that Romney had 37 percent of the vote, followed by Paul with 23 percent of the vote and Jon Huntsman with 17 percent. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum each had 10 percent. During his speech, Paul went out of his way to thank his many supporters across the country, “because you have done the work. And the donors, and the excitement on the campuses – it’s just unbelievable,” he said, in a pointed reference to the groundswell of support he’s received among college students. He then mentioned that while the media and others haven’t always given him the “coverage” other candidates have gotten, “when they do finally get around to us, I have to chuckle when they describe us as being dangerous. That’s one thing they are telling the truth [about]. Because we are dangerous to the status quo in this country! And we will remain a danger to the Federal Reserve system as well.” Paul pledged that monetary policy would remain a “dominant issue” in the campaign. “There’s a worldwide financial crisis going on,” he said. “And it’s only sound money and personal liberty that can solve the crisis that we have today.” Consistently popular among Libertarians and many Tea Party conservatives, Paul recited some of the core beliefs he’s stated since the beginning of his campaign for the presidency: The U.S. needn’t “police the world” and “it’s time to bring them [our troops] home! Bring ‘em home!” Here are additional excerpts from Paul’s speech on Tuesday night: * “We have been less safe because of all the money we have spent overseas. This is the issue now. I think it’s an issue that’s crucial… If you cut the military industrial complex, you cut war profiting, but you don’t take one penny out of national defense. Besides, we’re flat-out broke … But if we [bring the troops home] calmly and deliberately, we can save our economy here at home.” * “Our national debt is going up in real terms … We have to cut. We have to live within our means if we want to be able to take care of the people who have been made to be so dependent on the government.” * “What should the role of government be in a free society? The role should be very simple: the protection of liberty.” * “The Constitution was not designed to restrain the individual. It was to protect your liberties… But liberty has to be reemphasized. Liberty means you have a right to your life and your privacy… and you have a right to keep and spend your money as you want to.” * “Economic freedom should bring people together… You don’t have to compromise. What you have to do is emphasize [to] the coalitions that people want their freedoms for different reasons, and bring them together.” ||||| Mitt-Out a Doubt? According to Conventional Wisdom, New Hampshire’s primary tonight (which we skipped to avoid the crowd and concentrate on other areas) will provide GOP frontrunner-in-waiting, Mitt Romney, with his second straight win and a chance to begin fulfilling pundits’ prophecies pointing to his ultimate victory. If the Granite State is his true launch pad, then South Carolina will offer the opportunity for Romney to start leaving other GOP hopefuls in the dust. But Romney’s numbers in the Granite State are slowly ratcheting down as he finally becomes the pincushion in the lead. Attack ads have, naturally, taken over the New Hampshire airwaves and the blogosphere. Some of those ads have legitimate points, while some…well…are just bizarre. Our favorite: the one that accuses Romney of starting a business with a goal of – GASP – making lots of money! Now that Romney’s rope-a-dope strategy can no longer be used, those slings and arrows are having an effect, although most pundits think Romney will still prevail. If he wins with 30+ percent of the vote, the ensuing Primary in South Carolina may give him the octane to distance himself from the pack. So, as the nation’s attention turns northeast, we turned our attention to the bucolic regions of the Palmetto State where we asked 993 likely voters in the South Carolina GOP primary two main questions: If the GOP primary election for president were held today, for whom would you vote? No matter who you’re for, which candidate do you think ultimately be the GOP nominee? Here are the results: Type: Automated - Date: 1/9/2012 - Participants: 993 Likely voters - Margin of Error: ± 3.11% Candidate Personally Support Ultimate Winner Gingrich 21% 17% Huntsman 4% 2% Paul 8% 5% Perry 5% 4% Romney 26% 48% Santorum 13% 8% Undecided 22% 15% Clearly, Romney has made great strides in South Carolina–aided in part by an endorsement from that state’s popular governor and the continued underlying belief that his victory may be inevitable. Here’s how each candidate’s supporters responded to the “who will ultimately win” question in the crosstab below. (Here’s how to read the table: left to right, the first row indicates that 61% of the people who say they support Newt Gingrich think that Newt will indeed be the ultimate winner, while 1 percent of those Gingrich supporters think that Huntsman will ultimately win, and 2 percent think Ron Paul will win…and so on.) Here’s the table: Ultimate Choice Personal Choice (below) Gingrich Huntsman Paul Perry Romney Santorum Uncertain Gingrich 61% 1% 2% 1% 27% 3% 4% Huntsman 3% 26% 6% 0% 54% 3% 9% Paul 4% 0% 38% 5% 44% 2% 7% Perry 8% 0% 2% 38% 33% 10% 10% Romney 2% 1% 1% 0% 93% 1% 2% Santorum 12% 2% 2% 2% 32% 46% 4% Uncertain 8% 0% 2% 3% 29% 2% 55% As we’ve seen in Iowa and as others have measured throughout the nation, Romney is increasingly being viewed among the GOP as the one who will prevail. True, if there’s a surprise in New Hampshire, shifts can quickly occur in South Carolina, so we’ll revisit here soon. But for now, Romney is hoping that tonight will finally tip over that domino that starts a chain reaction to victory. —————————– NOTE: This poll was paid for by We Ask America Polls™. The information has not been shared with any public official, candidate, cause or campaign. | Former Massachusetts Mitt Romney won the first-in-the-US New Hampshire Republican on Tuesday with 97,600 votes (39.3%). This follows his narrow victory in the last week. Congressman Ron Paul, who finished third in the Iowa Caucus, came in second with 56,872 votes (22.9%). Former Utah , who spent a great amount of resources on the primary, came in third place with 41,783 votes (16.8%). Romney in December 2011.. The New Hampshire primary, the first primary of the election, is the second in a series of state elections that help to assign delegates to candidates to determine the presidential nominee of the Republican Party. Delegates can also be assigned from members of the , though these are unpledged and subject to change. To win the nomination, a candidate must accumulate 1,144 delegates. With his victory, Romney claimed seven delegates to increase his total to 25 with unpledged delegates included. Paul won three delegates for his finish to total ten delegates, placing him second overall to Romney. Despite his third place finish, Huntsman is currently sixth overall in delegates with only the two he won in New Hampshire. He currently trails former Senator Rick Santorum who has compiled eight delegates overall, followed by Texas governor Rick Perry with four, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with three. In his victory speech, Romney criticized President Barack Obama, saying he "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society," countering that he himself wants "to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity." Romney received a call following the results from Paul, who offered his congratulations. Paul mentioned afterwards that "He certainly had a clear-cut victory. But we’re nibbling at his heels." Paul, a , added, "I have to chuckle when they describe us as being dangerous. That’s one thing they are telling the truth about. Because we are dangerous to the status quo in this country!" Though some Huntsman supporters were disappointed with their candidate's third place finish, Huntsman stated his "confidence in the system is reborn because of the people of New Hampshire". He announced he would remain in the race and head to South Carolina for that state's primary on January 21. Gingrich finished in fifth place with 23,291 votes (9.4%) slightly behind Santorum who won 23,408 votes (9.4%) despite the surge from his strong showing in the Iowa Caucus. Perry, who did not focus on New Hampshire after the Iowa Caucus, finished with 1,764 votes (0.7%). The campaigns now head to South Carolina, where all six major candidates still in the race will compete. The latest ''We Ask America'' poll from South Carolina shows Romney with 26 percent, ahead of Gingrich with 21 percent and Santorum with 13 percent. |
Hollywood writers who have been on strike for three months could return to work as early as Wednesday now that there is tentative contract. The Writers Guild of America has confirmed voting on whether to end the strike and return to work will take place at membership meetings Tuesday in New York and Los Angeles. A vote on the contract will be held within 10-14 days, WGA officials said. The WGA has recommended acceptance of the three-year contract reached late last week. It includes clauses guaranteeing compensation to writers for film and TV shows broadcast over the internet. "If they [producers] get paid, we get paid. This contract makes that a reality," said Patric Verrone, president of the WGA's West Coast branch. He called the deal the best in the last 30 years, but admitted, "it is not all we hoped for and it is not all we deserved." Among the concessions made by the WGA was giving up on the issue of unionizing workers on animation and reality TV shows. The union pledged to revive that issue in future contracts. However, screenwriters' compensation for movies and television shows sold online would be significantly increased. For one-hour programs streamed free over the web, writers will get a fixed payment of $1,200 US per year for the first two years, followed by two per cent of any revenues earned by the distributor in the third year. That is an improvement on the deal the studios signed in January with the Directors Guild that resulted only in a flat payment rate. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, had no comment Sunday on the contract. The writers strike has been damaging for the entertainment industry, with losses estimated at anywhere from $350 million to $1 billion US. WGA negotiating committee chair John Bowman said Sunday the cancellation of the Golden Globes gala last month — the event was downgraded to a news conference — and the threat that the strike would affect the Academy Awards ceremony on Feb. 24 may have been the impetus to restart bargaining. "We spent nearly three months with the studios' management, frankly getting nowhere," Bowman said. "I think what happened at the Golden Globes brought the CEOs to the table." With files from the Associated Press ||||| LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Hollywood writers got their first look Saturday at details of a tentative agreement with studios that could put the strike-crippled entertainment industry back to work. Writers Guild of America members picket in front of NBC studios in Burbank, California, on Friday. A summary of the proposed deal was posted on the Writers Guild of America's Web site hours before members were to attend meetings on the East and West Coasts to voice their opinions. The writers planned to gather behind closed doors Saturday afternoon in New York and later in Los Angeles to consider the deal that guild leaders said "protects a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery." Compensation for projects delivered via digital media was the central issue in the 3-month-old walkout, which idled thousands of workers, disrupted the TV season and moviemaking and took the shine off Hollywood's awards season. If members of the Writers Guild of America react favorably to the proposed deal, the guild's board could vote Sunday to lift the strike order and the industry could be up and running Monday. This month's Oscars ceremony, which has been under the cloud of a union and actors boycott, also would be a winner. Watch Showbiz Tonight's Brooke Anderson's report on the tentative deal » Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony has a picket-free pass from the union. An outline of the three-year deal was reached in recent talks between media executives and the guild, with lawyers then drafting the contract language that was concluded Friday. According to the guild's summary, the deal provides union jurisdiction over projects created for the Internet based on certain guidelines, sets compensation for streamed, ad-supported programs and increases residuals for downloaded movies and TV programs. The writers deal is similar to one reached last month by the Directors Guild of America, including a provision that compensation for ad-supported streaming doesn't kick in until after a window of between 17 to 24 days deemed "promotional" by the studios. Writers would get a maximum $1,200 flat fee for streamed programs in the deal's first two years and then get a percentage of a distributor's gross in year three -- the last point an improvement on the directors deal, which remains at the flat payment rate. "Much has been achieved, and while this agreement is neither perfect nor perhaps all that we deserve for the countless hours of hard work and sacrifice, our strike has been a success," guild leaders Patric Verrone and Michael Winship said in an e-mailed message to members. Verrone is president of the Writers Guild of America, West, while Winship heads the smaller Writers Guild of America, East, which together represent 12,000 members. About 10,000 have been affected by the strike. The guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, have not publicly commented on the proposed contract because of a joint media blackout. One observer said the guild gained ground in the deal but not as much as it wanted. "It's a mixed deal but far better than the writers would have been able to get three months ago. The strike was a qualified success," said Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney with the TroyGould firm and a former associate counsel for the writers guild. The walkout "paved the way for the directors to get a better deal than they would otherwise have gotten. That in turn became the foundation for further improvements the writers achieved," Handel said. A quick end to the walkout might result in TV viewers seeing a more new episodes of their favorite shows this season. A script takes about three weeks to write and about 40 working days to produce, so it could take as long as two months for the first new shows to air, Leight said. But once a production has scripts and is up and running, episodes are worked on concurrently and an hour-long show can be produced within eight days, he said. That could allow an hourlong drama to return with perhaps a half-dozen new episodes, and a half-hour comedy to squeeze in as many as seven new shows for the rest of the season. Networks, however, are likely to pick and choose among shows, with low-rated newcomers less likely to get deals for more episodes than a series like "Grey's Anatomy," which has a big, faithful audience. E-mail to a friend Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All About Writers Guild of America • Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers • Hollywood | The WGA rally in Culver City on Friday, November 9, 2007. 75px The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which has crippled entertainment productions in Hollywood since November, may be over as early as Wednesday. In an email to its members Saturday, the WGA announced the arrangement of a tentative agreement with the studios. The union's members will vote on the agreement sometime during the next two weeks. However, a decision to return to work could be made as early as Tuesday. The WGA has recommended that its members support the contract, as it provides money to writers whose work is transmitted over the Internet. There were two meetings held with the writers, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles where the writers seemed to be enthusiastic about getting back into business. Such shows as Desperate Housewives, the American The Office, and Grey's Anatomy will begin again if the votes go as planned. Executive producers for TV series, sometimes called show runners, are heading back to work before the guild takes a final vote. They are preparing for the writer's return, which is now expected to be as early as Wed. Show runners are also members of the guild. They are allowed back at work Monday under the stipulation that their work only consists of producer related tasks. |
Big Brother is shown in about 70 countries worldwide "Participants will be told to keep their hands to themselves," a spokeswoman for production company Endemol India told BBC News. "India is a conservative society and is not ready for the raunchy scenes that so characterise the programmes in the West," she continued. Up to 12 contestants will take part in the programme at the end of the year. The show's producers say they want to attract celebrities from Bollywood, cricket and Indian TV to live in the Big Brother house for three months. 'Multi-faith contestants' Both Muslims and Hindus could be chosen but issues between religions would not be discussed on the programme, said managing director of Endemol India, Rajesh Kamat. Unlike other versions of Big Brother, the Indian incarnation will not broadcast live, in order to avoid untoward scenes being shown. India is still a relatively conservative society. Very few couples live together before marriage, and intimate acts, such as kissing, are never seen on TV screens. However, soaps regularly feature storylines about infidelity and pregnancy out of wedlock. Big Brother was created in the Netherlands in 1999 and has since been marketed in dozens of countries throughout the world. ||||| The programme has attracted criticism in the past Producers gave tapes of the show to the police after a female contestant seemed to be held down by one man while another rubbed his crotch in her face. No charges were made but two men have been thrown off the programme. "Here is a great opportunity for a bit of self-regulation and get this stupid programme off the air," said Mr Howard. "It is just a question of good taste," Howard told Australian radio as he condemned the show, broadcast by Network Ten. Federal Communications Minister Helen Coonan has referred the programme to Australia's television standards watchdog. But Network Ten issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to the programme. "Big Brother adheres to all broadcasting codes of practice and all relevant rules and regulations," it said. The programme's producers said two housemates had been pulled from the show because they broke the programme's rules of conduct. No footage of the incident which led to their eviction was shown on the TV programme, although it was broadcast live on the internet. Police said no further action would be taken and the woman involved had not made an official complaint. The format has been a hit for broadcasters around the world since it made its debut in the Netherlands in 1999. | Producers of India's Big Brother have said that an upcoming celebrity edition will have a ban on "hanky-panky". A spokeswoman for Endemol India told BBC News that contestants will have to remain chaste in the Big Brother house for three months. "Participants will be told to keep their hands to themselves," she revealed. "India is a conservative society and it is not ready for the raunchy scenes that so characterise the programmes in the West," she added. And unlike other versions of Big Brother around the world, India's version will not be transmitted live in a bid to avoid showing unpleasant scenes which may cause controversy. It is understood that up to twelve contestants will participate in the show, which is to be televised at the end of this year. The show’s producers have said they want stars from Bollywood, Indian television and cricket to live in the Big Brother compound. The managing director of Endemol India, Rajesh Kamat, said both Hindus and Muslims may be chosen, but that issues between religions would not be talked about on the programme. India is still quite a conservative society. Close acts like kissing are never seen on TV, and only a small number of couples cohabit before marriage. In 2006, two housemates were removed from Australia's version of Big Brother after apparently sexually assaulting a female contestant. Big Brother was created in the Netherlands in 1999 and has sold to almost seventy different countries. |
Nuri al-Maliki tries to block George W. Bush after an Iraqi man threw his shoes at Bush Iraqi journalist hurls shoes at 'dog' Bush BAGHDAD (AFP) — An Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes and an insult at George W. Bush, without hitting him, as the US president was shaking hands with the Iraqi premier at his Baghdad office on Sunday. As the two leaders met in Nuri al-Maliki's private office, a journalist sitting in the third row jumped up, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," and threw his shoes one after the other towards Bush. Maliki made a protective gesture towards the US president, who ducked and was not hit. The journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi from Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo, was frogmarched from the room by security staff, an AFP journalist said. Soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture. After Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in Baghdad in April 2003, many onlookers beat the statue's face with their soles. Some Iraqi journalists stood up to apologise. The White House said Bush ducked to avoid the first shoe, while the second narrowly missed the president. Bush said: "Thanks for apologising on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me. If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw". Playing down the incident, the president later added: "I don't know what the guy's cause is... I didn't feel the least bit threatened by it." ||||| Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference. An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush "a dog" and threw his footwear, just missing the president. The US president has now continued to Afghanistan to inspect troops there. He arrived before dawn at Bagram air force base, and is due to hold talks with President Hamid Karzai. Earlier in Baghdad, Mr Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki signed the new security agreement between their countries. The pact calls for US troops to leave Iraq in 2011 - eight years after the 2003 invasion that has in part defined the Bush presidency. If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw US President George W Bush Speaking just over five weeks before he hands over power to Barack Obama, Mr Bush also said the war in Iraq was not over and more work remained to be done. His previously unannounced visit came a day after Defence Secretary Robert Gates told US troops the Iraq mission was in its "endgame". 'Size 10' In the middle of the news conference with Mr Maliki, Iraqi television journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi stood up and shouted "this is a goodbye kiss from the Iraqi people, dog," before hurling a shoe at Mr Bush which narrowly missed him. Showing the soles of shoes to someone is a sign of contempt in Arab culture. Muntadar al-Zaidi was quickly wrestled to the ground and hauled away With his second shoe, which the president also managed to dodge, Mr Zaidi said: "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq." Mr Zaidi, a correspondent for Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV, was then wrestled to the ground by security personnel and hauled away. "If you want the facts, it's a size 10 shoe that he threw," Mr Bush joked afterwards. Al-Baghdadiya's bureau chief told the Associated Press that he had no idea what prompted Mr Zaidi to attack President Bush, although reports say he was once kidnapped by a militia and beaten up. "I am trying to reach Muntadar since the incident, but in vain," said Fityan Mohammed. "His phone is switched off." Correspondents said the attack was symbolic. Iraqis threw shoes and used them to beat Saddam Hussein's statue after his overthrow. 'American security' Mr Bush's first stop upon arriving in Baghdad was the Iraqi presidential palace in the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where he held talks with President Jalal Talabani. PREVIOUS BUSH VISITS TO IRAQ Nov 2003: Serves Thanksgiving dinner to troops in Baghdad June 2006: Meets new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki Sept 2007: Visits Anbar province - former stronghold of Saddam Hussein "The work hasn't been easy but it's been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace," Mr Bush said during his talks with Mr Talabani. The Iraqi president called Mr Bush "a great friend for the Iraqi people, who helped us liberate our country". The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley, in Baghdad, says the key issue at present is exactly how American troops will withdraw within the next three years and what sort of Iraq they will leave behind. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. The US media has just published details of a US government report saying that post invasion reconstruction of Iraq was crippled by bureaucratic turf wars and an ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society. The report is circulating among US officials in draft form, says the New York Times. It reveals details of a reconstruction effort that cost more than $100bn (£67bn) and only succeeded in restoring what was destroyed in the invasion and the widespread looting that followed it, the newspaper said. Troop promises Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. US troops are first to withdraw from Iraqi cities, including Baghdad, by June next year. Defence Secretary Gates said on Saturday that "the process of the drawdown" had begun. "We are, I believe, in terms of the American commitment, in the endgame here in Iraq," he told US troops at an airbase near Baghdad. Mr Gates has been picked to stay on as defence secretary by President-elect Barack Obama. The end in sight for US troops in Iraq? President Bush leaves the White House in less than six weeks. He said in a recent interview with ABC News that the biggest regret of his presidency was the false intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Finding these was one of the key justifications for the invasion. None were ever found. Mr Obama has promised to bring home US combat troops from Iraq in a little over a year from when he takes office in January. More than 4,200 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and security personnel have been killed since the invasion in 2003. There are currently about 149,000 US soldiers in Iraq, down from last year's peak of 170,000 after extra troops were poured in to deal with a worsening security situation. As Mr Bush arrived in Baghdad, Gen David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command, which includes Iraq, said attacks in the country had dropped from 180 a day in June 2007 to 10 a day now. In a sign of modest security gains in Iraq, Mr Bush was welcomed with a formal arrival ceremony - a flourish that was not part of his previous three visits. He arrived in the country on Air Force One, which landed at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon, after a secretive Saturday night departure from Washington on an 11-hour flight. Bookmark with: Delicious Digg reddit Facebook StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable version ||||| Elections Home FOXNews.com BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi television reporter hurled two shoes at President Bush -- one after another -- as he held a news conference Sunday with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The president -- who dodged both shoes -- was not hurt during the incident. An official told The Associated Press on Monday that Muntadar al-Zeidi is being held for questioning by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's guards and is being tested for alcohol and drugs. The official spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because he was not authorized to talk to media. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, however, was hit in the eye with a microphone as security guards scrambled to restrain the man, later identified as Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadiya television -- an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt. As al-Zeidi threw the first shoe at Bush, he shouted, "This shoe is for goodbye!" He then yelled, "You dog. You killed Iraqis," as he was tackled to the ground. Neither leader was hit. In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt; Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam Hussein with their shoes after U.S. Marines toppled it to the ground in 2003. "All I can report," Bush joked of the incident, "is a size 10." Al-Baghdadiya television later released a statement, demanding the immediate release of reporter Muntadar al-Zeidi, who was detained following the incident. The television network said al-Zeidi threw the shoes at Bush "in accordance with the new era of freedom of speech and democracy that the U.S has promised the Iraqi people." The president visited the Iraqi capital just 37 days before he hands the war off to President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged to end it. The president wanted to highlight a drop in violence in a nation still riven by ethnic strife and to celebrate a recent U.S.-Iraq security agreement, which calls for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. "There is still more work to be done," Bush said after his meeting with al-Maliki, adding that the agreement puts Iraq on solid footing. "The war is not over." In many ways, the unannounced trip was a victory lap without a clear victory. Nearly 150,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq fighting a war that is intensely disliked across the globe. Polls show most Americans believe the U.S. erred in invading Iraq in 2003. Bush ordered the nation into war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq while citing intelligence claiming the Mideast nation harbored weapons of mass destruction. The weapons were never found, the intelligence was discredited, Bush's credibility with U.S. voters plummeted and Saddam was captured and executed. For Bush, the war is the issue around which both he and the country defined his two terms in office. He saw the invasion and continuing fight as a necessary action to protect Americans and fight terrorism. Though his decision won support at first, the public now has largely decided that the U.S. needs to get out of Iraq. In the news conference with al-Maliki, the U.S. president applauded security gains in Iraq and said that just two years ago "such an agreement seemed impossible." "There is hope in the eyes of Iraq's young," Bush said. "This is the future of what we've been fighting for." Said al-Maliki: "Today, Iraq is moving forward in every field." Air Force One, the president's distinctive powder blue-and-white jetliner, landed at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon local time after a secretive Saturday night departure from Washington. In a sign of security gains in this war zone, Bush received a formal arrival ceremony -- a flourish absent in his three earlier trips. Bush soon began a rapid-fire series of meetings with top Iraqi leaders. He met first with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and the country's two vice presidents, Tariq al-Hashemi and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, at the ornate, marble-floored Salam Palace along the shores of the Tigris River. Defending the war, Bush said, "The work hasn't been easy, but it has been necessary for American security, Iraqi hope and world peace." Later, Bush's motorcade pulled out the heavily fortified Green Zone and crossed over the Tigris so he could meet al-Maliki at the prime minister's palace. A huge orange moon hung low over the horizon as Bush's was ferried quickly through the city. The two leaders sat down together for probably the last time in person in these roles. They signed ceremonial copy of the security agreement. Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said the trip proved that the U.S.-Iraq relationship was changing "with Iraqis rightfully exercising greater sovereignty" and the U.S. "in an increasingly subordinate role." The Bush administration and even White House critics credit last year's military buildup with the security gains in Iraq. Last month, attacks fell to the lowest monthly level since the war began in 2003. Still, it's unclear what will happen when the U.S. troops leave. While violence has slowed in Iraq, attacks continue, especially in the north. At least 55 people were killed Thursday in a suicide bombing in a restaurant near Kirkuk. It was Bush's last trip to the war zone before Obama takes office Jan. 20. Obama won an election largely viewed as a referendum on Bush, who has endured low approval ratings because of the war and more recently, the U.S. recession. Obama, a Democrat, has promised he will bring all U.S. combat troops back home from Iraq a little over a year into his term, as long as commanders agree a withdrawal would not endanger American personnel or Iraq's security. Obama has said that on his first day as president, he will summon the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the White House and give them a new mission: responsibly ending the war. Obama has said the drawdown in Iraq would allow him to shift troops and bolster the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. Commanders there want at least 20,000 more forces, but cannot get them unless some leave Iraq. The trip was conducted under heavy security and a strict cloak of secrecy. People who made the 10 1/2-hour trip with the president agreed to tell almost no one about the plans, and the White House released false schedules detailing activities planned for Bush in Washington on Sunday. The new U.S.-Iraqi security pact, which goes into effect next month, replaces a U.N. mandate that gives the U.S.-led coalition broad powers to conduct military operations and detain people without charge if they were believed to pose a security threat. The bilateral agreement changes some of those terms and calls for all American troops to be withdrawn by the end of 2011, in two stages. The first stage begins next year, when U.S. troops pull back from Baghdad and other Iraqi cities by the end of June. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, said Saturday that even after that summer deadline, some U.S. troops will remain in Iraqi cities. FOX News' Ghaleb Tawfiq and the Associated Press contributed to this report. | Bush and al-Maliki shake hands during the press conference, following the signing of the Strategic Framework Agreement. An Iraqi journalist for an Egyptian Newspaper named Muntazer al-Zaidi was tackled by authorities after he threw his shoes at United States president George W. Bush during a press conference on Sunday in Baghdad. Bush had made a surprise last visit to Iraq to sign a new security pact brokered by Iraq and the U.S. Before throwing his shoes at Bush, the reporter, Muntader al-Zaidi of Al-Baghdadia, a local television station, stood up and said, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!" The words were followed by the reporter's two shoes being thrown at Bush, who had to duck in order to avoid being hit with them. Shortly after each shoe flew within a few inches of Bush, authorities quickly neutralized the reporter and took him out of the room. In Arabic culture, hitting or throwing shoes at someone so the soles hit them is considered a great insult. In 2003, when Iraqi citizens tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, they began to smack it with the soles of their shoes. Despite the incident, the press conference continued with some reporters apologizing for the man's actions. It even appeared that Bush was smiling, as the shoes flew past his head. "Thanks for apologizing on behalf of the Iraqi people. It doesn't bother me. If you want the facts, it was a size 10 shoe that he threw," said Bush in regards to the incident who also said that he didn't feel threatened. |
zo 13/05/07 - Marija Serifovic heeft het Songfestival in Helsinki gewonnen. Het is de eerste keer dat Servië de liedjeswedstrijd wint. De Oekraïense travestiet Verka Serdoetsjka eindigde op de tweede plaats. De Russiche babes van Serebro moesten genoegen nemen met het brons. De West-Europese landen bleven verweesd achter: Engeland, Frankrijk, Spanje en Duitsland haalden de toptien niet. Servië heeft met het liedje "Molitva", "een gebed voor vrede en solidariteit", de 52e editie van het Eurovisiesongfestival gewonnen. (Belga) Marija Serifovic bracht haar emotionele ballade met heel veel overtuiging. Ze werd bijgestaan door een achtergrondkoor van vijf "Bondgirl"-achtige zangeressen. Anja Daems omschreef Serifovic als "het lelijke eendje dat in een mooie zwaan verandert wanneer ze zingt". De Nederlandse correspondent Paul de Leeuw deed daar nog een schepje bovenop: "Twelve points for Kelly Osbourne", klonk het ironisch toen hij Servië 8 punten gaf. Oekraïne kon lange tijd bijna gelijke tred houden met Servië tijdens de puntentelling, maar travestiet Verka Serdoetsjka moest uiteindelijk het onderspit delven. Monsters schieten de show op gang De monsters van Lordi (foto) mochten zaterdagavond de festiviteiten openen in de Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. Daarna maakte Europa kennis met Maria Sestic uit Bosnië-Herzegovina. (Belga) De zinsnede "Shake it" was wellicht de meestgehoorde van de avond. De Grieken, Turken en Russische kandidaten namen die woorden in de mond tijdens hun act. Frankrijk en Duitsland pakten uit met een originele act, maar zowel "L'amour à la française" als "Frauen regier'n die Welt" konden televotend Europa niet overtuigen. Scooch uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk leverde een belabberde prestatie met "Flying the flag (for you)", maar werden tijdens de puntentelling gered door de 12 punten van Malta. Ierland werd door zijn buurland niet beloond met het maximum van de punten. De traditionele Ierse groep Dervish eindigde op de laatste plaats met amper vijf punten. België geeft Turkije twaalf punten Kenan Dogulu (foto) heeft het verbazend goed gedaan met "Shake it up, shekerim". De Turk eindigde op de vijfde plaats. (Belga) De Belgische Songfestivalfans hebben daartoe bijgedragen. België gaf twaalf punten aan het Turkse nummer. Aan deze 52e editie namen een recordaantal van 42 landen deel. Ons land kon zich dit jaar met The KMG's opnieuw niet plaatsen voor de finale. Een aantal opvallende nieuwe genres zoals operette en jazz deden hun intrede in de wedstrijd. Toch eindigde het jazzy nummer van Duitsland, toch ook één van de favorieten, slechts op de 19e plaats. Coup van niet-West-Europese landen Net als de vorige jaren viel op dat er opnieuw "politiek" gestemd werd. Bevriende buurlanden, vooral in Scandinavië, de oude Sovjet-Unie en de Balkan gaven elkaar vaak de hoogste scores. Even opvallend is de coup van de niet-West-Europese landen. In de toptien staat geen enkel van de vier vaste deelnemers aan de liedjeswedstrijd. Het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk, Spanje en Duitsland zijn de grote financiers van het Songfestival, maar moesten genoegen nemen met een plaats in de achterhoede. Net als de vorige jaren viel op dat er opnieuw "politiek" gestemd werd. Bevriende buurlanden, vooral in Scandinavië, de oude Sovjet-Unie en de Balkan gaven elkaar vaak de hoogste scores.Even opvallend is de coup van de niet-West-Europese landen. In de toptien staat geen enkel van de vier vaste deelnemers aan de liedjeswedstrijd.Het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk, Spanje en Duitsland zijn de grote financiers van het Songfestival, maar moesten genoegen nemen met een plaats in de achterhoede. ||||| Serifovic's powerful ballad Molitva had been second-favourite with bookmakers in the run-up to the competition. She scored 268 points, beating Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serdyuchka into second place. Russia was third, with Turkey fourth and Bulgaria fifth. British act Scooch managed only 19 points with their song Flying the Flag. EUROVISION TOP FIVE 1. Serbia (268 points) 2. Ukraine (235) 3. Russia (207) 4. Turkey (163) 5. Bulgaria (157) Twelve of these came from Malta, which placed the UK entry top in its voting, but there was little recognition from other countries. The UK tied with France one position above the bottom in the results table, with Irish folk group Dervish scoring only five points and coming last overall. It meant that Scooch narrowly avoided finishing 24th out of 24, as British act Gemini had in 2003 - famously scoring "nul points" - with the song Cry Baby. But Scooch were characteristically undeterred by the result. "To be honest, this experience has been one in a million," said singer Caroline Barnes. "But I have to say I laughed so much I cried at the voting. I'm not gutted. I don't want to say it was expected, but you know what Eurovision is like." 'So proud' Serbia took first place with its first entry as a solo state at the Eurovision, having declared its union with Montenegro defunct last year. The Eastern European state will now be charged with hosting the event in 2008. Following her win, Ms Serifovic told reporters "a new chapter has opened for Serbia". EUROVISION BOTTOM FIVE 20. Spain (43 points) 21. Lithuania (28) 22=. France (19) 22=. UK (19, pictured) 24. Ireland (5) "I am so proud. All my success is made by singing." The competition had been embraced by people in the Finnish capital, which earned the right to stage the event when rock group Lordi won in 2006. Lordi's song Hard Rock Hallelujah was reprised as the opening number of the show, at Helsinki's largest ice hockey stadium. Big-screen TVs were erected in the city centre, where fans gathered to watch the ceremony. Some 350 spin-off events had also been organised as part of Eurovision "fever". The contest - held since 1956 - had a record 42 entries this year, but 18 were eliminated in qualifying rounds before Saturday's final. It was broadcast to an estimated global TV audience of 100 million, with the winner selected after a poll in each country involving telephone votes and text messages. ||||| AHEAD of tonight's Eurovision final fans are asking themselves if an act from the West of Europe can ever win the contest again. Tonight's final here in Helsinki is dominated by at least 16 countries which would geographically lie on the Eastern part of Europe. Thursday's semi-finals became a graveyard for the hope of many of the Western countries if you include Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal and Malta. However, there were some also from the East who went down including Croatia, Albania and Poland. Despite all ten qualifiers in Thursday's semi coming from countries on the East side of Europe they did have a much larger involvement with 18 out of the 28 countries represented by them. Tonight's final is a similar matter with 16 out of the 24 finalists coming from the Eastern Europe, which at first sight would not appear to bode well for the likes of Scooch and Ireland's Dervish, but nobody in Finland doubts that the Eastern Europeans have put forward some fantastic songs in comparison to what the West has done. The one saving grace for the UK, Ireland and Germany is that all 42 countries including those who were eliminated in Thursday's semi-finals, will vote tonight. And if there was to be an anti-Eastern vote then Scooch might benefit from it. My favourites are Hungary, Serbiia and Latvia, but with many suggesting the Ukraine drag queen could steal the show. ||||| The victory of Marija Serifovic at the 2007 Eurovision song contest caused an outpouring of national pride in Serbia, a country more used to rebuffs from Europe over its wartime past than to accolades. Serbs took to the streets with flags, tooting horns and chanting winning entry "Molitva" (Prayer) until the early hours. Newspapers were dominated by the win: "Marija takes over Europe" and "European Prayer for Serbia" among their headlines. "A rare time when I was proud to be Serb," wrote user Zarko on the Web site of the popular B92 broadcasting network. "I'm so glad it wasn't some war song," said Aleksandar Tijanic, director of RTS state television. "Hosting this event in Belgrade next year will mean we have finally crossed into normality." The victory could go some way towards assuaging Serbia's persecution syndrome: the country's role in the Yugoslav wars made it an international pariah for a decade. Many Serbs feel they were unfairly blamed by Western politicians and media. "To those who say 'the world is against us', this shows Europe doesn't hate us, it gives ample reward when it's due," another user wrote on the B92 blog site. The competition showcased the usual tactical voting, where states vote for neighbours or allies: Serbia's passionate ballad got the maximum 12 points from all fellow ex-Yugoslavs, even those that were its enemies in the wars of the 1990s, Croatia and Bosnia. EU CONGRATULATIONS The contest was political for Serbia even after the voting. Congratulations came from the European Union, which had criticised Belgrade last week for electing an ultranationalist to a top post while the pro-Western parties bickered over a coalition more than three months since an inconclusive election. An 11th hour deal on Friday that spared the country new polls was met with relief in the West, keen to keep the Balkans' biggest country from the warmongering nationalism of the 1990s. "Congratulations," EU Commissioner Olli Rehn told state news agency Tanjug. "This is a European vote for a European Serbia." Serifovic, representing the country in Helsinki on Saturday night in its Eurovision debut as an independent state, said "a new chapter opened for Serbia, and not only in music". Serbians were briefly the darlings of European after ousting the late nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, but failed elections, political assassinations and a persistently strong nationalist vote soon soured the mood. The EU froze talks on closer ties last May, accusing Serbia of still harbouring war crime suspects, and Montenegro voted to leave their common sate. Serbs must still go through lengthy and invasive visa procedures to travel almost anywhere in Europe. The West also backs the independence of the breakaway Kosovo province, which has been run by the United Nations since 1999, when 78 days of NATO bombing ousted Serb troops who had killed 10,000 ethnic Albanians in a counter-insurgency war. The victory also gave hope to Serbia's tiny and harassed gay community, who celebrated the lesbian chic-tinged performance as a rare sight in the conservative Christian Orthodox country. "A big win for Serbia, a small step for gay rights!" said one partygoer, leaving Belgrade's only gay-friendly club. | Serbian Marija Šerifović performs the winning song ''Molitva''. Serbia's entry, Molitva (A Prayer), performed by 23-year-old Marija Šerifović, has won the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, Finland, with a score of 268 points. Second place was claimed by the Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serduchka, and third place went to the Russian entry of Serebro. Turkey took the fourth place with ''Shake It Up Shekerim''. Greece with Sarbel's ''Yassou Maria'' came 7th as the first Western-European country, while Ireland took only 5 points, finishing below France and the United Kingdom which shared the second-last place. 16 out of 24 finalists came from Eastern Europe, which caused many Western European countries to doubt the possibility that a country from Western Europe could ever win the final. Although France, the U.K., Spain and Germany are the big sponsors of the festival and are automatically selected for the final round, they all ended up at the bottom of the ranking. The fact that affiliated countries vote for each other (neighbourhood countries such as Scandinavian, Balkan or ex-Soviet countries) is also an annually returning matter discussed in the media. A record 42 countries entered the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, but 18 didn't make it through the selection rounds. Serbia competed as an independent country for the first time, separate from Montenegro or Bosnia-Herzegovina, and immediately won the competition. This year's edition was the first to host new styles like jazz side by side with traditional ballads and rock. The winning song was also the first non-English song to win since the transsexual artist Dana International won for Israel in 1998. The competition took place in Finland because last year the Finnish hard rock song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' by Lordi won the competition. The song kicked off the final in Helsinki. Hosts were Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi After the victory, many Serbs took to the streets with flags to celebrate the victory. Aleksandar Tijanic, director of RTS state television, was glad that Serbia made the news in a positive way: "I'm so glad it wasn't some war song. Hosting this event in Belgrade next year will mean we have finally crossed into normality." The country is still sometimes associated with the Yugoslav wars which led to the disintegration of Former Yugoslavia. |
Dan Rostenkowski , who mastered the craft of brokering and compromise to become one of the nation’s most influential congressmen but whose imprisonment on fraud charges came to symbolize the excesses of power, died Wednesday at his vacation home on Benedict Lake in Wisconsin. He was 82 and also lived in Chicago, in the house where he grew up. His death was confirmed by the office of Alderman Richard F. Mell of Chicago. Mr. Rostenkowski had been treated for prostate cancer in the 1990s. Mr. Rostenkowski, the son of a ward heeler and congressman from Chicago, was reared by the Cook County Democratic political machine under its longtime leader, Mayor Richard J. Daley, and won a seat in the Illinois legislature almost right out of college. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1958 at the age of 30, he was its youngest member for many years. From the start, the plainspoken Mr. Rostenkowski showed a knack for deal-making, often with his Republican colleagues, and it helped him land a coveted seat on the House Ways and Means Committee, the powerful tax-writing panel, in 1961. He served on the committee for most of his 36 years in Congress, 13 of them as its chairman, from 1981 to 1994, and was a central figure in shaping congressional tax policy. As a young lawmaker, Mr. Rostenkowski helped write the legislation that created Medicare in 1966. As the committee’s chairman, he helped fashion laws on taxes, trade and welfare. In 1983, he brokered the deal that led to the passage of a bill that kept the Social Security system solvent. “During that period, my daughters said there’s not going to be a Social Security system for them — that it’s going to go belly up,” he said in an interview in 1990. “Congress was concerned, and legislators made the difficult decisions and enacted a balanced compromise of tax increases and benefit reductions that saved the system from going bankrupt.” Mr. Rostenkowski also forged compromises that led to the 1986 tax reform act, a major rewriting of the federal tax code that sharply reduced nominal tax rates and eliminated vast numbers of loopholes, special preferences and tax-avoidance schemes. The Social Security and tax laws were both passed when power in Washington was divided between a Democratic House and the Republican administration of President Ronald Reagan. Yet legislative achievements were almost a sidelight to Mr. Rostenkowski’s true passion: the cajoling, arm-twisting and posturing that are the stuff of Washington lawmaking. He was so good at the game that for a time in the 1970s he was under consideration to succeed the House speaker, Carl Albert of Oklahoma. But his candidacy for the post was hurt by the violence in the streets of Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and the post went to Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. of Massachusetts. Still, Mr. Rostenkowski had become a force in the House, gaining entry to a small circle of the most powerful figures on Capitol Hill. Republicans came to rely on him as a bridge to the Democratic leadership, and presidents of both parties sought his support in advancing their legislative agendas. He was especially close with Presidents Reagan and Bill Clinton and the elder George Bush. “Rostenkowski over the years has built a reputation on the Hill as likable, earnest, cautious and absolutely trustworthy,” Time magazine wrote in 1981. “Among the show horses of Congress, he is a workhorse.” But Mr. Rostenkowski’s esteem and power on Capitol Hill eroded and then collapsed, starting in 1992, when a federal grand jury began investigating reports of wrongdoing in the House post office. Mr. Rostenkowski was pushed to the center of the scandal after investigators asserted that he had bought $22,000 in stamps from the House post office with public money and may have converted them to cash. The federal inquiry lasted two years, during which Republicans, led by the Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich, accused Democrats of corruption and held up the accusations against Mr. Rostenkowski as symptomatic. In 1994, Mr. Rostenkowski was formally charged with 17 counts of abusing his Congressional payroll by paying at least 14 people who did little or no official work; trading stamp vouchers for at least $50,000 in cash; misusing his office’s expense accounts to charge Congress for $40,000 in furniture and fine china and crystal; misusing personal vehicles and paying for them with $70,000 in House funds; and obstruction of justice. Mr. Rostenkowski fought back. “I did not commit any crimes,” he told reporters. “My conscience is clear, and my 42-year record as an elected official is one I am proud to once again run on.” Continuing his re-election campaign, he was beaten by a Republican, Michael P. Flanagan, in the watershed 1994 midterm elections in which Republicans won control of both the House and the Senate. The House post office scandal was widely viewed by political historians as a factor in that electoral triumph. ||||| Dan Rostenkowski, 82, a product of the Chicago Democratic political machine who became one of the most powerful members of the U.S. House of Representatives before he lost his seat and was jailed for fraud, died Wednesday of cancer at his summer home in Genoa City, Wis. In 18 terms in office, Mr. Rostenkowski worked to shake what he said was his reputation as a political hack. He rose to become chief architect of the nation's tax policies as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and in 1983, he was instrumental in passing an overhaul of Social Security that kept the retirement system solvent. Three years later, he engineered the most extensive revision of the nation's tax code since World War II. Hailed by President Ronald Reagan as "a second American Revolution," the bipartisan compromise closed loopholes for corporations, eliminated tax shelters and exempted millions of low-income workers from paying taxes. "That deal could not have been done without Rostenkowski," said Paul Green, a political science professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago. "I don't know if he would pass a CPA exam, but he knew how to count votes in the House." Mr. Rostenkowski, the son of a Chicago alderman and ward committeeman who trafficked in political favors, entered Congress in 1959 with the backing of Mayor Richard J. Daley, patriarch of the city's machine. As the mayor's man in Washington, Mr. Rostenkowski delivered billions of federal dollars to Chicago, including $450 million to repair the city's John F. Kennedy Expressway and $4 billion for the Deep Tunnel project to keep sewage out of Lake Michigan. An expert horse-trader and arm-twister in the tradition of his hometown politics, the jowly, 6-foot-2 lawmaker from Illinois relished Washington gamesmanship. But Mr. Rostenkowski was more interested in passing legislation than in political posturing, Green said, and was willing to court Republicans as well as his fellow Democrats. The congressman largely avoided television cameras and ignored polls, employing neither press aides nor political consultants for most of his career. "You don't have many men like him there anymore who can work both sides of the aisle," Green said. "He reflected a bygone era, not only in Chicago politics but in national politics." By the early 1990s, he was poised to be President Bill Clinton's most important congressional ally. But for all Mr. Rostenkowski's clout in Washington and Chicago, he was little known to the wider public until his legal troubles hit newspapers' front pages. In 1993, former House postmaster Robert V. Rota pleaded guilty to helping representatives embezzle money through fraudulent stamp-buying deals. The ensuing investigation resulted in a six-month jail sentence for Rep. Joseph P. Kolter (D-Pa.) and the indictment of Mr. Rostenkowski on 17 felony counts. Among other crimes, he was charged with taking at least $50,000 from the post office and using federal money to pay "ghost employees," who mowed Mr. Rostenkowski's lawn and supervised the renovation of his home instead of working on public business. Under House rules, the indictment meant that Mr. Rostenkowski had to give up the Ways and Means chairmanship in July 1994. Months later, he lost his seat to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan (R). | Rostenkowski's official Congress portrait in 1983 Former US Representative died of Wednesday at his vacation home in , Wisconsin. Rostenkowski, whose political career ended in the early 1990s after he was convicted on fraud charges, was 82. Rostenkowski's death was confirmed by his spokesperson, Jim Jaffe, who said that the former congressman had been receiving treatment for lung cancer for a while. Rostenkowski had previously been treated for in the 1990s. Rostenkowski was born on January 2, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois. He was an athlete and declined an invitation to try out for the (now the Oakland Athletics) in order to pursue a career in politics. Rostenkowski attended in Wisconsin, served with the in , and graduated from in 1951. Rostenkowski's political career was supported by the , and he became a member of the Illinois state legislature in 1952, one year after graduating from college. In 1958, when he was 30, Rostenkowski was elected to the US House of Representatives. In 1961, he began serving on the , the chief committee of the House for writing taxes. From 1981–1994, he served as the committee's chairman. Rostenkowski was involved in the creation of in 1966 and he helped make amendments to the system in 1983. In 1992, a federal jury began an inquiry into the House post office, and Rostenkowski was accused of buying 22,000 in stamps with government funds and then turning them into cash. The investigation, which lasted two years, led to Republican allegations of corruption within the Democratic party. In 1994, Rostenkowski was charged with 17 felony counts, including the use of federal money to purchase furniture, and obstruction of justice. In order to avoid a trial, Rostenkowski made a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to two counts of mail fraud in exchange for fifteen months in prison, two months in a , and a US$100,000 fine. Rostenkowski, who was not reelected for a nineteenth term in Congress in 1994, continued to maintain his innocence, and was pardoned by US President Bill Clinton in 2000. |
President Bush has urged politicians to give leadership His comments came after the British and Irish prime ministers unveiled a blueprint for reviving devolution. Assembly members have been given until 24 November to set up an executive. In a statement from the White House, Mr Bush urged politicians to "demonstrate leadership" to resolve the outstanding issues. "Today is an opportunity for all in Northern Ireland to take control of their future and bring the political process to a successful completion this year," the White House said on Thursday evening. "President Bush calls on all parties to demonstrate leadership and seize this opportunity to work together to restore the power-sharing government and resolve outstanding issues. BLUEPRINT TIMETABLE Assembly recalled on 15 May: politicians given six weeks to form executive If this fails, further 12 weeks after summer recess to form executive If this is not achieved by 24 November deadline, assembly members' salaries and allowances stopped Governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement In full: Joint NI statement Reaction to governments' plan "We remain steadfast in our support of the peace process and the efforts of the British and Irish governments to achieve a lasting peace under the principles of the Good Friday Agreement." Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern travelled to Northern Ireland on Thursday to give parties a "take-it-or-leave-it" plan. The assembly is to be recalled on 15 May with parties being given six weeks to elect an executive. If that fails, the 108 members get a further 12 weeks to try to form a multi-party devolved government. If that attempt fails, salaries will stop. The British and Irish governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Ahern has acknowledged the difficulties facing himself and Mr Blair were compounded by the murder of ex-Sinn Fein official and former British spy Denis Donaldson in County Donegal. The IRA has denied involvement. Mr Blair said it was "a moment to let the process be governed, not by suspicion but by the faith that the other does want this to succeed." Mr Ahern said the politicians have been given a "finite" time to reach agreement. Devolved government at Stormont was suspended in October 2002 following allegations of a republican spy ring. Mr Donaldson was one of three men later acquitted of charges linked to those allegations. ||||| > Paisley warns on North-South dealings By Noel McAdam 07 April 2006 DUP leader Ian Paisley has warned the Government that any moves towards new partnership arrangements with the Republic to jointly govern Northern Ireland will be strongly resisted. . . . . . . . . . Belfast Telegraph Archive Article This article is available in full (approx. 265 words) to Belfast Telegraph Archive subscribers. Already Subscribed ? Please click here. Otherwise, please choose an option below : 50p for 24 hours' access to this article or £5 monthly subscription to the whole Belfast Telegraph archive or £50 annual subscription to the whole Belfast Telegraph archive Find out more about the Belfast Telegraph Archive and how to subscribe. Buy using BT click&buy and pay via credit card, direct debit, debit card or via your BT phone bill. (If you are outside the UK, you can still use BT click&buy and pay by credit card. Your credit card company will convert the cost into local currency.) | | SiteSearch ||||| DUP told share power or assembly is finished By Shaun Connolly, Political Correspondent DUBLIN and London will "call time" on the North's devolved assembly, if no power-sharing deal is struck by November, the two governments declared yesterday. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British PM Tony Blair made it clear that, if the assembly is abandoned, Dublin would command much greater influence over the six counties. The Taoiseach and Mr Blair indicated that, if the DUP triggered the collapse of devolution by refusing to share power with Sinn Féin, the governments would push ahead with "Plan B" which entails moving towards joint management of the North through strengthened cross border bodies. The announcement at Navan Fort, Armagh, was intended to ratchet-up pressure on Mr Ian Paisley to agree to deal with Republicans. The two leaders said the assembly would be recalled next month and given a final deadline of November 24 to elect an executive. "At that point we close the chapter or we close the book," Mr Blair said. "If the parties can't find a way forward, we can't let this go on forever and will have to call a halt to it," he added. Mr Ahern expressed bewilderment that elected politicians were refusing to exercise power. "How can it be more comfortable for political parties with a mandate to be out of government?" he asked. Mr Paisley quickly dismissed any notion of sharing power with Sinn Féin, insisting the IRA was still armed and active. "Currently there is no evidence that Sinn Féin/IRA will be any further advanced in giving up criminality in November," he said. Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said his party had "delivered big time" and it was now the DUP's turn to compromise. "I appeal to unionism to seize this opportunity. It is about a shared future for all the people on this island," he added. The two governments used the Armagh meeting to declare they are committed to a "step change" in advancing North-South co-operation and are beginning detailed work on partnership arrangements that would be necessary if the current initiative fails. The move has been dubbed "direct rule with a green glow". However, both leaders stressed power-sharing would be the best way forward for the North. The assembly will be recalled on May 15 and given six weeks to set up power-sharing. If that fails, it will meet for a further 12 weeks in the autumn and must elect an executive by November 24. If there is no deal by then the 108 members of the Stormont body will cease to receive their salaries and allowances and elections set for next year would be cancelled. The assembly was suspended in 2002 amid allegations of an IRA spy ring in Stormont. One of the men accused of spying was Sinn Féin official Denis Donaldson. He was exposed as a British agent last December and murdered in his Donegal hideout last Tuesday. ||||| The British and Irish Prime Ministers have launched a concerted eight-month effort to shoehorn Unionists and republicans into a new power-sharing coalition government. Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern warned all sides that their initiative was in effect the "last chance saloon" for the reinstatement of devolution at Stormont. They attempted in particular to apply pressure to the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist party to agree to take office alongside Sinn Fein by the new deadline of 24 November. It was made clear that if agreement is not reached, Dublin will be given a greater role in the running of Northern Ireland, a prospect which would certainly not appeal to Mr Paisley. Article Length: 554 words (approx.) ||||| Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern travelled to Northern Ireland to unveil their blueprint for restoring devolution. They confirmed the assembly will be recalled on 15 May with parties being given six weeks to elect an executive. If that fails, the 108 members get a further 12 weeks to try to form a multi-party devolved government. If that attempt fails, salaries will stop. The British and Irish governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Ahern has acknowledged the difficulties facing himself and Mr Blair were compounded by the murder of ex-Sinn Fein official and former British spy Denis Donaldson in County Donegal. Despite denials of involvement in Tuesday's murder, the Democratic Unionist Party is blaming the IRA and that has pushed the prospect of power-sharing even further away. BLUEPRINT TIMETABLE Assembly recalled on 15 May: politicians given six weeks to form executive If this fails, further 12 weeks after summer recess to form executive If this is not achieved by 24 November deadline, assembly members' salaries and allowances stopped Governments would then work on partnership arrangements to implement the Good Friday Agreement In full: Joint NI statement Reaction to governments' plan Speaking from Navan Fort in County Armagh on Thursday, Mr Blair said it was "a moment to let the process be governed, not by suspicion but by the faith that the other does want this to succeed." "We have today set out a framework beginning with the recall of the assembly on the 15th of May and running up to November of this year for that ultimate decision to be made," he said. "At that point we close the chapter... or we close the book." Mr Ahern said the politicians have been given a "finite" time to reach agreement. "It is time to talk and to agree, people are entitled to firm assurances that if there is deadlock that it will not be allowed to continue indefinitely," he said. The Stormont government has been suspended since October 2002 Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said there were "negatives and positives" in the statement. "We welcome that the assembly has been brought together... we have concerns about the timeframe, about other aspects of the statement, but we think that's a good forward step. "We would like to think that unionism generally would see it as a positive opportunity." DUP leader Ian Paisley said: "Currently there is no evidence that Sinn Fein/IRA will be any further advanced in giving up criminality in November. "Given the reality that there will be no executive formed for the foreseeable future the best way forward is to get working in the assembly." Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said he welcomed the recall of the assembly. "We urgently need to have an input into, and make changes to, direct rule decisions on education, water rates and the Review of Public Administration to name but three. This is our job." He said the statement provided opportunities and threats, adding it was time to seize the opportunities and minimise the threats. Devolved government at Stormont was suspended in October 2002 following allegations of a republican spy ring. Mr Donaldson was one of three men later acquitted of charges linked to those allegations. ||||| PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR "If the parties really can't find a way forward, we have to call a halt and find a different way forward. Tony Blair says the time has come for NI parties to make a decision So the moment comes, as we always knew it would, for the ultimate decision. This is a framework that only works if the parties choose to use it for proof of good faith, not to themselves and their own community but to the community of the other Above all, this is a moment to let the process be governed not by suspicion but by the faith that the other does want this to succeed. I don't say suspicions will not still be there. Just don't let them prevail, to the exclusion of the basic truth: people do want this to work." TAOISEACH BERTIE AHERN I don't look at the end date of this. Plan is "start of a process", Bertie Ahern says In fact, I look at this as a start of a process. I do not want on 24 November to be thinking about another plan. I would love it to happen very quickly before that date but, whenever, I hope we will see the restoration of accountable institutions in Northern Ireland with politicians back in the lead position. Of course, because we are the custodians of the (Good Friday) agreement and have the responsibility to bring that forward, if that doesn't work we have to take responsibility. The challenge now is to finish the job. We believe that this is possible and that is why we are here today." DEMOCRATIC UNIONIST PARTY LEADER IAN PAISLEY "In any talks or negotiations our decisions will be based solely on our manifesto commitments and not on anyone's definition of our mandate. Ian Paisley says DUP will not be bullied The DUP will not be forced, rushed or bullied into accepting any level of IRA criminality. Currently there is no evidence that Sinn Fein/IRA will be any further advanced in giving up criminality in November. Given the reality that there will be no executive formed for the foreseeable future the best way forward is to get working in the assembly. Mr Paisley also condemned the Irish government's involvement in Northern Ireland. "This part of the UK is not really a part of the UK but is a part of the UK where a foreign government has more say over Northern Ireland than the people of Northern Ireland." SINN FEIN PRESIDENT GERRY ADAMS The Sinn Fein leader said there were "negatives and positives" in the statement. Plan is forward step, says Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams "We welcome that the assembly has been brought together... we have concerns about the timeframe, about other aspects of the statement, but we think that's a good forward step. We would like to think that unionism generally would see it as a positive opportunity. I appeal to Unionism to seize this opportunity. It is about a shared future for all the people on this island. It appears that they (the two governments) are saying to the DUP `if you don't come on board we are going to go ahead without you'." ULSTER UNIONIST LEADER SIR REG EMPEY Sir Reg said he welcomed the recall of the assembly. "We urgently need to have an input into, and make changes to, direct rule decisions on education, water rates and the Review of Public Administration to name but three. This is our job. He also criticised the DUP. "We have been told by the Democratic Unionist Party that the Belfast agreement was binned, consigned to the dustbin of history. Looking and listening to today's press conference it didn't look binned to me. It's actually back centre stage. "The governments are saying they're going to implement it or at least those parts of it over which they have control, whether or not this assembly works again." SDLP LEADER MARK DURKAN "All we have today is an 11 paragraph announcement that tells us less rather than more. That's why the SDLP will need to see the legislation that follows it. It may be better - or indeed worse. SDLP leader Mark Durkan has concerns about blueprint We will be urging the Irish government to ensure that the British government does not abuse its powers in that legislation. In particular, we are concerned that the secretary of state will still seek in that legislation a power to change the Good Friday Agreement at will. People should be clear about where all these difficulties about a shadow assembly have come from. A shadow assembly was agreed between the DUP and Sinn Fein in 2004 in the so called comprehensive agreement. We are still living with the damage caused by that bad deal." ALLIANCE PARTY LEADER DAVID FORD "Today's statement is all about structures. The governments have not paid attention to the wider social issues, most obviously segregated public services, which are dividing our society and creating conditions for instability and stagnation." SHADOW NORTHERN IRELAND SECRETARY DAVID LIDINGTON "The greatest responsibility for progress now rests with the republican movement to end all criminal activities and to support the police. Without both of these, we believe it would be unacceptable to have Sinn Fein ministers in government in a part of our country. If by the autumn power-sharing has still not proved possible we would oppose any further greening of direct rule or moves towards joint authority between London and Dublin which would be a complete breach of the Good Friday Agreement." | Logo of the Northern Ireland Assembly. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern have unveiled their plan to restore a power-sharing executive government in Northern Ireland by a deadline of November 24. The plan calls for the Northern Ireland Assembly's members to be recalled on May 15 and given six weeks to form an executive. If no results comes within six weeks, then the members are to be given another 12 weeks to attempt to form an executive. After that, if no result is achieved by November 24, then the salaries of all members will be suspended, and the Irish government will be given greater influence in Northern Ireland. The Assembly has been suspended since October 2002 following the allegation of the existence of a republican spy ring. Blair and Ahern acknowledged the diffculty of implementation of the plan, which has been hampered by the murder this week of Denis Donaldson, a former British spy in Sinn Fein. Blair said of the plan, "We have today set out a framework, beginning with the recall of the assembly on the 15th of May and running up to November of this year, for that ultimate decision to be made. At that point we close the chapter ... or we close the book." His verdict on the plan was, "If the parties really can't find a way forward, we have to call a halt and find a different way forward." Ahern said, "It is time to talk and to agree. People are entitled to firm assurances that if there is deadlock that it will not be allowed to continue indefinitely." His verdict on the plan was, "I don't look at the end date of this. In fact, I look at this as a start of a process. I do not want on 24 November to be thinking about another plan." Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party said "The DUP will not be forced, rushed or bullied into accepting any level of IRA criminality. Currently there is no evidence that Sinn Fein/IRA will be any further advanced in giving up criminality in November." Paisley also denounced the involvement of the Irish government, saying, "This part of the UK is not really a part of the UK but is a part of the UK where a foreign government has more say over Northern Ireland than the people of Northern Ireland." Gerry Adams, the President of Sinn Fein, said that the statement contained "negatives and positives." "We welcome that the assembly has been brought together ... we have concerns about the timeframe, about other aspects of the statement, but we think that's a good forward step. We would like to think that unionism generally would see it as a positive opportunity. I appeal to Unionism to seize this opportunity. It is about a shared future for all the people on this island. It appears that they the two governments are saying to the DUP, 'If you don't come on board, we are going to go ahead without you.' " The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Sir Reg Empey's response was, "We urgently need to have an input into, and make changes to, direct rule decisions on education, water rates and the Review of Public Administration, to name but three. This is our job." Empey was also critical of the DUP's statement, saying, "We have been told by the Democratic Unionist Party that the Belfast agreement was binned, consigned to the dustbin of history. Looking and listening to today's press conference, it didn't look binned to me. It's actually back centre stage." The SDLP's Mark Durkan said, "All we have today is an 11-paragraph announcement that tells us less rather than more. That's why the SDLP will need to see the legislation that follows it. It may be better — or indeed worse." He further added, "A shadow assembly was agreed between the DUP and Sinn Fein in 2004, in the so called comprehensive agreement. We are still living with the damage caused by that bad deal." United States President George W. Bush issued a statement saying, "Today is an opportunity for all in Northern Ireland to take control of their future and bring the political process to a successful completion this year." "We remain steadfast in our support of the peace process and the efforts of the British and Irish governments to achieve a lasting peace under the principles of the Good Friday Agreement." |
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