Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
THE ATLANTIC: Syria's dictator is following the same path that led Libya's leader to his death
Back in April, an NPR producer wrote up the 11 steps that Middle Eastern dictators take on the path to losing power. Her list, like the many similar lists floating around Arabic-language blogs and social media, drew from the examples of Tunisia's Zine el Abidine ben Ali (fled in January), Egypt's Hosni Mubarak (forced out in February), and Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh (pressured by the U.S. to resign in early April, a still-ongoing process). The pattern looked indelible, and still does. Here's the list:
1. Shut down the internet» | Max Fisher | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
1. Send thugs (on foot or horseback)
2. Attack and arrest journalists
3. Shoot people
4. Promise to investigate who shot people
5. Do a meaningless political reshuffle
6. Blame Al Jazeera
7. Organise paid demonstrations in favor of your regime
8. Make a condescending speech about how much you love the youth
9. Warn that the country will fall into chaos without you
10. Blame foreign agitators
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BBC: Syria: US condemns Bashar al-Assad 'conspiracy' speech – The US and France have condemned a speech by Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad which blamed an "external conspiracy" for the mass uprising against his rule. ¶ The US state department said President Assad had thrown "responsibility on everybody but back on himself". ¶ France's foreign minister said the speech amounted to "denial of reality". » | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In his 1998 work Dream Palace of the Arabs, Fouad Ajami wrote, "As the world batters the modern Arab inheritance, the rhetorical need for anti-Zionism grows. But there rises, too, the recognition that it is time for the imagination to steal away from Israel and to look at the Arab reality, to behold its own view of the kind of world the Arabs want for themselves." Whether Ajami realized it or not, these words offer an eerily prescient view--thirteen years ahead of time--of the dynamic behind the Arab Spring and its autumn and winter sequels. In country after country, Arab crowds have taken to the street for a cause more positive and all-embracing than anti-Zionism: the demand for an end to corrupt authoritarian regimes and for a greater say in their own future. What shape that future will take remains to be seen, and many basic questions have yet to be answered. Can democracy blossom overnight in societies that have always been dominated by oppressive force? If democracy does take root, can respect for minority rights survive the tyranny of a poor, ill-schooled and often intolerant majority? Would democratically elected demagogues pose even more of a threat to peace and stability in the Muslim-Arab world than old-line authoritarian regimes and monarchies with a selfish stake in maintaining the status quo and "keeping the lid on"?
Meanwhile, where can one turn for detailed, reliable coverage of what some now call the "Arab Awakening"? For millions of people around the world, including actual participants on the ground and in the streets of the Middle East, the single most important news source for the events still unfolding in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain is the English-language channel of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television-news network. Like it or not, it is no exaggeration to say that Al Jazeera has been the eyes and ears of this crucial news story. More often than not, Al Jazeera correspondents are the first on the scene, and Al Jazeera anchors and interviewers provide the most detailed follow-up, discussion and analysis of breaking events in the Arab world. » | Aram Bakshian Jr. | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
THE INDEPENDENT: Driven by a theology that refuses to grant women equal rights, ultraorthodox Jews have begun to flex their misogynist muscles. But, says Catrina Stewart, a fightback has begun
Less than half a mile away, young Israelis mix in bustling bars in central Jerusalem, anathema to this religious ultraorthodox community that has tried its hardest to hide itself away from the temptations of secular life, and ensure a rigorous separation between men and women.
Ironically, though, it is the ultraorthodox community's efforts to impose its religious values on ordinary Israelis, particularly women, that many fear is undermining Israel's democracy, and which now poses the greatest threat to this community's survival.
When Tanya Rosenblit, a 28-year-old woman from Ashdod, boarded a Jerusalem-bound bus late last year, she caused a stir by refusing to heed the demands of a religious male passenger to move to the back of the bus. Many of the ultraorthodox – known as Haredim – believe that modesty forbids women to sit at the front of the bus with the men, and it is common to see segregated buses with women seated to the rear, often crowded in while seats remain free at the front.
Ms Rosenblit became a minor celebrity in Israel, but her stance was not without consequences, earning her death threats for daring to challenge the religious community.
"The Haredim has always received special treatment in this country and people thought it was okay," she says. "But something has changed... in the sense that they feel they are going to control this country. That's disturbing." » | Catrina Stewart | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Related »
The Syrian president has made a defiant speech blaming foreign interference for the violence in his country.
In a televised speech on Tuesday, he accused the Arab League of hypocrisy for lecturing Syria on democracy and reform.
Assad claimed he never ordered anyone to open fire on anti-government protesters. However, opposition activists said at least 28 people were killed across the country on Tuesday alone as part of the government's security crackdown.
Assad asked what right other Arab governments, including the absolute monarchies of the Gulf, had to lecture Syria about democracy or reform.
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Antakya, Turkey.
Verwandt »
Staatspräsident Baschar al Assad hat den Syrern abermals Reformen in Aussicht gestellt, deren Verwirklichung aber von einem Ende des „Terrorismus“ im Land abhängig gemacht. In seiner dritten Rede seit dem Beginn der Erhebung gegen sein Regime vor zehn Monaten machte Assad wie zuvor deutlich, die Proteste gegen seine Regierung gingen auf eine „internationale Verschwörung“ und auf ausländische Einmischung zurück. In der Universität Damaskus griff er die Arabische Liga und die Golfmonarchien scharf an. Die Beobachtermission der Liga gehe auf seine Idee zurück, behauptete Assad. Er warf den arabischen Staaten aber vor, sie ließen sich nach dem gescheiterten Versuch, Syrien vor den Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen zu bringen, als „arabischen Deckmantel“ für die Verschwörung missbrauchen. » | Von RAINER HERMANN, ABU DHABI | Dienstag 10. Januar 2012
Frustration, tensions, frictions entre Michelle Obama et les premiers conseillers de son mari: l'image d'Épinal d'une Maison-Blanche unie derrière le président est mise à mal dans un nouveau livre, qui décrypte l'évolution de la Première Dame depuis son arrivée à Washington en 2009.
The Obamas, écrit par la journaliste du New York Times Jodi Kantor, s'intéresse en particulier aux deux premières années passées par la famille Obama dans ses quartiers présidentiels. C'est le premier livre à révéler le réel degré d'influence de Michelle Obama sur le président et son rôle de «gardienne» des idéaux de la campagne de 2008.
L'auteur décrit un couple solide et très complémentaire, mais «virtuellement prisonnier» de la Maison-Blanche, refusant de se faire des amis au delà du cercle restreint qu'il fréquentait Chicago. Kantor raconte aussi, avec force détails et un goût prononcé pour les potins, l'inimitié profonde entre Michelle Obama et le premier chef de cabinet du président, Rahm Emanuel, ainsi que les tensions avec l'ancien porte-parole, Robert Gibbs. » | Par Adèle Smith | mardi 10 janvier 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Teresa Gambaro apologises after suggesting immigrants should learn about personal hygiene and queueing
The Australian opposition's spokeswoman on citizenship has apologised after saying immigrants should be taught to wear deodorant.
Teresa Gambaro's comments, in an interview with the [sic] Australian, provoked a firestorm of criticism. Gambaro said that new arrivals needed to be taught about "what are norms in Australia", which also included how to queue properly.
"Without trying to be offensive, we are talking about hygiene and what is an acceptable norm in this country when you are working closely with other co-workers," the [sic] Australian reported her as saying. "You hear reports of people using public transport (without deodorant) and I think Australian residents are guilty of this too. I think we all need to be mindful of our fellow traveller."
However, after her comments attracted a mixture of anger and ridicule, Gambaro, the daughter of Italian immigrants, backtracked. "I regret any offence that may have been taken and unreservedly apologise," she said. » | Haroon Siddique | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The demand from the Islamic body revived divisions over 'The Satanic Verses,' his 1988 novel that Muslim groups have condemned as blasphemous.
The Rajasthan festival later this month is due to host leading writers and playwrights, including Annie Proulx, Ben Okri, David Hare and Richard Dawkins.
Fatwas from the Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband are observed throughout the world. Its vice chancellor said tens of millions of muslims [sic] remain 'hurt' the novel.
The Statanic [sic] Verses provoked outrage throughout the Muslim world over the narrator's claim that disputed verses in the Koran had been revealed by the Archangel Gabriel.
Sir Salman was forced into hiding after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa for his execution. India was one of the many countries which banned the book.
"I call upon the Muslim organisations of the country to mount pressure on the centre to withdraw the visa and prevent him visiting India where [tens of millions] community members still feel hurt owing to the anti-Islamic remarks in his writings The [sic] Muslims cannot pardon him at any cost," said Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, the institute head. » | Dean Nelson, New Delhi | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
HT: Underdog News by Klein Verzet »
Despite their geographical distance, the two countries have forged increasingly close ties, a lot of which is down to their shared anti-Americanism, although concrete projects have often lagged behind the rhetoric.
"One of the targets that Yankee imperialism has in its sights is Iran, which is why we are showing our solidarity," Chavez said during a joint press conference. "That hill will open up and a big atomic bomb will come out," he said of a hill next to his Miraflores Palace.
"When we meet, the devils go crazy," he said, mocking US warnings that Latin American nations should not help the Islamic Republic.
Ahmadinejad concurred: "Despite those arrogant people who do not wish us to be together, we will unite forever," he said.
The two men hugged, beamed, held hands and showered each other with praise. "President Chavez is the champion in the war on imperialism," Ahmadinejad said. » | Barney Henderson | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The telecommunications mogul, who also heads the secular Free Egyptians political party, is charged with posting a photograph on his Twitter account last June that depicted a bearded Mickey Mouse and a veiled MInnie [sic] Mouse. A group of Islamist lawyers, including ultraconservative Mamdouh Ismail, filed a lawsuit immediately after the cartoon was circulated.
Despite his formal apology, Sawiris' stunt was seen as mockery of Islam by this overwhelmingly Muslim country. Various religious groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafis, led a nationwide campaign to boycott products and services offered by Sawiris' companies. » | Monday, January 09, 2012
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Reporting from Manchester, N.H.—
The polls are open through most of New Hampshire, where a record turnout is forecast for the nation's first presidential primary.
New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, overseeing his ninth presidential primary, estimated that a quarter of a million ballots could be cast in the GOP race, which would exceed the nearly 240,000 ballots cast four years ago.
Pre-election surveys suggest that Mitt Romney has an insurmountable lead, but a fierce battle was nonetheless waged in the final days as other candidates fought to beat expectations in anticipation of the next primary in South Carolina.
The final Suffolk University tracking poll saw Romney ticking up four percentage points in the final day. He led Ron Paul 37%-18%.
A win for Romney would be unprecedented in this respect: No Republican has ever won both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Romney's eight-vote advantage in Iowa has not yet been certified, though GOP officials there said they didn't expect the result to change.
In his closing argument to voters Monday night, Romney said he wanted a more convincing win here.
"You're going to make a statement tomorrow," he said at a rally in Bedford. "Give me the boost I need." » | Michael A. Memoli | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Lingering doubts about frontrunner on display in midnight vote at Dixville Notch where two out of six vote Romney
Despite some last-minute gaffes, Mitt Romney remains the overwhelming favourite to win the New Hampshire presidential primary, but the margin of victory could determine whether he quickly clinches the Republican nomination or faces a gruelling battle.
His five opponents will try to shrug off a Romney victory as the expected outcome for a former governor of next-door Massachusetts who owns a vacation home on a New Hampshire lake. But a surprisingly strong finish from one of his rivals will be played up as more evidence that Republicans still have their doubts about Romney.
Those doubts were on display in Dixville Notch, the tiny New Hampshire village that traditionally votes at midnight. Romney received two of the six votes cast in the Republican primary. So did Jon Huntsman. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul received a vote apiece. President Barack Obama got three votes in the Democratic primary.
The rest of New Hampshire voters go to the polls on Tuesday after receiving months of attention from the Republican candidates and witnessing an increasingly sharp tone in the intra-party struggle for the nomination. » | Associated Press in New Hampshire | Tuesday, January 10, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran faced worldwide censure after a court in Tehran sentenced an American former marine of Iranian descent to death on spying charges.
Amir Mirzai Hekmati was found guilty of "spreading corruption on earth and waging war against God", a formulation routinely used against those to be considered enemies of the state and which carries a mandatory death sentence.
Hekmati, who is 28, was "sentenced to death for co-operating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate in terrorism," a judge ruled.
The former marine received espionage training at US bases in Afghanistan and Iran, prosecutors said. Hekmati, who worked as a translator for the US army, was shown on state television last month confessing his crimes.
He also admitted to working for a CIA-backed company that produced computer games manipulating users into holding pro-American views. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, January 09, 2012
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama’s chief of staff has resigned after a troubled year in one of the most powerful roles in American politics.
Bill Daley, a former Clinton administration official and a member of a Chicago political dynasty, made the surprise decision to stand down less than 12 months into a tenure which saw growing frustration as the President’s agenda stalled in Congress.
Speaking at the White House, the President said the resignation “was not easy news to hear” and that he only accepted it last week after asking Mr Daley to take a day to reconsider.
Mr Obama said that Mr Daley, 63, was leaving to return to Chicago and spend more time with his family but the former investment banker’s frustration with his role has long been public knowledge.
In an interview last October, Mr Daley said that the political and economic climate of the first three years of the Obama administration had been “brutal” and “very, very difficult”, adding: “On the domestic side both Democrats and Republicans have made it very difficult for the President to be anything like a chief executive.” » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Monday, January 09, 2012
Monday, January 09, 2012
Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney offered his political rivals a gift on Monday when he volunteered that he liked firing people – an unfortunate remark just as his opponents launched millions of dollars in campaign ads labelling him a heartless corporate raider.
Speaking on the eve of Tuesday's Republican primary in New Hampshire, he said: "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." He was referring not to making workers redundant but defending the free market, the ability to swap providers if service is poor. But, given the cynical way ads have been distorted so far in the 2012 campaign, there is a strong chance his remarks will be seized upon for use in attack ads, using just the words "I like being able to fire people".
It is a potential election bonus not just for the Democratic party but for the remaining Republicans in the race for the party's nominations. It came as supporters of one of Romney's fiercest and angriest Republican rivals, former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, released a trailer for an ad which will cost a staggering $3.4m to air.
The ad – paid for by one of the new breed of super political action committees (super PACs), which have unrestricted spending limits as a result of a supreme court ruling – details the devastation allegedly caused by layoffs in firms taken over by Romney when he was chief executive of the Bain investment company.
The ad is revenge for Gingrich, who was on the receiving end of a $3.5m ad onslaught in Iowa by Romney and his super PAC over the Christmas and New Year period that helped demolish Gingrich's poll lead in the state. » | Ewen MacAskill in Nashua, New Hampshire | Monday, January 09, 2012
An Iranian court has convicted a US man of working for the CIA and sentenced him to death, state radio reported.
Iran says that Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a former US military translator, received special training and served at US military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan before heading to Iran for his alleged intelligence mission.
The radio report on Monday did not say when the verdict was issued. Under Iranian law, Hekmati has 20 days to appeal.
Al Jazeera's Nicole Johnston reports.
Related »
An apparition is stalking the United States. That, at least, is what the Republicans seem to believe in this election season. And the apparition has a name: Europe.
US President Baracka Obama, said leading Republican candidate Mitt Romney during the Republican debate on Saturday, wants to turn the US into a "European welfare state." At a weekend appearance in New Hampshire, site of a crucial primary vote on Tuesday, Romney said "I don't believe in Europe. I believe in America."
In an election year overshadowed by the threats posed by the European economy and concerns about the break-up of the European common currency, it is a message that Romney has been delivering every chance he gets. And he's not alone. Europe bashing has become an important stump-speech cornerstone for the entire Republican field. The message, as Romney never tires of delivering it, is clear: "I don't think Europe is working in Europe. I know it won't work here." » | Sebastian Fischer in Manchester, New Hampshire | Monday, January 09, 2012
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WELT ONLINE: US-Verteidigungsminister Panetta hat dem Iran mit einer militärischen Reaktion im Falle der Sperrung der Seestraße von Hormus gedroht. Iran plant weitere Manöver.
Der Atomstreit zwischen dem Westen und dem Iran spitzt sich von Tag zu Tag weiter zu. Die USA schickten am Sonntag eine ungewöhnlich deutliche Warnung an die Adresse der Führung in Teheran. Der Iran überschreite eine „rote Linie“, wenn er Atomwaffen entwickeln oder wichtige Schifffahrtswege blockieren sollte, sagte Verteidigungsminister Leon Panetta. » | dpa/AFP/sara/fbr | Sonntag 08. Januar 2012
Depp greeted guests in the costume he had worn in a film version of the Lewis Carroll story released around the same time by Burton, who was given carte blanche to transform the state dining room into a Mad Hatter's tea party in "his signature creepy-comic style".
A long table was "set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies", writes New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor in The Obamas, which is released on Tuesday. Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar, she adds.
George Lucas sent Chewbacca from Star Wars to mingle with invited guests, who included the Obamas' two daughters Malia and Sasha and friends, the children of White House staff members and military families.
The White House press corps was allowed to report on more modest festivities earlier that day for Washington-area school children, but did not release details of the more glamorous festivities that occurred later for what was the Obamas' first Halloween in office in 2009.
The only images released showed the first couple greeting children outside the dining room, with Michelle Obama in a leopard fancy dress costume. Read on and comment » | Alex Spillius | Sunday, January 08, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The passing of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il has been marked by plunging temperatures, mourning bears and now, according to North Korean state media, by flocks of magpies.
Kim, who died in December aged 69 years after 17 years running the world's most reclusive state, was reputed to be able to control the weather, as well as to have scored a miraculous 38 under par round of golf.
"At around 17:30 on December 19, 2011, hundreds of magpies appeared from nowhere and hovered over a statue of President Kim Il Sung on Changdok School campus in Mangyongdae District, clattering as if they were telling him the sad news," state news agency KCNA reported on Monday. » | Monday, January 09, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An American ex-Marine, who also holds Iranian citizenship, has been sentenced to death by an Iran judge for spying for the CIA, the Fars news agency reported on Monday.
Amir Mirzai Hekmati, 28, was "sentenced to death for co-operating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism," the verdict said, according to Fars.
Hekmati, who was born in the United States to an Iranian immigrant family, was shown on Iranian state television in mid-December saying in fluent Farsi and English that he was a Central Intelligence Agency operative sent to infiltrate the Iranian intelligence ministry.
He had been arrested months earlier. » | Monday, January 09, 2012
THE GUARDIAN: Iranian court sentences 'CIA agent' to death: • Father of Amir Hekmati says he was just visiting family • Iranian media says country has started enriching uranium ¶ Iran has sentenced an American citizen to death and reports have emerged that the country has started enriching uranium underground in a show of defiance of western sanctions. ¶ The man, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, an Iranian-American born in Arizona in 1983, was shown on Iranian television in December confessing to being a CIA agent, sent to gain the trust of the Iranian government by pretending to offer US state secrets. Hekmati's father said he had gone to Iran to visit his grandmother. » | Julian Borger, diplomatic editor | Monday, January 09, 2012
The unexpected verdict, which hinged on the judge's decision that DNA evidence presented by the prosecution was unreliable, sparked scenes of wild jubilation from his supporters in the Kuala Lumpur court and tears of joy from his wife and children.
Mr Anwar, 64, said he was "pleasantly shocked" by the verdict, which he has long alleged would be fixed by Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak on the trumped up charges to smear him and keep him out of politics.
But the government said the verdict in the case clearly underscored the judiciary's independence and illustrated it was listening to demands for reform among an electorate, which has an eye on the Arab Spring protests. » | Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Monday, January 09, 2012
The decision will open the way for Mr Breivik to give his first interviews with the media since he killed 77 people last July, and potentially to receive visits from those sharing his extreme anti-Islamic ideology.
Odd Gron, a lawyer at Lippestad, the firm representing Mr Breivik, said his client had received several letters from supporters requesting a visit.
"There have been requests from fans," he confirmed. "There are letters from people giving him support, there are people who want to tell him that they don't want to give him support, and also letters from journalists requesting arrangements." » | Richard Orange, Malmö | Monday, January 09, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Das Winterwetter hat Österreich sowie Teile der Schweiz und Bayerns im Griff. Vor allem der Westen Österreichs ist unter einer immer weiter wachsenden Schneedecke begraben. In den Bundesländern Vorarlberg, Tirol und Salzburg besteht die höchste Lawinen-Warnstufe. Mehrere Lawinenabgänge haben bereits Dörfer von der Außenwelt abgeschnitten. Der Zugverkehr über die Arlbergstrecke ist gesperrt, weil viele Bäume von den orkanartigen Stürmen umgerissen wurden und weil weiter Lawinengefahr herrscht. Zwischen dem Tiroler Ötztal und Bludenz in Vorarlberg musste ein Ersatzverkehr auf der Straße eingerichtet werden. Eine weitere Streckenunterbrechung gibt es zwischen Wörgl und Saalfelden. » | Von REINHARD OLT, WIEN | Sonntag 08. Januar 2012
NZZ ONLINE: Tausende von Skitouristen sitzen fest: Zahlreiche Wintertourismusorte wegen Lawinengefahr von Aussenwelt abgeschnitten » | Sonntag 08. Januar 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Spring arrives early in Britain following mild winter weather: The first signs of spring are emerging weeks early in the countryside and in gardens as a result of the mild winter, experts said today. » | Sunday, January 08, 2012
SUNDAY EXPRESS: DAVID Cameron has three weeks to decide whether to bless a new eurozone treaty or use Britain’s veto and place the country in a “very grave position”, a senior observer warned last night.
Peter Ludlow, president of the ¬European Strategy Forum think tank, said Germany and France are confident they will secure a deal to save the long term future of the euro by the end of this month.
That would mean tougher financial rules for members of the eurozone and the use of existing EU institutions to enforce them, a move Mr Cameron has indicated is a step too far.
However, veteran EU analyst Mr Ludlow said one “very senior member” of the European Council had told him that if Britain were to try to block the deal it would be “tantamount to a declaration of war”.
He said: “If Cameron is stupid enough to try and block the use of the institutions it would be a very, very dramatic development which could only have grave consequences in terms of ¬Britain’s own interests. It would be his nuclear weapon and that’s why all the messages I get from various people give the impression he will not do that.” » | Ted Jeory | Sunday, January 08, 2012
A novel by an anonymous Chinese author living in America, which started life as a blog, has become a worldwide publishing sensation. It has been snapped up by publishers in 15 countries who have been impressed by the fact that it has sold more than a million copies in Chinaand inspired a film by an Oscar-winning Chinese director. Some publishers even bought it before reading a translation. Yet none of the publishers, translators or editors knows the author's identity.
Under the Hawthorn Tree, a tragic love story set during the Cultural Revolution, is written under the pen name of Ai Mi. All that is known about the author is that she leads a reclusive life in Florida, having gone there to study. She is thought to be in her fifties or sixties, if only because her insight into the Cultural Revolution suggests someone who experienced first hand the political and social persecution of Mao Zedong's last decade. She tells her readers that it was inspired by a true story. Her central character – a young woman from a "politically questionable family" who falls in love with the son of a general – is based on a real person with names and places disguised. » | Dalya Alberge | Saturday, January 07, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain is under pressure to launch an investigation into the alleged police beating of a prominent Shia Muslim activist after the United States joined opposition groups in urging a full inquiry.
Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said he was kicked and beaten with clubs by members of the security forces who broke up a pro-democracy demonstration on Friday.
The Bahraini government, struggling to restore order after nearly a year of sectarian tensions on the island, denied the allegations, claiming that the police had come to Mr Rajab's aid by assisting him into an ambulance after he suffered tear gas inhalation. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, January 08, 2012
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THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: As frontrunner in the Republican White House race, Mitt Romney is seen by many as out of touch. Now his wife Ann's Welsh relatives have come to the rescue.
It is a long way from a small two-bedroom terraced brick home on King's Terrace in the mining village of Nantyffyllon to the colonnaded splendour of the White House. And it is a far cry from a 1920s open-sided charabanc in Porthcawl to Air Force One.
But Ann Romney is drawing on the working-class British roots of her Welsh-born father and her coalminer grandfather to bolster her husband Mitt's bid for the Republican presidential nomination, as was reported last week.
Now the full story of her family's journey from the mines of Glamorgan to the highest echelons of US society can be told for the first time after Mrs Romney's relatives in South Wales talked to The Sunday Telegraph.
For Roddy Evans, watching the election drama unfold from Porthcawl, the prospect of Mrs Romney as America's First Lady is sometimes difficult to imagine.
The former Wales and British Lions rugby union player, 77, is her second cousin and the Romneys and their five sons have been regular visitors over their years.
"I'm very proud of what they've achieved," he said last week at his home, where he received his annual Christmas card from his cousins last month. "It would be wonderful if the first lady had such humble roots in a little mining village in south Wales." » | Philip Sherwell, Manchester, New Hampshire and Ben Leach | Sunday, January 08, 2012
Related »
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Kim Jong-un celebrates birthday by driving a tank » | Malcolm Moore, Shanghai | Sunday, January 08, 2012
Like many other Christian outposts in the spiritual homeland of Nigeria's "Taliban", the Victory Baptist Church in the northern desert city of Maiduguri no longer just relies on God for protection.
A modest whitewashed spire in a skyline dominated by mosques, for the last month it has had a military guard to defend it from Boko Haram, the militant local Islamist sect blamed for a string of terror attacks nationwide in recent weeks.
The soldiers in the sandbagged machinegun nest outside the church, though, were unable save three members of the flock last week.
On Wednesday evening, three days after Boko Haram ordered all Christians to leave Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria for good, Ousman Adurkwa, a 65-year-old local trader, answered the door of his home near the church to what he thought was an after-hours customer. Instead it was two masked gunmen.
"They shot my father dead, and then came for the rest of the family," Mr Adurkwa's other son Hyeladi, 25, told The Sunday Telegraph the following day. "One chased my brother Moussa and killed him, and the other shot at me, but my mother took the bullet in the stomach instead." » | Colin Freeman, Maiduguri | Sunday, January 08, 2012
Unemployment is rising and companies are going to the wall as the economic turmoil continues to inflict damage across the globe. But one organisation is thriving. Records recently filed at Companies House show Tony Blair Inc is going from strength to strength. They reveal that income channelled through a complex network of firms and partnerships controlled by Blair rose more than 40% last year to more than £12m. Of this, almost £10m was paid for "management services". The money was transferred via a network of firms and financial vehicles.
Accountancy experts are questioning the arcane nature of the network's finances, which makes it difficult to trace where its money is coming from, or where it is being spent.
Accounts for Windrush Ventures, an obscure company that operates under the trading name "the Office of Tony Blair", suggest 2011 has been a successful year for the former prime minister. Windrush saw its turnover rise to just over £12m, up from £8.5m in 2010. Pre-tax profits rose from £729,000 to £1.1m.
The accounts reveal that the company received "remuneration of £9,837,000 in connection with management services" from a limited liability partnership ultimately controlled by Blair. In the previous year Windrush Ventures Limited received £5.2m in remuneration for providing management services. Exactly what sort of management services are provided, and how the company derives its income, are impossible to determine as the accounts do not go into detail. Blair is legitimately taking advantage of laws allowing him to limit what his companies and partnerships must disclose. "It is baffling; these accounts make remarkably little sense," said accountancy expert Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, a firm that scrutinises company finances. "This limited disclosure is not within the spirit of the law. " » | Jamie Doward | Saturday, January 07, 2012
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair and the £8million tax 'mystery': Former Prime Minister Tony Blair channelled millions of pounds through a complicated web of companies and paid just a fraction in tax, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. ¶ Official accounts show a company set up by Mr Blair to manage his business affairs paid just £315,000 in tax last year on an income of more than £12 million. In that time, he employed 26 staff and paid them total wages of almost £2.3 million. ¶ The accounts provide the strongest evidence yet of the huge sums generated by Mr Blair through his various activities since quitting Downing Street in June 2007. ¶ He runs a business consultancy – Tony Blair Associates – which has deals with the governments of Kuwait and Kazakhstan among others and is a paid adviser to JP Morgan, an American investment bank, and to Zurich International, a global insurance company based in Switzerland. Mr Blair makes a further £100,000 a time from speeches and lectures while also presiding over a number of charities including a faith foundation. » | Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, January 07, 2012
Greedy bankers such as Sir Fred Goodwin could be jailed under tough new laws being drawn up by George Osborne.
Growing public outrage over the severe damage caused by the banking crisis has prompted the Chancellor to prepare a new criminal offence of ‘corporate negligence’ to punish reckless financiers.
The move comes just days before the annual City bonus season, which is expected to bring another round of bumper payouts despite the sluggish UK economy and families suffering a historic squeeze on household finances.
All three main parties are now competing to offer the most hardline policies on tackling ‘fat cats’, after their internal polling revealed the scale of voters’ fury at the level of executive pay.
Under the plan, being worked on behind the scenes at the Treasury, legislation would be introduced to prosecute any boss of a ‘systemically important financial institution’ whose actions had a significantly damaging effect on the wider economy.
The plan would mean that the chief executives of the big five banks: Bob Diamond at Barclays, Antonio Horta-Osorio at Lloyds TSB, Stuart Gulliver at HSBC, Ana Botin at Santander and Sir Fred’s successor at RBS, Stephen Hester – would all be at risk of imprisonment if they ‘crashed’ the banks and damaged the economy through their actions. » | Glen Owen | Saturday, January 07, 2012
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a réfuté sa mise en cause par l’hebdomadaire Marianne, en affirmant, vendredi sur son site internet, que sa fondation philanthropique n’avait «jamais reçu d’argent public».
«Aucun argent public n’a jamais été reçu par la Fondation», écrit l’épouse du président Nicolas Sarkozy, dans un message posté à la une de son site, sous le titre «droit de réponse de Carla Bruni-Sarkozy».
Selon elle, «l’insinuation selon laquelle des fonds auraient été levés auprès de partenaires publics est entièrement infondée».
Dans un article intitulé «Enquête sur la philanthrope Carla Bruni-Sarkozy»,l’hebdomadaire daté du 7 au 13 janvier affirme notamment que, «au mépris des procédures normales», le Fonds mondial contre le Sida a versé 3,5 millions de dollars (2,7 millions d’euros) «en faveur des activités philanthropiques de Carla Bruni-Sarkozy et de plusieurs agences appartenant à l’un de ses amis proches».
«Contrairement aux affirmations avancées par le journaliste» auteur de l’article, «la Fondation a bel et bien une comptabilité propre, consolidée in fine à la Fondation de France, comme près de 700 fondations en France dont la probité et la légitimité ne sont pas remises en question». » | AFP | vendredi 06 janvier 2012
MARIANNE: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy et le Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida réagissent à l'enquête de Marianne » | Marianne | samedi 07 janvier 2012
Saturday, January 07, 2012
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Suite à une étude finale, les médecins ont «écarté la présence de cellules cancérigènes» dans la glande thyroïde de la présidente de l'Argentine.
La présidente argentine Cristina Kirchner n’avait pas de cancer. Une étude finale ayant «écarté la présence de cellules cancérigènes» dans la glande thyroïde après son opération de mercredi, a annoncé samedi le porte-parole de la présidence, Alfredo Scoccimarro.
«L'étude histopathologique finale a constaté la présence de nodules dans les deux lobes de la glande thyroïde de la présidente, mais elle a écarté la présence de cellules cancérigènes, modifiant ainsi le diagnostic initial», a dit M. Scoccimarro à la presse, lisant une déclaration. » | ats/ afp/Newsnet | samedi 07 janvier 2012
Liens en relation avec l’artcle ici et ici
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Argentine President Cristina Kirchner wrongly diagnosed with cancer: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner never had cancer despite having been diagnosed with the disease, her spokesman said. » | Saturday, January 07, 2012
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Argentiniens Präsidentin nicht an Krebs erkrankt: Die argentinische Staatschefin Kirchner hat offenbar doch keinen Krebs. Die erste Diagnose habe sich als falsch erwiesen, teilte ein Sprecher am Samstag mit: Kirchner befinde sich nach einer Operation an der Schilddrüse "in einem optimalen Zustand". » | usp/AFP/Reuters | Samstag 07. Januar 2012
Home for Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is currently a converted living room with a dirty beige carpet in a compound close to Zintan, a modest mountain town 100 miles south-east of Libya's capital, Tripoli. Uniformed guards are his only company and he is denied visitors, television, radio and the internet.
He shakes hands with his few visitors with his left hand, because the thumb and forefinger of his right have been severed. He insists this was the result of being targeted in a Nato air strike, but some Libyans think it was the work of a rebel sympathiser, as punishment for Saif's habit of wagging his finger at rebels on his television broadcasts. Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch, granted a rare interview with Saif, reported that he looked well and gets fed three times a day. What Saif does not get is access to a lawyer, or any sight of the charges that Libya's new rulers say he faces.
Which is why, less than three months after his father's death, Saif is fast becoming an unlikely rallying point for international human rights advocates. It is a twist of fate no one would have anticipated, but Libya's rulers face increasing criticism over their failure to fulfil promises to set up a proper justice system. Saif, always the most influential son of the late Muammar Gaddafi, has been languishing in his makeshift prison cell since being arrested by militias in November.
The failure of the authorities to tell him what he is charged with or give him access to a lawyer has prompted a torrent of criticism from rights groups. » | Chris Stephen | Saturday, January 07, 2012
Le film The Iron Lady met en scène la Margaret Thatcher d'aujourd'hui: frêle, amnésique et hantée par les souvenirs de sa carrière politique. Plus «Dame de rouille» que de fer, ont ironisé des journalistes qui l'ont connue. Le portrait cru et sans ambages de la dame de 86 ans, qui s'enfonce dans la démence sénile depuis cinq ans, frise le sacrilège aux yeux de ses proches et même du premier ministre David Cameron.
«Elle n'a jamais été la femme à moitié hystérique et hyperémotive interprétée par Meryl Streep», s'est emporté Norman Tebbit, son ancien ministre. Une critique partagée par d'autres amis de Margaret Thatcher, dont le règne à Downing Street, de 1979 à 1990, a été marqué par les grèves des mineurs, la guerre froide et les attentats terroristes de l'IRA.
La famille de l'ancienne première ministre a levé le nez sur l'invitation à la première londonienne mercredi dernier. La sortie du film de son vivant froisse les susceptibilités. » | Mali Ilse Paquin, collaboration special, La Presse | samedi 07 janvier 2012
Liens en relation avec l’article ici et ici
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: When Rick Santorum began his improbable presidential run last June, half of Republican voters had never heard of him. Even after a dozen debates, he was just as unknown.
One group has long been well acquainted with him, however. And it is not the social conservatives behind his stunning tie for first place in this week’s Iowa caucuses.
Gay rights activists have considered Mr. Santorum a menace since his 2003 outburst against a Supreme Court decision striking down anti-sodomy laws. They have ensured that, even after he lost his Senate seat in 2006, Mr. Santorum’s name has lived on in infamy.
Thus was born the noun “santorum” – a word whose definition is so unsavoury the ex-senator has been trying to get Google to remove it from its search engine.
But as Mr. Santorum comes under scrutiny as potentially the only candidate able to stop Mitt Romney, he is discovering there is no erasing one’s past in politics or cyberspace.
The sudden attention could take him down or rehabilitate the meaning of his name.
The Republican base still craves a candidate who can beat the “Massachusetts moderate” – as the fast fading Newt Gingrich calls Mr. Romney. Mr. Santorum may be poised to ride a conservative wave, if not to the nomination, perhaps to a place on the GOP ticket. » | Konrad Yakabuski | MANCHESTER, N. H. | Friday, January 06, 2012
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