Friday, January 14, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As Brisbane's flood deadly dangers held a world class city its its grip, one man succumbed to an unfortunate ending.
Officials last night revealed that an unnamed 24-year-old man was swept into a storm drain while inspecting his father's flooded property in Durack, just south of the city, during the inundation.
The man's body was found by police after being washed through the drain and surfacing on the other side. He has not yet been named.
His death prompted Anna Bligh, the state's premier, to reissue warnings about entering the murky floodwater.
"Right now we don't want to see any more loss of life and we don't want to see any injuries," she said.
"I do understand how keen everybody is to get back into their houses, to go out and have a look at what's happened to their neighbourhoods but these are still rapidly moving, swirling, dangerous waters." >>> Bonnie Malkin, Brisbane | Thursday, January 13, 2011
Related >>>
PARIS MATCH: En réaction au mouvement de protestation inapaisable et sans précédent depuis qu'il est au pouvoir, le président tunisien Ben Ali a fait de nouvelles annonces, concernant des baisses de prix et les droits de l'Homme. Il a aussi promis qu'il ne se représenterait pas en 2014. Jour historique ou simple manipulation du pouvoir? Sur place, les réactions de Tunisiens se contredisent.
«Je vous ai compris», a rabâché Zine el Abidine Ben Ali tout au long de son discours. «Je comprends les Tunisiens, je comprends leurs demandes. Je suis triste de ce qui se passe aujourd'hui, après 50 années au service de ce pays, mon service militaire, tous les différents postes, 23 années de présidence», a déclaré le président tunisien, qui s'exprimait pour la troisième fois depuis le début des émeutes il y a près d’un mois. Quatre jours seulement après avoir pris la parole à la télévision nationale, annonçant tout une série de mesures pour résorber le taux de chômage –cause initiale de la colère du peuple-, notamment la création de 300 000 emplois avant la fin 2012, celui qui dirige le pays d’une main de fer depuis 1987 a réitéré, faute d’accalmie. Cette fois-ci, le président fondateur du Rassemblement constitutionnel démocratique (RCD) est allé beaucoup plus loin, annonçant qu'il ne briguerait pas un sixième mandat en 2014. «J'ai dit en 1987 qu'il n'y aurait pas de présidences à vie. Je le répète à présent: pas de présidences à vie, a-t-il lancé. Je refuse de toucher à la Constitution, je ne changerai pas l'âge inscrit dans la Constitution», à savoir 75 ans alors qu’il en a 74.
En outre, pour réagir aux protestations concernant la cherté de la vie, l’homme fort du pays a promis une baisse des prix sur les produits de première nécessité tels que le sucre, le lait et le pain. Autre mesure importante: après la mort de dizaines de manifestants abattus par la police, qui tire à balles réelles pour disperser la foule, Ben Ali a ordonné aux forces de l’ordre de cesser l’usage d’armes à feu contre les manifestants. S’exprimant en arabe tunisien plutôt qu’en arabe littéraire, ce qui est symbolique car contraire à ses habitudes, il a assuré qu’il n’avait pas été informé de la gravité de la situation, selon Afrik.com. En réponse enfin à l’énorme besoin de liberté qui s’est finalement exprimé dans les rues tunisiennes –alors que tout est partie de l’immolation par le feu d’un jeune diplômé désespéré par le marché de l’emploi- le chef d’Etat s’est engagé à faire respecter la liberté de la presse. Il a promis de rouvrir les sites qui avaient été fermés, et de laisser leur liberté d’expression aux opposants. >>> Marie Desnos, Parismatch.com | Vendredi 14. Janvier 2011
Liens en relation avec l’article >>>
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: 'Tunisia Has Become North Africa's Belarus': An unexpected conciliatory speech by Tunisia's president has brought attention to lethal and long-simmering street protests in the repressive North African state. German commentators argue for caution, but say the protesters need to be heard. >>> Michael Scott Moore | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: The Liberal Democrats are making a final attempt to persuade David Cameron to rein in bankers' bonuses amid growing public anger over the imminent payout estimated at £7bn.
Liberal Democrat MPs believe that Mr Cameron, rather than the Chancellor, George Osborne, has emerged as the main obstacle to tough action against the bankers. They are furious that Downing Street signalled a climbdown this week while talks continued with the big banks on a new settlement covering bonuses and lending to small businesses and first-time buyers.
"You don't wave the white flag in the middle of tough negotiations," Baron Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay, a Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, told The Independent yesterday. "This is the moment of truth on fairness for our Coalition. We can't allow a bonus bonanza in the age of austerity." >>> Andrew Grice, Political Editor | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thomas Cook, the British tour operator, is evacuating about 1,800 tourists from Tunisia, as unrest spreads across the country.
The company said it had not seen any specific problems for travelers in Tunisia but was asking everyone to leave as a precaution. The evacuation, which was coupled with the cancellation of flights from Britain to Tunisia, was likely to hit the North African nation's tourism industry, a mainstay of its economy, hard. >>> | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tunisia riots: Tunisia, 'the enemy of the internet' – The sunny, modern, welcoming country of Tunisia looks an unlikely bedfellow of North Korea, Burma and Turkmenistan. All, however, feature on Reporters without Borders' list of 12 "enemies of the internet" for their attempts to censor 21st century communication. >>> Richard Spencer | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Thousands of Tunisians take to the streets despite president's vow to quit: Lawyers, doctors and students urge Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to go immediately after leader pledges not to seek re-election in 2014 >>> Angelique Chrisafis in Tunis and Peter Walker | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: US embassy warns Tunisian anger over corruption and unemployment, as well as 'intense dislike' for president's wife, threaten country's stability
Tunisia has blocked the website of a Lebanese newspaper that published US cables released by WikiLeaks describing high-level corruption, a sclerotic regime, and deep hatred of President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali's wife and her family.
Deeply unflattering reports from the US embassy in Tunis, released by WikiLeaks, make no bones about the state of the small Maghreb country, widely considered one of the most repressive in a repressive region.
"The problem is clear," wrote ambassador Robert Godec in July 2009, in a secret dispatch released by Beirut's al-Akhbar newspaper. "Tunisia has been ruled by the same president for 22 years. He has no successor. And, while President Ben Ali deserves credit for continuing many of the progressive policies of President Bourguiba, he and his regime have lost touch with the Tunisian people. They tolerate no advice or criticism, whether domestic or international. Increasingly, they rely on the police for control and focus on preserving power.
"Corruption in the inner circle is growing. Even average Tunisians are now keenly aware of it, and the chorus of complaints is rising. Tunisians intensely dislike, even hate, first lady Leila Trabelsi and her family. In private, regime opponents mock her; even those close to the government express dismay at her reported behaviour. Meanwhile, anger is growing at Tunisia's high unemployment and regional inequities. As a consequence, the risks to the regime's long-term stability are increasing." >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor | Tuesday, December 07, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: We've become used to gossiping about the regime and feeling that we're plotting. But now we see the time to rebel has come
I am part of the new generation that has lived in Tunisia under the absolute rule of President Ben Ali.
In high school and college, we are always afraid to talk politics: "There are reporters everywhere," we are told. Nobody dares discussing politics in public; everyone is suspicious. Your neighbour, your friend, your grocer might be Ben Ali's informer: do you or your father want to be forcibly taken to an undefined place one night at 4am?
We grow up with this fear of activism; we continue studying, going out and partying, regardless of politics.
During high school, we begin to find out the intricacies of the "royal" family and hear stories here and there – about a relative of Leila [Trabelsi, the president's wife] who took control of an industry, who has appropriated the land of another person, who dealt with the Italian mafia. We talk and discuss it among ourselves – everybody is aware of what's going on, but there is no action. We quickly learn that Tunisian television is the worst television that exists. Everything is relayed to the glory of President Ben Ali, who's always shown at his best. We all know he dyes his hair black. Nobody likes his wife, who has a wooden smile: she never seemed sincere. >>> Sam | Thursday, January 13, 2011
Related >>>
AMAZON.fr: La régente de Carthage [Broché] >>>NAWAAT.org: “La régente de Carthage” : les extraits du livre événement sur Leila Trabelsi épouse Ben Ali >>>
CITY DZ MAGAZINE: La Régente de Carthage: Le livre qui fait trembler Tunis – La Régente de Carthage, une enquête explosive des journalistes Nicolas Beau et Catherine Graciet sur le rôle que jouent en Tunisie Leïla Trabelsi, l’épouse du président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, et sa famille, vient de sortir aux éditions La Découverte. Un « clan » accusé de contrôler, sur fond de corruption, des secteurs clés de l’économie. >>>
BAKCHICH.info: Tunisie, Hamma Hammami enlevé par les flics de Ben Ali : En Tunisie, le ministre de l’Intérieur a été démissionné et l’armée appelée en renfort. Un des rares opposants historiques, Hamma Hammami, a été enlevé mercredi matin à son domicile. >>> Nicolas Beau | Mercredi 12 Janvier 2011
WIKIPÉDIA: Hamma Hammami >>>
BBC: Hezbollah and its allies have threatened to quit the Lebanese cabinet unless their demands over a UN tribunal probing the murder of ex-premier Rafik Hariri are met.
The move would automatically bring down the government, ministers have warned.
Tension has been high in Lebanon, amid indications that Hezbollah members could be indicted by the UN tribunal.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told the BBC's Kim Ghattas that there was no reason to expect the tensions to lead to violent unrest.
Mrs Clinton said the US will "continue to support the integrity of an independent sovereign Lebanon". Watch BBC video >>> | Wednesday, January 12, 2011
BBC: Lebanon's history dates back to Noah - the first winemaker mentioned in the Bible - and the winemaking tradition has defied many conflicts over the centuries.
One day not so long ago, I was driving from Damascus in Syria to Beirut.
After the border, the road winds down the Anti-Lebanon mountains. Ahead is the Bekaa Valley, laid out down below like a giant's play-mat.
On that morning, the road through the Bekaa was jammed.
The Lebanese army was rounding up some suspects and had put up a roadblock.
Dozens of soldiers with automatic weapons were outside a building and on the roofs opposite, while some of their colleagues pulled bearded, handcuffed men towards an army lorry.
The mood in the traffic jam was philosophical.
Military roadblocks and checkpoints are part of the scenery in Lebanon. So are contrasts that the Lebanese accept but which might surprise some foreigners. Almost Provence >>> Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor | Wednesday, January 12, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Riots by youths protesting against Tunisia's 50-year dictatorship clashed with police in the country's capital as the United States warned its Middle Eastern allies to reform or be overthrown.
Police in Tunis opened fire and shot tear gas in the air as stone-throwing youths breached a curfew and surrounded government buildings.
At least three people were reportedly killed, bringing to more than 60 the number said by human rights groups to have died in a wave of unrest in what was previously seen as one of the Arab world's most stable and prosperous countries.
Four more people had already been shot and killed in Tunis's suburbs on Wednesday night.
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, 74, who has been in power since he overthrew his predecessor in 1987 sacked the interior minister on Wednesday but failed to quell calls for his resignation.
On Thursday night Mr Ben Ali attempted to pacify protesters by saying in a television address that he would not change the constitution to allow him to run again when his term expires in 2014. He also ordered his security forces to stop using firearms against protesters and said prices for sugar, milk and bread would be reduced.
However, as the president was speaking, promising an end to force, two people were killed as police opened fire on protesters, witnesses said.
Hillary Clinton ended a tour of the Gulf with a warning that leaders who failed to carry out political and economic reform risked being cast aside.
"In too many places, in too many ways, the region's foundations are sinking into the sand," she said.
"Those who cling to the status quo may be able to hold back the full impact of their countries' problems for a little while, but not forever.
"If leaders don't offer a positive vision and give young people meaningful ways to contribute, others will fill the vacuum."
Protests over unemployment and food prices have also broken out in Algeria, Jordan and even Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, all countries with a high proportion of young people, many well-educated but jobless. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, January 13, 2011
Liens en relations avec l’article. Aussi ici, et ici.
SKY NEWS: 'It'd Be Better If the UK Joined The Euro': The Spanish Ambassador to the UK, Carles Casajuana says that it would be "much better for everybody" if the UK were to join the single currency. >>> Katie Snape, Sky News Online | Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: IN a modest office in the drab Paris suburb of Nanterre, a tall, confident blonde sketches out her hopes of beating Nicolas Sarkozy in the French presidential election early next year.
Marine Le Pen, 42, daughter of Jean-Marie, France's far-right bogeyman, is predicting coming second in the first round and knocking out the President in a replay of 2002 when her father stunned Europe by eliminating Lionel Jospin, the Socialist and favourite. "I think the surprise can be repeated and I am not the only one to think it," Ms Le Pen told The Times.
A few years ago, that would have sounded preposterous but the prospect is now serious, not least in the eyes of Mr Sarkozy's own camp as the unpopular President struggles to regain favour. Jean-Francois Cope, the new leader of Mr Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), sees Le Pen fille as "a major danger for our political family and the political life of France".
A less frightening but still formidable version of Jean-Marie, 88, Ms Le Pen is to be anointed by a congress this weekend as leader of the party that her father founded in 1972. She will then launch a presidential campaign on a tide of popularity never seen by her rabble-rousing father.
With her softer, modern discourse, Ms Le Pen is enjoying a political windfall because the hobbyhorses of the National Front (FN) - Muslims, immigrant-related crime and globalisation - have gone mainstream. "Time has proved us right in a quite spectacular fashion," said Ms Le Pen. "Our old themes, opposition to the euro, the EU, immigration, have taken on a different light. People are saying that this party that was stigmatised was right." With a touch of the apocalypse beloved of her father she added: "This touches the future of European civilisation." >>> Charles Bremner, The Times | Friday, January 14, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: French ethnic taboos on trial: RACIAL tensions in France have been laid bare at the trial of one of the country's high-profile journalists accused of inciting hatred. >>> Charles Bremner, The Times | Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
REUTERS: The New York imam whose proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque near "Ground Zero" has stirred opposition is embarking on a U.S. speaking tour where he intends to correct misperceptions about his aims.
"The sentiment around Muslims and Islam, about who we are and what we are about, is something that cannot wait and must be dealt with," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said.
"We want to make it clear who we are and where we stand," he said. "We are part of this narrative for the worse, and we need to be part of it for the better."
But opponents say Rauf's debut in Detroit on Saturday before the Islamic Society of North America is indicative of his extremism, and his tour of universities and religious institutions amounts to blatant fund-raising for a widely condemned project. >>> Andrew Smith, Chicago | Thursday, January 13, 2011
Ryan Mauro’s blog, ‘World Threats’ >>>
THE ECONOMIST: Most of the Arab media are glum about the prospect of South Sudan’s secession
THROUGH the lens of the Muslim Brotherhood’s slick Arabic-language website, the referendum on the future of South Sudan looks rather different from its portrayal elsewhere. The looming partition of Sudan is not, it says, the logical outcome of five decades of civil war. It is the fruition of a century-old Western ecclesiastical plot to close Islam’s gateway into Africa, and the start of a plan to break other Arab countries into feeble statelets so as to grab their riches. >>> Cairo | Thursday, January 13, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Les sites internet qui étaient bloqués en Tunisie, notamment Dailymotion et Youtube, étaient de nouveau accessibles jeudi soir, peu après la promesse du président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali de garantir "la liberté totale" de l'information et de l'accès à l'internet.
Des utilisateurs ont très vite célébré la disparition du censeur du ministère de l'Intérieur, qui se faisait appeler "Ammar 404". >>> AFP | Jeudi 13 Janvier 2011
LE MONDE: Tunisie : Ben Ali promet de quitter le pouvoir en 2014 – Un mois après le début des émeutes en Tunisie, le président Ben Ali a donné des gages importants aux manifestants, à l'opposition et à la communauté internationale. Lors d'un discours très attendu jeudi 13 janvier, il a promis plus de libertés aux Tunisiens, la baisse du prix des produits de première nécessité et s'est engagé à ne pas se représenter à l'élection présidentielle de 2014. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP, Reuters | Jeudi 13 Janvier 2011
WELT ONLINE: UNRUHEN IN TUNESIEN – Präsident spricht von unangebrachter Waffengewalt: Tunesiens Präsident Ben Ali ist auf die Demonstranten zugegangen und hat die Internetzensur gelockert. Auch sprach er über seine politische Zukunft. >>> dpa/Reuters/jw | Freitag, 14. Januar 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: More than 370 people have died and hundreds are feared dead as a result of floods and mudslides in Brazil in the worst natural disaster to hit the country for decades.
Three towns situated in the mountains north of Rio de Janeiro were devastated after up to 10 inches of rain - the equivalent of a month's rainfall - fell in 24 hours.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing cars, animals and human corpses carried away by torrents of water, while bodies recovered were stored in schools and churches.
Survivors in the towns of Nova Friburgo, Teresopolis and Petropolis tried desperately to claw away mud with their hands in a search for signs of life after the mudslides struck at around 3am (5am GMT) on Wednesday.
"We were like zombies, covered in mud, in the dark, digging and digging," said Geisa Carvalho, 19, of Teresopolis.
"The recovery of bodies doesn't seem to end," added Ricardo Figueiredo, 52, who has spent his summers in the area since he was born. "If you walk through the streets you see only expressions of desperation, people shouting, stretchers passing by." >>> Robin Yapp, São Paulo | Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: Hundreds killed in Brazil floods and mudslides >>> AP | Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Ten thousand sign petition for rightwing talkshow host to be removed amid accusations that he has whipped up hatred in the wake of the Arizona shooting
A protest was staged against rightwing talkshow host Glenn Beck today, calling for his immediate removal from Fox News.
The organisers, Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ), a charity that campaigns for social change, delivered a petition with 10,000 signatures.
In the wake of the Tucson shooting, the TV and radio personality has had to defend his record against accusations that he has whipped up hatred within the public discourse.
For a media figure who has been variously lambasted as a liar, buffoon, clown, bigot and racist Beck is no stranger to the vitriol that currently passes in America as public debate. In fact, he's built a multimillion dollar empire out of it.
So the protest rally that was staged outside the News Corporation headquarters in New York today probably troubled him as much as water flowing off a duck's back.
The petition was part of a groundswell of opinion that when it comes to Beck, arguably the most extreme of America's multitude of rightwing talk hosts, enough is now enough. >>> Ed Pilkington in New York | Thursday, January 13, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British forces were advised by a military study that paedophilia is widespread and culturally accepted in southern Afghanistan.
Older, powerful men boosted their social status by keeping boys as sexual playthings and the practice was celebrated in song and dance, a military study claimed.
British officers in Helmand requested the study to help them understand the sexual behaviour of locals and Afghan comrades after young soldiers became uneasy they were being propositioned.
American social scientists employed to help troops understand the local culture reported that homosexual sex was widespread among the Pashtun ethnic group in southern Afghanistan.
Strict separation of men and women, coupled with poverty and the significant expense of getting married, contributed to young men turning to each other for sexual companionship.
"To dismiss the existence of this dynamic out of desire to avoid western discomfort is to risk failing to comprehend an essential social force underlying Pashtun culture," the report said.
The study, called 'Pashtun Sexuality', said that as well as willing sex between young men, "boys are appreciated for physical beauty and apprenticed to older men for their sexual initiation". >>> Ben Farmer, Kabul | Thursday, January 13, 2011
Afghan Profile >>>
MAIL ONLINE: Imam ‘raped boy, 12, as he attended mosque for religious lessons’ >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Thursday, January 13, 2011
LE FIGARO: «Il est plus facile de travailler avec Sarkozy qu'avec Mitterrand ou Giscard d'Estaing», raconte le premier ministre dans The Times. Il évoque aussi la cuisine anglaise, la mixité sociale des pubs, et mêmes les tenues de son épouse.
Et si la Grande-Bretagne, son crachin et son «fog», mettaient le premier ministre en confiance ? François Fillon le pudique, le flegmatique, s'y sentirait-il plus à l'aise pour fendre l'armure et parler de lui ? Avare de confidences avec la presse française, qu'il évite dès qu'il peut, le chef du gouvernement, qui fait la Une du Times [£] jeudi matin, s'est longuement confié à deux journalistes du quotidien britannique. Marié à une femme, «moitié anglaise, moitié galloise», «l'anglophile» Fillon, qui a reconnu jeudi devant les financiers de la City qu'il parlait anglais «comme un Pakistanais», a vanté les charmes du Royaume-Uni.
Et même la cuisine anglaise, «bien meilleure que ce que les gens disent». Il raconte avoir tenté à plusieurs reprises d'en convaincre Nicolas Sarkozy. «Nous avons eu des disputes animées à ce propos», plaisante-t-il. Le premier ministre explique aussi qu'il aimerait «importer» en France les pubs anglais dont il aime la mixité sociale et… la bière. «La première fois que j'ai été à un match de rugby, je ne pouvais pas comprendre pourquoi nous devions partir à 9 heures le matin pour un match qui commençait en début d'après-midi, raconte t il. Après avoir passé quatre heures à boire de la bière, suivre le match était devenu difficile…» >>> Par Solenn de Royer | Jeudi 13 Janvier 2011
THE TIMES: Britain must help us save the euro, warns French PM >>> Charles Bremner, Paris, Sam Fleming | Wednesday, January 12, 2011 (£)
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