Friday, June 10, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: When Elizabeth became the Queen, he was forced to quit his job in the Navy, and became depressed for months
Is there a more consistently hilarious sight in Britain than the endless parade of slavering monarchists trying to convince us the Windsor family is the embodiment of virtue and hard work? Today is the 90th birthday of Philip Mountbatten. Ordinarily, I would wish him a happy day, as I would any other 90-year-old, and then let the event pass in silence – if only the monarchists were not so relentlessly using the event as yet another propaganda tool for their snobbery-soaked institution. But we can't let yet another bout of their myth-making pass without answer.
Today, you are being encouraged to celebrate a man who merrily visited a genocidal dictator and used the occasion to sneer at British democracy. A man whose political interventions even prompted complaints from the far-right Enoch Powell. A man who, at the height of mass unemployment, mocked the unemployed, while complaining his own family of multi-millionaires was financially deprived. A man who has shot countless examples of endangered species – and then sought praise for his protection of wildlife.
But let's start with the myth. Monarchists feel the need to claim that the Windsors are somehow more worthy than the rest of us, but this is difficult, since they consist merely of whoever randomly emerges from a royal womb, and whoever that package of DNA and unearned privilege then chooses to marry. Windsors are thrown up by chance, and must have imaginary merits thrust upon them. You can see how hard this is by reading the moist panegyric written by the conservative commentator Peter Oborne last week. He said Philip is "colossally important" because... um... Well, he said, he represents continuity. That's true. If you gave my father a job for life from which he couldn't be fired and a slew of golden palaces to live in, he'd represent continuity too. So would yours. So would literally anyone in Britain. » | Johann Hari | Friday, June 10, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russell Crowe, the Gladiator star, has sparked outrage after describing circumcision as barbaric in an angry four-letter outburst on the social networking site Twitter.
The Oscar-winning actor laballed the practice “barbaric and stupid” during a row with his Twitter followers, telling them to “f--- off” if they disagreed with him.
The 47-year-old engaged in an angry exchange with one follower, whom he branded a “moron”, before imploring Jewish people to “stop cutting your babies”.
The debate followed a question by one of his fans called @picknic11 who asked him: “My son is due soon. Do you think I should get him circumstanced?”
Crowe, who hit the headlines in 2005 when he was charged with second-degree assault in New York after throwing a telephone at a hotel employee, tweeted: “Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that GOD requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect.” » | Friday, June 10, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Race circuit chairman says it 'has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision'
The Bahrain Grand Prix has finally been cancelled after Formula Oneteams complained about competing in the country, which has been racked by months of popular uprisings against the regime.
Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone had already announced the race was now "not on" after a complaint from teams at the rescheduling of the event, which was initially put back to 30 October amid condemnation from human rights groups.
The Bahrain International Circuit chairman, Zayed Alzayani, said: "While Bahrain would have been delighted to see the grand prix progress on 30 October in line with the World Motor Sport Council's decision, it has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision.
"We want our role in Formula One to continue to be as positive and constructive as it has always been; therefore, in the best interest of the sport, we will not pursue the rescheduling of a race this season." » | David Batty | Friday, June 10, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: An Algerian man has been denied French nationality because of his sexist attitudes towards women.
The man's application was refused because "his idea of sexual equality is not that of the republic", according to a high-ranking official quoted by French radio station Europe 1.
The man, who has not been identified, is married to a Frenchwoman, but does not allow her to leave the family home freely, it was claimed.
The French constitution states that the government can refuse nationality or strip nationality for a "lack of integration". » | Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The former first lady and one-time political rival to President Barack Obama quickly became one of the most influential members of his cabinet after she began her tenure at State in early 2009.
She has said publicly she did not plan to stay on at the State Department for more than four years.
Associates in the USA say Mrs Clinton has expressed interest in having the World Bank job should the Bank's current president, Robert Zoellick, leave at the end of his term, in the middle of 2012.
"Hillary Clinton wants the job," said one source who knows the secretary well.
A second source also said Clinton wants the position.
A third source said Mr Obama has already expressed support for the change in her role.
It is unclear whether Obama has formally agreed to nominate her for the post, which would require approval by the 187 member countries of the World Bank.
The White House declined to comment. » | Thursday, June 09, 2011
Another job for the boys (or girls)! For top jobs, experience seems not to matter. It’s all about strings being pulled. – © Mark
DESERET NEWS: SALT LAKE CITY — Hookahs could go the way of cigarettes, cigars and pipes if Utah health officials approve a ban on smoking heated tobacco in popular bars and other public places.
Health officials argue secondhand smoke from hookahs is just as dangerous as that of other tobacco products, which state law already prohibits in public indoor spaces. That includes all bars.
"There are harmful effects from the secondhand smoke from hookahs," Utah Department of Public Health spokesman Steve Hadden said Monday. "Just because it's an adult place doesn't mean it's any less harmful." Read on and comment » | Associated Press | Wednesday, June 08, 2011
BBC: Europe risks losing its international influence if it does not join more closely together, according to Tony Blair.
The former prime minister said that the rapid growth in the economies of countries like China meant that European nations needed to combine efforts in order to leverage power on important global issues. Watch video » | Thursday, June 09, 2011
Western and Arab leaders met rebel leaders in Abu Dhabi to plan for a Libya free from Gaddafi's clutches.
Donors immediately promised more than £780m for the fund, which is backed by billions of dollars in frozen Libyan assets.
At the start of the third meeting of the Contact Group for Libya, Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, urged the coalition to intensify pressure amid optimism that Tripoli would soon fall.
"Gaddafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gaddafi Libya," she said.
While senior officials from the Contact Group – which includes Britain and France as well as Arab allies Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait – worked on ways to support the rebels, Nato air strikes rattled the Libyan capital with bombing runs believed to have targeted the outskirts of Tripoli.
There were eight explosions in a first series of strikes on Thursday.
Hours later, the sound of six more attacks boomed in the distance, according to reporters in the city. » | Rob Crilly, Dubai | Thursday, June 09, 2011
Al Jazeera has obtained footage of the disfigured body of a 15-year old Syrian boy.
Thamer al Sahri was arrested in April for participating in an anti-government protest. His body was released on Wednesday.
The video comes from a reliable source, but we are unable to independently verify it due to restrictions on journalists in the country.
Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reports, with a warning that viewers may find some of the images in the report disturbing.
Labour leader Ed Miliband faced calls to discipline the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn in north London after her comments were condemned as ‘incredibly ignorant’.
The extraordinary statement by the Oscar-winning actress came in a clash with Chris Grayling, the Work and Pensions minister. Read on and comment » | Gerri Peev | Thursday, June 09, 2011
Tony Blair warns the west today that it urgently needs a wider plan to respond to the Arab spring, including a warning to autocratic leaders across the Middle East "to change or be changed".
His call for a clearer strategic approach comes in a new foreword to the paperback edition of his bestselling autobiography, The Journey.
The former prime minister also praises Europe, and by implication David Cameron, for showing leadership in Libya, saying it would have been inconceivable to leave Muammar Gaddafi in power.
He said that if America and Europe had done nothing, "Gaddafi would have retaken the country and suppressed the revolt with extraordinary vehemence. Many would have died."
If he had been left in power while the west was willing to see President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt deposed, "the damage to the west's reputation, credibility and stature would have been not just massive but potentially irreparable. That's what I mean by saying inaction is also a decision."
Blair does not call for immediate military intervention across the region, saying instead that "where there is the possibility of evolutionary change, we should encourage and support it. This is the case in the Gulf states." » | Patrick Wintour | Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Is this hypocrisy, or what? This is the man who courted Qadhafi not so long ago, and it was his party, NuLabour, that was complicit in releasing Megrahi – the man of Lockerbie infamy! Go back to sleep, Blair! Your ‘wisdom’ is not needed at this time. – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said that Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi ordered mass rapes and bought containers of sex drugs for troops to attack women.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he may ask for a new charge of mass rape to be made against Gaddafi following the new evidence.
The chief International Criminal Court prosecutor is expecting a decision from judges within days on his request for crimes against humanity charges against the Libyan leader.
"Now we are getting some information that Gaddafi himself decided to rape, and this is new," Mr Moreno-Ocampo said. » | Thursday, June 09, 2011
Kenneth Thompson, the head of a new legal team representing the 32-year-old Guinean woman, believes any victims who can describe similar attacks could help bolster the maid's case.
"If there is any woman out there, whether in France or in Africa, who has been sexually assaulted or sexually abused by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, I ask them to please call me," he said on France 2.
"My law firm champions the rights of people who are taken advantage of all over the world. And so we take this case because we feel that no woman should be sexually assaulted anywhere." » | Jon Swaine, New York | Thursday, June 09, 2011
FRANCE 2.fr: L'avocat de la femme qui accuse DSK a lancé sur France 2 un appel à d'éventuelles autres victimes de l'ex-boss du FMI
"S'il y a des femmes en France ou en Afrique qui a été agressée sexuellement ou violée par Dominique Strauss-Kahn, qu'elle m'appelle, qu'elle me contacte, car nous voulons l'aider, nous voulons lui parler", a dit Me Kenneth Thompson, le nouvel avocat de la femme de chambre du Sofitel de New York. » | Par FTV (avec agences) | Mercredi 08 Juin 2011
Up until a few weeks ago, the conventional wisdom in the Middle East was that the Arab Spring had run into the stifling heat of an unexpectedly early summer. Dictators prematurely departing their eternal thrones was, Arab potentates and their allies had decided, the kind of trend that needed stopping – as was the notion of civilians thinking they could dictate their own destiny.
Sure, the cumbersome Gaddafi would be removed – eventually – but other revolutions would be stopped before they gained traction, whether by persuasion, dissuasion or repression. The wishes of millions of Yemenis were ignored; peaceful protests in Bahrain were brutally squashed [quashed](with the blessing of leaders around the region, and beyond); and numerous other demonstrations were quickly controlled.
As for Syria, there was no need even for protest: Bashar al-Assad had already brought in economic reforms to address the grievances that sparked the uprisings in Tunis and Cairo. His country was stable, he told the Wall Street Journal, because his government’s policies were so closely linked to the beliefs of the people.
There was one problem, however: this was far from enough for the parents of 15 schoolboys in Daraa, who had the audacity to object to the jailing and torturing of their children by the Syrian regime, after they dared to scrawl anti-government slogans on the city’s walls. The result was an uprising that has proved impossible to quell, despite Assad receiving the declared support of most Arab leaders – including the Saudi and Bahraini kings, returning the favour – and the initial silence of the international powers, who hoped that the problem would quickly resolve itself.
Not only have seasoned observers been confounded, but both friends and foes of Assad find themselves in completely uncharted territory. After decades of docility from the Syrian people – partly because of their fear of the regime following the horrific massacre of Hama in 1982, and partly because they genuinely did support its regional stances – they are suddenly unafraid, unbeaten and seemingly unstoppable. Read on and comment » | Rime Allaf | Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The notoriously murderous brother of President Bashar al-Assad has led thousands of Syrian troops towards a mission to wreak vengeance on a rebellious northern town.
More than 100 residents of Jisr al-Shughur fled across the border to Turkey, while others sought sanctuary in the churches and mosques of nearby villages.
They escaped after receiving telephoned warnings that Maher al-Assad, the most feared man in Syria, was on his way at the head of a huge column of armour and troops.
Witnesses in the surrounding Idlib province said the convoy comprised "hundreds" of tanks and "thousands" of soldiers, who kicked up huge plumes of dust as they sped past, in a dramatic escalation of the government crackdown.
The advance came amid fears that a British attempt to persuade the UN Security Council merely to condemn the Syrian regime's violence would be blocked by Russia during talks in New York on Wednesday night.
Human rights activists appealed for urgent international pressure on the regime, warning that unless Maher al-Assad was halted, his well-known "thirst for blood" would lead to a massacre. (+ map) » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent, and Jon Swaine in New York | Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)