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Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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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.
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