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* stephen hawking's univers
* tiger woods * jim fur
Barack Obama, China, Hu Jintao,
Melinda Hackett, manhattan
Moshe Katsav, bbc news
new zealand miners, louise heal
Vikram Pandit, bbc news, ft
Wilma Mankiller,
9/11, september 11, emily strato
Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, bbc
afghanistan, bbc news, the econo
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, bbc news
Ai Weiwei, bbc news
aids virus, aids, * hiv
Airbus A330, suzanne gould, bbc
airline security, bbc news
airport security, bbc news, biod
al-qaeda, natalie duval, yemen,
al-qaeda, new york city, suzanne
algeria, bbc news
amanda knox, bbc news, italy mur
american airlines, natalie de va
ancient rome, bbc news
arab spring, bbc news
arizona immigration law, bbc new
arms control, bbc news
arms flow to terrorists, bbc new
Arnold Schwarzenegger, bbc news
aung song suu kyi, myanmar, bbc
australia floods, bbc news
australia, cookbooks
australian shipwreck, bbc news
baltimore shooting, bbc news
ban aid, bob geldof, bbc world s
bangladesh clashes, bbc news
bat global markets, bbc news
bbc 2, biodun iginla
bbc news
bbc news, biodun iginla, david c
bbc news, biodun iginla, south k
bbc news, biodun iginla, the eco
bbc news, google
bbc strike, biodun iginla
bbc world service, biodun iginla
bcva, bbc news
belarus, bbc news, maria ogryzlo
Ben Bernanke, federal reserve
Benazir Bhutto, sunita kureishi,
benin, tokun lawal, bbc
Benjamin Netanyahu, bbc news
berlusconi, bbc news, italy
bill clinton ,emanuel, bbc news
bill clinton, Earth day, biodun
black friday, bbc news
black-listed nations, bbc news
blackwater, Gary Jackson, suzann
blogging in china, bbc news
bradley manning, bbc news
brazil floods, bbc news
brazil, biodun iginla, bbc news,
british elections, bbc news, bio
broadband, bbc news, the economi
Bruce Beresford-Redman. Monica
BSkyB bid, bbc news
budget deficit, bbc news,
bulgaria, natalie de vallieres,
business travel, bbc news
camilla parker-bowles, bbc news
canada, bbc news, biodun iginla
carleton college, bbc news, biod
casey anthony, bbc news
catholic church sex scandal, suz
cdc, e coli, suzanne gould, bbc
charlie rangel, bbc news
chicago mayorial race, bbc news,
chile miners, bbc news
chile prison fire, bbc news
chile, enrique krause, bbc news,
china, judith stein, bbc news, u
china, xian wan, bbc news, biodu
chinese dipolomat, houston polic
chinese media, bbc news
chirac, france, bbc news
cholera in haiti, biodun iginla
christina green, bbc news
Christine Lagarde, bbc news
Christine O'Donnell, tea party
chronical of higher education, b
citibank, bbc news
climate change, un, bbc news, bi
coal mines, west virginia, bbc n
common dreams
common dreams, bbc news, biodun
commonwealth games, bbc news
condi rice, obama
condoms, suzanne gould
congo, bbc news
congress, taxes, bbc news
contagion, islam, bbc news
continental airlines, bbc news
Continental Express flight, suza
corrupt nations, bbc news
Countrywide Financial Corporatio
cross-dressing, bbc news, emily
ctheory, bbc news, annalee newit
cuba, enrique krause, bbc news,
Cuba, Raúl Castro, Michael Voss
dealbook, bbc news, nytimes
digital life, bbc news
dorit cypis, bbc news, community
dow jones, judith stein, bbc new
egypt, nasra ismail, bbc news, M
elizabeth edwards, bbc news
elizabeth smart, bbc news
embassy bombs in rome, bbc news
emily's list, bbc news
entertainment, movies, biodun ig
equador, biodun iginla, bbc news
eu summit, bbc news, russia
eu, arab democracy, bbc news
europe travel delays, bbc news
europe travel, biodun iginla, bb
europe travel, france24, bbc new
eurozone crisis, bbc news
eurozone, ireland, bbc news
fair, media, bbc news
fake deaths, bbc news
FASHION - PARIS - PHOTOGRAPHY
fbi, bbc news
fcc, neutral internel, liz rose,
Federal Reserve, interest rates,
federal workers pay freeze, bbc
fedex, racism, bbc news
feedblitz, bbc news, biodun igin
ferraro, bbc news
fifa, soccer, bbc news
financial times, bbc news
firedoglake, jane hamsher, biodu
flashing, sex crimes, bbc news
fox, cable, new york, bbc
france, labor, biodun iginla
france24, bbc news, biodun iginl
french hostages, bbc news
french muslims, natalie de valli
FT briefing, bbc news, biodun ig
g20, obama, bbc news
gabrielle giffords, bbc news
gambia, iran, bbcnews
gay-lesbian issues, emily strato
george bush, blair, bbc news
germans held in Nigeria, tokun l
germany, natalie de vallieres, b
global economy, bbc news
goldman sachs, judith stein, bbc
google news, bbc news, biodun ig
google, gianni maestro, bbc news
google, groupon, bbc news
gop, bbc news
Gov. Jan Brewer, bbc news, immig
greece bailout, bbc news, biodun
guantanamo, bbc news
gulf oil spill, suzanne gould, b
Hackers, MasterCard, Security, W
haiti aid, enrique krause, bbc n
haiti, michelle obama, bbc news
heart disease, bbc news
Heather Locklear, suzanne gould,
Henry Kissinger, emily straton,
Henry Okah, nigeria, tokun lawal
hillary clinton, bbc news
hillary clinton, cuba, enrique k
hugo chavez, bbc news
hungary, maria ogryzlo
hurricane katrina, bbc news
Ibrahim Babangida, nigeria, toku
india, susan kumar
indonesia, bbc news, obama admin
inside edition, bbc news, biodun
insider weekly, bbc news
insider-trading, bbc news
International Space Station , na
iran, latin america, bbc news
iran, lebanon, Ahmadinejad ,
iran, nuclear weapons, bbc news
iran, wikileaks, bbc news
iraq, al-qaeda, sunita kureishi,
iraq, nasras ismail, bbc news, b
ireland, bbc news, eu
islam, bbc news, biodun iginla
israeli-palestinian conflict, na
italy, eurozone crisis
ivory coast, bbc news
James MacArthur, hawaii five-O
Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, biodun igi
jane hansher, biodun iginla
japan, bbc news, the economist
jerry brown, bbc news
Jerry Brown, suzanne gould, bbc
jill clayburgh, bbc news
Jody Weis, chicago police, bbc n
John Paul Stevens, scotus,
juan williams, npr, biodun iginl
judith stein, bbc news
Justice John Paul Stevens, patri
K.P. Bath, bbc news, suzanne gou
keith olbermann, msnbc, bbc news
kelly clarkson, indonesia, smoki
kenya, bbc news, police
Khodorkovsky, bbc news
Kyrgyz, maria ogryzlo, bbc news,
le monde, bbc nerws
le monde, bbc news, biodun iginl
lebanon, nasra ismail, biodun ig
Lech Kaczynski
libya, gaddafi, bbc news,
london ftse, bbc news
los alamos fire, bbc news
los angeles, bbc news, suzanne g
los angeles, suzanne gould, bbc
LulzSec, tech news, bbc news
madoff, bbc news, suicide
marijuana, weed, bbc news, suzan
Martin Dempsey, bbc news
maryland, bbc news
media, FAIR, bbc news
media, free press, fcc, net neut
media, media matters for america
media, mediabistro, bbc news
melissa gruz, bbc news, obama ad
mexican drug cartels, enrique kr
mexican gas explosion, bbc news
mexican's execution, bbc news
Michael Skakel, emily straton, b
Michelle Obama, bbc news
michigan militia, suzanne gould,
middle-class jobs, bbc news
midwest snowstorm, bbc news
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, bbc news
minnesota public radio
moveon, bbc news, biodun iginla
msnbc, david shuster, bbc news
mumbai attacks, bbc news
myanmar, burma, bbc news
nancy pelosi, us congress, bbc n
nasra ismail, israeli-palestinia
Natalia Lavrova, olympic games,
Nathaniel Fons, child abandonmen
nato, afghanistan, bbc news
nato, pakistan, sunita kureishi,
nelson mandela, bbc news
nestor kirchner, bbc news
net neutrality, bbc news
new life-forms, bbc news
new year, 2011, bbc news
new york city, homelessness, chi
new york snowstorm, bbc news
new zealand miners, bbc news
News Corporation, bbc news
news of the world, bbc news
nick clegg, uk politics, tories
nicolas sarkozy, islam, natalie
nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, toku
nobel peace prize
nobel peace prize, bbc news, bio
noreiga, panama, biodun iginla,
north korea, bbc news, nuclear p
npr, bbc news, gop
npr, media, bbc news
ntenyahu, obama, bbc news
nuclear proliferation, melissa g
Nuri al-Maliki, iraq, biodun igi
nytimes dealbook, bbc news
obama, bill clinton, bbc news
obama, biodun iginla, bbc news
oil spills, bbc news, the econom
olbermann, msnbc, bbc news
Omar Khadr, bbc news
Online Media, bbc news, the econ
pakistan, sunita kureishi, bbc n
paris airport, bbc news
Pedro Espada, suzanne gould, bbc
phone-hack scandal, bbc news
poland, maria ogryzlo, lech Kac
police brutality, john mckenna,
police fatalities, bbc news
Pope Benedict XVI, natalie de va
pope benedict, natalie de vallie
popular culture, us politics
portugal, bbc news
Potash Corporation, bbc news
prince charles, bbc news
prince william, katemiddleton, b
pulitzer prizes, bbc news, biodu
qantas, airline security, bbc ne
racism, religious profiling, isl
randy quaid, asylum, canada
Ratko Mladic, bbc news
Rebekah Brooks, bbc news, the ec
republicans, bbc news
richard holbrooke, bbc news
Rick Santorum , biodun iginla, b
robert gates, lapd, suzanne goul
rod Blagojevich, suzanne gould,
roger clemens, bbc news
russia, imf, bbc news, the econo
russia, maria ogrylo, Lech Kaczy
san francisco crime lab, Deborah
sandra bullock, jess james, holl
SARAH EL DEEB, bbc news, biodun
sarah palin, biodun iginla, bbc
sarkosy, bbc news
saudi arabia, indonesian maid, b
saudi arabia, nasra ismail, bbc
Schwarzenegger, bbc news, biodun
science and technology, bbc news
scott brown, tufts university, e
scotus, gays in the military
scotus, iraq war, bbc news, biod
sec, judith stein, us banks, bbc
Senate Democrats, bbc news, biod
senegal, chad, bbc news
seward deli, biodun iginla
shanghai fire, bbc news
Sidney Thomas, melissa gruz, bbc
silvio berlusconi, bbc news
single currency, bbc news, the e
snowstorm, bbc news
social security, bbc news, biodu
somali pirates, bbc news
somalia, al-shabab, biodun iginl
south korea, north korea, bbc ne
south sudan, bbc news
spain air strikes, bbc news
spain, standard and poor, bbc ne
state of the union, bbc news
steve jobs, bbc news
steven ratner, andrew cuomo, bbc
Strauss-Kahn, bbc news, biodun i
sudan, nasra ismail, bbc news, b
suicide websites, bbc news
supreme court, obama, melissa gr
sweden bomb attack, bbc news
syria, bbc news
taliban, bbc news, biodun iginla
Taoufik Ben Brik, bbc news, biod
tariq aziz, natalie de vallieres
tariq azziz, jalal talbani, bbc
tea party, us politics
tech news, bbc, biodun iginla
technology, internet, economics
thailand, xian wan, bbc news, bi
the economist, biodun iginla, bb
the economsit, bbc news, biodun
the insider, bbc news
tiger woods. augusta
timothy dolan, bbc news
Timothy Geithner, greece, eu, bi
tornadoes, mississippi, suzanne
travel, bbc news
tsa (travel security administrat
tsumami in Indonesia, bbc news,
tunisia, bbc news, biodun iginla
turkey, israel, gaza strip. biod
Turkey, the eu, natalie de valli
twincities daily planet, bbc new
twincities.com, twin cities dail
twitter, media, death threats, b
Tyler Clementi, hate crimes, bio
uk elections, gordon brown, raci
uk phone-hack, Milly Dowler
uk tuition increase, bbc news
un wire, un, bbc news, biodun ig
un, united nations, biodun iginl
unwed mothers, blacks, bbc news
upi, bbc news, iginla
us billionaires, bbc news
us economic downturn, melissa gr
us economy, us senate, us congre
us empire, bbc news, biodun igin
us housing market, bbc news
us jobs, labor, bbc news
us media, bbc news, biodun iginl
us media, media matters for amer
us midterm elections, bbc news
us midterm elections, melissa gr
us military, gay/lesbian issues
us politics, bbc news, the econo
us recession, judith stein, bbc
us stimulus, bbc news
us taxes, bbc news, the economis
us, third-world, bbc news
vatican, natalie de vallieres
venezuela, bbc news
verizon, biodun iginla, bbc news
volcanic ash, iceland, natalie d
volcanis ash, bbc news, biodun i
wal-mat, sexism, bbc news
wall street reform, obama, chris
wall street regulations, banking
warren buffett, us economic down
weather in minneapolis, bbc news
white supremacist, Richard Barre
wikileaks, bbc news, biodun igin
wvirginia coal mine, biodun igin
wvirginia mines, biodun iginal,
xian wan, china , nobel prize
xian wan, japan
yahoo News, biodun iginla, bbc n
yahoo, online media, new media,
yemen, al-qaeda, nasra ismail, b
zimbabwe, mugabe, biodun iginla
|
Biodun@bbcnews.com
Thursday, 14 October 2010
NATO: 3 more troops killed in Afghan bomb blast
Topic: nato, pakistan, sunita kureishi,
KABUL, Afghanistan – A bomb blast killed three NATO troops in western Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after six service members died in a spate of attacks by insurgents in the east and south. An improvised explosive device killed the three service members Thursday, an alliance statement said, without providing nationalities or giving a specific location where the incident occurred. American, Italian, Spanish, and Lithuanian forces are deployed in western Afghanistan. In a bloody day for NATO troops in Afghanistan on Wednesday, insurgents killed six service members, including four who died in a single bomb blast in the volatile south of the country. One service member was killed in the east in an insurgent attack and another died in the south in a separate roadside bombing — the weapon of choice for militants in countering a large-scale NATO-Afghan operation in the region. This has been the deadliest year for international troops in the nine-year Afghan conflict. At least 37 NATO service members have been killed so far this month. More than 2,000 have died since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. Troop numbers have been ramped up in the past year to turn the screws on the insurgents. Fighting has intensified and casualties have mounted. The escalating toll has shaken the commitment of many NATO countries, with calls growing to start drawing down troops quickly. Daily violence continues unabated throughout much of Afghanistan. The focus of the U.S.-led war — which entered its 10th year last week — has been on the south, but coalition troops are increasingly fighting resilient militants in the west, east, and north. NATO said Thursday that two insurgent leaders were killed in a raid in eastern Ghazni province. Afghan and NATO forces took heavy small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire as they moved in on a compound in Rashidan district Wednesday, an alliance statement said. Troops returned fire, killing Mohammad Ali and Mowlana Fatih Sahib — described by NATO as senior Taliban leaders. "Several" other insurgents were killed, it said. The Taliban have accused NATO of inventing Taliban leaders and alleging they were killed or captured in a propaganda campaign to demoralize the insurgents. Elsewhere Thursday, Taliban fighters ambushed a supply convoy in southern Kandahar city, wounding three civilian drivers in a hail of automatic weapon fire. The militants later set three trucks ablaze before fleeing, said driver Gul Janan from his hospital bed. The nearly 150,000 international troops and 220,000 Afghan government security forces — whose recruitment and training has been put on a fast track — are still struggling to gain the upper hand against an estimated 30,000 insurgents. Meanwhile, a senior NATO official speaking in Brussels said U.S. and NATO forces are helping top Taliban leaders sit down for talks with the Afghan government as a step toward political reconciliation. Some discussions between the government and insurgents have taken place in the capital Kabul, the official said, where Taliban leaders would not dare to travel without NATO approval. The account was the most detailed yet of the U.S. and NATO role in clandestine talks that officials say have been happening for several weeks. The official on Wednesday spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to describe the subject publicly. The U.S and NATO are not mediating the talks, only allowing for safe passage of Taliban officials, U.S. officials said. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has acknowledged some high-level contact with the Taliban, though the extent of the discussions has not been clear. NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, offered a cautiously optimistic assessment Wednesday of the transition of security duties to Afghan forces. "There are areas of the country that are reasonably secure already, and Afghan security forces are capable of handling security already," his civilian counterpart, Ambassador Mark Sedwill, told reporters in Brussels. The process should be completed by 2014, although some allied troops — including special forces and trainers — will remain in Afghanistan after that date, Sedwill said. ___
Posted by biginla
at 8:43 AM BST
France24 Newsletter by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Topic: france24, bbc news, biodun iginl
| Thursday October 14, 2010 08:51 (Paris time) | Share this email with your social network | | -
World -
A complex 22 hour rescue of the trapped miners ended flawlessly Wednesday, as Chileans celebrated across the country. Following the August 5th collapse of the mine, the men survived for 10 weeks underground. -
The ongoing strikes in France continued to disrupt transportation Thursday. Despite the opposition, President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to push through the pension reforms, which will see the retirement age in France rise from 60 to 62-years-old. -
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday his country backed a united Lebanon after arriving to a rapturous welcome in Beirut for a controversial two-day visit. -
France could face the threat of fuel shortages if open-ended strikes at refineries continue. The most recent stand-off between unions and President Nicolas Sarkozy over pension reform plans has shut down 70 percent of oil refining capacity. -
France will incorporate EU laws on migration in its new immigration policies, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Wednesday, after Brussels raised stringent objections to the expulsion of hundreds of illegal Roma migrants from France. -
-
Business -
China's trade surplus fell to 16.88 billion dollars in September, its lowest level in five months. Strong imports explain the slowdown of the trade surplus as international pressure to let the yuan appreciate keeps growing. -
The US government has lifted its ban on deepwater drilling weeks ahead of schedule, citing new, "tighter" rules that it says reduce the risk of a repeat of the catastrophic BP oil spill. -
They helped banks make money faster than ever before, until they had laid the foundations for a mathematician-led market meltdown. Meet the quants, the “Alchemists of Wall Street” on show at the annual science film festival in Paris. -
According to the Wall Street Journal, a record 144 billion dollars in compensation and benefits will be paid out by Wall Street this year compared to 139 billion dollars in 2009, indicating that the financial world is getting back on its feet. -
Americans Peter Diamond and Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides, a British and Cypriot citizen, have won the 2010 Nobel prize for economics for developing theories that explore the relationship between economic policies and unemployment. -
-
Sports -
Serbian authorities apologised on Wednesday for the stadium clashes that forced the suspension of a Euro 2012 qualifier against Italy. UEFA has warned that sanctions could include Serbia's disqualification from the competition. -
Laurent Blanc's players beat Luxembourg 2-0 in a qualifying match for the 2012 European Championships, making it three wins in a row for the first time in as many years. -
Germany's Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) claimed his third win of the season in Japan ahead of his Australian team mate Mark Webber, who still tops the drivers' overall standings. Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) was third. -
Les Bleus now sit at the top of Group D in the Euro 2012 qualifications after securing a late victory over Romania at the Stade de France Saturday. French substitutes Loïc Rémy (83 min) and Yoann Gourcuff (90+3 min) scored for les Bleus. -
Spanish biker Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) clinched his first MotoGP title with a third-place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix behind his Italian team-mate Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dozivioso (Honda). -
-
Culture -
From noon (Paris time) on Tuesday, FRANCE 24's Arabic service will broadcast 24 hours a day. -
Eleven Egyptian officials including the head of the culture ministry's fine arts department were convicted of negligence and jailed for three years Tuesday, after a $50 million dollar Van Gogh painting was stolen in August from a Cairo museum. -
Hitting the screen after a wave of publicity, David Fincher’s "The Social Network" is a riveting drama about the creation of Facebook. But those expecting a verdict on the site's controversial creator Mark Zuckerberg shouldn't hold their breath. -
Australian soprano Joan Sutherland, one of the most celebrated opera singers of all time, has died at her home in Geneva aged 83. -
Jean Paul Gaultier bid adieu to his position as Hermes designer for women's ready-to-wear with a spectacular showcase at Paris Fashion week. His collection blended the trademark style of Hermes with his own personal touch. -
-
science -
The sixth edition of the French capital’s international science film festival served up a tribute to biodiversity in its various forms – and a warning about the difficulty of preserving it. -
The 2010 Global Hunger Index released Monday says that nearly one in six people go hungry, with child malnutrition causing lifelong harm to health and productivity. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa fared the worst. (Photo: Philip Flämig/IFPRI). -
British physiologist Roberts Edwards, considered the father of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for medicine. -
-
An appeals court in Washington has ruled that researchers using human embryonic stem cell can continue receiving government funding, pending a full appeal of an injunction imposed in August. -
-
France -
The ongoing strikes in France continued to disrupt transportation Thursday. Despite the opposition, President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to push through the pension reforms, which will see the retirement age in France rise from 60 to 62-years-old. -
France will incorporate EU laws on migration in its new immigration policies, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Wednesday, after Brussels raised stringent objections to the expulsion of hundreds of illegal Roma migrants from France. -
France's lower house passed a bill to strip foreign-born citizens convicted of attacking public officials of their French nationality, and expel EU citizens for certain crimes, part of President Nicolas Sarkozy's continuing crackdown on crime. -
An experienced French cave explorer on a mission to map an underground tunnel complex has been found dead at the end of a dramatic eight-day rescue operation. -
The sixth edition of the French capital’s international science film festival served up a tribute to biodiversity in its various forms – and a warning about the difficulty of preserving it. -
-
Europe -
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and members of his cabinet visited the area that was devastated by a toxic sludge spill last week, as the death toll from the industrial accident rose to nine on Wednesday. -
Hungary's parliament has passed a bill nationalising aluminium producer MAL, the company responsible for a toxic sludge spill that killed eight people last week. -
Kerosene poured into waters off the Netherlands on Tuesday after a tanker collided with a Cypriot container ship, ripping a giant hole in the hull near the waterline. -
A collision between a bus and a goods locomotive has killed 40 people and injured several others in eastern Ukraine. -
Five years after terrorists struck London’s public transport, killing 52, an inquest into the July 7 bombings heard that the attacks may have been planned for the day before, as Londoners celebrated their nomination to host the 2012 Olympics. -
-
Middle-East -
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday his country backed a united Lebanon after arriving to a rapturous welcome in Beirut for a controversial two-day visit. -
Palestinian officials have rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to renew a partial freeze on settlement building if Palestinians recognise Israel as "a Jewish state". -
Eleven Egyptian officials including the head of the culture ministry's fine arts department were convicted of negligence and jailed for three years Tuesday, after a $50 million dollar Van Gogh painting was stolen in August from a Cairo museum. -
Three people were wounded Wednesday when a grenade targeting a British diplomatic vehicle caused an explosion near the British embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. In a separate incident, the French manager of a foreign energy firm was killed in Sanaa. -
An unnamed Syrian official says a 19-year-old schoolgirl blogger, who has been held incommunicado in a Syrian jail since December 2009, stands accused of spying for a foreign state. -
-
Africa -
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir said Tuesday that he would not accept South Sudan voting for independence in a forthcoming referendum, as negotiations on the oil-region border region of Abyei stalled. -
French authorities have arrested Rwandan rebel chief Callixte Mbarushimana, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court under charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. -
Al Qaeda's North African branch demanded Friday that France repeal its ban on full-face veils, release a number of detained militants and pay a ransom of over 7 million euros in exchange for five French hostages thought to be held in Mali. -
Eleven Egyptian officials including the head of the culture ministry's fine arts department were convicted of negligence and jailed for three years Tuesday, after a $50 million dollar Van Gogh painting was stolen in August from a Cairo museum. -
In his opening speech at the Arab-African summit in Sirte, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said that an independent South Sudan would "be a disease" that could "spread to all of Africa". A vote on the issue is scheduled for January 2011. -
-
Americas -
A complex 22 hour rescue of the trapped miners ended flawlessly Wednesday, as Chileans celebrated across the country. Following the August 5th collapse of the mine, the men survived for 10 weeks underground. -
Sixty-nine days trapped more than 600 metres underground: for the 33 miners rescued this week in San Jose, Chile, returning to the surface is a sort of deliverance. But can one escape such a trial unscathed? -
More than half of the 33 Chilean miners who have been trapped underground in the San Jose mine for more than two months have arrived at the surface in a special rescue capsule to cheers and tears of joy from friends, family and onlookers. -
Rescues have got underway for the 33 workers trapped for more than two months in Chile's San Jose mine, the first of whom reached the surface at 5:10 a.m. on Wednesday in a specially-made rescue capsule, to cheers and tears of joy. -
Rescue operations were underway at the San Jose mine in Chile, as the first of 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months reached the surface early Wednesday morning in a specially-made capsule. -
-
Asia-Pacific -
US soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan discovered a US citizen who was reported missing two months ago and who claimed to have fled his Taliban kidnappers, officials said on Wednesday, as three separate attacks took the lives of six NATO troops. -
A group of retired Communist Party officials have called in an open letter for China to reconsider its restrictions on free speech, saying the current policy created a "false democracy of affirming in principle and denying in actuality". -
A cargo C-130 aircraft has crashed in the mountains near Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, killing all seven people on board, officials say. -
Imprisoned in China, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xaobo will be unable to travel to Oslo to accept his prize. He has charged his wife Liu Xia to go in his place. Now the world waits to see if Chinese authorities will allow her to do so. -
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il's eldest son, Kim Jong-nam (pictured), has said he is opposed to a dynastic succession that would see his youngest half-brother, 27-year-old Kim Jong-un, succeed his father at the head of the secretive country. -
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Posted by biginla
at 8:26 AM BST
Delaware debate pits Christine O'Donnell against Coons
Topic: Christine O'Donnell, tea party
13 October 2010 Last updated at 23:43 ET Chris Coons and Christine O'Donnell traded verbal blows during the 90-minute debate Delaware Republican Senate hopeful Christine O'Donnell has sought to play down past controversial comments as she faced her Democratic rival in a debate. She and Chris Coons are competing for the former seat of Vice-President Joe Biden in November's mid-term elections. Ms O'Donnell said remarks she had made about witchcraft, sexual abstinence and evolution were not relevant to the race - a position Mr Coons contested. She is seen as a rising star of the conservative Tea Party movement. Known for her conservative Christian views, Ms O'Donnell became the subject of intense media interest after winning the Republican Senate nomination in last month's primary vote. Fuel was added to the fire when revelations that she had dabbled with witchcraft in high school were broadcast soon afterwards. Continue reading the main story At the scene Katie Connolly BBC News, Delaware Christine O'Donnell entered this debate as an underdog. After weeks of media frenzy over her comments on masturbation and witchcraft, she seized the opportunity to look calm and serious, and critique her opponent's record. She portrayed herself as an average citizen with financial struggles and a concern for the economy. Her everyday-girl appeal, though, could not obscure the lack of detail in her responses, or some of her misleading claims. But that might not matter in this election - she spoke in the talking points that resonate powerfully with conservatives right now, referencing the Constitution and accusing Mr Coons of being a Marxist. To prepare for the debate, Mr Coons watched Joe Biden's 2008 match-up against Sarah Palin. Taking a leaf from the Biden playbook, he resisted criticising Ms O'Donnell too heavily, though occasionally he couldn't help but look incredulous at her claims. In response, she released a campaign advert in which she says: "I'm not a witch. I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you." Sparring with Mr Coons during the 90-minute debate, held at the University of Delaware, Ms O'Donnell said voters were more concerned with job creation and spending than with comments she made years ago. But Mr Coons argued that her remarks on religious and social issues could play into decisions made in the Senate. He also sought to characterise her as an extremist who would seek division rather than bipartisanship. Meanwhile, Ms O'Donnell tried to paint her rival, a local official, as a big-spending Democrat, saying he would "rubber-stamp" the spending policies decided in Washington. "A vote for my opponent will cost the average Delaware family $10,000 dollars," she said. She also accused him of holding Marxist beliefs, a claim Mr Coons laughed off. Recent opinion polls suggest Mr Coons holds a double-digit lead over Ms O'Donnell. More on This Story
Posted by biginla
at 7:49 AM BST
Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 'backs united Lebanon'
Topic: iran, lebanon, Ahmadinejad ,
13 October 2010 Last updated at 17:56 ET Thousands celebrate the arrival of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his country supports a strong, unified Lebanon during his first state visit to the country. His remarks came amid fears that his trip could threaten Lebanon's fragile political stability. Crowds greeted Mr Ahmadinejad on his arrival in Beirut, mostly at the urging of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. He later addressed a rally in an area where Iran funded reconstruction after the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict. On Thursday, in a move likely to anger critics, Mr Ahmadinejad will tour villages near Lebanon's tense southern border with Israel. Two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli army officer were killed in a clash on the frontier in August. 'Inflaming tensions' Mr Ahmadinejad's motorcade was showered with rice and flowers on its way from Beirut airport to the presidential palace on Wednesday. Continue reading the main story Analysis Wyre Davies BBC News, Beirut Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was among friends at this huge rally of flag-waving Hezbollah supporters in Beirut's southern suburbs - listening to patriotic music praising the Shia movement's clashes over the years with its avowed enemy - Israel. Earlier, he basked in similar scenes of adulation as he arrived at Beirut airport on this state visit - his image and that of Iranian religious leaders flanking the road to the city centre. But many inside Lebanon and outside see this trip as nothing short of inflammatory - upsetting Lebanon's fragile political system and provoking another conflict with Israel. Calls from some to calm the rhetoric fell on deaf ears as Mr Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah - appearing via video link for security reasons - addressed the crowd. The next stage of the Iranian leader's controversial visit is to Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon - an act described by Israel as a commander reviewing his troops and the transformation of Lebanon into an Iranian protectorate. "We support a strong and unified Lebanon. We will always back the Lebanese government and its nation," he said, standing beside President Michel Suleiman. But he said Iran stood ready to help Beirut confront any Israeli aggression. "We will surely help the Lebanese nation against animosities, mainly staged by the Zionist regime," he said, in reference to Israel. Many people are alarmed at the visit, as Iran backs Hezbollah, the powerful Shia Islamist group whose war with Israel left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead. Speaking during a visit to Kosovo, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Washington rejected any efforts "to destabilise or inflame tensions" in Lebanon. "We would hope that no visitor would do anything or say anything that would give cause to greater tension or instability in that country," she said. Members of Lebanon's Western-backed parliamentary majority have called the visit a provocation, saying Mr Ahmadinejad was seeking to transform Lebanon into "an Iranian base on the Mediterranean". Israel accuses Iran of supplying Hezbollah with weapons, but officials close to the group stress instead the Islamic Republic's support for reconstruction. They say they have spent about $1bn (£0.6bn) of Iranian money since 2006 on aid and rebuilding. Border tour "Ahmadinejad has done a lot for Lebanon, we are here to thank him," 18-year-old engineering student Fatima Mazeh told the Associated Press. Continue reading the main story Hezbollah - Emerged in 1982 to fight Israeli invasion of Lebanon
- Set up with money and arms from Iran, and has operated with Syria's blessing
- Military wing regarded as terrorist organisation by Western countries such as US
- Hezbollah attack on Israeli soldiers in Israel in 2006 sparked devastating month-long conflict
- Political wing and allies control several government ministries
"He's not controlling Lebanon. Everyone has a mind and can think for himself. We are here to stand with him during the hardest times." But elsewhere in the country, the group and its international backers are viewed with suspicion by some. "I am disgusted by this visit," Mona, a 23-year-old Christian, told the AFP news agency. "They refer to [Ahmadinejad] as a saviour, but all he has brought us is trouble." After talks with President Suleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who leads the majority 14 March Alliance, the Iranian leader addressed a huge rally of Lebanese Shia organised by Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Mr Ahmadinejad praised Lebanon's resistance against "the world's tyrants". The Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah - speaking by video link rather than in person - said Iran had no agenda of its own to impose on Lebanon. On Thursday, Mr Ahmadinejad is expected to tour the border towns of Bint Jbeil and Qana, the scene of some of the worst fighting in 2006. The state visit also comes amid tension over a UN inquiry into the 2005 assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. The UN tribunal is believed to be close to issuing indictments, including ones naming members of Hezbollah. Mr Hariri is under pressure from Hezbollah and Syria to denounce the inquiry into his father's death. More on This Story Related stories - Analysis: Ahmadinejad visit 12 OCTOBER 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Media split on Ahmadinejad's arrival 13 OCTOBER 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- In pictures: Lebanon awaits Iran's president 07 OCTOBER 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Deep divisions haunt Lebanese politics 22 SEPTEMBER 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Hezbollah entrenched in S Lebanon 25 MAY 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Israel fears stronger Hezbollah 10 years after pull-out 24 MAY 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Who are Hezbollah? 30 JULY 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Historic Beirut visit shows depth of Arab concern 30 JULY 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Profile: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 04 AUGUST 2010, MIDDLE EAST
- Country profile: Lebanon 27 JULY 2010, COUNTRY PROFILES
Posted by biginla
at 7:21 AM BST
France's strikes
Topic: france, labor, biodun iginla
Struck off Oct 13th 2010, 12:01 by The Economist online | PARIS GIANT inflatable helium balloons. Vibrant flags and T-shirts in crimson, orange and fluorescent yellow. The sounds of chanting, laughter and the marching bass drum. There was a festive air about the demonstrations and strikes in France against pension reform yesterday, when up to 3.5m people took to the streets, a record turnout. Railwaymen, bus drivers, teachers, postmen, printers, public-sector workers and dockers were joined by schoolchildren in over 300 lycées (who have their own unions), and oil workers in 11 of the country’s 12 refineries, disrupting services across the country. But behind the merriment and street theatre lies the toughest test this year of the unions’ ability to force the government to back down. A law that will raise the legal minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 years is going through parliament, and the upper house is due to conclude its voting on it next week. The stakes on both sides are high. President Nicolas Sarkozy needs to show that he can deliver reform despite his low popularity, partly to maintain France’s credibility in the bond markets. For the unions and the opposition on the left, whose leaders joined the rallies, the protests are their last chance to flex their muscles over the reform. This is why, for the first time this year, some sectors, including the SNCF rail operator and oil workers, have continued with rolling strikes. A further day of protests is planned for October 16th. Certainly, the numbers impress. Even the government count, always below the unions’ more extravagant claims, recorded 1.2m protesters. Back in 1995, when weeks of crippling strikes forced Alain Juppé’s government to abandon an earlier attempt at pension reform, official figures put the biggest turnout at only 1m. When another prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, ceded to the street over labour-market reform in 2006, the authorities counted at most 1.1m. Buoyant union leaders say they will not give up, even after the law is voted. There is muttering about petrol shortages. With school pupils taking part, egged on by the Socialist Party, things could yet spin out of control. There are, however, two differences with this round of protests. First, although the numbers on the streets are high, it is the strikes, not the demos, that have the power to disrupt. Thanks in part to a law designed to ensure minimum service in schools and on public transport during strikes, and to the fact that workers are no longer paid when they walk out, strikes do not paralyse the country in quite the way they once did. (French commuters have also learned to take one of their numerous days off during strikes, reducing the pressure on trains.) At the same time, public opinion has shifted. This is not immediately clear from polls. Some 70% of respondents to one said that they backed the strikes, more than the 54%-62% in favour in late 1995. Yet this may be precisely because strikes are less intolerable now for those who do try to get to work. And for all the drama on the street, in the same poll 53% said that the raising of the retirement age was “acceptable” and 70% that it was “responsible vis-à-vis future generations”. A silent majority seems to know that demography and economics make pension reform inevitable. You
Posted by biginla
at 6:49 AM BST
Can Robert Mugabe ever be persuaded to give up?
Topic: zimbabwe, mugabe, biodun iginla
Zimbabwe A fearful stalemate looks unbreakable for the moment. But a sensible solution may yet be found Oct 7th 2010 | HARARE IF YOU take President Robert Mugabe’s recent declaration at face value, Zimbabwe will have another general election by the end of next year. That will be three-and-a-half years after his long-ruling Zanu-PF party indisputably lost to the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai (right, above), but then refused to concede. Mr Tsvangirai, as compensation, became a distinctly second-fiddle prime minister. Next time, despite all the tricks Mr Mugabe and his party are sure to play, they could well lose again. There is at least a chance that the president will step down and that, at last, less fettered power will be handed to Mr Tsvangirai. Many—perhaps most—perceptive Zimbabweans think such a prospect fanciful. Why, they ask, should the thugs round Mr Mugabe behave any differently next time, especially when their own ill-gotten gains are at stake? And yet, though the economy is still in ruins, politics messy and human rights persistently violated, the picture is definitely less bad than it was two years ago. It is widely considered, with good reason, that Mr Mugabe is running rings round Mr Tsvangirai and is preventing the MDC and its allies from enjoying their rights as a majority in parliament. All the same, a steady momentum is growing for change—and against Mr Mugabe. Moreover, though recent reports of the 86-year-old leader’s impending demise were based on his occasional sleepiness at official functions and a stumble or two on ceremonial steps, plainly he could drop dead tomorrow. Behind the scenes, feuding within the ruling party over the succession is getting hotter. Last electoral time round, at the end of March 2008, the playing field was so heavily tilted against the MDC that few thought it could win—yet it did so clearly, albeit by a narrow official margin. Mr Mugabe also decisively lost the first round of the presidential poll, held on the same day, to Mr Tsvangirai. Only after a bizarre five-week silence from a terrified electoral commission did Mr Mugabe, bolstered by his security men and their lethal machinery of repression, declare that Mr Tsvangirai had fallen just short of the required 50%. The shaken president then set about bludgeoning the challenger and his MDC into submission—resulting, after the murder of at least 200 MDC supporters, in Mr Tsvangirai’s withdrawal from the run-off some three bloody months later. After that, while the MDC and its allies had a slim majority in the lower house of parliament, Zimbabwe’s slide into ruin continued. Within months of Mr Mugabe’s re-election as president, inflation had reached several billion per cent a year. Eventually, early last year, Zimbabwe’s own currency was abolished altogether, to be replaced by the American dollar. Shortly afterwards, a government of national unity (known jokingly as the Gnu) took office. Five months earlier the two main parties, plus a breakaway from the MDC under Arthur Mutambara, had signed a “global political agreement” (GPA), spelling out how power would be shared. Mr Mugabe remained president and Mr Tsvangirai became prime minister, with Mr Mutambara as his deputy. Since then, things have undoubtedly improved. The economy’s dollarisation is by far the biggest factor in Zimbabwe’s fragile recovery. As the Zimbabwe dollar gradually became worthless, civil servants, including teachers and doctors, saw their pay shrivel until there was no point in working. Now, though many—perhaps most—Zimbabweans are still on the breadline and 80% have no jobs, at least those in work can predict their income. Inflation is officially running at 5% a year. After years of contraction, the economy is growing—at 8.1% this year, says the finance minister, Tendai Biti, an MDC man. Health care and education have improved markedly, from rock-bottom. Hospitals that had run out of the most basic medicines, as well as staff, have begun to function again. More recently more than 13m textbooks, paid for by Western donors, have started to be delivered under the eye of Unicef to all the country’s 5,600-odd primary schools. Sales of beer and beverages are sharply up on a year ago. Other indicators, such as sales of roofing material, point to busier economic activity. Traffic in downtown Harare is a lot more clogged than a couple of years ago—and not just because many of the traffic lights are still not working. The decline in some types of farming may have bottomed out. Tobacco production, for instance, which peaked at around 230m kg in 2000, just as the mass expropriation of white farms got going, slumped to around 59m kg last year. But this year’s sales suggest that output, thanks in part to a rise in smallholder planting, may have risen to around 120m kg (though that figure may include smuggled imports). Some minerals are also beginning to do better again, notably gold and platinum. And though the ruling party and its military backers plainly hope to filch the diamonds from newly developed fields in the Marange area, Mr Biti is determined to ensure that the Treasury also benefits. With recovery, the proportion of Zimbabweans needing food handouts has dropped sharply. Two years ago the UN’s World Food Programme found that at least half the country’s 8m-9m people relied on them. This year probably only 15% of rural folk will do so. Breadbasket no more
But the economy as a whole is still in dire straits. Driving for 140km (87 miles) along the main arterial road eastwards from Harare, you pass mile after mile of derelict and seemingly empty farmland that was once among the most productive in Africa. Not a single pedigree cow is to be seen—nor, for that matter, one white face. Grass along many of the verges has been burnt, apparently because hungry people have been trying to flush out rodents for food. Milk production, though well up on last year’s figure, is seven times smaller than it was. Beef production has fallen nearly fourfold. You see the same desolate picture across the country, once the region’s breadbasket as well as one of the world’s largest producers of top-quality tobacco. Of the 4,500 white farmers who owned 6,800 farms, barely 150 still hold their original tracts, according to John Worsley-Worswick, who runs Justice for Agriculture, a lobby that stands up for commercial farmers and their employees. Another 200 or so have stayed on at least a portion of their land, often as managers or leaseholders. (At least 75% of the country’s white farmers, he notes, bought their land on the open market after independence in 1980, having acquired certificates to show that neither the government nor black Zimbabweans wished or were able to buy it.) The invasions are still going on, despite the GPA’s assurance that they would stop, with white farmers still subjected to assault and arson as the police look on. Around 278,000 whites once lived in Zimbabwe; now, at a guess, there are around 12,000. A large majority of the 350,000 permanent black workers and 270,000 seasonal ones who worked on white farms, with at least 1.5m dependants between them, have lost their livelihoods as a result of the expropriations. Most of them were denied land elsewhere in the communally owned rural areas (formerly known as “tribal trust lands”) because they or their forebears came from poorer neighbouring countries, such as Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Fewer than 2% of them have benefited from the confiscations. Thousands have been reduced to living in shacks on the edge of towns. Many were among the 700,000 victims of Operation Murambatsvina, when Zanu-PF decided to sweep away entire shanty-towns in 2005. The exodus of Zimbabweans abroad, especially to South Africa, has yet to be stemmed, though nearly 420,000 people have been helped to return this year. Figures are disputed, but economic chaos and political repression may have caused a good 3m Zimbabweans to emigrate. The UN’s refugee agency counted 149,000 of them applying for political asylum in South Africa last year alone, quite apart from the much larger number who have slipped over the border for work and melted into the population. Despite the country’s surge in economic activity, a drastic decline in manufacturing will be hard to reverse, as cheap Chinese goods flood the local market. Mr Mugabe’s law on “indigenisation and economic empowerment”, enacted in 2007 but due for implementation only this year, has deterred all but the boldest firms, at home and abroad, from investing. The aim of the law is to ensure that all businesses worth more than $500,000 should be majority-owned by black Zimbabweans. The definition of “indigenous” rules out native-born whites—and, for that matter, rich black South Africans, though Zanu-PF is always liable to make exceptions for people who pay enough. Mr Mugabe and his allies are candidly racist in espousing the bill, which they promote as complementary to the land-confiscation policy: large-scale property as well as land should belong only to blacks, however liberal individual whites may have been during the struggle for independence. The human-rights picture is less horrible than it was two years ago, when Zanu-PF conducted a reign of terror, particularly in the countryside, in response to the MDC’s election victory. And that itself came only a year after thugs presumed to be operating under the aegis of Zanu-PF nearly killed Mr Tsvangirai, breaking his skull, and, in a separate incident in prison, beating him to a pulp, before he was charged with treason, a capital offence. (The mutilated body of Edward Chikomba, the cameraman who conveyed the picture of Mr Tsvangirai’s battered head to the wider world, was found by the roadside outside Harare, the capital, two weeks later.) Thousands of villagers who were thought to have voted for the MDC were displaced, their houses often burned down. Hundreds were killed. Short sleeves, long sleeves
But though violence on such a scale has ended for the moment, fear is growing again, partly because Zanu-PF senses that another election may be in the offing. In the past few months a Constitutional Parliamentary Committee, known as COPAC, has been sending “outreach teams” around the country, in theory to discuss a new constitution that is supposed to be drafted in parliament, then endorsed in a referendum. More than a thousand meetings have been held. Many have been peaceful, but Zanu-PF thugs, in an exercise known as Operation Chimumumu (“dumb person”), have been beating up and in a few cases killing suspected MDC supporters who disagree with a so-called Kariba draft favoured by Mr Mugabe. It would, among other things, allow the old man in theory another ten years in office. “We don’t have short sleeves, long sleeves any more,” says an opposition leader near Macheke, east of Harare, referring to the way the Zanu-PF thugs treated those suspected of voting for the MDC: “short sleeves” meant that their arms were axed above the elbow, “long sleeves” at the wrist. “But the fear is growing.” “All that our people want is food and peace,” says a worried priest in a rural area north-east of Harare. “But these [Zanu-PF] guys are starting to come back.” A queasy feeling persists that, while the violence is mostly low-key and confined to the countryside, it could erupt in the run-up to another election. Jabulani Sibanda, a leader of the so-called “vets”, most of whom are far too young to have been true veterans of the guerrilla war against Iain Smith in the 1970s, has recently been terrorising villagers suspected of MDC sympathies in parts of central Zimbabwe. Although the terror of mid-2008 subsided once it was clear that Mr Mugabe was still pretty much in charge, many leading human-rights campaigners have fled the country: Jestina Mukoko, abducted in late 2008 and held in secret for several months; Noel Kututwa, director of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, whose band of 8,000-odd brave volunteer monitors prevented Zanu-PF from wholesale ballot-stuffing at the polling stations; Gertrude Hambira of the farm workers’ union; and, most recently, Roy Bennett, the MDC’s white treasurer and deputy agriculture minister-designate, re-elected as an MP in a landslide in an entirely black constituency, whom, for that very reason, Mr Mugabe still refuses to appoint. After Mr Bennett’s eventual acquittal this year on a trumped-up charge of terrorism, for which he spent months in prison, the police say they want to interrogate him on new unspecified charges; he is in hiding abroad. Tsvangirai’s travails
The political picture is patchier still. Plainly, Mr Mugabe has abided only by those parts of the GPA that suit him. A few advances can, however, be chalked up. Commissions on the media, human rights and elections have been set up under decent chairmen. The media has more space, with new licences approved for eight publications, including NewsDay, which offers a far more rounded picture than the Zanu-PF-controlled Herald. The Daily News, by far Zimbabwe’s best newspaper until its presses were blown up in 2001, may revive soon. The very fact that Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe sit down together in cabinet every Monday, apparently without rancour, marks a dramatic turnaround. But on a range of issues Mr Mugabe ensures that his prime minister is often kept out of the loop, in blatant defiance of the GPA. He has refused, among many other things, to remove the central-bank governor, Gideon Gono, or the attorney-general, Johannes Tomana, both leading authors of the country’s economic and human-rights disasters. Above all, he has kept his hands tightly on the levers of hard power: the courts, still largely in the hands of Zanu-PF judges, and in particular the army, the police and the feared Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). By various means, including dirty tricks, deaths and suspensions, the MDC’s wafer-thin majority in the lower house has been whittled away, though it technically still has control if the unreliable Mr Mutambara’s small slice of the party votes with the main bit. Owing partly to the MDC’s own lack of guile, the country’s three most repressive laws, the Public Order and Security Act (known as POSA), the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, are still in force. The sole broadcaster is still under Mr Mugabe’s thumb—and full of hate-speak. Even when some of his closest aides and MPs have been arrested or accused on spurious charges, Mr Tsvangirai has been unable to prevent the police or CIO from obeying Zanu-PF’s orders to hamstring his party, disperse meetings and beat up its members. Yet he remains incorrigibly hopeful, refusing to criticise Mr Mugabe even for his patent foot-dragging and abuse of the terms of the GPA, which states that the security forces and courts should be politically neutral. “He’s an old man who wants to let go,” he says of the president. “He’s looking for an exit strategy that restores his legacy in Zimbabwe and the world.” Mr Tsvangirai has been accused of weakness and dithering by some of his supporters, who want him to express the people’s outrage more forcibly. Even on such core issues as the land confiscations and the indigenisation act, he sounds emollient. “We can’t reverse the land reform,” he says. “But there should be a one-family-one-farm policy” and “we must provide for compensation [for the white farmers] as a matter of principle.” “We have modified the [indigenisation] law,” he says, without demanding its removal. New “sectoral thresholds” must be laid down, so that in some parts of the economy, for instance in mining, maybe only 5% of the company would have to be allocated to black Zimbabweans—“on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis, at proper value”. This is a far cry from Mr Mugabe’s ferocious insistence on 51% of all mid-sized companies and all land going willy-nilly to blacks. But it does not signify flat-out opposition to drastic, race-based redistribution. The whites have lost everything—and so has she Mr Tsvangirai’s apparent aim, rather than demanding in vain that the GPA’s terms be met, is to entrench his MDC in government and prepare the road towards a fresh round of elections by the end of next year. That involves preparing a new voter roll and ensuring that, for a change, the election is properly monitored. In the past, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), an influential 15-country regional club which South Africa unofficially leads, has whitewashed flawed polls in Mr Mugabe’s favour. Now, thinks Mr Tsvangirai, SADC and South Africa, especially its current president, Jacob Zuma, having accepted him as a legitimate prime minister rather than an upstart or a traitor, are likely to give him a fairer wind. Mr Tsvangirai also calls for the lifting of the personal sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and a few other countries against Mr Mugabe and 200 or so of his closest colleagues, who blame these measures entirely for Zimbabwe’s misfortunes. But in return the president must, he says, guarantee that the coming election will be conducted fairly. Is this mere wishful thinking? Mr Tsvangirai, noting that against the odds the MDC still managed to win the previous general election, evidently thinks he can pull off the feat more decisively next time. He has also let it be known that he would, if given the chance, form a government of all the talents, including the less venal members of Zanu-PF. He has promised not to impose a policy of retribution. He even thinks he can accommodate the “securocrats”, as Zimbabwe’s high-ranking military people and police are known, who have become ever more powerful and rich (from the proceeds of diamonds, among other things) since the sullied election of 2008, and who are now considered Zanu-PF’s most important constituency. Undoubtedly, the security people are jockeying behind the scenes as the succession draws near. These men with guns probably think they can keep Mr Tsvangirai out of power altogether—and for good. But the prime minister is a survivor, and may be cannier than he looks. Briefing
Posted by biginla
at 6:33 AM BST
Google News Compiled by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Topic: google news, bbc news, biodun ig
<div class="in-header"><a href="http://www.google.com/support/news/bin/answer.py?answer=40237&topic=8851&hl=en" class="persistentblue">Other News Editions</a></div> Washington (CNN) -- Before Wednesday's Delaware Senate debate, the bulk of what people knew about Republican candidate Christine O'Donnell came from clips from a talk show from the 1990s. TIME - The Associated Press - CBS News - ABC News Colorado may be the No. 1 election battleground in the US for Republicans, if the money pouring into the state is any measure. Independent groups reported spending $9.4 million on ... FOXNews - TIME - Washington Post - Times Herald-Record Microsoft and Facebook are deepening their partnership with two new features that leverage Facebook connections for supposedly more-accurate Web search results. A Chase branch in New York. The Chase unit of JPMorgan is reviewing more than 115000 foreclosure filings. By ERIC DASH As the uproar over questionable conduct by mortgage lenders intensified Wednesday, one of the nation's largest banks distanced itself ... News Analysis: Microsoft must rebuild its brand if it's going to be successful. It will have to take radical action if it's brand will regain the luster it lost to the likes of Apple and Google. TUESDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Women who maintain certain "breast-healthy" habits can lower their risk of breast cancer, even if a close relative has had the disease, a new study finds. The hopeless romantics out there on the Internet are still reeling from the news of David Arquette and Courteney Cox's separation. In this courtroom sketch, Sgt. Alonzo Lunsford testifies during the Article 32 hearing for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (left) at the US Magistrate court on Oct. 13 in Fort Hood, as lead defense attorney John Galligan looks ... 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LOS ANGELES - More than half a dozen pornographers in California's multibillion-dollar adult entertainment industry have halted production after an actor tested positive for HIV - and more shutdowns were expected. JERUSALEM - Responding to an offer by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to extend a freeze on building in West Bank settlements if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, a top Palestinian official said ... First lady Michelle Obama arrives at an Alexi Giannoulias fundraiser at the University Club in Chicago. (Heather Charles/Tribune) By Oscar Avila, Tribune reporter First Lady Michelle Obama offered a personal character reference Wednesday for Democratic ... New York Times - 57 minutes ago By REUTERS China called off several more official visits with Norwegian officials over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo last Friday, the Norwegian government said Wednesday. Rear Adm. 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Posted by biginla
at 6:23 AM BST
Ecstasy as Chile mine rescue ends
Topic: chile miners, bbc news
14 October 2010 Last updated at 00:31 ET The capsule carrying Luis Urzua emerged to cheers, songs and applause Chile's president has said his country will never be the same again after the extraordinary rescue of the 33 miners trapped deep underground for 69 days. Sebastian Pinera said he thought Chile was "more united and stronger than ever", and "more valued" worldwide. There were earlier ecstatic scenes as Luis Urzua, 54, the last miner out, emerged at the top of the rescue shaft. The 22-hour operation saw each man being winched up in a narrow capsule. They have now been taken to hospital. Some have severe dental infections, and others have eye problems as a result of living in the dirt and darkness of the mine. One has been diagnosed with pneumonia but his condition is not thought to be serious. Health Minister Jaime Manalich nevertheless stressed that all appeared to be in far better condition than expected. Continue reading the main story At the scene Vanessa Buschschluter BBC News, San Jose mine, Chile Camp Hope, a rather drab and dry affair in the middle of the Atacama desert, erupted in an explosion of colour and sound the moment the capsule carrying Luis Urzua, the last of the 33 miners to be rescued, broke the surface. Champagne corks popped, balloons in the red, white and blue of the Chilean flag were released, and a rain of confetti and champagne descended on families, police and journalists alike. Sisters, mothers, fathers and brothers, everyone hugged and danced in front of the screen relaying the images from the rescue shaft some 500m up the hill. Their shouts of joy carried through the clear and cold night. As has become tradition, they then sang the national anthem, arms interlocked, their T-shirts with pictures of the drill which dug the rescue shaft, soaked in champagne. 'Real blessing' President Pinera was waiting at the head of the 624m (2,047ft) rescue shaft at 2155 on Wednesday (0055 GMT on Thursday), when the capsule carrying Mr Urzua emerged to jubilant cheers, songs and applause. The shift supervisor at the San Jose mine, credited with helping the miners endure the early days of their ordeal, embraced the president and said: "We have done what the entire world was waiting for." "We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing." Mr Pinera replied: "You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter." He then led the crowd in singing the Chilean national anthem. Watching the rescue on a big screen nearby, the miners' friends and relatives were showered with champagne and confetti. Six rescuers who were lowered into the mine to supervise the operation held up a banner saying "Mission accomplished." <div class="warning"> <img class="holding" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/49497000/jpg/_49497019_jex_836900_de27-1.jpg" alt="Chilian President Pinera" /> <p><strong>Please turn on JavaScript.</strong> Media requires JavaScript to play.</p> </div> President Pinera praises the miners, the families and the rescuers. The last of them, Manuel Gonzalez - who was also the first rescuer to go down the shaft - returned to the surface just under two-and-a-half hours later. Before leaving the underground chamber, he turned to a video camera, bowed and waved in triumph. In a televised address to the nation at the mine entrance, Mr Pinera said: "When the last miner exited the depths of the mine, I was moved as every Chilean was." "I want to thank Chilean men and women... who always had words of relief, gestures and smiles. We felt supported by all Chileans, and I want to say that today Chile is not the same country we had 69 days ago." "The miners are not the same people who got trapped on... 5 August. They have come out stronger, and they taught us a lesson. But Chile is not the same either." Continue reading the main story Order of rescue Florencio Avalos (31), Mario Sepulveda (39), Juan Illanes (51), Carlos Mamani (23), Jimmy Sanchez (19), Osman Araya (30), Jose Ojeda (46), Claudio Yanez (34), Mario Gomez (63), Alex Vega (31), Jorge Galleguillos (56), Edison Pena (34), Carlos Barrios (27), Victor Zamora (33), Victor Segovia (48), Daniel Herrera (27), Omar Reygadas (56), Esteban Rojas (44), Pablo Rojas (45), Dario Segovia (48), Yonni Barrios (50), Samuel Avalos (43), Carlos Bugueno (27), Jose Henriquez (54), Renan Avalos (29), Claudio Acuna, (35), Franklin Lobos (53), Richard Villarroel (27), Juan Aguilar (49), Raul Bustos (40), Pedro Cortez (24), Ariel Ticona (29), Luis Urzua (54) "I think Chile today is more united and stronger than ever, and I think Chile today is more respected and more valued in the whole world. "What ended up as a real blessing from God started as a possible tragedy. But the unity, the faith, the compromise, the honesty, the solidarity of the Chileans in those 69 days makes us very proud," he added. The rescue operation began shortly after 2315 on Tuesday (0215 GMT on Wednesday) with Mr Gonzalez being lowered down the 624m (2,047ft) shaft. Mr Gonzalez was supposed to return to the surface and report on the condition of the rescue shaft, before handing over to a paramedic. However, the miner Florencio Avalos instead got into the capsule and was hauled up. The miners wore a "bio-harness" designed for astronauts - which monitors their heart rate, breathing, temperature and oxygen consumption - and sunglasses to protect his eyes from the glare of the desert. Mr Avalos reached the surface at 0010 on Wednesday (0310 GMT) and was greeted by his family, rescuers, President Pinera and the first lady, Cecilia Morel. Bystanders cheered and clapped, and then started chanting "Chile". Following their reunions with relatives, the miners were flown by helicopter to hospital in the nearby city of Copiapo. Outside, barriers have been set up to cope with the crowds of onlookers and journalists. Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. Read the terms and conditions At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location unless you state otherwise. But your contact details will never be published. (Required) Name (Required) Your E-mail address
Posted by biginla
at 6:08 AM BST
Letter from Barack Obama by Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Topic: obama, biodun iginla, bbc news
Biodun --
Two years ago, I met 10 of you.
Just before I accepted our party's nomination in front of 80,000 people in Denver, I spoke with 10 grassroots supporters who had won a trip to meet me backstage.
I still remember the time we spent together -- because these are the people, like you, who stood with me in 2008, and got me through the tough fights since.
But we face another test on November 2nd that will say a lot about our future -- and I need you by my side again.
A Supreme Court decision I strongly disagree with has shifted the balance of power in our elections from folks like you to giant corporations. Their massive spending on attack ads could have a real impact on who represents you at all levels of government. Only supporters like you -- and all the work you are doing -- are standing in their way.
This may be our toughest fight yet.
So next week, just 11 days before the elections, I want to meet three supporters like you backstage at a rally in Las Vegas -- one of the last big rallies of this campaign.
Please make a $3 donation now to be automatically entered to win a trip to be at my side at the rally in Vegas.
This movement has always been about more than me. It's about change, and the kind of future we envision for this country.
The folks I met backstage in Denver told me they wanted health reform, a clean-energy economy, and a resolution to the war in Iraq. They wanted a new kind of politics, and a new kind of leader.
It was their hope and expectation that together we would move beyond the status quo, that we would counter the special interests and corporate influence in Washington -- that we would do what was right and necessary for all Americans.
With your help, we have made historic progress, but there is much left to do -- and it will not happen without your involvement. I need strong allies in Congress who will stand with us in the tough fights ahead, and I need you to give it all you've got through November 2nd to make sure they can.
Your donation today will provide critical support to our Vote 2010 campaign as we reach out to millions of voters who will decide the closest races across the country.
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Please donate $3 or more to be automatically entered to win a trip to Las Vegas to meet me backstage:
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I hope to see you out there,
President Barack Obama
P.S. -- Making a donation automatically registers you for the sweepstakes. You may also enter the sweepstakes without making a contribution either online or via text message -- click here to enter online or here for instructions on how to enter via text message. No minimum contribution is necessary to be registered.
No purchase or contribution necessary to enter. Void where prohibited. You can enter the contest without making a contribution by clicking here. Only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents over the age of 18 who are residents of the 50 states or D.C. are eligible to enter. Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on 10/15/10. Three winners will receive one round-trip ticket within the continental U.S. to Las Vegas, NV; hotel accommodations for one; and a meeting with President Obama at a rally event on 10/22/10 (approximate combined retail value $1,200.00). Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. Promotion is subject to Official Rules, available here, including restrictions on eligibility.
Posted by biginla
at 6:01 AM BST
Here are the FeedBlitz email updates for biginla@bbcnews.com
Topic: feedblitz, bbc news, biodun igin
BiodunIginla: UN Wire presented by Biodun Iginla, BBC News - http://tinyurl.com/34jk2af
Posted by biginla
at 5:50 AM BST
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