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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
Monday, 24 January 2011
NEWSNIGHT - Monday 24 January 2011 at 10.30pm GMT on BBC 2
Topic: bbc 2, biodun iginla
NEWSNIGHT - Monday 24 January 2011 at 10.30pm GMT on BBC 2
============================================================
------------------------------------------------------------
Presented by Kirsty Wark
------------------------------------------------------------
Hello to the BBC's Biodun Iginla in Minneapolis.
We are watching the aftermath of the deadly Moscow airport attack and
will bring you any developments and analysis later tonight.
But right now we are focussing on the Middle East. By the time we go on
air we expect to have more revelations from the
al-Jazeera/Guardian leak of a cache of Palestinian records which have
already offered the most extraordinary insight into the peace process
negotiations, just how much ground the Palestinian negotiators were
prepared to give, and how hardline the response of the Israelis.
There is always a health warning though. We don't know if these are the
totality of the documents and whether there are others which tell a
different story.
Nonetheless, what has been the fallout of the revelations, and will they
change the US approach to Israel in particular?
We have also been following up the "revolution" in Tunisia, trying to
ascertain whether there will by any contagion. Tim Whewell has been
filming in Jordan where he found people prepared to speak out against
the royal family, despite the threat of the law.
The outgoing director of the CBI Sir Richard Lambert who stands down on
Friday has fired off a broadside at the government over its growth
strategy, or - as he sees it - the lack of it. He claims the government
is not doing enough to promote growth at a time when spending cuts are
likely to squeeze domestic demand.
"It's taken a series of policy initiatives for political reasons,
apparently careless of the damage that might do to business and job
creation."
He does though broadly agree with the speed and scale of planned
spending cuts. We're bidding for the chancellor and his new shadow.
Join me at 10.30pm on BBC Two.
Kirsty
----------------------
Posted by biginla
at 8:12 PM GMT
BREAKING NEWS: Netanyahu's aides: Leaked papers prove Palestinian demands for Jerusalem are 'ridiculous'
Topic: israeli-palestinian conflict, na
by Nasra Ismail, BBC News Middle-East Desk, for the BBC's Biodun IginlaDetails of negotiations during Olmert's tenure reveal that Palestinian negotiators had secretly agreed to concede most Jewish areas of East Jerusalem; U.S.: We cannot vouch for veracity of the documents.
Posted by biginla
at 7:53 PM GMT
Keith Olbermann Is Out: An Analysis
Topic: olbermann, msnbc, bbc news
by Biodun Iginla, Media Analyst for BBC News and FAIR Media Advisory
MSNBC host's departure shows the limits of corporate media liberalism
1/24/11
Whether the abrupt termination of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann's contract on January 21 was connected to Olbermann's left-of-center politics or the recent purchase of NBC by Comcast fromGeneral Electric, the host's departure provides an opportunity to reflect on the bigger picture.
MSNBC's current liberal identity is generally attributed to Olbermann, whose success offered compelling evidence that a left-of-center TV host could find a sizable audience. Olbermann's willingness to criticize prominent Republican leaders and right-wing commentators like Fox's Bill O'Reilly was virtually unknown in corporate television. And the show did more than that for progressive causes; for instance, as the Nation's Jeremy Scahill noted on Twitter (1/21/11), Olbermann's program regularly reported on the scandals associated with the Blackwater mercenary company.
Olbermann was not, however, the first avowedly liberal cable host. He was preceded at MSNBC byPhil Donahue, whose program was canceled in the run-up to the Iraq War for explicitly political reasons: His firing followed an internal NBC report that called him "a tired, left-wing liberal" who would be a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war" (FAIR Action Alert, 3/7/03).
It's reasonable to wonder whether politics were involved in Olbermann's departure as well. Olbermann had several clashes with NBC management, most recently over donations he made to Democratic political candidates (FAIR Action Alert, 11/5/10).
Olbermann revealed in 2005 that MSNBC management had two years earlier pushed back against the leftward direction of his show, calling him onto the carpet when he had Al Franken and Janeane Garofaloon as guests in close succession (FAIR Media Advisory, 10/27/05):
I got called into a vice president‘s office here and told, "Hey, we don't mind you interviewing these guys, but should you really have put liberals on on consecutive nights?"
Last week's formal approval of the Comcast/NBC merger raised questions about whether the new company had any role in the termination of Olbermann's contract. Howard Kurtz of the Daily Beast, citing a "knowledgeable official," reported that it didn't (1/21/11), while the Washington Post's Paul Farhi (1/23/11) reported that one source "intimate with MSNBC's management" believed that the removal of Olbermann was related to the Comcast takeover.
Comcast's record in this regard suggests concern is warranted. In 2008, Comcast fired one of its own reporters, CN8 TV host Barry Nolan, for speaking out against a local Emmy being awarded to Fox's O'Reilly. Nolan had distributed materials critical of O'Reilly to other reporters--or, as Nolan explained it (Think Progress, 5/27/08), “I got fired from my job on a news and information network for reporting demonstrably true things in a room full of newspeople.”
There's some truth to the notion that Comcast is a conservative company; Stephen Burke, ComcastCOO and the man picked to head up NBC after the merger, raised at least $200,000 for George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign. But GE, a major military contractor, has also long had a Republican orientation--going back to its launching of Ronald Reagan's political career (Extra!, 11-12/94). And no media conglomerate is likely to be comfortable owning an outlet with an explicitly progressive slant, given the critique of corporate power that's at the heart of the progressive philosophy.
In discussions of cable news channels, there is often a tendency to treat Fox and MSNBC as mirror images--Fox providing one thing on the right, MSNBC doing the same on the left. This is wildly misleading, though (FAIR Blog, 10/4/10). Fox, from its inception, has sought to deliver a right-wing product. MSNBC, by contrast, tried and failed to succeed as a competitor to Fox on the right (FAIR Action Alert, 2/5/99, 3/7/03; Extra! Update, 2/05): "We have to be more conservative then they are,"NBC CEO Robert Wright reportedly told NBC News chief Neal Shapiro after September 11 (New York, 10/3/10).
NBC only reluctantly accepted a progressive tilt for its cable channel after Olbermann, moving to the left after being hired, proved that counter-programming against Fox with left-leaning programs was the only way MSNBC could win an audience. Even then, NBC executives (and even on-air reporters) were clearly uncomfortable with the political leanings of its most prominent host (Daily Beast, 1/21/11).
There is little reason to believe that Comcast's takeover of MSNBC will make things any better. As fired Comcast reporter Nolan put it (CJR.org, 8/16/10), Comcast "aspires to run a major network news operation. What happens when Keith Olbermann goes after O’Reilly? I think that’s scary." With Olbermann gone, the future of MSNBC under Comcast is very much up in the air.
Posted by biginla
at 7:23 PM GMT
Appeals Court in Illinois Throws Rahm Emanuel Off Chicago Mayoral Ballot
Topic: chicago mayorial race, bbc news,
by Suzanne Gould and Biodun Iginla, BBC News Mon, January 24, 2011 -- 1:23 PM ET
-----
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled on Monday that Rahm
Emanuel, the former congressman and White House chief of
staff, did not meet the residency requirements to run for
mayor of Chicago, and threw him off the ballot. The ruling
overturned a decision in his favor by the Chicago Board of
Elections. The decision is expected to be appealed to the
state Supreme Court.
Posted by biginla
at 7:02 PM GMT
BREAKING NEWS ALERT: An explosion at Moscow's busy Domodedovo airporthas killed at least 10 people and injured 20 others,
Topic: russia, maria ogrylo, Lech Kaczy
by Maria Ogryzlo, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla An explosion at Moscow's busy Domodedovo airporthas killed at least 10 people and injured 20 others, officials say.
Posted by biginla
at 6:31 PM GMT
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Former Tunisian ruler's relatives jet to Canada
Topic: tunisia, bbc news, biodun iginla
by Suzanne Gould and Rashida Adjani, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun IginlaLast Updated: Sunday, January 23, 2011 | 6:03 PM ET Comments0Recommend6
 At least five family members of Tunisia's former dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, arrived in Montreal by private jet on Thursday morning, CBC News has learned (Reuters)Several relatives of former Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali have arrived in Montreal, CBC News has learned. At least five family members, including Ben Ali's brother-in-law, arrived in Montreal by private jet on Thursday morning, and most were carrying permanent resident cards, government sources told CBC News. The Canadian government, fearing that more are trying to come to this country, is monitoring airlines to try to prevent that, the same sources said. On Sunday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney confirmed the relatives' arrival. "There are, I gather, a couple members of his family who are already Canadian permanent residents, which gives them a legal right to be here," Kenney told CBC News. "But anyone who wants to come from Tunisia requires a visa. That would be very difficult for someone to obtain if they can't go back to their country of origin. So we're watching this situation carefully." The family members could be residing at a home owned by Ben Ali's son-in-law, Mohamed Sakher El Materi, in Montreal's upscale Westmount neighbourhood. Member of Montreal's Tunisian community were upset by the news. "It is outrageous," Sonia Djelidi said. "We don't understand why Canada would accept them here in Canada because it doesn't follow the Canadian values, such as justice and social democracy, and we want this family to be judged by Tunisians in Tunisia." Some including Mourid Chtioui urged the government to freeze the assets of the former dictator's relatives until the investigation in Tunisia is completed, and said they're going to hire a lawyer to push for that. The Department of Foreign Affairs said in an email to CBC News that individuals are allowed in the country as long they have the proper papers and are not wanted by a foreign government. On Jan. 14, Ben Ali, who ruled Tunisia with an iron fist for more than 23 years, stepped down as president following weeks of riots in the North African country and immediately left for Saudi Arabia.
Posted by biginla
at 11:12 PM GMT
Updated: Sunday, 23 January 2011 11:16 PM GMT
UN Points to Iraq Violence in Chiding Deportations
Topic: iraq, nasras ismail, bbc news, b
by Nasra Ismail, BBC News Middle-East Desk, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla Published: January 23, 2011Filed at 5:27 p.m. EST BAGHDAD — The head of the U.N. refugee agency scolded nations Sunday for deporting Iraqis back into danger, delivering his criticism on a day when insurgents rattled the Baghdad area with a series of bombings that killed 10 people. Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said an estimated 2,000 Iraqis have been fleeing their homeland every month, including a "significant number of Christians." But some countries have turned back dozens of refugees — forcing many to return to some of Iraq's most violent regions. "There are still some areas in central Iraq in which we believe people should not be sent back against their will," Guterres told reporters after meeting with Iraqi Foreign MinisterHoshyar Zebari. "And this is the position we have very clearly expressed to some of the counties that have been doing that, against our opinion." Guterres did not identify those countries, but they are believed to include Sweden, which accepted thousands of Iraqis during the height of the war. Underscoring the continued danger, a spate of bombs rocked the capital and its suburbs Sunday, killing 10 people over a three-hour span. The bombs struck indiscriminately, with the dead including policemen, pilgrims, farmers, commuters and even young schoolchildren. Police and hospital officials said at least 34 more people were injured. The Sunday assaults were the latest in a series of bombings that have killed more than 120 people since Tuesday, shattering a two-month period of relative calm. The deadliest attacks included a suicide bombing Tuesday against police recruits in Tikrit that killed at least 50 people and a string of blasts near Karbala that claimed 65 lives, many of them Shiite religious pilgrims. On Sunday, the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, claimed responsibility for the Tikrit attack as well as two bombings last week at security force headquarters in Baqouba that together killed 10 people. Although the bombings have killed mostly Muslims, the continuing violence has focused attention on Iraq's dwindling Christian community since an Oct. 31 assault by suicide bombers against a Roman Catholic church in Baghdad that left 68 dead. "All Iraqis need to be treated with the same respect and same consideration, but of course we recognize that in some circumstances that minorities can be in a particularly vulnerable situation," Guterres said. He also called on Iraq's new government to provide better security for Christians, calling them "an integral part of the Iraqi fabric, of the culture, of the society." Swedish officials have not explained the recent deportations of Iraqis, including a group last week, except to say that they did not pass immigration reviews. Last month, an Iraqi-born Swede blew himself up in a botched bombing in central Stockholm, killing himself and injuring two people. Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq since the height of the war three years ago. But small-scale bombings and drive-by shootings still persist on a near daily basis. No group has claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombings. But a senior Iraqi intelligence official blamed them on insurgents seeking to take advantage of the government's delay in appointing a new interior minister, who runs the nation's police forces. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is still weighing who to name to Iraq's three top security ministry posts, saying he wants to ensure they are filled by apolitical candidates. The intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, also called Sunday's bombings a message to the world that Iraq is not ready to provide security for next month's Arab League summit. Baghdad will host the two-day summit for the first time in 20 years to tout improvements in security and to try to mend frayed ties with its Arab neighbors, many of who fear growing Iranian influence in Iraq. Zebari discouraged a direct link between the bombings and the Arab League meeting but said "definitely, overall, the security situation is very important and would be a conducive factor to have the summit in Baghdad, as is the case as we speak." "Security is always a challenge to the Iraqi government," Zebari said. "But we are confident ... the security challenge will be overcome." ___
Posted by biginla
at 11:02 PM GMT
Brain Fluid Buildup Delays Full Rehab for Giffords
Topic: gabrielle giffords, bbc news
by Rochelle van Amber, BBC News, for the BBC's Biodun IginlaPublished: January 23, 2011Filed at 5:42 p.m. EST HOUSTON — The Houston hospital treating Rep. Gabrielle Giffords said Sunday that her condition is improving daily, but gave no update on the buildup of brain fluid that has kept the Arizona congresswoman in intensive care. A hospital statement said Giffords would continue to receive therapy in the intensive care unit "until her physicians determine she is ready for transfer" to a nearby center where she would begin a full rehabilitation program. They said the next medical updates would be provided when that happens. Giffords was flown to Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center Hospital on Friday from Tucson, where she was shot in the forehead on Jan. 8 while meeting with constituents. At a news conference shortly after her arrival in Houston, doctors said she had been given a tube to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid. Everyone makes such fluid, but an injury can cause the fluid to not be cleared away as rapidly as normal. A backup can cause pressure and swelling within the brain. "It's a common problem," occurring in 15 to 20 percent of people with a brain injury or brain surgery, said Dr. Reid C. Thompson, chairman of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, who is not involved in Giffords' care. Another possible reason for a drainage tube: "After a gunshot wound to the head and brain where there is a lot of soft tissue injury, it is common to develop a leak of spinal fluid. This raises the risk of a meningitis and slows down wound healing," he said. The tube is a short-term solution that doctors usually don't use for longer than a week or two because of the risk of infection, said Dr. Steve Williams, rehab chief at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. If the problem persists, this temporary catheter can be converted to a permanent one called a shunt. That involves an hour-long surgery to tunnel a thin tube from inside the brain down the neck and under the skin to the abdomen, where the fluid can drain and be dispersed in the belly, Williams said. That is less than ideal — those can clog over time, requiring medical attention.
Posted by biginla
at 10:49 PM GMT
Tunisia shuts down private TV station
Topic: tunisia, bbc news, biodun iginla
by Rashida Adjani, BBC News North Africa Desk, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla TUNIS — Tunisia’s interim government abruptly shut down the country’s oldest and most popular private television network on Sunday evening, in an apparent violation of its pledges to respect freedom of expression after the ouster of the authoritarian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. The state news agency said the government had arrested the network’s owner and stopped its broadcast for “grand treason,” charging that the network was trying “to abort the youth’s revolution, spread confusion, incite strife and broadcast false information likely to create a constitutional vacuum and destabilize the country in order to take it into a spiral of violence that aims to restore the dictatorship of the former president,” according to a government statement. But Lotfi Sallemi, a spokesman for the network, Hannibal TV, said the government shut down its signal without warning or explanation. “The owner was with the revolution, giving voice to all the people,” he said, speaking to a small gaggle of reporters in a dimly lighted doorway outside the darkened studio. Mr. Sallemi called the shutdown a flagrant violation of freedom of the press, arguing that any charges against the owner could be adjudicated without suddenly taking a major network off the air. Reacting to the news on Sunday night, several Tunisians said the move seriously damaged the credibility of the interim government, which is facing mounting protests against its continued dominance by former members of the old ruling party, including a prime minister who was Mr. Ben Ali’s right-hand man. The fate of the network is widely seen here as a crucial test of the new government’s commitment to civil liberties. A week after the protests began, convoys of Tunisians from the impoverished south arrived in Tunis, the capital, on Sunday to join hundreds of others in the square of the old city, where the crowd jeered and chanted for a breakup of the government for more than eight hours. “Today, today, the government should go,” they chanted. The state news agency said that the owner of Hannibal TV was a relative of the former president’s second wife, Leila Trabelsi, a widely reviled figure here whose family grew conspicuously rich after her marriage. But the Hannibal network, founded about five years ago, was better known for conflict than coziness with the former government, losing certain soccer broadcast rights to state television or the right to broadcast a talk show too similar to one on state television. And since Mr. Ben Ali’s ouster, its news and political program has hardly celebrated the former president, but rather echoed the widespread calls to eradicate the old ruling party from the interim government. Defenders of the new government have argued that decades of one-party rule have left few outsiders qualified, on a moment’s notice, to steer the state to free elections six months from now. The shutdown of the network occurred as it was preparing to show an interview with Hamma Hammami, a leader of the banned Communist Party here. Among the boldest critics of Mr. Ben Ali before he fled, Mr. Hammami has since been a vocal critic of the old ruling party’s role in the interim government, including in a statement broadcast Saturday night on Hannibal TV. He also has close ties to the Tunisian trade union, which is backing the protests against the new government. The interim government, meanwhile, took other steps to repudiate the ousted president. The state news agency reported that two officials close to Mr. Ben Ali were put under house arrest: Abdelaziz bin Dhia, Mr. Ben Ali’s spokesman and chief adviser, and Abdallah Qallal, the speaker of Parliament’s upper house.
Posted by biginla
at 10:31 PM GMT
Thai 'red shirts' protest and demand leaders' release
Topic: thailand, xian wan, bbc news, bi
23 January 2011 Last updated at 12:42 ET
Continue reading the main story The red-shirts plan to keep up the pressure on the Thai government with regular protests by Xian Wan, BBC News Southeast Asia Desk, for the BBC's Biodun Iginla Anti-government "red-shirt" activists have protested in the Thai capital Bangkok, and called for the release of their imprisoned leaders. Police say around 27,000 people marched peacefully from the site of last year's protests to Democracy Monument. Nineteen of the group's leaders and dozens of supporters remain in detention after protests and clashes with security forces last year. More than 90 people were killed in the violence and hundreds injured. Sunday's demonstration marked the second big gathering by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) since the government lifted a state of emergency in Bangkok on 22 December. Rallies to continueA rally on 9 January in the upmarket central shopping district of Ratchprasong - an area blockaded and occupied by red-shirts last year - was followed by complaints and protests from local businesses and traders. The traders are not happy about the potential loss of business through future demonstrations. The Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association says more than 2,000 businesses lost 11bn baht ($362m; £226m) last year due to the red-shirt protest. Dozens of buildings in the area were attacked and set on fire by militant protesters after the army crackdown. The red-shirts agreed to spend only two hours in the area on Sunday before moving on. One of the leaders, Jatuporn Prompan, said the group was trying "to make less trouble for people who live and work around the protest sites". At the rally on Sunday, Mr Jatuporn also announced that the group would only hold one demonstration a month, as opposed to the two which had been planned. The latest protest shows the continuing strength of the movement, which draws much of its support from the rural and urban working class. Many followers are also supporters of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006. They say red-shirt activists involved in protests have been treated much worse than so-called "yellow-shirt" protesters involved in demonstrations against allies of Thaksin Shinawatra who were then in power. The UDD also wants the completion of an inquiry into deaths during the protests.
Posted by biginla
at 9:55 PM GMT
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