Scarlett Johansson’s Wonderfully Strange Dolce & Gabbana Fragrance Ad (VIDEO)
October 23, 2011 No Comment
Scarlett Johansson is the latest high-profile celebrity to debut a fragrance commercial, following in the wondrously scented footsteps of Justin Bieber , Taylor Swift and Emma Watson . Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Gossip Cop Discovery Date : 14/10/2011 16:21 Number of articles : 2
Continue reading …Tunisians flock to voting stations for first taste of democracy in 50 years
October 23, 2011 No Comment
People queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join new 217-seat government At 7am, at the front of a long queue outside a polling station near the Tunis casbah yesterday, shop assistant Samira was impatiently waiting for the doors to open on Tunisia’s first free elections. The 50-year-old had been camped there since 5.45am in order to be the first voter and had not slept a wink all night. “How could I sleep? It’s the first time I’ve ever voted in my life,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What’s one night when we’ve waited decades for freedom? This ballot box is what we took to the streets for.” Nine months after a people’s revolution ousted the despot Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and inspired uprisings across the region, Tunisia on Sunday was holding the first vote of the Arab spring. The small country of 10 million was being watched by the Arab world as an experiment in moving from dictatorship to democracy. If the elections usher in a credible new political class after 50 years of a one-party state, they could boost the democratic hopes for neighbouring such as post-Gaddafi Libya and Egypt, where there is profound uncertainty. One common complaint among Tunisians is that they were never able to properly celebrate their revolution with an outpouring of joy. When Ben Ali fled, it was followed by weeks of curfews, uncertainty and violent outbreaks stoked by remnants of the old regime. Then people again took to the streets and occupied the casbah to protest over a succession of weak, discredited and ineffective transition governments featuring faces present under the old regime. Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia but his state apparatus remains in place: torture and police brutality continues, the justice system is craven and compromised, corruption is rife and unemployment – a main cause of the revolution – is rising. “There’s an overwhelming sense of joy and relief,” said Mehdi Lassoued, a tyre company worker, wrapped in the Tunisian flag. “I feel we are finally moving on, that we can finish this revolution, vote for a legitimate government.” Tunis university professor Ghofrane Ben Miled said: “There’s so much expectation and excitement on the street. I didn’t sleep, I was wired. It felt like the nights during the revolution, but calmer. I’m 42 and I’ve never voted before.” Flag-festooned cars with horns blaring were everywhere and hundreds queued in the sun, wearing home-made paper hats. Asked who the election winner would be, most said: “We all will.” During the 23 years under Ben Ali’s notorious secret police, elections were a farce and few turned out to vote. Those who officially did vote were often in fact dead. Ben Ali would achieve unlikely landslides, such as the 99.91% he announced in 1994. The people’s uprising that began in December with the self-immolation of a poor vegetable seller in a desolate rural town was not led by any party, ideology or religion. So the election is the first test of a new political landscape. There are now 110 political parties and scores of independents. Tunisians will appoint a 217-seat assembly with the specific role of rewriting the constitution to prepare for parliamentary elections next year. A complex proportional representation system means that no one party will dominate the assembly. But the Islamist party, An-Nahda, previously outlawed and brutally repressed, is expected to win an important share of the vote. The party has campaigned as a moderate, pro-democracy force, vowing to respect the diversity of Tunisia – one of the region’s most highly educated countries, with a strong secular tradition and the most advanced women’s rights in the Arab world. An-Nahda likens itself to Turkey’s Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development party – liberal and conservative. Secular critics say An-Nahda is an unknown quantity and its hardliners could seek to enforce a more fundamentalist Islam on Tunisia’s civil society. When its leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, who recently returned from 22 years of exile in London, arrived at to vote followed by camera crews he walked straight to the front. But he was jeered by crowds waiting to vote, who shouted: “The queue, the queue! Democracy starts there!” He swiftly took his place in the line and said: “The people have a hunger for democracy.” The assembly is also likely to feature an array of secular centrist parties, such as the centre-left Ettakatol which was in opposition under Ben Ali. Its founder, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, 70 – who is a doctor and professor of medicine – was barred from running for president in 2009 but is tipped to seek a senior position in the new government, perhaps the interim presidency. He faces opposition from Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, 67, of the rival PDP. A new party, the Congress for the Republic, led by long-exiled human rights activist Moncef Marzouki, is also expected to win seats. A high turnout is expected – as high as 80% in some precincts. Full results will be released on Monday. The assembly will face wrangling over who gets the top jobs. Those elected might choose to focus on the vast task of producing a new democratic constitution – to build a new state – while a government of technocrats keeps the country ticking over. With unemployment officially at 19% but thought to be much higher (and over 40% for graduate women), the government will be pressured to kickstart the economy and deal with the huge divide between Tunisia’s golden tourist coast and the poor interior. In Ettadhamen, a poor, densely-populated suburb of Tunis which rose up in the revolution and saw young men killed by Ben Ali’s forces, hundreds were queueing to vote at primary schools. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lameen Muhammed, a teacher. “Nine months ago you couldn’t even talk about politics in the street for fear of the secret police. The stress was unbearable. “Now everyone’s out debating and voting, the stress has lifted. It has been difficult, but we’re leaning towards democracy. With this vote, the people will have spoken.” A 52-year-old builder said he would choose An-Nahda. “They have a history of struggle against the regime, they were treated brutally, their families suffered. I want them to improve security. There are a lot of problems here. Alcohol is sold openly, and there are drugs sold on the street.” A stay-at-home mother, 44, in long robe and headscarf said she had voted for the centrist secular party Ettakatol because she liked what its spokesmen said on TV. Meanwhile, a student had chosen the CPR, “They’re a new party, I trust them. I’m nearly 20 – I’m desperate to think I can hope for some kind of job.” Amid the optimism there was a sense of vigilance. Many said that the people had staged the revolution and they would take to the streets again if they felt they were being cheated or let down. Najila Ahrissi, one of the many cleaners who leave Ettadhamen each day to work in the homes of the rich for about £150 a month, had voted for a small secular party. She said: “In the old days, every election here was fixed. Let’s just hope we can trust the politicians of tomorrow.” Tunisia Arab and Middle East unrest Africa Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Tunisians flock to voting stations for first taste of democracy in 50 years
October 23, 2011 No CommentPeople queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join new 217-seat government At 7am, at the front of a long queue outside a polling station near the Tunis casbah yesterday, shop assistant Samira was impatiently waiting for the doors to open on Tunisia’s first free elections. The 50-year-old had been camped there since 5.45am in order to be the first voter and had not slept a wink all night. “How could I sleep? It’s the first time I’ve ever voted in my life,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What’s one night when we’ve waited decades for freedom? This ballot box is what we took to the streets for.” Nine months after a people’s revolution ousted the despot Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and inspired uprisings across the region, Tunisia on Sunday was holding the first vote of the Arab spring. The small country of 10 million was being watched by the Arab world as an experiment in moving from dictatorship to democracy. If the elections usher in a credible new political class after 50 years of a one-party state, they could boost the democratic hopes for neighbouring such as post-Gaddafi Libya and Egypt, where there is profound uncertainty. One common complaint among Tunisians is that they were never able to properly celebrate their revolution with an outpouring of joy. When Ben Ali fled, it was followed by weeks of curfews, uncertainty and violent outbreaks stoked by remnants of the old regime. Then people again took to the streets and occupied the casbah to protest over a succession of weak, discredited and ineffective transition governments featuring faces present under the old regime. Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia but his state apparatus remains in place: torture and police brutality continues, the justice system is craven and compromised, corruption is rife and unemployment – a main cause of the revolution – is rising. “There’s an overwhelming sense of joy and relief,” said Mehdi Lassoued, a tyre company worker, wrapped in the Tunisian flag. “I feel we are finally moving on, that we can finish this revolution, vote for a legitimate government.” Tunis university professor Ghofrane Ben Miled said: “There’s so much expectation and excitement on the street. I didn’t sleep, I was wired. It felt like the nights during the revolution, but calmer. I’m 42 and I’ve never voted before.” Flag-festooned cars with horns blaring were everywhere and hundreds queued in the sun, wearing home-made paper hats. Asked who the election winner would be, most said: “We all will.” During the 23 years under Ben Ali’s notorious secret police, elections were a farce and few turned out to vote. Those who officially did vote were often in fact dead. Ben Ali would achieve unlikely landslides, such as the 99.91% he announced in 1994. The people’s uprising that began in December with the self-immolation of a poor vegetable seller in a desolate rural town was not led by any party, ideology or religion. So the election is the first test of a new political landscape. There are now 110 political parties and scores of independents. Tunisians will appoint a 217-seat assembly with the specific role of rewriting the constitution to prepare for parliamentary elections next year. A complex proportional representation system means that no one party will dominate the assembly. But the Islamist party, An-Nahda, previously outlawed and brutally repressed, is expected to win an important share of the vote. The party has campaigned as a moderate, pro-democracy force, vowing to respect the diversity of Tunisia – one of the region’s most highly educated countries, with a strong secular tradition and the most advanced women’s rights in the Arab world. An-Nahda likens itself to Turkey’s Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development party – liberal and conservative. Secular critics say An-Nahda is an unknown quantity and its hardliners could seek to enforce a more fundamentalist Islam on Tunisia’s civil society. When its leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, who recently returned from 22 years of exile in London, arrived at to vote followed by camera crews he walked straight to the front. But he was jeered by crowds waiting to vote, who shouted: “The queue, the queue! Democracy starts there!” He swiftly took his place in the line and said: “The people have a hunger for democracy.” The assembly is also likely to feature an array of secular centrist parties, such as the centre-left Ettakatol which was in opposition under Ben Ali. Its founder, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, 70 – who is a doctor and professor of medicine – was barred from running for president in 2009 but is tipped to seek a senior position in the new government, perhaps the interim presidency. He faces opposition from Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, 67, of the rival PDP. A new party, the Congress for the Republic, led by long-exiled human rights activist Moncef Marzouki, is also expected to win seats. A high turnout is expected – as high as 80% in some precincts. Full results will be released on Monday. The assembly will face wrangling over who gets the top jobs. Those elected might choose to focus on the vast task of producing a new democratic constitution – to build a new state – while a government of technocrats keeps the country ticking over. With unemployment officially at 19% but thought to be much higher (and over 40% for graduate women), the government will be pressured to kickstart the economy and deal with the huge divide between Tunisia’s golden tourist coast and the poor interior. In Ettadhamen, a poor, densely-populated suburb of Tunis which rose up in the revolution and saw young men killed by Ben Ali’s forces, hundreds were queueing to vote at primary schools. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lameen Muhammed, a teacher. “Nine months ago you couldn’t even talk about politics in the street for fear of the secret police. The stress was unbearable. “Now everyone’s out debating and voting, the stress has lifted. It has been difficult, but we’re leaning towards democracy. With this vote, the people will have spoken.” A 52-year-old builder said he would choose An-Nahda. “They have a history of struggle against the regime, they were treated brutally, their families suffered. I want them to improve security. There are a lot of problems here. Alcohol is sold openly, and there are drugs sold on the street.” A stay-at-home mother, 44, in long robe and headscarf said she had voted for the centrist secular party Ettakatol because she liked what its spokesmen said on TV. Meanwhile, a student had chosen the CPR, “They’re a new party, I trust them. I’m nearly 20 – I’m desperate to think I can hope for some kind of job.” Amid the optimism there was a sense of vigilance. Many said that the people had staged the revolution and they would take to the streets again if they felt they were being cheated or let down. Najila Ahrissi, one of the many cleaners who leave Ettadhamen each day to work in the homes of the rich for about £150 a month, had voted for a small secular party. She said: “In the old days, every election here was fixed. Let’s just hope we can trust the politicians of tomorrow.” Tunisia Arab and Middle East unrest Africa Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Tunisians flock to voting stations for first taste of democracy in 50 years
October 23, 2011 No CommentPeople queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join new 217-seat government At 7am, at the front of a long queue outside a polling station near the Tunis casbah yesterday, shop assistant Samira was impatiently waiting for the doors to open on Tunisia’s first free elections. The 50-year-old had been camped there since 5.45am in order to be the first voter and had not slept a wink all night. “How could I sleep? It’s the first time I’ve ever voted in my life,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “What’s one night when we’ve waited decades for freedom? This ballot box is what we took to the streets for.” Nine months after a people’s revolution ousted the despot Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and inspired uprisings across the region, Tunisia on Sunday was holding the first vote of the Arab spring. The small country of 10 million was being watched by the Arab world as an experiment in moving from dictatorship to democracy. If the elections usher in a credible new political class after 50 years of a one-party state, they could boost the democratic hopes for neighbouring such as post-Gaddafi Libya and Egypt, where there is profound uncertainty. One common complaint among Tunisians is that they were never able to properly celebrate their revolution with an outpouring of joy. When Ben Ali fled, it was followed by weeks of curfews, uncertainty and violent outbreaks stoked by remnants of the old regime. Then people again took to the streets and occupied the casbah to protest over a succession of weak, discredited and ineffective transition governments featuring faces present under the old regime. Ben Ali is in Saudi Arabia but his state apparatus remains in place: torture and police brutality continues, the justice system is craven and compromised, corruption is rife and unemployment – a main cause of the revolution – is rising. “There’s an overwhelming sense of joy and relief,” said Mehdi Lassoued, a tyre company worker, wrapped in the Tunisian flag. “I feel we are finally moving on, that we can finish this revolution, vote for a legitimate government.” Tunis university professor Ghofrane Ben Miled said: “There’s so much expectation and excitement on the street. I didn’t sleep, I was wired. It felt like the nights during the revolution, but calmer. I’m 42 and I’ve never voted before.” Flag-festooned cars with horns blaring were everywhere and hundreds queued in the sun, wearing home-made paper hats. Asked who the election winner would be, most said: “We all will.” During the 23 years under Ben Ali’s notorious secret police, elections were a farce and few turned out to vote. Those who officially did vote were often in fact dead. Ben Ali would achieve unlikely landslides, such as the 99.91% he announced in 1994. The people’s uprising that began in December with the self-immolation of a poor vegetable seller in a desolate rural town was not led by any party, ideology or religion. So the election is the first test of a new political landscape. There are now 110 political parties and scores of independents. Tunisians will appoint a 217-seat assembly with the specific role of rewriting the constitution to prepare for parliamentary elections next year. A complex proportional representation system means that no one party will dominate the assembly. But the Islamist party, An-Nahda, previously outlawed and brutally repressed, is expected to win an important share of the vote. The party has campaigned as a moderate, pro-democracy force, vowing to respect the diversity of Tunisia – one of the region’s most highly educated countries, with a strong secular tradition and the most advanced women’s rights in the Arab world. An-Nahda likens itself to Turkey’s Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development party – liberal and conservative. Secular critics say An-Nahda is an unknown quantity and its hardliners could seek to enforce a more fundamentalist Islam on Tunisia’s civil society. When its leader, Rachid Ghannouchi, who recently returned from 22 years of exile in London, arrived at to vote followed by camera crews he walked straight to the front. But he was jeered by crowds waiting to vote, who shouted: “The queue, the queue! Democracy starts there!” He swiftly took his place in the line and said: “The people have a hunger for democracy.” The assembly is also likely to feature an array of secular centrist parties, such as the centre-left Ettakatol which was in opposition under Ben Ali. Its founder, Mustapha Ben Jaafar, 70 – who is a doctor and professor of medicine – was barred from running for president in 2009 but is tipped to seek a senior position in the new government, perhaps the interim presidency. He faces opposition from Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, 67, of the rival PDP. A new party, the Congress for the Republic, led by long-exiled human rights activist Moncef Marzouki, is also expected to win seats. A high turnout is expected – as high as 80% in some precincts. Full results will be released on Monday. The assembly will face wrangling over who gets the top jobs. Those elected might choose to focus on the vast task of producing a new democratic constitution – to build a new state – while a government of technocrats keeps the country ticking over. With unemployment officially at 19% but thought to be much higher (and over 40% for graduate women), the government will be pressured to kickstart the economy and deal with the huge divide between Tunisia’s golden tourist coast and the poor interior. In Ettadhamen, a poor, densely-populated suburb of Tunis which rose up in the revolution and saw young men killed by Ben Ali’s forces, hundreds were queueing to vote at primary schools. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lameen Muhammed, a teacher. “Nine months ago you couldn’t even talk about politics in the street for fear of the secret police. The stress was unbearable. “Now everyone’s out debating and voting, the stress has lifted. It has been difficult, but we’re leaning towards democracy. With this vote, the people will have spoken.” A 52-year-old builder said he would choose An-Nahda. “They have a history of struggle against the regime, they were treated brutally, their families suffered. I want them to improve security. There are a lot of problems here. Alcohol is sold openly, and there are drugs sold on the street.” A stay-at-home mother, 44, in long robe and headscarf said she had voted for the centrist secular party Ettakatol because she liked what its spokesmen said on TV. Meanwhile, a student had chosen the CPR, “They’re a new party, I trust them. I’m nearly 20 – I’m desperate to think I can hope for some kind of job.” Amid the optimism there was a sense of vigilance. Many said that the people had staged the revolution and they would take to the streets again if they felt they were being cheated or let down. Najila Ahrissi, one of the many cleaners who leave Ettadhamen each day to work in the homes of the rich for about £150 a month, had voted for a small secular party. She said: “In the old days, every election here was fixed. Let’s just hope we can trust the politicians of tomorrow.” Tunisia Arab and Middle East unrest Africa Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Queues continue at the meat cooler that houses the body of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi Ritha Mohammed crouched with a napkin to wipe the soles of his daughter’s shoes, which he feared might have picked up the dirt and stench that spilled from Colonel Gaddafi’s corpse, which still lies on public view in Misrata. “Just in case,” he said, as he cleaned the five-year-old. He quickly moved on to dust down the carry cot that held his new-born son who, like the four young girls in their new dresses, he had ushered in to see the dead despot. “I wanted them all to witness this. This will be a day we will all remember.” An impatient crowd seethed around Mohammed, shouting and surging against guards who had linked arms to prevent the meat cooler holding Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his military chief, from being overrun. The three decaying bodies inside ought to have repelled the hordes. In Misrata, they did just the opposite. A growing throng of at least several thousand snaked throughout the day for a chance to see the ignominious end of a tyrant, who had been so terrifying and out of reach to them all for more than four decades. Now here he was vanquished and shrivelled. Even three days after Gaddafi’s death, it still hardly seemed possible. “He made our lives hell,” said Mohammed. “I wanted to see him dead with my own eyes. Who cares if it’s not dignified for him. That was not his first concern for any of the people here.” Many of the people queuing in the grounds of this vegetable market on the outskirts of Misrata said they had come to see Gaddafi’s corpse for the same reason. The ghoulish scene had an unedifying head-on-a-stake feel to it but it was also a collective closure for residents of a city that had suffered more than any other during eight grinding months of civil war. “There are so many rumours in Libya that it’s difficult to believe anything without verifying it,” said Tareq Zawabi, who had waited 90 minutes for the chance to survey the three corpses. “He didn’t look like I had imagined. He was a lot smaller.” As each day passes, the three bodies are becoming less and less suitable for public view. But uncertainty still surrounds their fate, with Gaddafi’s surviving family in Algeria demanding the remains for burial and Libya’s interim government not yet sure what to do with them. One of many obstacles facing Libya’s provisional leadership is its own human rights record, and the question of whether Gaddafi was killed in the minutes following his capture in Sirte. A forensic report in Misrata on Sunday concluded that Gaddafi had died from a bullet to the head. The finding added to the weight of evidence that suggests he was killed in the frantic minutes after his capture in Sirte, three hours to the east. It is still unclear who fired the fatal shot, and under what circumstances. Dr Othman al-Zintani, Libya’s chief pathologist, carried out the autopsy. He said it was “obvious” Gaddafi had died “from a gunshot wound to the head”. He did not elaborate but appeared to be referring to the neat entry wound clearly visible on the left side of Gaddafi’s head, and shown in numerous shots of his corpse screened around the world. Zintani said: “There are still several issues. We have to pass [the report] to the prosecutor general, but everything will be revealed publicly. Nothing will be hidden.” A Misrata rebel claimed to have witnessed Gaddafi’s final moment. “I was there when he was shot,” said Adam Zwabi, one of thousands of fighters who were chasing the remnants of Gaddafi’s loyalists last Thursday. “I heard the bullet and I saw him after he fell.” Libya’s National Transitional Council has changed its version of Gaddafi’s death, no longer suggesting he was killed in crossfire. Even the unit that captured him, know as Katiba Goran, are sanguine about how Gaddafi died. “Did anyone complain when the Americans shot Osama [bin Laden] in the head?” asked a rebel leader, Moustafa Zoubi, as he twirled on his desk the golden gun seized from Gaddafi’s luggage. “One of the resistance fighters became overcome with anger. He acted before anyone could stop him.” Nevertheless, the rebels have rearranged Gaddafi’s body to hide the bullet wound. His head has been tilted to the left, obscuring the entry point, just above his left ear. All three bodies have been wrapped in new grey blankets. How Gaddafi died does not seem to matter much in a city that seems inured to brutality. Throughout central Misrata, where ravaged buildings line sweeping boulevards, at least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in months of fierce fighting. “The price for this freedom has been very, very high,” said Radwan Zwabi, as celebratory gunfire rattled nearby. “And I don’t know what’s been left behind. On the one hand, I celebrate this day, but the uncertainty is profound. What has Gaddafi done to these people, these young boys who killed him? They knew nothing else. But now they must learn something else, another way, or we will never move on.” The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Britain’s defence secretary, Philip Hammond, both called on Sundayfor a full investigation into the circumstances of Gaddafi’s death. The Libyan revolutionaries’ image had been “a little bit stained” by Gaddafi’s death, Hammond told the BBC. “It’s certainly not the way we do things. We would have liked to see Colonel Gaddafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Queues continue at the meat cooler that houses the body of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi Ritha Mohammed crouched with a napkin to wipe the soles of his daughter’s shoes, which he feared might have picked up the dirt and stench that spilled from Colonel Gaddafi’s corpse, which still lies on public view in Misrata. “Just in case,” he said, as he cleaned the five-year-old. He quickly moved on to dust down the carry cot that held his new-born son who, like the four young girls in their new dresses, he had ushered in to see the dead despot. “I wanted them all to witness this. This will be a day we will all remember.” An impatient crowd seethed around Mohammed, shouting and surging against guards who had linked arms to prevent the meat cooler holding Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his military chief, from being overrun. The three decaying bodies inside ought to have repelled the hordes. In Misrata, they did just the opposite. A growing throng of at least several thousand snaked throughout the day for a chance to see the ignominious end of a tyrant, who had been so terrifying and out of reach to them all for more than four decades. Now here he was vanquished and shrivelled. Even three days after Gaddafi’s death, it still hardly seemed possible. “He made our lives hell,” said Mohammed. “I wanted to see him dead with my own eyes. Who cares if it’s not dignified for him. That was not his first concern for any of the people here.” Many of the people queuing in the grounds of this vegetable market on the outskirts of Misrata said they had come to see Gaddafi’s corpse for the same reason. The ghoulish scene had an unedifying head-on-a-stake feel to it but it was also a collective closure for residents of a city that had suffered more than any other during eight grinding months of civil war. “There are so many rumours in Libya that it’s difficult to believe anything without verifying it,” said Tareq Zawabi, who had waited 90 minutes for the chance to survey the three corpses. “He didn’t look like I had imagined. He was a lot smaller.” As each day passes, the three bodies are becoming less and less suitable for public view. But uncertainty still surrounds their fate, with Gaddafi’s surviving family in Algeria demanding the remains for burial and Libya’s interim government not yet sure what to do with them. One of many obstacles facing Libya’s provisional leadership is its own human rights record, and the question of whether Gaddafi was killed in the minutes following his capture in Sirte. A forensic report in Misrata on Sunday concluded that Gaddafi had died from a bullet to the head. The finding added to the weight of evidence that suggests he was killed in the frantic minutes after his capture in Sirte, three hours to the east. It is still unclear who fired the fatal shot, and under what circumstances. Dr Othman al-Zintani, Libya’s chief pathologist, carried out the autopsy. He said it was “obvious” Gaddafi had died “from a gunshot wound to the head”. He did not elaborate but appeared to be referring to the neat entry wound clearly visible on the left side of Gaddafi’s head, and shown in numerous shots of his corpse screened around the world. Zintani said: “There are still several issues. We have to pass [the report] to the prosecutor general, but everything will be revealed publicly. Nothing will be hidden.” A Misrata rebel claimed to have witnessed Gaddafi’s final moment. “I was there when he was shot,” said Adam Zwabi, one of thousands of fighters who were chasing the remnants of Gaddafi’s loyalists last Thursday. “I heard the bullet and I saw him after he fell.” Libya’s National Transitional Council has changed its version of Gaddafi’s death, no longer suggesting he was killed in crossfire. Even the unit that captured him, know as Katiba Goran, are sanguine about how Gaddafi died. “Did anyone complain when the Americans shot Osama [bin Laden] in the head?” asked a rebel leader, Moustafa Zoubi, as he twirled on his desk the golden gun seized from Gaddafi’s luggage. “One of the resistance fighters became overcome with anger. He acted before anyone could stop him.” Nevertheless, the rebels have rearranged Gaddafi’s body to hide the bullet wound. His head has been tilted to the left, obscuring the entry point, just above his left ear. All three bodies have been wrapped in new grey blankets. How Gaddafi died does not seem to matter much in a city that seems inured to brutality. Throughout central Misrata, where ravaged buildings line sweeping boulevards, at least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in months of fierce fighting. “The price for this freedom has been very, very high,” said Radwan Zwabi, as celebratory gunfire rattled nearby. “And I don’t know what’s been left behind. On the one hand, I celebrate this day, but the uncertainty is profound. What has Gaddafi done to these people, these young boys who killed him? They knew nothing else. But now they must learn something else, another way, or we will never move on.” The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Britain’s defence secretary, Philip Hammond, both called on Sundayfor a full investigation into the circumstances of Gaddafi’s death. The Libyan revolutionaries’ image had been “a little bit stained” by Gaddafi’s death, Hammond told the BBC. “It’s certainly not the way we do things. We would have liked to see Colonel Gaddafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Queues continue at the meat cooler that houses the body of deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi Ritha Mohammed crouched with a napkin to wipe the soles of his daughter’s shoes, which he feared might have picked up the dirt and stench that spilled from Colonel Gaddafi’s corpse, which still lies on public view in Misrata. “Just in case,” he said, as he cleaned the five-year-old. He quickly moved on to dust down the carry cot that held his new-born son who, like the four young girls in their new dresses, he had ushered in to see the dead despot. “I wanted them all to witness this. This will be a day we will all remember.” An impatient crowd seethed around Mohammed, shouting and surging against guards who had linked arms to prevent the meat cooler holding Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and his military chief, from being overrun. The three decaying bodies inside ought to have repelled the hordes. In Misrata, they did just the opposite. A growing throng of at least several thousand snaked throughout the day for a chance to see the ignominious end of a tyrant, who had been so terrifying and out of reach to them all for more than four decades. Now here he was vanquished and shrivelled. Even three days after Gaddafi’s death, it still hardly seemed possible. “He made our lives hell,” said Mohammed. “I wanted to see him dead with my own eyes. Who cares if it’s not dignified for him. That was not his first concern for any of the people here.” Many of the people queuing in the grounds of this vegetable market on the outskirts of Misrata said they had come to see Gaddafi’s corpse for the same reason. The ghoulish scene had an unedifying head-on-a-stake feel to it but it was also a collective closure for residents of a city that had suffered more than any other during eight grinding months of civil war. “There are so many rumours in Libya that it’s difficult to believe anything without verifying it,” said Tareq Zawabi, who had waited 90 minutes for the chance to survey the three corpses. “He didn’t look like I had imagined. He was a lot smaller.” As each day passes, the three bodies are becoming less and less suitable for public view. But uncertainty still surrounds their fate, with Gaddafi’s surviving family in Algeria demanding the remains for burial and Libya’s interim government not yet sure what to do with them. One of many obstacles facing Libya’s provisional leadership is its own human rights record, and the question of whether Gaddafi was killed in the minutes following his capture in Sirte. A forensic report in Misrata on Sunday concluded that Gaddafi had died from a bullet to the head. The finding added to the weight of evidence that suggests he was killed in the frantic minutes after his capture in Sirte, three hours to the east. It is still unclear who fired the fatal shot, and under what circumstances. Dr Othman al-Zintani, Libya’s chief pathologist, carried out the autopsy. He said it was “obvious” Gaddafi had died “from a gunshot wound to the head”. He did not elaborate but appeared to be referring to the neat entry wound clearly visible on the left side of Gaddafi’s head, and shown in numerous shots of his corpse screened around the world. Zintani said: “There are still several issues. We have to pass [the report] to the prosecutor general, but everything will be revealed publicly. Nothing will be hidden.” A Misrata rebel claimed to have witnessed Gaddafi’s final moment. “I was there when he was shot,” said Adam Zwabi, one of thousands of fighters who were chasing the remnants of Gaddafi’s loyalists last Thursday. “I heard the bullet and I saw him after he fell.” Libya’s National Transitional Council has changed its version of Gaddafi’s death, no longer suggesting he was killed in crossfire. Even the unit that captured him, know as Katiba Goran, are sanguine about how Gaddafi died. “Did anyone complain when the Americans shot Osama [bin Laden] in the head?” asked a rebel leader, Moustafa Zoubi, as he twirled on his desk the golden gun seized from Gaddafi’s luggage. “One of the resistance fighters became overcome with anger. He acted before anyone could stop him.” Nevertheless, the rebels have rearranged Gaddafi’s body to hide the bullet wound. His head has been tilted to the left, obscuring the entry point, just above his left ear. All three bodies have been wrapped in new grey blankets. How Gaddafi died does not seem to matter much in a city that seems inured to brutality. Throughout central Misrata, where ravaged buildings line sweeping boulevards, at least 10,000 people are thought to have been killed in months of fierce fighting. “The price for this freedom has been very, very high,” said Radwan Zwabi, as celebratory gunfire rattled nearby. “And I don’t know what’s been left behind. On the one hand, I celebrate this day, but the uncertainty is profound. What has Gaddafi done to these people, these young boys who killed him? They knew nothing else. But now they must learn something else, another way, or we will never move on.” The US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Britain’s defence secretary, Philip Hammond, both called on Sundayfor a full investigation into the circumstances of Gaddafi’s death. The Libyan revolutionaries’ image had been “a little bit stained” by Gaddafi’s death, Hammond told the BBC. “It’s certainly not the way we do things. We would have liked to see Colonel Gaddafi going on trial to answer for his misdeeds.” Muammar Gaddafi Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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La pelota vasca vuelve a disputarse en los Juegos Panamericanos en Guadalajara 2011. Es un deporte relativamente poco conocido para las masas, pero con adeptos en varios países latinoamericanos, en especial México, Argentina y Cuba. Tiene muchas modalidades diferentes, que se distinguen por el tipo de cancha, de herramienta de golpeo y de pelota utilizada. En estos Juegos, se disputan: paleta con pelotas de cuero y de goma, frontenis (en que se usa una raqueta) y mano. También se usan tres tamaños distintos de cancha en la Unidad Deportiva Revolución, de Guadalajara: trinquete, frontón de 30 metros y de 36 metros. En este audiovisual de The Associated Press en español, los propios atletas explican el deporte que practican. Hablan Homero Hurtado, de México, Alexis Clementín, de Argentina, y Rubén Moya, de Cuba. Siga la información de los Juegos Panamericanos Guadalajara 2011 en Twitter a través de @AP_Deportes.
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La pelota vasca vuelve a disputarse en los Juegos Panamericanos en Guadalajara 2011. Es un deporte relativamente poco conocido para las masas, pero con adeptos en varios países latinoamericanos, en especial México, Argentina y Cuba. Tiene muchas modalidades diferentes, que se distinguen por el tipo de cancha, de herramienta de golpeo y de pelota utilizada. En estos Juegos, se disputan: paleta con pelotas de cuero y de goma, frontenis (en que se usa una raqueta) y mano. También se usan tres tamaños distintos de cancha en la Unidad Deportiva Revolución, de Guadalajara: trinquete, frontón de 30 metros y de 36 metros. En este audiovisual de The Associated Press en español, los propios atletas explican el deporte que practican. Hablan Homero Hurtado, de México, Alexis Clementín, de Argentina, y Rubén Moya, de Cuba. Siga la información de los Juegos Panamericanos Guadalajara 2011 en Twitter a través de @AP_Deportes.
Continue reading …La pelota vasca vuelve a disputarse en los Juegos Panamericanos en Guadalajara 2011. Es un deporte relativamente poco conocido para las masas, pero con adeptos en varios países latinoamericanos, en especial México, Argentina y Cuba. Tiene muchas modalidades diferentes, que se distinguen por el tipo de cancha, de herramienta de golpeo y de pelota utilizada. En estos Juegos, se disputan: paleta con pelotas de cuero y de goma, frontenis (en que se usa una raqueta) y mano. También se usan tres tamaños distintos de cancha en la Unidad Deportiva Revolución, de Guadalajara: trinquete, frontón de 30 metros y de 36 metros. En este audiovisual de The Associated Press en español, los propios atletas explican el deporte que practican. Hablan Homero Hurtado, de México, Alexis Clementín, de Argentina, y Rubén Moya, de Cuba. Siga la información de los Juegos Panamericanos Guadalajara 2011 en Twitter a través de @AP_Deportes.
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