Rewind: ABC News Didn’t Notice When Laura Bush Helped ‘Extreme Makeover’ in 2005
September 26, 2011 No CommentWhile ABC's Good Morning America promoted that “cool lady” Michelle Obama's role in the season debut of ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition last Thursday, they failed to notice when Laura Bush pitched in on the same ABC show in 2005 (after George W. Bush's last campaign). It was taped in September, and aired on December 11. Even the show's producers downplayed the cameo as atypical and not worth any hype. (Liberal newspaper types attacked Mrs. Bush for the cameo.)
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Stelios Haji-Ioannou accuses airline he founded of running a smear campaign against him Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the entrepreneur behind easyJet, has threatened to take on the budget airline he founded by launching a rival after accusing the management of running a smear campaign against him. EasyJet disclosed Haji-Ioannou’s plans on Monday, in what appeared to be a pre-emptive strike against the entrepreneur, who remains a major shareholder. Haji-Ioannou has had a turbulent relationship with the airline in recent years and agreed as recently as last October not to set up a rival. Easyjet said that its founder “intends to set up an airline branded Fastjet”. Haji-Ioannou has already set up a website with the URL fastjet.com, which currently says only: “Fastjet.com by Stelios. Coming soon!” against a vivid red background that calls to mind easyJet’s own orange branding. Haji-Ioannou declined to give more details of the launch, saying only that he will not now abide by the terms of last October’s agreement. He accused easyJet of breaching its provisions by smearing him in off-the-record briefings to journalists. Under the terms of its flotation in 2000, easyJet licensed the brand from Haji-Ioannou’s company easyGroup. It agreed to use the brand only for its core activity – running an airline – and to limit any other revenues it made to no more than a quarter of total sales. But after a boom in budget travel and the introduction of new revenue lines such as baggage check-in fees, Haji-Ioannou went to court to argue that the agreement had been breached. The damaging row was resolved in October last year, with easyJet increasing the annual royalty it paid to easyGroup. Instead of getting £1 a year, easyGroup now receives a percentage of easyJet’s revenues, amounting to almost £9m for the first two years alone, and a possible £65m over 10 years. Under the terms of that deal, Haji-Ioannou separately agreed “not to use his own name or a derivation of it to brand any other airline which flies to or from any country in Europe for a period of five years”. Nor is he allowed to hold a stake larger than 10% in another European airline. He receives £300,000 a year in return for those commitments. Haji-Ioannou said on Monday that the non-compete agreement had been invalidated because a clause committing both parties to enhance the reputation of the easyJet brand, as well as his personal reputation, had been breached. He issued a statement, saying: “Sir Stelios strongly believes that the directors of easyJet, via a smear campaign conducted by off-the-record briefings to journalists, have repeatedly breached the clause, so he has terminated the effect of the letter for repudiatory breach and has rejected all payments offered under this letter since May 2011.” EasyJet said that it would “take necessary action to protect the rights of easyJet and the interests of its shareholders”. It added: “Sir Stelios also alleges that easyJet has breached the terms of the binding comfort letter between him and easyJet of 10 October 2010 and that that letter is no longer in force, claims which easyJet emphatically rejects. EasyJet continues to seek constructive dialogue with easyGroup and Sir Stelios.” Easyjet Airline industry Budget travel Travel & leisure Alex Hawkes guardian.co.uk
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Teenage monks who called for religious freedom before burning themselves said to be in stable condition Two monks set fire to themselves in a Tibetan town in western China on Monday, months after the brother of one of the men died in a self-immolation, according to the Free Tibet campaign . The campaign group said Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, both aged 18 or 19 and from Kirti monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, had called for religious freedom and shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning themselves. State news agency Xinhua said two monks had been rescued by police and had suffered slight burns and were in a stable condition, adding: “The suicide attempt is under further investigation.” In all, five monks have set fire to themselves in Sichuan within the last two and a half years. Prior to that, the only known case of a self-immolation protest by a Tibetan was by a layman living in exile in 1998. “It does suggest that this situation is getting out of control and that the efforts of the authorities in Sichuan to use the most aggressive techniques against one monastery – for reasons that have never been clear – are just making things worse,” said Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. “There have been suicides by Tibetan monks before, but they have never been public events … [they were] private statements of desperation.” Kirti is one of the largest Tibetan monasteries and Aba county saw fierce clashes in March 2008, when riots in Lhasa sparked wider unrest. Tibetan exiles claimed security forces shot dead at least 10 people, while Chinese state media said that officers shot and wounded four people in self-defence . The following year, one of Kirti’s lamas set fire to himself, but is thought to have survived. Tensions flared again when Lobsang Kalsang’s 21-year-old brother Rigzin Phuntsog, also from Kirti, died after self-immolating in March. Their uncle and another of their brothers were among six lamas recently sentenced for “intentional homicide” and other crimes in connection with his death. Phuntsog’s uncle, Drongdru, was jailed for 11 years for “intentional homicide”, with the court finding that he had hidden his injured nephew, preventing medical treatment. Exile groups said that monks rescued Phuntsog and took him back to the monastery because police were beating him rather than putting out the flames. A Xinhua spokesman denied he had been beaten. Chinese officials also denied that Kirti was under lockdown by armed police following the incident. Last month, 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death . He was a lama at Tawu monastery in Sichuan, about 150 miles from Kirti. “Clearly the community in Ngaba [the Tibetan name for Aba] is feeling it is under immense pressure … My worry is that this is becoming a trend,” said Stephanie Brigden of Free Tibet. “It is not just the arrests [of Phuntsog's brother and uncle] but also house searches, monitoring and tracking of the family and anyone closely associated with it.” No one could be reached for comment at the Aba county government offices. An employee at the public security bureau could be overheard telling a colleague: “This person is asking what happened in [inaudible] Square.” The colleague then took over the call, saying: “We do not have this information at hand.” Tibet China Buddhism Dalai Lama Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Teenage monks who called for religious freedom before burning themselves said to be in stable condition Two monks set fire to themselves in a Tibetan town in western China on Monday, months after the brother of one of the men died in a self-immolation, according to the Free Tibet campaign . The campaign group said Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, both aged 18 or 19 and from Kirti monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, had called for religious freedom and shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning themselves. State news agency Xinhua said two monks had been rescued by police and had suffered slight burns and were in a stable condition, adding: “The suicide attempt is under further investigation.” In all, five monks have set fire to themselves in Sichuan within the last two and a half years. Prior to that, the only known case of a self-immolation protest by a Tibetan was by a layman living in exile in 1998. “It does suggest that this situation is getting out of control and that the efforts of the authorities in Sichuan to use the most aggressive techniques against one monastery – for reasons that have never been clear – are just making things worse,” said Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. “There have been suicides by Tibetan monks before, but they have never been public events … [they were] private statements of desperation.” Kirti is one of the largest Tibetan monasteries and Aba county saw fierce clashes in March 2008, when riots in Lhasa sparked wider unrest. Tibetan exiles claimed security forces shot dead at least 10 people, while Chinese state media said that officers shot and wounded four people in self-defence . The following year, one of Kirti’s lamas set fire to himself, but is thought to have survived. Tensions flared again when Lobsang Kalsang’s 21-year-old brother Rigzin Phuntsog, also from Kirti, died after self-immolating in March. Their uncle and another of their brothers were among six lamas recently sentenced for “intentional homicide” and other crimes in connection with his death. Phuntsog’s uncle, Drongdru, was jailed for 11 years for “intentional homicide”, with the court finding that he had hidden his injured nephew, preventing medical treatment. Exile groups said that monks rescued Phuntsog and took him back to the monastery because police were beating him rather than putting out the flames. A Xinhua spokesman denied he had been beaten. Chinese officials also denied that Kirti was under lockdown by armed police following the incident. Last month, 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death . He was a lama at Tawu monastery in Sichuan, about 150 miles from Kirti. “Clearly the community in Ngaba [the Tibetan name for Aba] is feeling it is under immense pressure … My worry is that this is becoming a trend,” said Stephanie Brigden of Free Tibet. “It is not just the arrests [of Phuntsog's brother and uncle] but also house searches, monitoring and tracking of the family and anyone closely associated with it.” No one could be reached for comment at the Aba county government offices. An employee at the public security bureau could be overheard telling a colleague: “This person is asking what happened in [inaudible] Square.” The colleague then took over the call, saying: “We do not have this information at hand.” Tibet China Buddhism Dalai Lama Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Teenage monks who called for religious freedom before burning themselves said to be in stable condition Two monks set fire to themselves in a Tibetan town in western China on Monday, months after the brother of one of the men died in a self-immolation, according to the Free Tibet campaign . The campaign group said Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, both aged 18 or 19 and from Kirti monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, had called for religious freedom and shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning themselves. State news agency Xinhua said two monks had been rescued by police and had suffered slight burns and were in a stable condition, adding: “The suicide attempt is under further investigation.” In all, five monks have set fire to themselves in Sichuan within the last two and a half years. Prior to that, the only known case of a self-immolation protest by a Tibetan was by a layman living in exile in 1998. “It does suggest that this situation is getting out of control and that the efforts of the authorities in Sichuan to use the most aggressive techniques against one monastery – for reasons that have never been clear – are just making things worse,” said Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. “There have been suicides by Tibetan monks before, but they have never been public events … [they were] private statements of desperation.” Kirti is one of the largest Tibetan monasteries and Aba county saw fierce clashes in March 2008, when riots in Lhasa sparked wider unrest. Tibetan exiles claimed security forces shot dead at least 10 people, while Chinese state media said that officers shot and wounded four people in self-defence . The following year, one of Kirti’s lamas set fire to himself, but is thought to have survived. Tensions flared again when Lobsang Kalsang’s 21-year-old brother Rigzin Phuntsog, also from Kirti, died after self-immolating in March. Their uncle and another of their brothers were among six lamas recently sentenced for “intentional homicide” and other crimes in connection with his death. Phuntsog’s uncle, Drongdru, was jailed for 11 years for “intentional homicide”, with the court finding that he had hidden his injured nephew, preventing medical treatment. Exile groups said that monks rescued Phuntsog and took him back to the monastery because police were beating him rather than putting out the flames. A Xinhua spokesman denied he had been beaten. Chinese officials also denied that Kirti was under lockdown by armed police following the incident. Last month, 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death . He was a lama at Tawu monastery in Sichuan, about 150 miles from Kirti. “Clearly the community in Ngaba [the Tibetan name for Aba] is feeling it is under immense pressure … My worry is that this is becoming a trend,” said Stephanie Brigden of Free Tibet. “It is not just the arrests [of Phuntsog's brother and uncle] but also house searches, monitoring and tracking of the family and anyone closely associated with it.” No one could be reached for comment at the Aba county government offices. An employee at the public security bureau could be overheard telling a colleague: “This person is asking what happened in [inaudible] Square.” The colleague then took over the call, saying: “We do not have this information at hand.” Tibet China Buddhism Dalai Lama Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Teenage monks who called for religious freedom before burning themselves said to be in stable condition Two monks set fire to themselves in a Tibetan town in western China on Monday, months after the brother of one of the men died in a self-immolation, according to the Free Tibet campaign . The campaign group said Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, both aged 18 or 19 and from Kirti monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, had called for religious freedom and shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning themselves. State news agency Xinhua said two monks had been rescued by police and had suffered slight burns and were in a stable condition, adding: “The suicide attempt is under further investigation.” In all, five monks have set fire to themselves in Sichuan within the last two and a half years. Prior to that, the only known case of a self-immolation protest by a Tibetan was by a layman living in exile in 1998. “It does suggest that this situation is getting out of control and that the efforts of the authorities in Sichuan to use the most aggressive techniques against one monastery – for reasons that have never been clear – are just making things worse,” said Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. “There have been suicides by Tibetan monks before, but they have never been public events … [they were] private statements of desperation.” Kirti is one of the largest Tibetan monasteries and Aba county saw fierce clashes in March 2008, when riots in Lhasa sparked wider unrest. Tibetan exiles claimed security forces shot dead at least 10 people, while Chinese state media said that officers shot and wounded four people in self-defence . The following year, one of Kirti’s lamas set fire to himself, but is thought to have survived. Tensions flared again when Lobsang Kalsang’s 21-year-old brother Rigzin Phuntsog, also from Kirti, died after self-immolating in March. Their uncle and another of their brothers were among six lamas recently sentenced for “intentional homicide” and other crimes in connection with his death. Phuntsog’s uncle, Drongdru, was jailed for 11 years for “intentional homicide”, with the court finding that he had hidden his injured nephew, preventing medical treatment. Exile groups said that monks rescued Phuntsog and took him back to the monastery because police were beating him rather than putting out the flames. A Xinhua spokesman denied he had been beaten. Chinese officials also denied that Kirti was under lockdown by armed police following the incident. Last month, 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death . He was a lama at Tawu monastery in Sichuan, about 150 miles from Kirti. “Clearly the community in Ngaba [the Tibetan name for Aba] is feeling it is under immense pressure … My worry is that this is becoming a trend,” said Stephanie Brigden of Free Tibet. “It is not just the arrests [of Phuntsog's brother and uncle] but also house searches, monitoring and tracking of the family and anyone closely associated with it.” No one could be reached for comment at the Aba county government offices. An employee at the public security bureau could be overheard telling a colleague: “This person is asking what happened in [inaudible] Square.” The colleague then took over the call, saying: “We do not have this information at hand.” Tibet China Buddhism Dalai Lama Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Teenage monks who called for religious freedom before burning themselves said to be in stable condition Two monks set fire to themselves in a Tibetan town in western China on Monday, months after the brother of one of the men died in a self-immolation, according to the Free Tibet campaign . The campaign group said Lobsang Kalsang and Lobsang Konchok, both aged 18 or 19 and from Kirti monastery in Aba county, Sichuan, had called for religious freedom and shouted “Long live the Dalai Lama” before burning themselves. State news agency Xinhua said two monks had been rescued by police and had suffered slight burns and were in a stable condition, adding: “The suicide attempt is under further investigation.” In all, five monks have set fire to themselves in Sichuan within the last two and a half years. Prior to that, the only known case of a self-immolation protest by a Tibetan was by a layman living in exile in 1998. “It does suggest that this situation is getting out of control and that the efforts of the authorities in Sichuan to use the most aggressive techniques against one monastery – for reasons that have never been clear – are just making things worse,” said Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibet at Columbia University in New York. “There have been suicides by Tibetan monks before, but they have never been public events … [they were] private statements of desperation.” Kirti is one of the largest Tibetan monasteries and Aba county saw fierce clashes in March 2008, when riots in Lhasa sparked wider unrest. Tibetan exiles claimed security forces shot dead at least 10 people, while Chinese state media said that officers shot and wounded four people in self-defence . The following year, one of Kirti’s lamas set fire to himself, but is thought to have survived. Tensions flared again when Lobsang Kalsang’s 21-year-old brother Rigzin Phuntsog, also from Kirti, died after self-immolating in March. Their uncle and another of their brothers were among six lamas recently sentenced for “intentional homicide” and other crimes in connection with his death. Phuntsog’s uncle, Drongdru, was jailed for 11 years for “intentional homicide”, with the court finding that he had hidden his injured nephew, preventing medical treatment. Exile groups said that monks rescued Phuntsog and took him back to the monastery because police were beating him rather than putting out the flames. A Xinhua spokesman denied he had been beaten. Chinese officials also denied that Kirti was under lockdown by armed police following the incident. Last month, 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death . He was a lama at Tawu monastery in Sichuan, about 150 miles from Kirti. “Clearly the community in Ngaba [the Tibetan name for Aba] is feeling it is under immense pressure … My worry is that this is becoming a trend,” said Stephanie Brigden of Free Tibet. “It is not just the arrests [of Phuntsog's brother and uncle] but also house searches, monitoring and tracking of the family and anyone closely associated with it.” No one could be reached for comment at the Aba county government offices. An employee at the public security bureau could be overheard telling a colleague: “This person is asking what happened in [inaudible] Square.” The colleague then took over the call, saying: “We do not have this information at hand.” Tibet China Buddhism Dalai Lama Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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Assistance sought from National Transitional Council after senior defectors from Muammar Gaddafi’s regime claimed he was implicated in 1998 atrocity Scottish prosecutors have formally asked Libya’s interim government to help uncover fresh evidence and witnesses in the Lockerbie bombing case. The Crown Office said it had approached the National Transitional Council (NTC) for help in its reopened investigation into the atrocity, when a bomb in the cargo hold brought down Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988. The inquiry was reopened after former Libyan intelligence agent Abdelbaset al Megrahi, the only person so far convicted of the bombing, was released from prison on compassionate grounds two years ago. Senior lawyers are deeply sceptical about the decision to approach the NTC but the Crown Office said the trial court at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, which acquitted Megrahi’s alleged accomplice Al-Amin Khalifah Fhimah, had ruled that Megrahi had not acted alone. Its hopes that further evidence could emerge were strengthened after senior defectors from the Gaddafi regime claimed the former Libyan leader had been implicated in the bombing. However, legal sources with knowledge of the case pointed out that the Crown Office was also braced for the publication within the next few months of a highly critical report by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) stating that Megrahi could have been wrongly convicted. The commission’s new evidence led to Megrahi’s appeal, which was halted when he was released early after his prostate cancer became terminal. The Scottish government has promised to bring in new legislation allowing the SCCRC’s report to be published. The report will be censored to remove a secret intelligence report from another government – believed to be Germany – which raises significant doubts about the prosecution case against Megrahi. The then foreign secretary, David Miliband, issued a public interest immunity certificate banning its publication in 2008. “Lockerbie remains an open inquiry concerning the involvement of others with Mr Megrahi in the murder of 270 people,” a Crown Office spokesman said. “The Crown will continue to pursue lines of inquiry that become available and, following recent events in Libya, has asked the national transitional council, through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, for assistance with the investigation.” A legal source said he would be “extremely surprised” if any new prosecution was ever mounted, because of the time since the attack, the reliability of the evidence and the difficulties in apprehending any new suspects. “I can’t imagine for a moment that there’s going to be prosecutions,” the source said. “This is posturing for the relatives in America.” Lockerbie plane bombing Global terrorism UK security and terrorism Scotland Libya Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Abdelbaset al-Megrahi Scottish politics Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Public spat with Dmitry Medvedev ends up with liberal finance minister leaving the Putin government Russia’s finance minister has left the government following a public row with President Dmitry Medvedev which blew apart the idea that Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency would entail a smooth transition. A visibly angry Medvedev asked Alexei Kudrin to step down on Monday after the minister said he would refuse to serve once Medvedev swapped the presidency with Putin in May. Medvedev called the liberal official an “irresponsible chatterbox” and denounced Kudrin’s claim that he would consult with Putin before making a decision on whether or not to leave the government. “You know what, you can consult with whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, I take these decisions myself,” Medvedev said. “I will take all necessary decisions until 7 May next year – I hope everyone understands that.” Kudrin told RIA-Novosti news agency that he handed in his resignation late Monday. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalia Timakova, claimed that the president fired Kudrin. Kudrin is the highest-ranking liberal official in the Russian government, credited with easing the country’s ride through the global financial crisis and challenging hardline elements in the regime that hope to buy popularity through increased social spending. His departure will rile foreign investors, who have relied on his commitment to reforms and fiscal discipline. Russia’s economy has yet to truly recover from the financial crisis and has faced renewed challenges in recent weeks. The rouble fell to a two-year low on Monday. Russia Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin Miriam Elder guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Public spat with Dmitry Medvedev ends up with liberal finance minister leaving the Putin government Russia’s finance minister has left the government following a public row with President Dmitry Medvedev which blew apart the idea that Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency would entail a smooth transition. A visibly angry Medvedev asked Alexei Kudrin to step down on Monday after the minister said he would refuse to serve once Medvedev swapped the presidency with Putin in May. Medvedev called the liberal official an “irresponsible chatterbox” and denounced Kudrin’s claim that he would consult with Putin before making a decision on whether or not to leave the government. “You know what, you can consult with whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, I take these decisions myself,” Medvedev said. “I will take all necessary decisions until 7 May next year – I hope everyone understands that.” Kudrin told RIA-Novosti news agency that he handed in his resignation late Monday. Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalia Timakova, claimed that the president fired Kudrin. Kudrin is the highest-ranking liberal official in the Russian government, credited with easing the country’s ride through the global financial crisis and challenging hardline elements in the regime that hope to buy popularity through increased social spending. His departure will rile foreign investors, who have relied on his commitment to reforms and fiscal discipline. Russia’s economy has yet to truly recover from the financial crisis and has faced renewed challenges in recent weeks. The rouble fell to a two-year low on Monday. Russia Dmitry Medvedev Vladimir Putin Miriam Elder guardian.co.uk
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