President described the scene as ‘heartbreaking’ and promised a ‘national response’ to the tornado that struck a week ago It was, said Barack Obama, the worst destruction he had ever seen. As the president flew over the small town of Joplin, Missouri, one of those travelling with him said it looked as if the heart of the city had been destroyed by a giant bulldozer cutting a swath nearly a mile wide. On the ground, Obama described the scene as “heartbreaking” and promised a “national response” to the tornado that struck a week ago, killing at least 139 people and leaving scores missing. More than 900 were injured. The president returned from his much heralded tour of Europe to pay a sobering visit to Joplin, a city of about 50,000 people which was hit by the deadliest tornado in the US in more than 60 years. His motorcade moved along a main street that one of those accompanying him described as looking as if it had been destroyed by a giant bulldozer. Most of the houses are reduced to debris. Trees were not only stripped of their branches but their bark, leaving unusually white wooden stumps. Obama stopped to talk to survivors who spoke of a miracle that they had survived when others had not. “Sorry for your loss,” he told an anguished woman, hugging her twice as they talked One of those the president spoke to was 85 year-old Hugh Hills who was holding a large American flag in front of his largely destroyed house on Kentucky avenue. Hills told Obama he had “just pulled my chicken pot pie out of the oven when I looked at the TV and it said the storm is coming. And then the TV cut off”. Hills said he hid in a cupboard while most of his house was destroyed around him. The president said afterwards that he had listened to “harrowing stories but also miraculous stories”. “Obviously, it is going to take years to build back,” he said. “This is just not your tragedy. This is a national tragedy, and that means there’s going to be a national response. “What I’ve been telling every family that I’ve met here is we’re going to be here long after the cameras leave. We are not going to stop until Joplin is fully back on its feet.” Natural disasters and extreme weather Barack Obama United States Missouri Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk
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The ruins of Lifta are the final remains of the Palestinian hamlets that fringed Jerusalem until 1948. Now plans to bulldoze them are causing outrage In the soft golden light of a late spring evening, as yellow flowers are beginning to bloom on giant cacti, Yacoub Odeh climbs up through knee-high grass to the ruin that was his childhood home. For a man in his eighth decade, he is surprisingly nimble as he navigates ancient stones that litter the ground. But behind his light step is the weight of painful memories of a lost youth and a fading history. “Here is my house,” he says, sitting on the remains of a stone wall in whose crevices wild flowers and saplings cling. “Now only the corners remain. Here is the taboun [outdoor oven] where my mother used to bake bread. The smell!” With distant eyes, he describes an idyllic childhood in a place he calls paradise, where families helped one another and children played freely amid almond and fig trees and on the rocks around the village’s natural spring. The place is Lifta , an Arab village on the north-western fringes of Jerusalem, for centuries a prosperous, bustling community built around agriculture, traditional embroidery, trade and mutual support. But since 1948, shortly before the state of Israel was declared, it has been deserted. The population, according to the Palestinian narrative of that momentous year, was expelled by advancing Jewish soldiers; the people abandoned their homes, say the Israeli history books. Lifta was one of hundreds of Arab villages taken over by the embryonic Jewish state. But it is the only one not to have been subsequently covered in the concrete and tarmac of Israeli towns and roads, or planted over with trees and shrubs to create forests, parks and picnic areas, or transformed into Israeli artists’ colonies. Some argue that Israel set out to erase any vestige of Palestinian roots in the new country. Now, 63 years on, the ruins of Lifta are finally facing the threat of bulldozers and concrete mixers . A long-term proposal to sell the state-owned land for the construction of luxury housing units and a boutique hotel on the site is awaiting the authorities’ final approval. It has caused a furore. Opponents of the plan include those who believe Lifta should be preserved as a monument to history; those who want to retain its charming environs as a rambling spot; and those – Odeh among them – who insist that one day they will return and reclaim their homes. For many Palestinians, Lifta is a symbol of the Nakba , literally the “catastrophe”, of 1948 in which 700,000 people were dispossessed. It embodies their longing for their land, and their bitterness at their continued refugee status. It is, wrote Palestinian author Ghada Karmi in a letter to the Los Angeles Times, “a physical memory of injustice and survival”. The development plan was approved by the Jerusalem municipality five years ago, but earlier this year the Israel Lands Administration – the state agency that took ownership of Lifta’s land under the Israeli law governing property deemed to be abandoned – began marketing the plot to private developers. A legal challenge stayed the tender process, but a decision is due any day on whether to proceed. The proposal is for 212 luxury housing units, expected to be advertised to wealthy expatriate Jews, a chic hotel and shops, and a museum. It suggests that some of the ruins be restored. But Lifta as a sanctuary and de facto heritage site will be lost . Shmuel Groag, one of the architects of the original proposal, has since reversed his position and has backed the campaign to preserve the ruined village. “I have changed my mind about conservation in general, and about Lifta in particular,” he says. The site, he argues, should be “frozen”. Others have appealed to Unesco to declare Lifta a world heritage site, saying that work must begin to halt further decay and the theft of valuable stones from the ruins. Alongside the ramblers, drug-users and illicit lovers frequent the ruins. Crowds of ultra-orthodox Jewish teenage boys, stripped to their underwear, swim in the spring, and light barbecues on the rocks. Graffiti scars many of the fragmented walls. For Odeh, this is distressing. “Why should they have free access to my home when I am stopped by security guards and questioned about my right to be here,” he asks. “When I see these people coming here, I feel sorrow and anger.” The remains of the village are bounded by roads, along which traffic rumbles to and from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem’s suburbs and settlements. On the ridge above Lifta, concrete mixers and diggers are at work on a high-speed rail link to Tel Aviv; deep in the valley below is a guarded complex, said to be the site of the Israeli government’s underground nuclear bunker. Out of sight of Lifta’s ruins, but built on its former farmlands are the Knesset (Israel’s parliament), the supreme court, the Hadassah hospital, the Hebrew University and the city’s central bus station. In 1948, the village owned 1,200 hectares but they have long gone, along with olive, fig, apricot, almond, plum, pomegranate and citrus trees plus the fields of spinach, cauliflower, peas and beans that gave Lifta its prosperity. “Life was rich,” recalls Odeh. “The spring watered the village gardens. We had more olives than we needed so we sold them and the oil in Jerusalem.” As we walk amid the ruins, Odeh points out the old landmarks. “Here was the mosque. This was the sheriff’s house. Here was the olive press. There is the house where I was born, and where my father was born. Over there is the cemetery. This was the sahn [courtyard] where people shared happy occasions and sorrowful occasions. Here I breathed my first breath. The first water I drank, I drank here.” It is painful, he says. He points out what is remaining of the beautiful architecture of the houses, with arched windows, columns and graceful balconies. Over a door, a lintel is inscribed with Arabic writing. Enter in safety, it says; the owner of this house is God. “The people of the village cut the stones and built their houses themselves. They were proud of that. They helped each other build and harvest the olives. The village lived as a family, one family.” But in 1948, when Odeh was eight years old, the bucolic life of Lifta came to an end. At the gateway to Jerusalem, Lifta was strategically important to the advancing Jewish troops. A series of violent skirmishes caused fear and panic, he recalls. There was firing and attacks from both sides. And then came the day his family left. “My mother was preparing a fire to warm the house. I was with my little brother. The gangs began to shoot in the direction of Lifta. My brother was shouting: ‘Mama! Mama! They’re shooting us.’ My mother took us inside and put us in a corner. The people of Lifta were crying to one another.” Odeh’s father, then 33, carried the youngest of the eight children, and the family crossed the valley and climbed up to the main road to Jerusalem. His mother took the key to the house but they left everything they owned. “We had nothing but the clothes we were wearing. We had everything – and in one moment we had nothing. We became beggars.” As the villagers left, Jewish soldiers blew holes in the roofs of the houses to make them uninhabitable. Odeh’s father stayed in Lifta for a few more days. After boarding a truck heading away from the village, the rest of the family slept under fig trees. They spent the following two years in Ramallah before moving to Jerusalem’s Old City. His father, a broken man, developed stomach problems and died at the age of 35. His mother suffered from asthma from the time she left Lifta until her death. Many of the 3,000 residents of Lifta scattered across the West Bank and beyond to Jordan, but a core still live in East Jerusalem within a few kilometres of their former homes. Odeh himself later joined the armed resistance against Israel and spent 17 years in prison. Now, in his twilight years, he is as impassioned as ever about his home. “We will never forget nor forgive the destruction of our village. Lifta is in our memory and in our history. It is our fathers’ and grandfathers’ graveyard. The spring, the trees, the land – we will never forget it.” He is unshakeable in his belief in the Palestinians’ right to return to their homes – something that cannot be countenanced by Israel because it would threaten the state’s Jewish majority and hence its Jewish nature. “We still dream of coming back,” says Odeh. “I’m sure the time will come to return to Lifta, to my home.” There can be no lasting peace until the refugee issue is resolved, he adds. But he knows time may be running out. “Lifta is an eyewitness to history, to what happened in the Nakba. If we can’t come back, then leave the village to this history.” Israel Middle East Harriet Sherwood guardian.co.uk
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enlarge Ruth Marcus has an op-ed out that is so reflective of Beltway thinking and so wrong that it just shouldn’t be allowed to stand as the final word. Her argument : But being a jerk, even on an Edwardsian scale, is not a felony, which is what federal prosecutors have been pursuing for more than two years. The original theory of the case was that Edwards misused campaign funds to support his mistress, Rielle Hunter. That would have been a serious matter, except the theory fizzled. Yes, that theory fizzled largely because large donors, like Fred Baron and Rachel Mellon decided to pony up the funds to keep Rielle Hunter out of sight and out of the media’s eye. They only did that for one reason: To keep Edwards’ primary bid alive. To that end, they spent nearly one million dollars. Marcus thinks that’s not a felony. Even if you were to conclude that the payments to Hunter constituted impermissible campaign contributions, there is the more serious question of whether criminal prosecution is the appropriate remedy. A single advisory opinion hardly seems like adequate notice that funneling money to Hunter could land Edwards in prison. I am bipartisanly squeamish about the criminalization of politics; I have been as critical of a (Democratic) Texas district attorney’s prosecution of former House majority leader Tom DeLay on money-laundering charges as I am about the threatened Edwards indictment. As is just about everyone in Washington DC. Campaign finance disclosure? Hell, no. Corporate contributions directly to candidates? Sure, why not? The problems in Washington relate directly to campaign finance. It’s driven home over and over and over again. When Republican congressmen whine about the national debt and de-fund piddly little green energy initiatives while voting down repeal of oil and gas subsidies, it’s because their campaign bids are supported by those oil and gas companies. When Democrats water down financial regulation or delay health insurance reform, it’s because of the pressure put on them by the same wealthy interests. So being bipartisanly squeamish about campaign finance, which does not criminalize of politics but does identify corrupt politicians, is a comfortable place to be, but it’s erosive to democracy. This kind of thinking in one of the most respected publications for national politics just drives me crazy. What would have happened if Edwards’ affair with Hunter had not been discovered by the press and he’d gone on to win the nomination and the election. Would those wealthy donors have simply said, oh well, mission accomplished, and it only cost one million? Marcus never takes her thinking to the next step, to the implications of what it really means to have a few wealthy donors in charge of a secret and financing the coverup. Yes. It is likely criminal. I have no issue with the DOJ’s recommendation. I simply wish they would exercise the same kind of principled thinking on issues like John Ensign and Tom Coburn’s payoffs to Ensign’s mistress, Wall Street thuggery, bank fraud, and other areas where wealthy donors wield far more influence.
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What I’d Rather Do than Go to a Concert Little Cat and His Mother Lego Kitty Cat digitaljeannie says: RT @johntindale : ” @DarthGuru : Bird Researcher Arrested for…. Poisoning Cats #wtf http://t.co/TPwo4nh ” what a bird-brain!
Continue reading …McConnell Insists Ryan Medicare Plan is ‘On the Table’ as Hostage Taking on Debt Ceiling Continues
May 29, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Instead of running away from Paul Ryan’s disastrous budget plan and the Republicans’ extremely unpopular proposal to turn Medicare into a voucher system, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell decided to double-down in support of Ryan’s plan instead. So the Republican’s irresponsible hostage taking on raising the debt ceiling continues. McConnell: Ryan Medicare plan ‘on the table’ : The top Republican in the Senate said Sunday that a controversial House Medicare plan is “on the table” as President Barack Obama and his GOP rivals wrestle over budget cuts to enact this summer. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” that he supports the controversial plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system in which future beneficiaries — those 54 and younger — would get subsidies to buy health insurance rather than have the government directly pay their doctor and hospital bills. The House plan has come under a sustained assault from Democrats, who charge it would “end Medicare as we know it.” Democrats successfully used the charge is winning a House special in a strongly Republican district in upstate New York last week. Asked whether he would concede that the Ryan Medicare plan won’t be part of any budget deal this year, McConnell said: “No. It’s on the table.” McConnell was referring to budget talks led by Vice President Joe Biden and senior lawmakers in both parties over what spending cuts to add to must-pass legislation to allow the government to continue to borrow to fund federal programs and prevent a market-rattling, first-ever default on U.S. bonds But McConnell seemed to acknowledge that with a Democrat in the White House, the Ryan plan is effectively dead for now. The measure by the Wisconsin GOP congressman also fell well short in a Senate vote last week. “I’m personally very comfortable with the way Paul Ryan would structure it,” McConnell said. “But we have a Democratic president. We’re going to have to negotiate with him on the terms of changing Medicare so we can save Medicare.” And by save it, he means turn it over to the insurance industries. And of course he was still saying that any tax increases were off the table and unnecessary. Update: Full transcript below the fold. MR. GREGORY: The problem is huge, and the entitlement program… SEN. McCONNELL: Yeah. MR. GREGORY: …is really the heart of it. But I ask the same question, which is, is Medicare the third rail? Look, you said, reportedly, to the speaker of the House John Boehner, “I wouldn’t push this Ryan proposal because poetical it’s going to hurt the party.” SEN. McCONNELL: Well, I don’t know where that quote came from. But the point is, what are we going to do about the problem? We, we know that–what–let’s–oh, you want to talk about Medicare? The president says Medicare needs to be on the table, the vice president says Medicare needs to be on the table. Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House, says Medicare needs to be on the table. It is on the table in the discussions related to the debt ceiling. So… MR. GREGORY: But not in its current form. If it passes… SEN. McCONNELL: Well, look, we’re… MR. GREGORY: …as part of the debt ceiling vote… SEN. McCONNELL: The Democrats… MR. GREGORY: …it’s got to be different, does it not, than the Ryan plan? SEN. McCONNELL: As you pointed out from my comments in the lead-in, the Democrats have no plan at all. We had, we had four votes in the Senate this week… MR. GREGORY: Fair enough. But, leader, my question is if there’s going to be a deal on the debt ceiling on Medicare reform… SEN. McCONNELL: Mm-hmm. MR. GREGORY: …would you concede it’s got to look a lot different than the Ryan plan? SEN. McCONNELL: No! I–it’s on the table. We’re going to discuss what ought to be done. Everybody agrees something ought to be done, except the Democrats in the Senate, who have no plan at all. MR. GREGORY: But you’re not even… SEN. McCONNELL: We had four… MR. GREGORY: …you haven’t even said publicly whether you’re for the Ryan plan. So you’re not behind that version of Medicare reform. SEN. McCONNELL: I voted for the–I, I voted for the Ryan budget this week. MR. GREGORY: You didn’t whip up your colleagues, though. You didn’t try to get additional support. SEN. McCONNELL: Well, we, we had, we had competing versions in the Senate. Senator Toomey, a Republican senator in the Senate, had a plan. Senator Paul had a plan. The only people who didn’t vote for any plan at all–we–by the way, we had a vote on the president’s budget, didn’t get a single solitary vote. Not a single Democratic senator voted for the president’s budget. MR. GREGORY: Fair–but do you support Ryan’s reforms? SEN. McCONNELL: And the guy, the guy that you’re going to have on after me thinks that all we’re doing right now is positioning for the 2012 election. What about the country? What about the next generation, not the next election? MR. GREGORY: I’m just trying to understand where you are particularly on how to change Medicare so… SEN. McCONNELL: Well, let me tell you. MR. GREGORY: You’re not–you don’t believe that the Ryan plan is the basis of where you’re going get agreement. SEN. McCONNELL: I, I voted for the Ryan budget this week. MR. GREGORY: But do you believe it’s really the big–because it failed. SEN. McCONNELL: What I’m not going to do… MR. GREGORY: It’s not going anywhere. SEN. McCONNELL: …is negotiate the deal with you, David, with all due respect. The president of the United States, the only person in America who can sign a bill into law, is at the table through the vice president, and we are discussing a package that will begin to deal with deficit and debt in connection… MR. GREGORY: But, leader, I’m not asking you to negotiate. I’m just asking you to help in the interest of what I assume you want, which is building some kind of political consensus around reform. Having a discussion publicly on television like this and saying, what are the contours of that that could actually get some Democratic support? SEN. McCONNELL: Well, this is not the place to do that. The place to do it is in the discussions with the one individual out of 307 million Americans who can sign a bill into law. And those discussions are under way, and I can assure you, David, that to get my vote to raise the debt ceiling, for whatever that’s worth, my one vote, Medicare will be a part of it. The details of that are yet to be negotiated with the guy who can sign something into law. MR. GREGORY: But do you have to keep the basis of the Medicare program in place? Is that your view? Because that’s not what Ryan is proposing. And then you could do other things. SEN. McCONNELL: And no matter how many times you ask me to, to kind of craft what the Medicare fix should be like, I’m not going to give that answer to you today because that’s a subject to be negotiated with the president of the United States. MR. GREGORY: But do you understand that the currents here in the Republican Party–when Newt Gingrich was on this program and called Ryan’s plan right-wing social engineering, conservatives flocked to his aid and said, “No, no, the Ryan plan is a litmus test for conservatives in America.” What you’re saying is not that. You voted for it, but you didn’t rally your colleagues behind it and it failed. So there seems to be a split in the party about what it is should constitute actual reform. SEN. McCONNELL: Actually, there’s very little split in the party at all. We all know Medicare’s going to change. It’s got to change. David, the trustees of Medicare and Social Security, who are appointed by the president of the United States, that includes some members of his own Cabinet, just said a couple of weeks ago that Medicare’s going broke. The one thing we know we can’t do is nothing. And our Democratic friends in the Senate have no plan at all. The president, to his credit, is at the table discussing with us the way in which you save Medicare. Medicare is going down. Doing nothing is not a plan. And we’re going to negotiate the contours of the plan in these negotiations. I’m personally very comfortable with the way Paul Ryan would structure it in the out years. But we have a Democratic president. We’re going to have to negotiate with him on the terms of changing Medicare so we can save Medicare. MR. GREGORY: Are you confident that the debt ceiling will ultimately be raised? SEN. McCONNELL: I’m confident that unless we do something really significant about debt and deficit, it’s not going to be raised. It’s not going to get my vote unless we deal with the problem raised by the request of the president to raise the debt ceiling. In other words… MR. GREGORY: Does Medicare–is it… SEN. McCONNELL: This is, this is an opportunity. MR. GREGORY: Yeah. SEN. McCONNELL: You know, rather than play scare tactics about what if and, you know, what if you do this or what if you do that, the point is use this opportunity to come together on a bipartisan basis like Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill did in 1983 to save Social Security for another generation. They came together, made an important adjustment–and, by the way, the–you know, all this talk about next year’s election, after participating in raising the age limit for Social Security, Reagan the next year carried 49 out of 50 states. Anything we agree to do together, David, will not be an issue in next year’s election. But this is about the future of the country. MR. GREGORY: Hm. SEN. McCONNELL: Not about the election a year and a half from now.
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Mount Everest was conquered as Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay became the first to reach the summit. John F. Kennedy born in Brookline, Mass. Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses. (May 29)
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Mount Everest was conquered as Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay became the first to reach the summit. John F. Kennedy born in Brookline, Mass. Patrick Henry denounced the Stamp Act before Virginia’s House of Burgesses. (May 29)
Continue reading …Fifa in crisis live blog – Bin Hammam out of race as ethics committee meets | John Ashdown
May 29, 2011 No Comment
• Bin Hammam vows to clear name after withdrawing • Fifa ethics committee hearing meeting later on Sunday • Email your thoughts to john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk 1.11pm: This whole shebang was kicked off, of course, by our old friend Chuck Blazer, a man who likes to wear his trousers high . In fact, while we’re waiting for Fifa’s announcement, you could do worse than take a tour through Chuck’s blog . Halloween is a particular highlight. 12.53pm: So who is the man in charge of today’s proceeedings? You can read about Petrus Damaseb here and here 12.30pm: So the pieces are being placed on the board. Here’s Matt Scott in Zurich: “MBH has come in to Fifa House in the back seat of a large black limo to face Petrus Damaseb’s ethics committee.” 12.22pm: Today is all about a Fifa meeting. And thanks to Fifa.com, you can re-live the best bits (no, really) of Fifa meetings past . Will this week’s bunfight make it on to that list? Who knows. Yes, this does smack of filler, doesn’t it. Only four hours 38 minutes to go! 12.06pm: The ever excellent Paul Hayward’s view : In their official literature, Fifa kindly offer a list of the honours bestowed on President Sepp Blatter for his efforts to make the world a better place. On his wanderings, the supreme leader has picked up a knighthood from the Sultanate of Pahang, the Medalla al Mérito Deportivo from Bolivia, the French Legion of Honour, the Dove of Geneva and countless honorary doctorates. The scroll is longer even than the charge sheet confronting Fifa officials on Sunday in Zurich, where Blatter, his presidential rival Mohamed bin Hammam and the ubiquitous Jack Warner are among those up before the world governing body’s Ethics Committee – itself increasingly an example of Orwellian doublespeak. All across the globe – certainly in the Arab states – the cult of the leader is under attack. But Fifa still manage to mimic the kind of hilltop state employed by the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup. Yet Fifa are not Freedonia and they are not bankrupt: Groucho’s big problem, as head of state. Blatter and his committees sit on reserves of $1.28bn and emote obsessively about spreading this largesse around the five continents, even though no one seems able to say clearly where all the money ends up. In his mission statement, headed “Fifa Brand – Our commitment” (note the word brand), Blatter makes a “promise” – “For the Games, For the World”. He says: “The world is a place rich in natural beauty and cultural diversity, but also one where many are still deprived of their basic rights. Fifa now have an even greater responsibility to reach out and touch the world, using football as a symbol of hope and integration.” Right now the world would probably rather not be “touched” by Fifa. 11.55am: Franz Beckenbauer has offered Uncle Sepp his support: “He did a wonderful job,” the former Germany captain told Radio 5 Live. “It’s not easy. Fifa is like the United Nations – we have 208 members. It’s not an easy to handle, but I think Blatter and his staff are doing a wonderful job.” ‘A wonderful job’? Really? 11.48am: The big news this morning is that Mohamed Bin Hammam has withdrawn from the presidential race. Here’s Matt Scott, in Zurich : Mohamed bin Hammam has withdrawn from the race to become the next Fifa president and has vowed to clear his name when he appears before the body’s ethics committee. The president of the Asian Football Confederation is facing bribery allegations, alongside the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, while the organisation’s president, Sepp Blatter, is being investigated for knowing about alleged bribery. Bin Hammam’s decision to pull out of the election means Blatter is unopposed in his attempt to secure a fourth term as the head of world football in Wednesday’s vote. Bin Hammam said: “I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa ethics committee as I will appear before the ethics committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me. “I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game. “I have a special thank you to my friend and colleague Jack Warner for his unlimited support. I am sorry to see that he has to suffer because of me, but I am promising him that I will be with him all the way through thick and thin. “I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to restore Fifa’s reputation to what it should be – a protector of the game that has credibility through honesty, transparency and accountability. It saddens me that standing up for the causes I believed in has come at a great price – the degradation of Fifa’s reputation. This is not what I had in mind for Fifa and this is unacceptable. “I cannot allow the game that I love to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first. It is for this reason that I announce my withdrawal from the presidential election.” Bin Hammam’s withdrawal is only one hurdle for Blatter to overcome in his attempt to extend his tenure into a fourth term. The corruption allegations that have engulfed world football and destroyed Bin Hammam’s candidacy also threaten him: like the Qatari challenger, he faces an ethics committee hearing on Sunday. Today’s order of play, as it were: • Starting this morning: Fifa’s ethics committee meets in Zurich. • At 5pm there will be a press conference where the committee’s findings will be revealed. As a grandiose Fifa statement today explains: Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam, as well as Caribbean Football Union officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, have been invited to attend a hearing by the Fifa ethics committee at the home of Fifa in Zurich on the same day. The meeting, which starts in the morning, will be followed by a press conference in the auditorium of the home of Fifa, planned for 6pm CET [5pm BST] (time subject to change). The press conference will be attended by deputy chairman of the Fifa ethics committee, Petrus Damaseb and Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke. Fifa Football politics Sepp Blatter Mohamed bin Hammam John Ashdown guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Fifa in crisis live blog – Bin Hammam out of race as ethics committee meets | John Ashdown
May 29, 2011 No Comment
• Bin Hammam vows to clear name after withdrawing • Fifa ethics committee hearing meeting later on Sunday • Email your thoughts to john.ashdown@guardian.co.uk 1.11pm: This whole shebang was kicked off, of course, by our old friend Chuck Blazer, a man who likes to wear his trousers high . In fact, while we’re waiting for Fifa’s announcement, you could do worse than take a tour through Chuck’s blog . Halloween is a particular highlight. 12.53pm: So who is the man in charge of today’s proceeedings? You can read about Petrus Damaseb here and here 12.30pm: So the pieces are being placed on the board. Here’s Matt Scott in Zurich: “MBH has come in to Fifa House in the back seat of a large black limo to face Petrus Damaseb’s ethics committee.” 12.22pm: Today is all about a Fifa meeting. And thanks to Fifa.com, you can re-live the best bits (no, really) of Fifa meetings past . Will this week’s bunfight make it on to that list? Who knows. Yes, this does smack of filler, doesn’t it. Only four hours 38 minutes to go! 12.06pm: The ever excellent Paul Hayward’s view : In their official literature, Fifa kindly offer a list of the honours bestowed on President Sepp Blatter for his efforts to make the world a better place. On his wanderings, the supreme leader has picked up a knighthood from the Sultanate of Pahang, the Medalla al Mérito Deportivo from Bolivia, the French Legion of Honour, the Dove of Geneva and countless honorary doctorates. The scroll is longer even than the charge sheet confronting Fifa officials on Sunday in Zurich, where Blatter, his presidential rival Mohamed bin Hammam and the ubiquitous Jack Warner are among those up before the world governing body’s Ethics Committee – itself increasingly an example of Orwellian doublespeak. All across the globe – certainly in the Arab states – the cult of the leader is under attack. But Fifa still manage to mimic the kind of hilltop state employed by the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup. Yet Fifa are not Freedonia and they are not bankrupt: Groucho’s big problem, as head of state. Blatter and his committees sit on reserves of $1.28bn and emote obsessively about spreading this largesse around the five continents, even though no one seems able to say clearly where all the money ends up. In his mission statement, headed “Fifa Brand – Our commitment” (note the word brand), Blatter makes a “promise” – “For the Games, For the World”. He says: “The world is a place rich in natural beauty and cultural diversity, but also one where many are still deprived of their basic rights. Fifa now have an even greater responsibility to reach out and touch the world, using football as a symbol of hope and integration.” Right now the world would probably rather not be “touched” by Fifa. 11.55am: Franz Beckenbauer has offered Uncle Sepp his support: “He did a wonderful job,” the former Germany captain told Radio 5 Live. “It’s not easy. Fifa is like the United Nations – we have 208 members. It’s not an easy to handle, but I think Blatter and his staff are doing a wonderful job.” ‘A wonderful job’? Really? 11.48am: The big news this morning is that Mohamed Bin Hammam has withdrawn from the presidential race. Here’s Matt Scott, in Zurich : Mohamed bin Hammam has withdrawn from the race to become the next Fifa president and has vowed to clear his name when he appears before the body’s ethics committee. The president of the Asian Football Confederation is facing bribery allegations, alongside the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, while the organisation’s president, Sepp Blatter, is being investigated for knowing about alleged bribery. Bin Hammam’s decision to pull out of the election means Blatter is unopposed in his attempt to secure a fourth term as the head of world football in Wednesday’s vote. Bin Hammam said: “I pray that my withdrawal will not be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa ethics committee as I will appear before the ethics committee to clear my name from the baseless allegations that have been made against me. “I promise those who stood by me that I will walk with my head held high and will continue to fight for the good of the game. “I have a special thank you to my friend and colleague Jack Warner for his unlimited support. I am sorry to see that he has to suffer because of me, but I am promising him that I will be with him all the way through thick and thin. “I look forward to working closely with my colleagues to restore Fifa’s reputation to what it should be – a protector of the game that has credibility through honesty, transparency and accountability. It saddens me that standing up for the causes I believed in has come at a great price – the degradation of Fifa’s reputation. This is not what I had in mind for Fifa and this is unacceptable. “I cannot allow the game that I love to be dragged more and more in the mud because of competition between two individuals. The game itself and the people who love it around the world must come first. It is for this reason that I announce my withdrawal from the presidential election.” Bin Hammam’s withdrawal is only one hurdle for Blatter to overcome in his attempt to extend his tenure into a fourth term. The corruption allegations that have engulfed world football and destroyed Bin Hammam’s candidacy also threaten him: like the Qatari challenger, he faces an ethics committee hearing on Sunday. Today’s order of play, as it were: • Starting this morning: Fifa’s ethics committee meets in Zurich. • At 5pm there will be a press conference where the committee’s findings will be revealed. As a grandiose Fifa statement today explains: Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam, as well as Caribbean Football Union officials Debbie Minguell and Jason Sylvester, have been invited to attend a hearing by the Fifa ethics committee at the home of Fifa in Zurich on the same day. The meeting, which starts in the morning, will be followed by a press conference in the auditorium of the home of Fifa, planned for 6pm CET [5pm BST] (time subject to change). The press conference will be attended by deputy chairman of the Fifa ethics committee, Petrus Damaseb and Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke. Fifa Football politics Sepp Blatter Mohamed bin Hammam John Ashdown guardian.co.uk
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ST. LOUIS — Powerful storms roared through middle America again on Wednesday, with weak tornadoes touching down in isolated spots and severe thunderstorms threatening such strikes in several states. The National Weather Service issued tornado watches and a series of warnings in a dozen states, stretching northwest from Texas though the Mississippi River valley to Ohio. “Everybody’s working as fast and furious as possible,” said Beverly Poole, the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Paducah, Ky., which covers southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. “This is just a wild ride.” There were no immediate reports of deaths from the new round of storms, though authorities reported dozens of minor injuries following brief tornado touchdowns in Missouri and Indiana. Wednesday’s storms followed a deadly outbreak Tuesday in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas that killed at least 15 people. The nation’s deadliest single tornado since 1950 killed 125 on Sunday in the southwest Missouri city of Joplin. Heavy rain, hail and lightning pounded Memphis on Wednesday night as a tornado warning sounded. Menacing clouds showed some rotation, but there were no confirmed reports of tornadoes touching down. Southern Indiana authorities said at least 12 people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries after a tornado touched down along U.S. 50 east of Bedford, flattening homes, barns and other structures in its path. “The guys on the ground there say it’s a predominantly rural area, which is fortunate for the masses but of course not for the people nearby,” said Sgt. Brian Olehy of Indiana State Police. There were also injuries reported when a storm struck a mobile home park west of Bloomington, state police said. Authorities were on their way to the scene but had to clear downed tree limbs and power lines from the roads first. Earlier in the day, as many as 25 people suffered minor injuries when a tornado damaged several homes and businesses in the central Missouri city of Sedalia. Officials said most were able to get themselves the hospital for treatment. “Considering the destruction that occurred in Joplin – being that we’re in tornado alley and Sedalia has historically been hit by tornadoes in the past – I think people heeded that warning,” Pettis County Sheriff Kevin Bond said. “And so, I think that helped tremendously.” Officials in Sedalia ended the school year several days early because of damage to buses. In one hard-hit neighborhood, law officers stood on corners and electrical crews worked on power lines as people cleaned debris and sifted through belongings. One of the heavily damaged homes was the house of Priscilla McCabe, 61, and her 30-year-old son Sean McCabe, who was home when the tornado struck. Sean McCabe was headed to the basement and says the storm shoved him down the final flight of steps. He had scraps and cuts on his hands, wrists, back and feet. Blood was visible on the carpeted steps heading to the basement and glass crunched underfoot. Much of the roof of the house was gone. “I saw little debris and then I saw big debris, and I’m like OK, let’s go,” said Sean McCabe, who has a service dog for epilepsy. “All I could think about was the dogs.” Law enforcement agencies reported one home destroyed late Wednesday afternoon in the rural Carter County town of Ellsinore, about 150 miles south of St. Louis. In Illinois, high winds, rain and at least four possible tornadoes knocked down power lines and damaged at least one home and a number of farm buildings across the central and eastern parts of the state. “Mostly it was shingles off roofs and garages,” said Illinois Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Patti Thompson.
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