Former Egyptian president’s arrest follows detention of his two sons on Tuesday night Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, has been detained as authorities in the country investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of his authority. His detention comes after the 82-year-old reportedly suffered a heart attack while being questioned on Tuesday night. Mubarak’s two sons, Gamal and Alaa, have also been detained after being questioned over corruption claims into the early hours of Wednesday morning. A statement from the prosecutor general’s office announcing Mubarak’s detention said the ongoing investigation was into allegations of corruption, the squandering of public funds, and the abuse of authority for personal gain. “The prosecutor general orders the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa for 15 days pending investigation after the prosecutor general presented them with the current state of its ongoing investigations,” it said. Egypt’s interim government issued subpoenas to Mubarak and his sons over the weekend, compelling them to testify in court over claims that they illicitly acquired wealth and abused their power during the former president’s reign. The announcement of their detention came just hours after Mubarak was hospitalised with heart problems in Sharm el-Sheikh. He has been in internal exile in the Red Sea resort since Egypt’s mass uprising earlier this year. Mubarak was taken to hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh. However in a sign his health may not be in immediate danger, justice minister Mohammed el-Guindi said questioning of the former president continued in hospital. While the ex-president was in hospital – where he is expected to remain for the period of his detention – his sons were taken for questioning to a Sharm el-Sheikh court by prosecutors from Cairo. Gamal Mubarak, his younger son, was a top official in the ruling party and was widely seen as being groomed to succeed his father before 18 days of popular protests brought down the regime on 11 February. An angry crowd of 2,000 people gathered outside and demanded the two be arrested. Then, in the early hours of the morning, the head of provincial security in the South Sinai told the crowd that Gamal and his businessman brother Alaa would be detained. “Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got … 15 days,” said Major General Mohammed el-Khatib, as the crowd erupted in cheers. As a police van with drawn curtains took away the two brothers, the crowd pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world. About 800 people are estimated to have been killed during the protests as police opened fire and cracked down on the crowds. Authorities are now investigating government officials for their role in ordering the violence. Gamal is also believed to be the architect of Egypt’s privatization program and economic liberalization, which has brought in billions in foreign investment but has also widened the gap between rich and poor. Many of his close associates were billionaires and held top positions in the ruling party and the government. There are allegations that they used their positions for personal gain. Hosni Mubarak Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Adam Gabbatt Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
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John Cave appointed deputy mayor of Padiham, on edge of Burnley, and is likely to step up to mayor in a year’s time The British National party expects to see one of its members become mayor of a Lancashire town close to the scene of serious street violence a decade ago. John Cave, whose wife, Sharon Wilkinson, is a BNP county councillor for the small former mill town of Padiham, on the edge of Burnley, is likely to take over the office in a year’s time after being chosen as deputy mayor this week. The council has only parish status but Padiham retains the title of town and uses traditional civic regalia and the town hall to assert as much independence as it can against Burnley borough council. Cave joined the town council a year ago and a minority of fellow members had bridled at his bid for office. Cave said his role was non-political and the council was “about Padiham and not politics”. He said others had raised no objections and had supported him for the deputy mayor’s job as an out-and-out Padiham man. “This is my home town and I was born here. It is all about Padiham and Padiham is not about politics. “I will be raising money for charities – but they have to be in Padiham. For me Padiham is home and I think it could be a lot better. Keeping our town hall alive is one of the biggest jobs we’ve got.” The council bats single-mindedly for Padiham, a cluster of dark stone Pennine houses in a steep valley with the National Trust’s Gawthorpe Hall a famous link with the Bronte family, whose wealthy Liberal friends the Kay-Shuttleworths ran their cotton empire from the town. The hall houses Britain’s largest textile collection outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. Community relations have been strained by the BNP’s inroads, but the town council events have included a Balti evening at a British Asian restaurant, along with Remembrance Day celebrations and a Hallowe’en party. The bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, challenged Cave to give up his BNP associations in order to carry out his civic duties properly. He said: “It will be interesting to see if he acts in the best traditions of a mayor in the community, and I pray he does, as he will have to reject the philosophy of the BNP. “If he retains the BNP political philosophy then how can he expect to serve and represent the whole of the community?” BNP Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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John Cave appointed deputy mayor of Padiham, on edge of Burnley, and is likely to step up to mayor in a year’s time The British National party expects to see one of its members become mayor of a Lancashire town close to the scene of serious street violence a decade ago. John Cave, whose wife, Sharon Wilkinson, is a BNP county councillor for the small former mill town of Padiham, on the edge of Burnley, is likely to take over the office in a year’s time after being chosen as deputy mayor this week. The council has only parish status but Padiham retains the title of town and uses traditional civic regalia and the town hall to assert as much independence as it can against Burnley borough council. Cave joined the town council a year ago and a minority of fellow members had bridled at his bid for office. Cave said his role was non-political and the council was “about Padiham and not politics”. He said others had raised no objections and had supported him for the deputy mayor’s job as an out-and-out Padiham man. “This is my home town and I was born here. It is all about Padiham and Padiham is not about politics. “I will be raising money for charities – but they have to be in Padiham. For me Padiham is home and I think it could be a lot better. Keeping our town hall alive is one of the biggest jobs we’ve got.” The council bats single-mindedly for Padiham, a cluster of dark stone Pennine houses in a steep valley with the National Trust’s Gawthorpe Hall a famous link with the Bronte family, whose wealthy Liberal friends the Kay-Shuttleworths ran their cotton empire from the town. The hall houses Britain’s largest textile collection outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. Community relations have been strained by the BNP’s inroads, but the town council events have included a Balti evening at a British Asian restaurant, along with Remembrance Day celebrations and a Hallowe’en party. The bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, challenged Cave to give up his BNP associations in order to carry out his civic duties properly. He said: “It will be interesting to see if he acts in the best traditions of a mayor in the community, and I pray he does, as he will have to reject the philosophy of the BNP. “If he retains the BNP political philosophy then how can he expect to serve and represent the whole of the community?” BNP Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …John Cave appointed deputy mayor of Padiham, on edge of Burnley, and is likely to step up to mayor in a year’s time The British National party expects to see one of its members become mayor of a Lancashire town close to the scene of serious street violence a decade ago. John Cave, whose wife, Sharon Wilkinson, is a BNP county councillor for the small former mill town of Padiham, on the edge of Burnley, is likely to take over the office in a year’s time after being chosen as deputy mayor this week. The council has only parish status but Padiham retains the title of town and uses traditional civic regalia and the town hall to assert as much independence as it can against Burnley borough council. Cave joined the town council a year ago and a minority of fellow members had bridled at his bid for office. Cave said his role was non-political and the council was “about Padiham and not politics”. He said others had raised no objections and had supported him for the deputy mayor’s job as an out-and-out Padiham man. “This is my home town and I was born here. It is all about Padiham and Padiham is not about politics. “I will be raising money for charities – but they have to be in Padiham. For me Padiham is home and I think it could be a lot better. Keeping our town hall alive is one of the biggest jobs we’ve got.” The council bats single-mindedly for Padiham, a cluster of dark stone Pennine houses in a steep valley with the National Trust’s Gawthorpe Hall a famous link with the Bronte family, whose wealthy Liberal friends the Kay-Shuttleworths ran their cotton empire from the town. The hall houses Britain’s largest textile collection outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. Community relations have been strained by the BNP’s inroads, but the town council events have included a Balti evening at a British Asian restaurant, along with Remembrance Day celebrations and a Hallowe’en party. The bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, challenged Cave to give up his BNP associations in order to carry out his civic duties properly. He said: “It will be interesting to see if he acts in the best traditions of a mayor in the community, and I pray he does, as he will have to reject the philosophy of the BNP. “If he retains the BNP political philosophy then how can he expect to serve and represent the whole of the community?” BNP Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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A 19-year-old man who is among the detained confessed to killing more than 200 people, President Felipe Calderon said Mexican investigators have found a total of 116 bodies in pits near the US border, 28 more than previously reported, Attorney General Marisela Morales said. Morales said a total of 17 suspects tied to the brutal Zetas drug gang have been detained in relation to the killings in the northern state of Tamaulipas, some of whom have purportedly confessed to abducting passengers from buses and killing them. President Felipe Calderon said a 19-year-old man who is among the detained confessed to killing more than 200 people. Calderon gave no other details. Interior Secretary Francisco Blake Mora pledged to step up the presence of troops and federal police in the area where the killings occurred and not leave the area until the killers and drug gang members there have been caught. “Organised crime, in its desperation, resorts to committing atrocities that we can’t and shouldn’t tolerate as a government and as a society,” Blake said. The graves were found earlier this month in the township of San Fernando, the same area of Tamaulipas where investigators found the bodies of 72 migrants massacred by suspected drug cartel gunmen last August. Most of the 72 migrants were Central Americans, who frequently travel through the area to reach the United States. Police say witnesses in the latest killing case have told them that gunmen pulled the victims, mostly young men, off passenger buses traveling through the San Fernando area in late March. Authorities blame the abductions on the Zetas drug gang, the same group accused in the migrant killings. The motive for the bus abductions remains unclear, though prosecutors have suggested the gang may have been forcefully recruiting people to work for it. San Fernando is a town about 90 miles south of Brownsville, Texas, on a well-traveled stretch of highway that runs near the Gulf Coast. It is an area regularly patrolled by the Mexican military. The Zetas and rival Gulf Cartel are fighting in Tamaulipas over lucrative drug transit routes to the US. Authorities are working to identify the bodies, one of which may belong to a US citizen, through DNA samples and other techniques. One of the bodies is a Guatemalan man, the government of that Central American nation said. The victim has been identified as Feliciano Tagual Ovalle, 44, the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Monday. The statement did not say whether the man was a migrant passing through or a resident of Mexico. It said the Guatemalan government planned to bring the body home. Mexican authorities confirmed one victim was Guatemalan and said another was a man from central Mexico. Mexican prosecutors had previously said most of the bodies were probably Mexican citizens. Mexico Drugs trade guardian.co.uk
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The sons of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak are being questioned over their role in violence against protesters and corruption allegations Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the detention of the former president’s powerful sons to investigate allegations of corruption and the abuse of their authority, Egyptian state television said. The move, the most dramatic in a series of investigations against top regime officials, comes just hours after former President Hosni Mubarak, 82, was hospitalised with heart problems as he too was to be questioned by prosecutors. Gamal Mubarak, his younger son, was a top official in the ruling party and was widely seen as being groomed to succeed his father before 18 days of popular protests brought down the regime on February 11. While the ex-president was in the hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he has been living since being removed from power, his sons were taken for questioning to the nearby courthouse by prosecutors from Cairo. An angry crowd of 2,000 people gathered outside and demanded the two be arrested. Then, in the early hours of the morning, the head of provincial security in the South Sinai told the crowd that Gamal and his businessman brother Alaa would be detained. “Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got … 15 days,” said Major General Mohammed el-Khatib, as the crowd erupted in cheers. As a police van with drawn curtains took away the two brothers, the crowd pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world. The increasing role of Gamal Mubarak in the government over the last decade and the belief that he might succeed his father helped galvanize Egypt’s protest movement. At least 800 people are estimated to have been killed during the protests as police opened fire on the crowds. Authorities are now investigating government officials for their role in ordering the violence. Gamal is also believed to be the architect of Egypt’s privatisation program and economic liberalisation, which has brought in billions in foreign investment but has also widened the gap between rich and poor. Many of his close associates were billionaires and held top positions in the ruling party and the government. There are allegations that they used their positions for personal gain. Mubarak himself has not been detained, but he was due to be questioned by prosecutors when he was admitted to the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital on Tuesday night complaining of heart problems. In a sign that his ailment might not be very serious, however, Justice Minister Mohammed el-Guindi said he was then questioned in his hospital suite for his role in the violence against protesters. The investigation into corruption charges would be carried out later by the Justice Ministry’s anti-corruption department, he added. The protest movement that deposed Mubarak is now pushing for him to be brought to justice for what they say are decades of abuse. The protesters had criticised the army, which took over the country after the president was pushed out, for being too close to the old regime and not swiftly bringing Mubarak to trial. For four days protesters reoccupied parts of Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo and closed it off to traffic. Efforts by the army to evict them Saturday resulted in at least one death and dozens of injuries and raised tensions between the protesters and the country’s military rulers. The investigations into Mubarak’s sons are expected to mollify the opposition. On Sunday, Mubarak defended himself in a prerecorded message saying he had not abused his authority, and investigators were welcome to check over his assets. It was his first address to the people in the two months since he stepped down. Shortly after, the prosecutor general issued a summons for Mubarak to appear for questioning. Egypt Hosni Mubarak Arab and Middle East unrest guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Elisabeth Hasselbeck Silences Joy Behar by Pointing Out Bush Just as Well Educated as Obama
April 12, 2011 No Comment
Joy Behar on Monday's “The View” crowed about Barack Obama being “a very intelligent guy” because he went to Harvard Law School and Columbia University. Without skipping a beat, Elisabeth Hasselbeck marvelously asked, ” Then doesn't that make President Bush very smart as well then?
Continue reading …DC Residents Thrown Under the Bus During Budget Deal on Abortion Rights; Mayor Arrested at Protest
April 12, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As Rachel Maddow noted, even though the Democrats drew a line in the sand with funding for Planned Parenthood during the budget negotiations with Republicans, they threw the residents of the District of Columbia and poor women there seeking abortion services under the bus. As The Hill reported this week, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton was furious at the decision and didn’t hold back expressing her anger over the deal. Delegate: DC residents should tell Congress to ‘go straight to hell’ : Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) unleashed on Congress Thursday for veering toward a government shutdown, saying her constituents in Washington, D.C., are “being treated as colonists of the Congress.” Norton appeared visibly angry during an television interview, during which she lobbed attacks at the legislature and Republicans for their behavior in the budget talks. “District residents are being treated as colonists of the Congress of the United States. We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians,” she said on WTTG-TV. Norton chastised Republicans for pushing for a policy rider to be included in a proposed stopgap spending measure that would prevent taxpayer funds from paying for abortions in D.C. “It’s time that the District of Columbia told the Congress to go straight to hell,” she said. Read on… And Mayor Vincent Gray among others were arrested protesting the budget deal today — Capitol Police arrest DC mayor at rally against budget deal : Capitol Police arrested dozens of protesters conducting a rally on Capitol Hill against Washington, D.C.-related riders in the new 2011 budget deal. Washington Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chairman Kwame Brown, Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser and Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells were among the 41 people who were arrested after protesters blocked Constitution Avenue. Organized by the voting-rights group DC Vote, the rally aimed to send a message to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and President Obama: Don’t “sacrifice” the rights of D.C. residents to get a deal on the budget. “Clearly, both our opponents and friends think D.C. is weak,” the group said in a statement Monday. “Neither thinks we are strong enough to fight back against oppression.” “We may not have legislative power, but we have the power of the people, and D.C. residents refuse to be treated like second-class citizens,” it added. “D.C. is not weak. Tonight, we are going to fight back.”
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The former CNN talkshow host is returning to his Brooklyn roots with his stake in a New York-style bagel shop in Beverly Hills Since giving up his over-sized desk, microphone and braces after an incredible 25-year run, the retired CNN talkshow host Larry King now spends his mornings hanging out at a bagel cafe in an upmarket area of Los Angeles. Every morning, the sprightly 77-year-old broadcaster and his friends occupy a corner booth – which sometimes boasts a decorative microphone in his honour – while his driver waits patiently outside in his limo. King recently become a shareholder in The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co , and as he now owns 50% of its fifth franchise in Beverly Hills – bringing a slice of his birthplace, Brooklyn, to California – it literally pays him to eat and be seen here. “I said to myself, someday if I could have a beautiful, tall wife and my own bagel shop, life would be complete,” laughs King. “I couldn’t do any of this when I was at CNN, but now I have fewer restrictions.” His desire to expand his empire into his eighth decade might also have something to do with the way his family struggled financially after his father, a restaurant owner, died when he was only nine. “I romanticise it, but there were a lot of unhappy days in Brooklyn when I felt inferior to the friends around me because I didn’t have their money,” he recalls. Despite the fact he left New York in 1957, Brooklyn still holds a special place in King’s heart. Does owning part of this franchise transport him back to his roots? “In a way, yes,” he says. “I left Brooklyn, but it never left me – and in retrospect it was the world’s best upbringing. I had great friends, and a great sense of community. I also have a sense of loyalty that was ground into me in Brooklyn. That’s the number one attribute I still look for in people. My friends come in here, but you won’t get anything out of them. They don’t talk.” King knows exactly how he likes his bagels: “I was raised on lox, so I like the salty bagel, open with no butter, cream cheese and smoked salmon. I like them to scoop out the middle, so it’s not as fattening.” And having a stake in your own bagel company means you can get it just the way you like it. Larry King United States TV news CNN Television industry Baking recipes Food & drink Lisa Marks guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The former CNN talkshow host is returning to his Brooklyn roots with his stake in a New York-style bagel shop in Beverly Hills Since giving up his over-sized desk, microphone and braces after an incredible 25-year run, the retired CNN talkshow host Larry King now spends his mornings hanging out at a bagel cafe in an upmarket area of Los Angeles. Every morning, the sprightly 77-year-old broadcaster and his friends occupy a corner booth – which sometimes boasts a decorative microphone in his honour – while his driver waits patiently outside in his limo. King recently become a shareholder in The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Co , and as he now owns 50% of its fifth franchise in Beverly Hills – bringing a slice of his birthplace, Brooklyn, to California – it literally pays him to eat and be seen here. “I said to myself, someday if I could have a beautiful, tall wife and my own bagel shop, life would be complete,” laughs King. “I couldn’t do any of this when I was at CNN, but now I have fewer restrictions.” His desire to expand his empire into his eighth decade might also have something to do with the way his family struggled financially after his father, a restaurant owner, died when he was only nine. “I romanticise it, but there were a lot of unhappy days in Brooklyn when I felt inferior to the friends around me because I didn’t have their money,” he recalls. Despite the fact he left New York in 1957, Brooklyn still holds a special place in King’s heart. Does owning part of this franchise transport him back to his roots? “In a way, yes,” he says. “I left Brooklyn, but it never left me – and in retrospect it was the world’s best upbringing. I had great friends, and a great sense of community. I also have a sense of loyalty that was ground into me in Brooklyn. That’s the number one attribute I still look for in people. My friends come in here, but you won’t get anything out of them. They don’t talk.” King knows exactly how he likes his bagels: “I was raised on lox, so I like the salty bagel, open with no butter, cream cheese and smoked salmon. I like them to scoop out the middle, so it’s not as fattening.” And having a stake in your own bagel company means you can get it just the way you like it. Larry King United States TV news CNN Television industry Baking recipes Food & drink Lisa Marks guardian.co.uk
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