Shrien Dewani extradition signed for possible South Africa murder trial
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Home secretary Theresa May ratifies judge’s decision for husband of wife dead Anni Dewani to face court abroad The prospect of the British businessman Shrien Dewani being flown to South Africa to face trial over the murder of his wife Anni moved a step closer after the home secretary signed an order for him to be extradited. Theresa May ratified a district judge’s decision that Dewani ought to return to face legal proceedings for allegedly arranging his wife’s killing in a fake carjacking during their honeymoon. Dewani, 31, has 14 days to appeal against the decision of either the home secretary or the district judge and is believed likely to do so. However, May’s decision has been welcomed by prosecutors in South Africa and members of Anni’s family who want Dewani to return to explain in court what happened. Anni Dewani, 28, was shot dead in an apparent carjacking in the impoverished Gugulethu township on the outskirts of Cape Town last November. Her husband Shrien and taxi driver Zola Tongo were ejected from the vehicle. Dewani was implicated in his wife’s murder by Tongo , who claimed in a plea bargain that Dewani had offered him 15,000 rand (£1,400) to arrange the hit. Dewani has always protested his innocence and fought against extradition claiming he would not face a fair trial and his human rights would be infringed because of the conditions he was likely to face in prison as he awaited trial and if he was convicted. It was also argued that Dewani, who is suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression, was too sick to travel. But last month district judge Howard Riddle agreed with the South African authorities that he should be extradited. Announcing May’s decision, a Home Office spokesman said: “On Monday 26 September the home secretary, having carefully considered all relevant matters, signed an order for Shrien Prakash Dewani’s extradition to South Africa. “Mr Dewani now has the opportunity, within 14 days, to appeal to the high court against the decision of the district judge and/or the home secretary.” It will be up to the Metropolitan police’s extradition unit to actually organise Dewani’s return with the South African authorities. The decision was welcomed by members of Swedish-born Anni Dewani’s family. Last week 12 members of her family handed in a petition that they said had been signed by 11,000 people asking for the home secretary to back the court’s decision that Dewani should return to South Africa. Anni’s father, Vinod Hindocha, said the only way for the family to get “closure” was for Dewani to face legal proceedings in South Africa. Tongo’s lawyer, William da Grass, said South Africans would welcome May’s decision to extradite Dewani. He said: “This is very good news as it brings us one step closer to seeing a resolution to this dreadful case. “We have said all along that we want to see Mr Dewani face justice and now we are one step closer to that. “Obviously he has further appeals open to him and the journey is not yet complete, but we are now confident that he will return to South Africa. “Mr Dewani has always disputed my client’s version of events but there are serious allegations against him and it is only right that the matter is heard before a court. “Many South Africans will be pleased to hear that he is likely to be extradited here. “That is not to say that anyone wishes necessarily to see him in prison, but simply to see him put on trial. If after a trial he is found to be innocent then he will be free of all that has been said against him.” Tongo has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for murder, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances and perverting the course of justice. The alleged hitmen, Xolile Mngeni, 23, and Mziwamadoda Qwabe, 25, who are charged with Anni’s murder , kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances, are to appear before Wynberg regional court in Cape Town in February. There was no comment from relatives of Shrien Dewani, who has been undergoing treatment at a medium secure psychiatric hospital in Bristol. Doctors there have said there was a “high risk” he would commit suicide if he was returned to South Africa. During the extradition hearing in London over the summer, experts in the South African penal system called by Dewani’s lawyers during the hearing said some prisons were overcrowded, understaffed and rife with diseases, including TB and HIV/Aids. There was a shortage of medical staff and sick prisoners sometimes struggled to get access to the care and medicine they needed. Gangs in prison used sexual violence to establish hierarchies and as punishments, it was claimed. Witnesses said Dewani would be particularly vulnerable to gang violence because he was accused of a “sissy” crime and because he was an outsider. His good looks and other claims – denied by his family – that he is gay would also make him the target of sexual attacks. Dewani murder case South Africa Africa Theresa May Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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• Hit F5 for the latest or use our auto-refresh button below • Live scoreboard: all of tonight’s Champions League goals • Check out our all-singing, all-dancing stats centre • Email your thoughts to barry.glendenning@guardian.co.uk • Follow Valencia v Chelsea here 18 min: “So Chamberlain’s got his first of the season and now us Saints fans get to be treated to the usual game of the big six media pretending he sprouted out of one of their academies (a la Bale and Walcott),” writes Lee James, who appears to be that rarest of creatures: a paranoid football fan with a persecution complex. “Also, at Southampton he favoured going only by Chamberlain, presumably to make life a little easier for journo’s- has he gone back to both names now?” 15 min: Slack Arsenal marking at the corner enables Olympiakos to go close again. The corner was pulled back to an Pablo Orbaiz on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, who shot. his effort pinballed off a couple of players and broke kindly for Rafik Djebbour lurking on the edge of the six-yard box. He shot for the bottom left-hand corner, but with Wojicech Szczesney beaten, Mikel Arteta was on hand to clear the ball off the line. 13 min: Rafik Djebbour crosses into the Arsenal penalty area after a good Olympiakos attack down the left flank. Emmanuel Frimpong is back to cover and puts the ball out for a corner at the near post. 13 min: Chamakh has a pop from distance. Wide. 11 min: From the centre of midfield, Andrei Arshavin strokes the ball out wide for Tomas Rosicky to chase down the inside left channel. Right-back Vassilis Torossidis wins the race to the ball and clears it up the field. 10 min: Corner for Arsenal, which Mikel Arteta swings into the near post. Olympiakos clear. GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Olympiakos (Oxlade-Chamberlain 8) That’s a great goal from the 18-year-old making his debut in the Champions League. Running on to a through ball to the edge of the box, Oxlade-Chamberlain catches a break when the ball breaks off an Olympiakos defender and bounces back into his path, allowing him to stroke a diagonal shot into the bottom right-hand corner from 18 yards. 7 min: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ambles down the right flank with the ball at his feet, passing it square to Mikel Arteta before I’ve got to the hyphen in ‘Oxlade-Chamberlain’. 4 min: The first chance of note falls to Olympiakos, with Ljbomir Fejsa getting on the end of a cross to prod the ball wide of the upright from 10 yards when he should have at least hit the target and could probably be expected to have scored. 3 min: The camera cuts to Olympiakos goalkeeper Franco Costanzo. Sadly, he isn’t small, hunched, red-haired and wearing a cheap pullover under a cheap tweed jacket. 2 min: “Here’s a grievance,” writes Bruce Cooper. “Wenger never properly replaced Fabragas and Nasri despite knowing they were going to go all summer. Where is the Joey Barton shaped piece needed to hold together their crumbling puzzle. Serenity now, the Championship later.” 1 min: Arsenal kick off playing from left to right in an Emirates Stadium that looks fairly sparsely populated by its usual match-night standards. Not long now: To warm applause, a blushing bride and groom took their seats in the Emirates as the teams made their way out on to the pitch, with the bride wearing a long white dress, Arsenal’s players wearing their usual home kit of red and white shirts, white shorts and white socks, and Olympiakos’s in blue shirts, shorts and socks. How they’ll line up tonight: With Robin van Persie and Aaron Ramsey the surprise omissions from Arsenal’s line-up, they’ll play a 4-3-3 with Emmanuel Frimpong and skipper Tomas Rosicky on the left and right of Mikel Arteta in the midfield trio, while Andrei Arshavin and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will bookend Marouane Chamakh up front. Boasting former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg, scorer of the first ever goal at the Emirates Stadium, in their defence, Olympiakos will line up in a 4-2-3-1, with Ljubomir Fejsa and Pablo Orbaiz patrolling the space between the back four and a midfield trio of Kevin Mirallas and David Fuster on the left and right of Ariel Ibagiza, with Rafik Djebbour on his own up front. An email from Mark Coale: “I thought water bottles were on the Arsenal sideline just for Wenger to kick when he got angry and/or ejected,” he writes, forgetting that Mr Wenger will be watching tonight’s match from the directors’ box, as he sits out the second game of his two-match touchline ban. SERENITY NOW! No, your eyes don’t deceive you, the Olympiakos goalkeeper’s name really is Franco Costanzo. “Welcome, newcomers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it!” Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Song, Andre Santos, Frimpong, Arteta, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arshavin, Chamakh. Subs: Fabianski, Park, van Persie, Ramsey, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Coquelin. Olympiacos: Costanzo, Torosidis, Mellberg, Marcano, Holebas, Orbaiz, Fejsa, Ibagaza, David Fuster, Djebbour, Mirallas. Subs: Megyeri, Modesto, Pantelic, Papadopoulos, Makoun, Potouridis, Abdoun. Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) Preamble: With their recent 3-0 win against Bolton and the mild turmoil enveloping Manchester City having moved their team from the unforgiving focus of the Crisis Spotlight, Arsenal fans will tonight be hoping for a routine home win that will help steady a ship that spent the early part of the season listing in choppy, waters, like one of those trawlers you see on Deadliest Catch, but with a stubborn Frenchman gazing impassively from the wheelhouse, rather than a chippy Scottish cursing the cameras for forcing him to pretend his natural inclination is to put the safety of his crew over the prospect of landing a giant haul of cod. At the time of writing, no Arsenal players have refused to play in tonight’s match, while Arsène Wenger is understood to have banned his substitutes from wearing tracksuits or drinking from water-bottles so that anyone wishing to throw a showbiz hissy-fit will have nothing to fling to the ground in anger in order to show just how angry they really are. Having drawn with Borussia Dortmund in their opening Group F match, tonight Arsenal entertain Olympiakos, who began their Champions League campaign with defeat at the hands of Marseille. Eschewing this reporter’s perfectly adequate nautical metaphor in favour of a rail-related one of his own, Wenger has acknowledge that his side is “a train that left the station a bit late” and said they “cannot afford any more to drop our consistency”. In the Olympiakos camp, his opposite number Ernesto Valverde has been bigging up his team’s chances, saying the match is “going to be very difficult for us”, pointing out that Arsenal “have a lot of quality players with a great deal of experience” and pointing out that his side are “up against the toughest of opponents”. For Arsenal, Gervinho, Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott are among the lame and halt who miss out through injury, while Olympiakos players Giannis Fetfatzidis, Giannis Maniatis and Francisco Yeste have also been ruled out. Tune in around 7.15pm for more team news. Champions League 2011-12 Arsenal Olympiakos Champions League Barry Glendenning guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Nicolas Sarkozy ally accused of spying in latest scandal to hit re-election bid
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Prosecutor close to French president in court over allegations of spying on Le Monde journalists investigating Bettencourt scandal The threat to Nicolas Sarkozy’s re-election bid from corruption scandals intensified on Wednesday after a leading state prosecutor close to the president was summoned before judges over an alleged dirty tricks campaign to spy on journalists. Seven months before the presidential election, Sarkozy, who once promised to be Mr Squeaky Clean of French politics, has seen his close circle come under pressure in a series of corruption investigations whose plots thicken by the day. Investigators are untangling a web of scandals involving alleged illegal party-funding with banknotes variously stuffed into bags, briefcases and brown envelopes, as well as phone interceptions. As the beleaguered president unveiled his austerity budget on Wednesday, his government was waging a public relations war to try to dampen the talk of sleaze and to stress that Sarkozy himself had not been personally implicated. But with his closest allies being dragged into investigations, questions were being raised over Sarkozy’s role. Coupled with the humiliating political defeat of the senate falling to the left for the first time in more than 50 years, voices in Sarkozy’s own ruling party even began to question whether he was the best candidate to stand for the right in the 2012 presidential race. The latest scandal involves an alleged “cabinet noir”, or office of shady operations, at the highest reaches of the state after Le Monde complained that the secret services had spied on its journalists to uncover their sources. French state intelligence agencies are accused of illegally obtaining detailed phone records of every call and movement of Le Monde’s investigations editor Gérard Davet in order to uncover his source on a story about the Bettencourt affair – the family saga which exploded into a series of tax-evasion and illegal party funding scandals that were extremely damaging to the French right. The source of one story was uncovered as an official in the justice ministry and was swiftly demoted by the government and posted to French Guiana. Le Monde claims two other journalists’ phone records were illegally obtained. The episode was seen as an attempt by the highest echelons of the French state to lean on the media and its sources and scare them into silence. Opposition Socialists are demanding an independent commission examine whether the president’s circle used state intelligence agencies to try to limit the damage to the ruling right UMP party from the growing Bettencourt scandal. Le Monde reported on Wednesday that the magistrate and French state prosecutor, Philippe Courroye, seen as close to Sarkozy, was to be interviewed by a Paris judge as part of the investigation into the spying scandal. The paper said a judge had written to Courroye to summon him for questioning and warn him he could be charged in the case. If so, it would a first in French legal history. The case threatens to raise questions about the president’s influence over state prosecutors. Courroye issued a statement dismissing all allegations and saying he was outraged by the “calumny” against him. He has denied being too close to Sarkozy. The president decorated him with an honour in 2009 and announced they were friends. Two other key figures of Sarkozy’s circle, the head of the secret services, Bernard Squarcini, and chief of police, Frédéric Péchenard, are also to be summoned as witnesses by the judge investigating spying on journalists. The spying saga – described by one magazine editor as evidence of France’s “banana republic” – is the latest in a bewildering array of corruption investigations to hit the right. The Bettencourt affair continues to damage Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party. One inquiry is focused on whether Sarkozy or his party members took brown envelopes of cash from the billionaire L’Oréal shampoo heiress Liliane Bettencourt for illegal party funding. Bettencourt’s former accountant told Liberation on Wednesday that the elderly widow handed Sarkozy’s party treasurer 50,000 euros in cash five months before the 2007 presidential election. In another affair known as “Karachigate”, two of the president’s closest friends, including his best man at his marriage to Carla Bruni, have been charged by judges investigating alleged kickbacks on arms sales to Pakistan in the 1990s. Judges are examining whether kickbacks illegally funded the presidential campaign of Sarkozy’s mentor, former rightwing prime minister Édouard Balladur. The former interior minister Brice Hortefeux, Sarkozy’s oldest friend, faces a legal complaint for leaning on witnesses after he was recording calling one of Sarkozy’s allies who has been charged the Karachi case and warned him that his estranged wife had been “blabbing” too much to investigators. Hortefeux has counter-sued for defamation, denying the charges. The scandals facing Sarkozy The Bettencourt affair : An investigation into whether the billionaire L’Oréal heiress handed envelopes of cash to Sarkozy’s treasurer, party members or even Sarkozy himself to illegally fund his previous presidential campaign. Allegations that the Élysée leant on the judiciary to try to stifle the affair. Eric Woerth, Sarkozy’s treasurer and former budget minister, denies involvement. Karachigate : Allegations that kickbacks from French arms sales to Pakistan in the early 1990s secretly funded the failed presidential campaign of Sarkozy’s mentor Édouard Balladur. Sarkozy was his campaign spokesman. Sarkozy’s office said he had nothing to do with the case. The Lagarde-Tapie affair : Former finance minister Christine Lagarde is under investigation for a 285m euro arbitration deal in favour of the controversial tycoon and Sarkozy ally Bernard Tapie. Did Sarkozy order the deal and did he personally benefit? The government spokeswoman said justice should be allowed to take its course and the presumption of innocence respected. Briefcases of African cash : An Africa expert close to Sarkozy claimed the former president Jacques Chirac and his prime minister Dominique de Villepin received briefcases of banknotes from African leaders to fund party politics. Others suggest this practise continued under Sarkozy. The interior minister said allegations against Sarkozy were “scandalous”. Nicolas Sarkozy France French elections 2012 Europe Le Monde Angelique Chrisafis guardian.co.uk
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Great white shark sighted as 42-year-old man fights for life after reportedly losing parts of both legs at Fish Hoek in Cape Town A Briton has been attacked by a shark while swimming in South Africa, authorities said. The 42-year-old man is fighting for his life after the attack by a great white at Fish Hoek beach in Cape Town. Reports said the man, who is believed to live in the city, was rescued by a bystander after he ignored shark warnings to go swimming. National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesman Craig Lambinon told the South African Press Association (Sapa): “It appears he was rescued from the water by a bystander who left the scene before we could identify him. “On arrival, a 42-year-old man was found on the shore suffering complete amputation of his right leg, above the knee, and partial amputation of his left leg, below the knee.” Lambinon said the victim was believed to live in the suburb of Plumstead. He was stabilised at the scene and then airlifted to Constantiaberg medi-clinic in a critical condition. Lambinon added: “The man was conscious when paramedics attended to him on the beach, but was sedated on-scene by paramedics in their efforts to stabilise the patient.” The city of Cape Town told Sapa that, when the man entered the water, the beach was still closed. A shark flag, indicating the presence of a great white, was flying. A shark spotter stationed on the beach was warned by a spotter on the mountain that someone had entered the water. The spotter then ran to Clovelly Corner to try to get the swimmer out of the water, but the attack took place before he could reach him. Spotters had sighted the shark 90 minutes before the attack, and closed the beach. The white shark flag was raised and the siren set off. The victim of the attack was the only person in the water at the time. The beach, together with another three locally, was closed as a precaution until further notice. The shark was still in Fish Hoek Bay in the afternoon and being monitored by the spotters. South Africa Africa Marine life Wildlife guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Black Panther arrested in Portugal decades on from hijacking US flight
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Fingerprints on ID card lead police to hamlet where George Wright, 68, lived for years with Portuguese wife and children A 1970s militant who carried out one of the most brazen plane hijackings in the US lived for decades in a seaside hamlet in Portugal with his Portuguese wife and two children, neighbours have said. George Wright, 68, was taken into custody by local police on Monday at the request of the US government, which is seeking his extradition for escaping from a New Jersey jail after being convicted of murder. Wright was also named as one of the hijackers of a Delta flight in 1972. The Portuguese news agency Lusa, citing unnamed police sources, said that the former Black Liberation Army member plans to fight any extradition. During a court appearance on Tuesday in Lisbon, Wright asked to be released pending the outcome of the US extradition request, and his request is being reviewed by Portuguese judicial authorities, said a spokeswoman for the US justice department. Until his arrest, Wright was living in Almocageme, 28 miles west of Lisbon. Fluent in Portuguese, he had no apparent profession but worked a series of odd jobs, most recently as a nightclub bouncer, said two neighbours. Wright married a Portuguese woman, identified by neighbours as 55-year-old Maria do Rosario Valente, the daughter of a retired Portuguese army officer. The couple had two children, Marco and Sara do Rosario Valente, now in their early 20s, who used their mother’s last name when they registered for swim classes at the local pool. It was unclear how Wright ended up in Portugal or when he learned Portuguese, but his wife worked as an occasional translator. The couple lived in a small whitewashed house in Almocageme, which lies close to broad Atlantic beaches. Wright was convicted of the 1962 murder of petrol station owner Walter Patterson during a robbery at his business in Wall, New Jersey. Patterson’s daughter told AP she wants Wright sent back quickly to the US. “I’m so thankful that now there’s justice for daddy,” she said on Wednesday. “He never got any kind of justice.” Wright possessed a Portuguese identity card that said he was born in Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony in west Africa. A photocopy of the document, shown to AP, bore the name Jose Luis Jorge dos Santos, an alias that US officials said Wright used. The identity card puts his age as 68. It was issued in 1993 and expired in 2004. Neighbours estimated the family had been in the village for at least 20 years but said they did mix much with other residents. None of them witnessed Wright’s arrest. Ricardo Salvador, who works at a local petrol station, said Wright had business cards with his first name as George and many locals called him that. “He was a very nice guy,” Salvador said. “He used to wave as he drove past and I’d shout out, ‘Hey, George!’” Most locals questioned by the AP said they assumed Wright was African, not American. “I never imagined George was in trouble,” said Salvador, 30. A fingerprint on Wright’s Portuguese ID card was the break that led a US fugitive task force to him. He was arrested by Portuguese authorities and is being detained in Lisbon. The US embassy in Lisbon referred all questions to the FBI, declining comment about the case and Wright’s extradition. Eight years into his 15- to 30-year prison term, Wright and three other men escaped from the Bayside state prison farm in Leesburg, New Jersey, in August 1970. The FBI said Wright became affiliated with an underground militant group, the Black Liberation Army, and lived in a “communal family” with several of its members in Detroit. In 1972, Wright dressed as a priest and using an alias hijacked a Delta flight from Detroit to Miami with four other BLA members and three children, including Wright’s companion and their two-year-old daughter. The other hijackers were not the men Wright escaped from prison with. The hijackers identified themselves to the Delta aeroplane passengers as a Black Panther group. After releasing the 86 other passengers in exchange for a $1m ransom delivered by an FBI agent wearing only swimming trunks the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Boston. There an international navigator was taken aboard, and the plane was flown to Algeria, where the hijackers sought asylum. The group was taken in by American writer and activist Eldridge Cleaver, who had been permitted by Algeria’s Socialist government to open an office of the Black Panther movement in that country in 1970. The Algerian president at the time professed sympathy for what he saw as worldwide liberation struggles. At the request of the American government, Algerian officials returned the plane and the money to the US. They then briefly detained the hijackers before allowing them to stay. The hijackers movements were restricted in Algeria, however, and the president ignored their calls for asylum and requests to return the ransom money to them. The group eventually made its way to France, where Wright’s associates were tracked down, arrested, tried and convicted in Paris in 1976. France, however, refused to extradite them to the US, where they would have faced longer sentences. Wright alone remained at large, and his capture was among the top priorities when the New York-New Jersey Fugitive Task Force was formed in 2002, according to Michael Schroeder, a spokesman for the US marshals service, who worked with New Jersey’s FBI and other agencies on the task force. The New Jersey department of corrections brought along all its old escape cases when the task force began operating, Schroeder said, and investigators started the case anew. They reviewed reports from the 1970s, interviewed Wright’s victims and the pilots of the plane he hijacked. An address in Portugal was one of several on a list of places they wanted to check out, but Schroeder said there was nothing special about it. “It was another box to get checked, so to speak,” he said. That changed last week, when details started falling into place with the help of Portuguese authorities. “They have a national ID registry,” Schroeder said. “They pulled that. That confirmed his print matched the prints with the DOC. The sketch matched the picture on his ID card.” By the weekend, US authorities were on a plane to Portugal. And on Monday, Portuguese police staking out Wright’s home found him there. United States Portugal Europe guardian.co.uk
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Yemenis demand removal of after Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sana’a, while opposition tribesmen say they shot down a warplane Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested in Sana’a on Wednesday over President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s return from Saudi Arabia, while opposition tribesmen said they had shot down a warplane outside the capital and captured its pilot. Waving flags and making peace signs, protesters fearing renewed deadlock after months of demonstrations marched out of area known as Change Square shouting “death, death”. “The point is, if we can’t live a decent and dignified life, we’d rather die,” said Khaled al-Mandi. Yemeni protesters say they are fed up with grinding poverty, corruption and lawlessness in a country where two in three people have to survive on less than $2 per day. Saleh’s return has infuriated many Yemenis who thought they had seen the last of him when an attempt on his life in June forced him to fly to neighbouring Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, but he defied the odds on Friday by landing in Sana’a “carrying the dove of peace and the olive branch”. Before his return, protesters trying to expand their ramshackle camp in Sana’a were caught up in a battle between Saleh’s forces and soldiers loyal to a dissident general. At least 100 people, mainly protesters, were killed. While violence has dipped since Saleh came back, tensions are still high and many fear the lull will eventually give way to an even bloodier confrontation, if not all-out civil war. Organisers were trying on Tuesday to build up the numbers of demonstrators by planning less risky routes through the capital after the violence that had kept some off the streets. Saudi Arabia and the United States supported Saleh in the past to contain an active al-Qaida wing that has taken root in Yemen, but growing lawlessness is fanning fears of a civil war that could shake one of the world’s top oil-producing regions. Gulf nations seeking to broker a power transition have been exasperated by Saleh’s repeated last-minute refusals to sign agreed deals. Saleh is now opposed by former allies such as Ali Mohsen, a powerful general, and the influential al-Ahmar family that heads his own Hashid tribal federation. “We don’t accept any political deals. After all the bloodshed, that option is gone,” said Hazim, a 21-year-old protester. “We are struggling to survive, but the Yemeni people are like the ocean and you can’t fight the ocean.” Salah Sharfi, a student, said he was ready to die for the sake of future generations. “We don’t want to die, but if we must to make the country free, we will not hesitate.” He had turned off his phone so his mother would not know where he was. Outside Sana’a, tribesmen shot down a warplane and captured its pilot in the mountainous region of Naham, where the airforce was bombing armed opposition tribesmen, a tribal source said. A military official said the plane, a Russian-made Sukhoi fighter, had been brought down while conducting a routine mission. The tribal source said tribesmen had attacked the plane with anti-aircraft weapons and detained the pilot who had survived. Earlier this week an army general and three tribesmen were killed in fighting at a military base in Naham. Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Protest guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Phone hacking: second NoW journalist takes News International to tribunal
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Former assistant editor Ian Edmondson is taking publisher to employment tribunal claiming unfair dismissal A second journalist at the heart of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is taking Rupert Murdoch’s News International to an employment tribunal, claiming unfair dismissal. Ian Edmondson filed his suit in April, but the case has only come to light in the wake of revelations that the paper’s former chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, is also taking News International to an employment tribunal , claiming he was unfairly sacked. However, unlike Thurlbeck, Edmondson is not claiming he was a whistle-blower and therefore should not have been sacked because he disclosed wrong-doing on the paper. Edmondson was sacked in January this year after he was named by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire as the person who asked him to hack into the mobile phone of football agent Sky Andrew. As the former assistant editor (news) of the Sunday tabloid, he was one of the most senior journalists on the paper. It is thought that Thurlbeck was only sacked this month. Because he is a whistle-blower’s defence, his case is expedited through the system, with a preliminary employment tribunal hearing in East London on Friday. News International said it would “vigorously contest” both cases. Thurlbeck was arrested in April on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages but remained on the payroll of the paper until recently. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Lisa O’Carroll guardian.co.uk
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Terrorist organisation magazine reportedly cites as ‘ridiculous’ Iran president’s blaming of US behind 2001 attacks Al-Qaida has sent a message to the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asking him to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. Iranian media on Wednesday reported quotes from what appears to be an article published in the latest issue of the al-Qaida English language magazine, Inspire, which described Ahmadinejad’s remarks over the 11 September attacks as “ridiculous”. In his UN general assembly speech last week, Ahmadinejad cast doubt over the official version of the 2001 attacks. “The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al-Qaida was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government,” the article said, according to Iranian media. “So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?” Ahmadinejad said in New York that the “mysterious September 11 incident” had been used as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq. He had also previously expressed scepticism at the US version of events. “By using their imperialistic media network which is under the influence of colonialism, they threaten anyone who questions the Holocaust and the September 11 event with sanctions and military actions,” said Ahmadinejad. The al-Qaida article insisted it had been behind the attacks and criticised the Iranian president for discrediting the terrorist group. “For them, al-Qaida was a competitor for the hearts and minds of the disenfranchised Muslims around the world,” said the article published in the Inspire magazine. “Al-Qaida … succeeded in what Iran couldn’t. Therefore it was necessary for the Iranians to discredit 9/11 and what better way to do so? Conspiracy theories.” Al-Qaida also accused Iran of hypocrisy over its “anti-Americanism”. The article said: “For Iran, anti-Americanism is merely a game of politics. It is anti-America when it suits it and it is a collaborator with the US when it suits it, as we have seen in the shameful assistance Iran gave to the US in its invasion of Afghanistan and in the Shia of Iraq, backed by Iran, bringing the American forces into the country and welcoming them with open arms.” During his visit to New York, Ahmadinejad also changed his position on gay people in Iran. He had previously famously said: “We don’t have homosexuals [in Iran] like you do in your country. This does not exist in our country.” But according to the American news website the Daily Beast , in a meeting with a number of journalists last week, he said: “In Iran, homosexuality is seen as an ugly act … There may be some people who are homosexuals who are in touch with you. But in Iranian society they’re ashamed to announce it so they’re not known. This is an act against God and his prophets. But we as the government can’t go out and stop people.” al-Qaida Global terrorism Iran Middle East Mahmoud Ahmadinejad September 11 2001 United States US national security Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
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Online retailer unveils its new Kindle Fire tablet computer, expected to be the biggest challenge yet to Apple’s iPad Amazon has unveiled its long-awaited tablet computer – the Kindle Fire – in what is expected to be the biggest challenge yet to the dominance of Apple’s iPad. The online retail giant showcased its 7in colour screen tablet computer in New York on Wednesday, with a retail price less than half that of Apple’s best-selling device. However, the iPad has a larger screen at 9.7in. The Kindle Fire, which is based on Google’s Android software, will retail for $199 (£127), compared to the cheapest iPad at $499. Unlike the iPad 2 and many other tablet devices, the Kindle Fire does not have a camera or mobile internet access. Amazon also announced a new Kindle model with a touchscreen, very close to the design of the latest Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader. The Kindle Touch has a black-and-white screen, consistent with current Kindle models, and will cost $99. The non-touchscreen Kindle will cost $79, and a touchscreen Kindle with 3G internet access will cost $149. Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, will aim to replicate the success enjoyed by its Kindle e-reader, which is the online retailer’s best-selling product. Expectations are high for Amazon’s device. Forrester research estimates that the Kindle Fire will sell between 3m and 5m units in its first year, compared to 9.3m iPads sold between April and June. The Kindle Fire comes with a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, the company’s premium membership service that will allow users to stream videos and free delivery of goods bought via Amazon. The Kindle Fire will ship in the US from 15 November and the Touch from 21 November. No UK release dates have been announced, and Amazon did not return a request for comment. Amazon is the second largest retailer of digital music in the US, behind Apple, and the Kindle Fire is aimed at streamlining the sale of music, and also magazines and movies. Amazon dominates the e-reader market with around a 50% share and sold about 3m Kindles in the fourth quarter of 2010 , according to figures from research company IDC, but has never released any formal sales figures for the device with the black-and-white screen. Kindle Fire Amazon.com Internet E-commerce Kindle E-readers Tablet computers Computing iPad Apple Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media If you needed yet more evidence of how desperate Republicans are for a savior next year you only had to watch the worshipful embrace of Gov. Christie tonight at the Reagan Library. After his speech no less than three of the five questions he took were from audience members imploring him to reconsider and enter his name for the Republican presidential nomination. “Your country needs you!” (to run for president), said one lady, beseechingly. And with rapturous applause, the audience rose as one for yet another standing ovation. All a bit surreal to watch.
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