Unrest continues in Yemen as civil war draws closer, while the fate of the Bahrain grand prix will be decided at a meeting of Formula 1′s governing body. Follow live updates here 12.42pm: Fawaz al-Khalifa is the Bahraini government official who appears to have broken the news – via Twitter. @fawaz_alkhalifa Mabrook, Bahrain will host f1.. Al-Khalifa has since tweeted saying that FIA are now “finalising [the] date”. 12.32pm: A Bahraini government official has said that the Bahrain grand prix will go ahead. More as we get it. 12.07pm: The Independent has an enlightening piece on how some Bahrain grand prix staff have been detained and mistreated . In the run up to the decision on Formula One, police patrols have sought to prevent any demonstrations and controversial trials of pro-democracy protesters have been postponed. Ayat al-Gormezi, the 20-year-old girl poet, who was to be tried by a military tribunal on a charge of stirring up hatred and insulting the King, has had her trial put off until 6 June. Of the 108 local staff of the government-owned Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), which hosts Formula One, some 28 were detained and mistreated according to a source in Bahrain close to the event. All of those arrested are Shia and have since been sacked. Five of these are still in prison including the chief financial officer Jaafar Almansoor, an employee of BIC told Reuters news agency. “They made us beat and kick each other,” said the employee, who did not want to be named, describing their 20 days in detention. “They said they’d rape us. They tried to touch you in various places to make you think it’s going to happen.” The prisoners were insulted for being Shia and, on being released, were told not to talk to the media. This morning Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights holder, said that a decision on whether to reschedule the postponed grand prix will have “nothing to do with money” . 11.56am: Yemeni security forces have shelled the Sana’a home of tribal leader Hamid al-Ahmar, Reuters is reporting. Jeb Boone, a freelance journalist based in Yemen, appears to have been close to the scene as it happened. He tweeted: @JebBoone Just said hi to an RPG on Hadda street by Hamid al-Ahmar’s house. #Yemen #YF Before adding: @JebBoone Thanks to a stunt driver cabbie, I made it out of Hadda. Its pretty bad up by Hamid’s house. #Yemen #YF 11.45am: Elsewhere, Vodafone’s claims that it helped inspire this year’s revolution in the Egypt (in fact it joined other mobile phone companies in following Egyptian government orders and implementing a communications blackout at the height of the revolution ) is not going down well – read Jack Shenker’s story on the saga here . (And here’s the advert in question ): – 11.33am: Associated Press reporting that Bahraini police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters marching toward Pearl Square in the country’s capital. The downtown square was the epicenter of weeks of Shiite-led protests against Sunni rulers earlier this year in the Gulf kingdom. Friday’s march in Manama comes two days after authorities lifted emergency rule. It was imposed in March to quell demonstrations by Bahrain’s Shiite majority demanding greater freedoms and inspired by uprisings across the Arab world. At least 30 people have died since February, when protests erupted in the tiny island nation, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The eyewitnesses spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. 11.26am: The bodies of 150 African refugees have been recovered off the Tunisian coast after the vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty earlier in the week, according to a UN official earlier we heard 250 people were believed to be missing. 11.12am: Protests are planned in Syria today to mark “children’s Friday”, in memory of Hamza al-Khatib , a 13-year-old boy who was killed in the Deraa area and whose battered and mutilated corpse has become a rallying-point for anger at the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Ian Black wrote yesterday . Ammar Qurabi, head of the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, referred to the names of 1,113 civilians killed since the protests erupted on 18 March. International media are banned by a government which talks of facing “armed terrorist gangs” not largely peaceful protests. Although media are banned, it is possible to get some reports from the country. The Guardian has been told that the internet is not working “anywhere in the country” today – previously the al-Assad regime has attempted to block web access. 10.41am: The Times has an interesting piece today from Iona Criag in Sana’a, about water running out in the Yemeni capital ( paywall ). The price of water trebled overnight in Yemen’s battle-scarred capital and basic provisions were dwindling as thousands of tribesmen fought their way into Sana’a yesterday to join the rebellion against President Saleh… … Amid the ancient tower houses of Sana’a’s Old City, men, women and children rushed to a water tanker when it arrived outside a mosque yesterday. Tensions rose as residents jostled to fill cans and plastic containers. The cost of a water tanker delivery, usually 1,300 Yemeni rials (£3.50), soared to 7,000 amid the escalating conflict. With 40 per cent of Yemen’s 23 million people living on less than £1.50 a day, the prices will inevitable add to the cycle of violence. “They spend their money on bullets, but I can’t even afford water for my family,” shouted one desperate resident as he waited for his can to fill from a communal water tanker. Yemen already has really bad problems with water, with the wells of Sana’a expected to run dry by 2015 – check out this audio slideshow , produced before the Middle East unrest, on the water crisis in the country. 10.31am: Reuters reports that forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh have fired at protesters in Sana’a this morning. In other parts of the capital, tribesmen siding with the protesters have fought pitched street battles with Saleh’s troops, including his special forces which were set up to fight al Qaeda, for control of government buildings. More than 350 people have been killed since the uprising started in January, but least 135 of them have been killed in the past 10 days in a marked escalation that began when tribal groups started fighting government troops in the capital Sana’a. Worries are growing that Yemen, home to a branch of al-Qaeda known as AQAP and next to the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, could implode and become a failed state that poses a risk to global oil supplies and security. Political veteran Saleh has backed away three times at the last minute from signing a Gulf-led deal to step down, clinging to power despite global pressure to resign and the defection of ministers and military leaders to the opposition. “But even if the president would agree, and so far he has shown no intention, one could not ensure the transition to go smoothly given that there are so many risks involved,” said Christian Koch, director of international studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. Saleh’s special forces were deployed to help “clean up” a ministry held by tribal forces, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, as battles near the airport briefly grounded flights. 10.15am: Good morning. • The US is increasing its efforts to persuade Yemen’s veteran president to step down before escalating fighting between the government and tribal rebels develops into civil war, Ian Black writes . Reports from Sana’a said Saleh’s forces were deploying heavy weapons at the entrance to the city to prevent the advance of rebels loyal to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, chief of the Hashid tribal federation, the country’s largest. At least 135 people have been killed in the last 10 days. • About 250 people are feared to have drowned after their attempt to flee the violence in Libya apparently ended in tragedy off the Tunisian coast, says John Hooper . Coastguards and military personnel are reported to have saved at least 570 people, all from sub-Saharan Africa, during a rescue operation in rough seas and shallow waters off the Kerkennah islands east of the Tunisian coast. • Formula 1′s governing body will meet today to decide the fate of the Bahrain grand prix. Bahrain had been due to host the opening race of the 2011 season but it was called off amid unrest in the country. Organisers have asked for the race to be rescheduled, although some have called for it to be cancelled. Follow live updates from across the region here. Middle East Yemen Bahrain Syria Tunisia Morocco Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
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Bosnian Serb commander says genocide claims are ‘monstrous’ while exchanging gestures and looks with victims’ families Ratko Mladic has made a defiant first appearance at the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague, describing the charges of genocide against him as “obnoxious” and “monstrous” and taunting victims of the massacre he is accused of committing at Srebrenica. The 69-year-old former commander of the Bosnian Serb army appeared just after 10am in the special court on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. He wore a grey suit and grey cap and saluted the public gallery and the judge. Mladic was asked if he wanted to hear the full indictment against him. He told the presiding judge, Alphons Orie: “I do not want to hear a single letter or sentence of that indictment read out to me.” The judge ignored him and read a summary of 11 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. The charges relate to the massacre at Srebrenica, where more than 7,000 Bosnian Serb men and boys were killed by Mladic’s forces ; the shelling and sniping operation against Sarajevo; wider ethnic cleansing in the region; and taking hostage 200 UN peacekeepers and military observers to use as human shields. Asked if he wanted to plead guilty or not guilty or postpone his decision for 30 days, as allowed by the court, Mladic said: “Mr Orie, you are a bit older than I am. I would like to receive what you have read out just now, these obnoxious charges levelled against me. I want to read this properly and give it proper thought together with my lawyers because I need more than a month because these are monstrous words that I have never heard before, the words that are in this indictment.” His comments caused some consternation in the public gallery among the victims’ families, sitting in the second and third rows of the public gallery, who do not want the trial delayed. During the hearing Mladic made eye contact on several occasions with this group. After the indictment was read out he looked across at Kada Hotic, an elderly Bosnian Muslim woman who lost her son, husband and two brothers at Srebrenica. During an exchange through the glass he could be seen waving his finger at her and smiling. She wagged her finger at him too. She said he made a gesture to her with his thumb and forefinger indicating that she was small. Mladic could not have heard her and she could not hear him. “I looked through the glass and said to him I want you to know that you murdered my only son,” she said after the hearing concluded. On another occasion, as the judge addressed Mladic about procedures, he smiled and nodded to the group of victims and their families. One of them, Bakira Hascic, had been raped by Bosnian Serb forces and in total lost 27 members of her extended family. Another, Munira Subusic, lost 22 members of her family, including her youngest son, whose remains have never been found. At the end of the hearing they shouted “butcher” at him in Bosnian. Orie asked if Mladic had any points to make about his current conditions. Mladic took the opportunity to give the world a preview of what his defence might be. “I do not fear any journalist, any people, any nation, people or ethnicity,” he said. “I defended my people and my country, not Ratko Mladic. Now I am defending myself, Ratko Mladic, before you … I am Ratko Mladic, I did not kill Croats as Croats, and I am not killing anyone in Libya or in Africa … I was just defending my country.” He said he did not know how long the trial would last. “I just want to live to see that I am a free man.” Mladic struggled to stand up and had to be helped by two court security officers, but otherwise he appeared in better health than might have been expected given that his lawyer in Serbia had indicated he might not survive the trial. Movement in his right hand appeared to be inhibited and his speech was slightly slurred, but he seemed alert and responsive, jutting out his jaw, tipping his head back and once waving his fist while addressing the judge. He appeared keen to seem in command of events and at one point called for a time out using his arms to make a T-shape as if he was a basketball coach. The judge set a date for a second appearance at 10am on 4 July and told Mladic he would be returned to UN custody until then. Ratko Mladic Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe Serbia War crimes International criminal court Robert Booth guardian.co.uk
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Rihanna defends new music video; Lindsay Lohan’s monitoring bracelet malfunctions; ‘Glee’ star Jane Lynch chosen to host Emmy Awards. (June 3)
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Fatty internal optical drives have so far been content to sit back and watch their external cousins do all the figure-slimming push-ups. But this low-profile 5.25-inch slot-loader clearly got bored of being XXL. It was spotted eating carrot sticks and taking up significantly less than its allotted bay space inside an Antec Solo II chasis at Computex . According to AnandTech , it represents a new industry standard that will start hitting the market by the end of the year — along with new cases designed to hold it. Slot-loaders may not appeal to everyone, but if you’re in the market to buy or build a small form factor PC then this baby might just turn your head. Slimmer 5.25-inch internal optical drive gets wolf-whistled at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Supermodel said she was ‘shocked’ by campaign comparing her to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar Confectionery giant Cadbury is to issue a formal apology to Naomi Campbell after the supermodel claimed an advert comparing her to one of its chocolate bars was racist. The advert for Cadbury’s Bliss range of Dairy Milk chocolate bars used the strapline “Move over Naomi, there’s a new diva in town”. Campbell said she was “shocked” by the ad, intended as a tongue-in-cheek play on Campbell’s reputation for diva-style tantrums and behaviour. “It’s upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me but for all black women and black people,” she said. “I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful.” Cadbury is expected to publish a statement on its UK website today in an attempt to draw a line under the row. Campaigning group Operation Black vote called the ad an “insult” to black women , while the supermodel’s mother Valerie said she was “deeply upset by this racist advert” . “This is the 21st century, not the 1950s,” she added. “Shame on Cadbury.” The ad was one of 15 developed by Fallon, the agency behind Cadbury’s famous drumming gorilla TV campaign . Cadbury, now part of the Kraft empire, pulled the ads and initially issued a statement saying it was “never our intention to cause offence” and it had positioned the campaign as a “light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss”. However pressure has continued to mount on Cadbury for not issuing a full formal apology to Campbell . A spokeswoman for Cadbury confirmed that a statement would be published on its website today. •
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But acquittals raise new questions about Babar Ahmad case because Met has already paid him £60,000 damages Four specialist police officers have been found not guilty of violently assaulting a British Muslim man during an early morning raid on his home. Babar Ahmad, 34, a terrorism suspect who remains in detention, had claimed he was punched, kicked and strangled by officers from one of the Met’s territorial support units during an arrest at his home in December 2003. But a jury at Southwark crown court has found police constables Mark Jones, Roderick James-Bowen and Nigel Cowley and detective constable John Donohue not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The acquittals follow a civil case in 2009 in which the Met conceded Ahmad had been the subject of a “a serious, gratuitous and prolonged” attack – and paid him £60,000 in damages. The jury in the trial was not told about the civil case and the not guilty verdicts will put further pressure on the Met to explain exactly what happened during the arrest. Ahmad was arrested at his home in south-west London in December 2003. He claimed officers had stamped on his feet and repeatedly punched him in the head before he was forced into the Muslim prayer position while they shouted: “Where is your God now? Pray to him.” But during the trial officers denied the claims, saying Ahmad had battled like a “caged tiger” during his arrest, which came 11 months after detective constable Stephen Oake was murdered in Crumpsall, Manchester, by a terrorist suspect named Kamel Bourgass. On the morning of the operation police chiefs had briefed the arresting officers that Ahmad should be considered as dangerous as Bourgass. They said they feared he would resist. James-Bowen was the first officer into Ahmad’s bedroom and told the court the terrorist suspect had adopted a “fighting stance” and looked around for a samurai sword. Barrister Richard Atchley, acting for James-Bowen, said Ahmad had fought like a “caged tiger” during his arrest. Neil Saunders, representing Jones, said Ahmad’s account of the events of his arrest was a lie because his key allegations did not tally with a recording made by an MI5 bug that had been hidden in his home. He said the recording, played to the jury, did not include any screams of agony and that no officers could be heard mocking Ahmad’s faith by forcing him into a Muslim prayer position and asking: “Where is your God now?” During the trial Ahmad admitted travelling to Bosnia three or four times to fight during the bloody 1992-1995 war but insisted he was not the “al-Qaida superman” he was described as at the police briefing. The conclusion of the case means it is possible to report that two of the officers found not guilty – Jones and James-Bowen – had 40 separate allegations of assault against them between 1993 and 2007, the majority involving black or Asian men. The Met said that all the allegations of assault against Jones and James-Bowen had been found to be unsubstantiated following inquiries. They included a complaint from a man detained during a drug search in 2007 who, Ahmad’s lawyers told the high court, accused Jones of forcing him into the back of a TSG van before placing him on his knees, grabbing his throat and spraying teargas into his face. In another incident a “black male” arrested for non-payment of fines and driving without a licence or insurance claimed he was assaulted by Jones and another officer. The document submitted to the high court read: “In van repeatedly assaulted – kicks to the face, stamps on his head whilst handcuffed.” The victim said afterwards he “felt like he might die” and complained of “vomiting and blood coming out of his ears, black swollen eye, lip busted hands very swollen”. In a separate case Jones was acquitted following a trial of racially assaulting two teenage boys who had accused him of taking them into the back of a police van and shouting abuse about their ethnic backgrounds in front of his colleagues. The Independent Police Complaints Commission supervised an investigation into Ahmad’s arrest carried out by the Met but no officer was disciplined as a result. Asked about the string of allegations against the officers involved, the Met said that all but one had been found to be unsubstantiated following inquiries. During the civil hearing police said they had lost several large mail sacks detailing at least 30 of the complaints against officers involved in the attack. It also emerged that other crucial documents had been mislaid, including the officers’ contemporaneous notebooks and a taped recording of an interview with the senior officer in the case. The Met is expected to publish findings of a review into the case shortly and will carry out a misconduct hearing into the allegations surrounding the arrest. Ahmad has been in detention since he was rearrested in 2004 after a request from the US government over claims that he helped raise money to fund terrorist campaigns. Metropolitan police Police UK security and terrorism Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk
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From the tackle box to the hair salon, fly fishing shops across the country are seeing fly fishing feathers disappear amid a hair extension craze. (June 3)
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Residents near the swollen Missouri River who live in South Dakota’s capital and across the water are hoping levees and thousands of sandbags will protect their homes. (June 3)
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For most, deciding to separate is no easy feat, especially if children are involved. The process of making this tremendous decision is usually predicated by months or even years of therapy, soul searching, self doubt and anxiety. Typically, this agonizing process of deciding whether to split up takes place in private. Perhaps a few close friends, family members or a therapist know that the couple is struggling. But, for the most part, the couple usually presents to the outside world as if it’s all good (or good enough) on the marriage front. One of the biggest concerns that I hear about as a therapist relates to how one’s community will respond if a couple decides to divorce. A forty year old mother of two worries: Our neighborhood friends are central to our lives. I worry constantly about what our community will think. How will they respond? Will our children be ostracized? As a woman who wants to leave, I fear I am defying a stereotype and will be forever rejected by our friends. This fear alone has kept me in a miserable marriage for longer than I want to admit. Her concerns are surprisingly common, and well-founded. Friendships do change following a divorce, and both adults and children are impacted by these changes. And yet, when unhappily married couples finally separate, something interesting and unexpected tends to happen. I call it divorce’s “out of the woodwork” phenomenon in which closeted unhappily married friends who have been pretending to be happily married come of the woodwork and want to talk. A forty five year old father of four sums it up perfectly: It’s crazy. I thought everyone I knew was happily married. So much so that I hated the idea of being the odd one out almost as much as I hated the idea of divorcing. The response of family and friends was one of my biggest fears. Yes, it’s been incredibly difficult. But never in a million years did I expect so many secretly unhappily married people to reach out to me to try to get information about what a separation is really like. I’m like the newly appointed ambassador of a secret society. Divorce’s “out of the woodwork” phenomenon is relevant for a couple of reasons: It demonstrates how taboo divorce remains in our society. (Maybe this is why the Divorce section of Huffington Post is so popular — it gives those who are divorced, divorcing, or considering a divorce a place to go. It provides an open forum on a taboo topic that was almost non-existent before its creation.) If more couples debating the question of a separation knew how many others were likely to reach out to them to discuss their marriages, it might help people feel less isolated or alone. It might help others worry less about what others might think and free up more energy to focus more on the inner workings of their marriage and whether it is salvageable. My advice? If you are struggling with the question of whether to separate, try to keep your concerns about what others might think to a minimum. Obviously, none of us can operate in total isolation from others, but what matters most is you, your spouse, your children, and what, if anything can possibly be done to save your marriage. If it is not salvageable, people you would never expect are going to come out of the woodwork, applaud your choice, and want to hear all about it. (Some of these people will get on your nerves, others will be comforting.) Some friends and family members will come through for you in ways above and beyond your expectations. Others in your community will not be able to handle the fact that you are divorcing, and they will pull away. This is likely more about them than it is about you. Perhaps your experience brings up memories for them of their own parents’ divorce. Or maybe it brings up feelings about the vulnerability of their own marriage. Or maybe they just need some time to adjust. Even if it hurts, it is quite possible that they will come around. If not, it is ultimately worth knowing who your true friends really are. Elisabeth Joy LaMotte’s book, Overcoming Your Parents’ Divorce: 5 Steps to a Happy Relationship, was a finalist in the 2008 National Best Book Awards in the Relationship category.
Continue reading …Political figures’ favourite works from the Government Art Collection – in pictures
June 3, 2011 No Comment
From Nick Clegg to Samantha Cameron, political figures have picked their favourite works from the Government Art Collection for a new exhibition. But what do their choices reveal about them? Jonathan Jones
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