The man most Libyans now call ‘the tyrant’ or ‘the fugitive’ may be sheltered by Tuareg tribesmen near the town of Ghadamis Muammar Gaddafi could be hiding near a picturesque town on Libya’s borders with Algeria and Tunisia, sheltered by Tuareg tribesmen who are in his pay, according to officials of the country’s western-backed rebel leadership. They said the man most Libyans now call “the tyrant” or “the fugitive” may have been near Ghadamis, a Unesco world heritage site famous for its oasis, walled old town and largely Berber population. Evidence of his presence apparently emerged after an attack at the Algerian border last weekend killed at least nine rebels, though there is suspicion this may have been a diversion to let Gaddafi flee. Gaddafi was last seen in Tripoli a few days after the Nato-backed uprising on 20 August. Witnesses spotted him at an army base with his daughter Aisha, who arrived in Algeria the following day with her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed, their mother, Safia, and other relatives. Saadi, another son, fled to Niger with other senior regime figures. Hisham Buhagiar, coordinator of the hunt for Gaddafi, revealed the deposed leader had been in the southern town of Samnu a week ago, before moving to Ghadamis, 350 miles south-west of Tripoli. “There has been a fight between Tuareg tribesmen who are loyal to Gaddafi and Arabs living there [in the south],” Buhagiar told Reuters. “We are negotiating. The Gaddafi search is taking a different course.” Libyan military sources say that Tuaregs, nomads who live in the Sahara in Libya, Algeria and Mali, support Gaddafi because he is paying them generously. Colonel Ahmed Bani, military spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council, told reporters that he could not be certain of Gaddafi’s whereabouts. But he confirmed that Gaddafi’s son Mutasim, his national security adviser, was still in the coastal city of Sirte, where heavy fighting is continuing. The better-known Saif al-Islam is in Bani Walid, south of Tripoli, where there is a stalemate, and where a senior rebel commander was killed on Wednesday. A phone call between the two was intercepted by the NTC at the weekend. “Gaddafi’s location is a riddle,” Bani said. “But this does not worry us. What we worry about is the complete liberation of Libya. After that we will do our best to hunt down this bloody man. He will be found wherever he is.” But there is scepticism about reports about Gaddafi. “It’s propaganda,” said one Tripoli analyst. “He spent 42 years fooling people and he’s doing the same now.” The hunt for Gaddafi is also causing tensions with Libya’s neighbours, though Algeria this week warned Aisha Gaddafi to stop making statements to a Damascus-based TV channel, al-Rai which has also broadcast defiant words from her father. Rebel activists plan to demonstrate in Tripoli on Thursday to protest against the “hostile attitudes” of Algeria and Niger, as well as Syria, where Bashar al-Assad’s regime seems bent on crushing protests that have already killed 2,700 people. Tunisia said last week it had detained Gaddafi’s last prime minister after he entered the country illegally and sentenced him to six months in prison. But it emerged on Tuesday that Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi has been freed – despite demands that he be handed over to the authorities in Tripoli. It was reported from Belarus, meanwhile, that a military plane from Libya landed in Minsk on Monday with 15 people on board. It was immediately moved into a hangar. The Belorusski Partizan said it was met by diplomats and intelligence officials, fuelling rumours that Gaddafi and his family were on the aircraft. Muammar Gaddafi Algeria Libya Middle East Africa Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The man most Libyans now call ‘the tyrant’ or ‘the fugitive’ may be sheltered by Tuareg tribesmen near the town of Ghadamis Muammar Gaddafi could be hiding near a picturesque town on Libya’s borders with Algeria and Tunisia, sheltered by Tuareg tribesmen who are in his pay, according to officials of the country’s western-backed rebel leadership. They said the man most Libyans now call “the tyrant” or “the fugitive” may have been near Ghadamis, a Unesco world heritage site famous for its oasis, walled old town and largely Berber population. Evidence of his presence apparently emerged after an attack at the Algerian border last weekend killed at least nine rebels, though there is suspicion this may have been a diversion to let Gaddafi flee. Gaddafi was last seen in Tripoli a few days after the Nato-backed uprising on 20 August. Witnesses spotted him at an army base with his daughter Aisha, who arrived in Algeria the following day with her brothers Hannibal and Mohammed, their mother, Safia, and other relatives. Saadi, another son, fled to Niger with other senior regime figures. Hisham Buhagiar, coordinator of the hunt for Gaddafi, revealed the deposed leader had been in the southern town of Samnu a week ago, before moving to Ghadamis, 350 miles south-west of Tripoli. “There has been a fight between Tuareg tribesmen who are loyal to Gaddafi and Arabs living there [in the south],” Buhagiar told Reuters. “We are negotiating. The Gaddafi search is taking a different course.” Libyan military sources say that Tuaregs, nomads who live in the Sahara in Libya, Algeria and Mali, support Gaddafi because he is paying them generously. Colonel Ahmed Bani, military spokesman for the ruling National Transitional Council, told reporters that he could not be certain of Gaddafi’s whereabouts. But he confirmed that Gaddafi’s son Mutasim, his national security adviser, was still in the coastal city of Sirte, where heavy fighting is continuing. The better-known Saif al-Islam is in Bani Walid, south of Tripoli, where there is a stalemate, and where a senior rebel commander was killed on Wednesday. A phone call between the two was intercepted by the NTC at the weekend. “Gaddafi’s location is a riddle,” Bani said. “But this does not worry us. What we worry about is the complete liberation of Libya. After that we will do our best to hunt down this bloody man. He will be found wherever he is.” But there is scepticism about reports about Gaddafi. “It’s propaganda,” said one Tripoli analyst. “He spent 42 years fooling people and he’s doing the same now.” The hunt for Gaddafi is also causing tensions with Libya’s neighbours, though Algeria this week warned Aisha Gaddafi to stop making statements to a Damascus-based TV channel, al-Rai which has also broadcast defiant words from her father. Rebel activists plan to demonstrate in Tripoli on Thursday to protest against the “hostile attitudes” of Algeria and Niger, as well as Syria, where Bashar al-Assad’s regime seems bent on crushing protests that have already killed 2,700 people. Tunisia said last week it had detained Gaddafi’s last prime minister after he entered the country illegally and sentenced him to six months in prison. But it emerged on Tuesday that Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi has been freed – despite demands that he be handed over to the authorities in Tripoli. It was reported from Belarus, meanwhile, that a military plane from Libya landed in Minsk on Monday with 15 people on board. It was immediately moved into a hangar. The Belorusski Partizan said it was met by diplomats and intelligence officials, fuelling rumours that Gaddafi and his family were on the aircraft. Muammar Gaddafi Algeria Libya Middle East Africa Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …MSNBC’s Matthews, O’Donnell, Schultz and Sharpton Have Not Yet Mentioned Solyndra
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Despite the growing scandal involving failed solar company Solyndra – now officially four weeks old – MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz, and Al Sharpton have still not reported the matter on their respective prime time programs. The only regular MSNBC host to mention this subject in prime time is Rachel Maddow who predictably discounted its importance Monday (transcript and commentary follow): RACHEL MADDOW: The federal government is quietly investing in renewable energy and making energy more affordable and more renewable. Happens in ways you don`t hear about much unless you read local business pages where federal money coming to town makes a big deal, makes a big difference. To the extent that Washington is talking about alternative energy right now at all, the talk has to do with a failed government loan to a company called Solyndra, a maker of solar panels. In 2009, Solyndra got a loan for more than half a billion dollars from the U.S. government. This month the company closed its plant, laid off more than 1,000 people and went bankrupt. Congress called its top executives to testify last week on Capitol Hill. The executives took the fifth. You can argue the Solyndra case any number of ways, whether President Bush was responsible for it since the loan started under him or whether you want to blame President Obama. Whether any administration should have known better to lend the Solyndra or whether this is just a bad bet in one of those public-private partnership that are never a sure thing but nevertheless elected officials are always saying, we need more of. Solyndra made headlines in the latest round of funding for electrification. Of course the dirty word of clean energy anymore. And this week, the conservative weekly, “The Weekly Standard” put President Obama on its cover as President Solyndra, that what they want to call him trying to reduce his own presidency to one loan to one failed maker of solar panels. But even as national conservatives want to make you feel bad about public investment in electricity, in energy, even some conservatives are pouring on the dollars for it in the states. The solar thing in particular makes sense to a lot of conservatives back home. Investing in infrastructure back home remains a core value. The same way it was a core value when the nation first started wiring our far flung farms. Just this month the Mississippi state legislature approved a $75 million loan to bring one maker of solar equipment to the state of Mississippi. Another solar company opened its doors in Mississippi this month with another 75 million bucks in loans and tax breaks from the state. The Republicans of Mississippi are very proud of this, very, very proud. Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant reported from the ribbon cutting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. GOV. PHIL BRYANT ( R), MISSISSIPPI: Going to see new high-tech energy moving ahead. The green type energy that we all believe will be part of the future. But don`t worry, we`re still going to drill for oil, we`re still going to use CO2. We`re still going to use coal in our clean coal plant. Our energy policy is all of the above and more jobs for Mississippi. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Lieutenant governor of Mississippi so excited about solar that he reassures Mississippians they will still use CO2, which is actually just the pollution part of energy. It`s not the fuel. He is excited about solar. He`s excited about jobs. He is excited, dare I say, about the greener, brighter future of Mississippi. Made possible if comes to pass by the collective will of the taxpayers to invest in it facilitated by Republican politicians like him. There has not yet been a major Obama administration scandal, at least one that the Republicans like to harp on too much. They really want Solyndra to be a big Obama administration scandal. For that to work however, the country sort has to believe that investing in better electricity ideas is always a scam and that it feels like one to the American people. With our history, I think that is a tough sell. “They really want Solyndra to be a big Obama administration scandal.” This from a so-called journalist who's always supposed to love White House scandals as they typically drive ratings. I guess viewership isn't important when protecting a president you love takes precedence. On the other hand, at least Maddow mentioned something about this. After four weeks, her colleagues Matthews, O'Donnell, Schultz, and Sharpton still haven't said one word about this scandal. This despite the newest revelations about Solyndra having violated the terms of its loan last year. As the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday: Solyndra LLC had such steep financial problems in late 2010 that the company violated terms of its loan-guarantee agreement with the Department of Energy and technically defaulted on its $535 million loan, according to people familiar with the matter. The failed solar-panel maker, which is under numerous criminal and congressional investigations, ran so short of cash in December 2010 that it was unable to satisfy certain terms of its U.S. loan agreement, these people said. The agreement required Solyndra to provide $5 million in equity to a subsidiary building its factory but cash-flow problems prevented those payments. The Energy Department ultimately restructured the loan agreement to help keep the company afloat and Solyndra continued to draw money from its loan. Will this entice the other MSNBC hosts to mention Solyndra? Will anything short of someone blaming it on George W. Bush? Stay tuned.
Continue reading …MSNBC’s Matthews, O’Donnell, Schultz and Sharpton Have Not Yet Mentioned Solyndra
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Despite the growing scandal involving failed solar company Solyndra – now officially four weeks old – MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Lawrence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz, and Al Sharpton have still not reported the matter on their respective prime time programs. The only regular MSNBC host to mention this subject in prime time is Rachel Maddow who predictably discounted its importance Monday (transcript and commentary follow): RACHEL MADDOW: The federal government is quietly investing in renewable energy and making energy more affordable and more renewable. Happens in ways you don`t hear about much unless you read local business pages where federal money coming to town makes a big deal, makes a big difference. To the extent that Washington is talking about alternative energy right now at all, the talk has to do with a failed government loan to a company called Solyndra, a maker of solar panels. In 2009, Solyndra got a loan for more than half a billion dollars from the U.S. government. This month the company closed its plant, laid off more than 1,000 people and went bankrupt. Congress called its top executives to testify last week on Capitol Hill. The executives took the fifth. You can argue the Solyndra case any number of ways, whether President Bush was responsible for it since the loan started under him or whether you want to blame President Obama. Whether any administration should have known better to lend the Solyndra or whether this is just a bad bet in one of those public-private partnership that are never a sure thing but nevertheless elected officials are always saying, we need more of. Solyndra made headlines in the latest round of funding for electrification. Of course the dirty word of clean energy anymore. And this week, the conservative weekly, “The Weekly Standard” put President Obama on its cover as President Solyndra, that what they want to call him trying to reduce his own presidency to one loan to one failed maker of solar panels. But even as national conservatives want to make you feel bad about public investment in electricity, in energy, even some conservatives are pouring on the dollars for it in the states. The solar thing in particular makes sense to a lot of conservatives back home. Investing in infrastructure back home remains a core value. The same way it was a core value when the nation first started wiring our far flung farms. Just this month the Mississippi state legislature approved a $75 million loan to bring one maker of solar equipment to the state of Mississippi. Another solar company opened its doors in Mississippi this month with another 75 million bucks in loans and tax breaks from the state. The Republicans of Mississippi are very proud of this, very, very proud. Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant reported from the ribbon cutting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. GOV. PHIL BRYANT ( R), MISSISSIPPI: Going to see new high-tech energy moving ahead. The green type energy that we all believe will be part of the future. But don`t worry, we`re still going to drill for oil, we`re still going to use CO2. We`re still going to use coal in our clean coal plant. Our energy policy is all of the above and more jobs for Mississippi. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Lieutenant governor of Mississippi so excited about solar that he reassures Mississippians they will still use CO2, which is actually just the pollution part of energy. It`s not the fuel. He is excited about solar. He`s excited about jobs. He is excited, dare I say, about the greener, brighter future of Mississippi. Made possible if comes to pass by the collective will of the taxpayers to invest in it facilitated by Republican politicians like him. There has not yet been a major Obama administration scandal, at least one that the Republicans like to harp on too much. They really want Solyndra to be a big Obama administration scandal. For that to work however, the country sort has to believe that investing in better electricity ideas is always a scam and that it feels like one to the American people. With our history, I think that is a tough sell. “They really want Solyndra to be a big Obama administration scandal.” This from a so-called journalist who's always supposed to love White House scandals as they typically drive ratings. I guess viewership isn't important when protecting a president you love takes precedence. On the other hand, at least Maddow mentioned something about this. After four weeks, her colleagues Matthews, O'Donnell, Schultz, and Sharpton still haven't said one word about this scandal. This despite the newest revelations about Solyndra having violated the terms of its loan last year. As the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday: Solyndra LLC had such steep financial problems in late 2010 that the company violated terms of its loan-guarantee agreement with the Department of Energy and technically defaulted on its $535 million loan, according to people familiar with the matter. The failed solar-panel maker, which is under numerous criminal and congressional investigations, ran so short of cash in December 2010 that it was unable to satisfy certain terms of its U.S. loan agreement, these people said. The agreement required Solyndra to provide $5 million in equity to a subsidiary building its factory but cash-flow problems prevented those payments. The Energy Department ultimately restructured the loan agreement to help keep the company afloat and Solyndra continued to draw money from its loan. Will this entice the other MSNBC hosts to mention Solyndra? Will anything short of someone blaming it on George W. Bush? Stay tuned.
Continue reading …Between the 2000 census and the 2010 census, the number of same-sex couples increased a whopping 80%—showing, demographers say, that gay couples are increasingly willing to identify themselves. And of the US’ 646,000 same-sex couples, one in five say they are married. Those 646,000 couples, who make…
Continue reading …Mitsubishi Electric to build world’s fastest elevator, usher in the death of small talk
September 28, 2011 No Comment
Cheer up, ladies, because Mitsubishi Electric is about to make your elevator ride substantially less awkward. Yesterday, the company unveiled plans to construct what it hopes will become the world’s fastest lifts, as part of a new project in China. The forthcoming set of elevators will be housed within the still-incomplete Shanghai Tower, where they’ll travel between the basement and 119th floor at a speed of 59 feet per second — a rate that would narrowly eclipse the current Guinness world record, which sits at about 55 feet per second. These elevators, of course, would be significantly slower if they were filled with vomit, which is why Mitsubishi will add active roller guides, vibration-dampening roof covers and pneumatic controls to make the ride a bit easier on the human body. Unfortunately, it’ll be a while before these flesh wagons enter the record books, as the Shanghai Tower likely won’t be completed until 2014. Willy Wonka, however, has already begun the appeals process. Elevate past the break for more information in the full press release. [Image courtesy of AMC ] Continue reading Mitsubishi Electric to build world’s fastest elevator, usher in the death of small talk Mitsubishi Electric to build world’s fastest elevator, usher in the death of small talk originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …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
Continue reading …Shrien Dewani extradition signed for possible South Africa murder trial
September 28, 2011 No CommentHome 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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Libya’s new rulers believe Moammar Gadhafi may be hiding in the southern desert, possibly in a vast area near the Algerian border, under the protection of ethnic Tuareg fighters, an official said Wednesday. (Sept. 28)
Continue reading …Looks like unions have found the silver lining in the Citizens United ruling – namely, Super PACs and the ability to go after non-union voters: But the ruling also changed the rules for unions, effectively ending a prohibition on outreach to nonunion households. Now, unions can use their formidable numbers to reach out to sympathetic nonunion voters by knocking on doors, calling them at home and trying to get them to polling places. They can also create their own Super PACs to underwrite bigger voter identification and get-out-the-vote operations than ever before. As part of this overhaul, Richard L. Trumka, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., has said organized labor will be more independent of the Democratic Party, sitting out races where unions are disappointed with the Democratic candidate’s positions on issues important to them and occasionally financing primary challengers to Democratic incumbents . The unions said they even intended to back a few Republicans they judge to have been generally supportive of their agenda, like Representative Steven C. LaTourette of Ohio. Mr. Trumka said unions were tired of Democratic politicians taking them for granted after labor shoveled millions of dollars into Democratic campaigns. In distancing themselves, at least a bit, from the Democrats, unions are becoming part of a trend in which newly empowered outside groups build what are essentially party structures of their own — in this case, to somewhat offset the money flowing into conservative groups that are doing the same thing. What do you think? Good idea or not?
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