Medical workers targeted because they have evidence of security force atrocities, claims US-based human rights group Bahraini authorities have conducted a systematic campaign of attacks and arrests against medical workers who treated injured protesters during months of unrest in the Gulf kingdom, according to a US-based medical group. Physicians for Human Rights claims doctors and nurses have been targeted because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces and riot police” in the crackdown on Shia dissent in the Sunni-ruled island nation, which has been placed under martial law. The report by the group is the second to accuse Bahrain’s authorities of abuses in the medical system. Earlier this month, the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders called Bahrain’s hospitals “places to be feared” and claimed officials were arresting protesters who sought treatment. The military took over the main Salmaniya medical centre in Manama last month, and doctors and patients said soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex. Physicians for Human Rights said at least 32 healthcare professionals had been detained since Bahrain declared martial law last month to quell anti-government demonstrations by the country’s Shia majority demanding greater freedoms and equal rights. The report details attacks on physicians, medical staff and patients “with weapons, beatings and teargas”. “These attacks violate the principle of medical neutrality and are grave breaches of international law,” it says, adding that “high-velocity weapons and shotguns” have been used to fire birdshot, rubber bullets and teargas at unarmed civilians. About 1,500 troops from Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states are in Bahrain to help the ruling monarchy. Sunni leaders around the Gulf fear gains by Bahrain’s Shias could open the way for greater influence by Shi’ite powerhouse Iran in the strategic nation, which is home to the US navy’s 5th Fleet. At least 30 people have died and hundreds of demonstrators, opposition leaders, activists and Shia professionals such as doctors and lawyers have been detained since anti-government protests started 14 February. Bahrain Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Big Brother is tracking you … Democratic Sen. Al Franken, Minnesota, fired off a letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs late Wednesday demanding to know why the company’s iPhones and iPads are reportedly compiling secret data tracking customers’ whereabouts when they use or carry their devices. A self-described hacker and a former Apple employee say they recently discovered secret lines of code in Apple’s latest operating system known as IOS-4 and, in an article released Wednesday , say it contains data showing consumers’ whereabouts every time they use or even just carry a web enabled iPhone or iPad. The duo also just released an application that allows users to see what information has been collected on their devices. In his letter, Franken says the, “existence of this information – stored in an unencrypted format – raises serious privacy concerns.” He adds, “Anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of a user’s home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken.” The Minnesota Democrat wants to know why Apple is collecting the data, how it is generated, why it’s not encrypted, and why Apple customers, “were never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data.” Franken also asks Jobs to explain who this information has been disclosed to, including Apple. I don’t have an iPhone, having opted for the Droid, but I’m doubtful that Google is free of this kind of tracking either. Discoverers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden discuss how they uncovered the sneaky code.
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Live bullets and teargas used against people in Damascus and several other cities during rallies after Friday prayers At least 20 people are reported to have been killed after Syrian security forces shot at protesters during a day of demonstrations around the country against the autocratic rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The violent official response to what activists massing against the regime had labelled “Great Friday” also saw security forces use tear gas to disperse protesters in Damascus. It came just a day after Assad signed a decree on lifting a state of emergency law, in force continuously for 48 years. Separately, the first person who submitted an application to hold a protest under the new legal regime, named as Fadel al-Faisal from Hassakeh, was detained by police for several hours after doing so. According to witnesses, who say the eventual death toll could be much higher, security forces opened fire on a series of demonstrations, including one in the city of Hama, where Assad’s father crushed an armed Islamist uprising nearly 30 years ago. “We saw two snipers on the building. None of us had weapons. There are casualties, possibly two dead,” an unnamed witness told Reuters from Hama. Elsewhere, troops shot at demonstrators in the Damascus districts of Barzeh and Douma, in Moudamiya, a town in the rural area around the capital, in the central city of Homs and on protesters heading for the city of Deraa, witnesses said. More than 220 protesters have been killed since unrest broke out on 18 March in southern Syria, rights groups say, including 21 protesters killed this week in Homs. The demonstrations were seemingly more widespread than ever before. In some areas statues and posters of Assad and his father and former president, Hafez, were torn down, and there were chants against Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s younger brother who commands the elite 4th division, regarded by most Syrians as a private militia and believed to be behind some of the shooting. In the first joint statement since the protests broke out, a group of “local co-ordination committees” across Syria set out demands including the abolition of Ba’ath party monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic political system. It ended: “We will continue to demonstrate, whatever the sacrifices.” Security forces were heavily deployed ahead of Friday prayers, which have regularly proved a focal point for protests, with police setting up checkpoints across Damascus, apparently trying to prevent protests sweeping in from suburbs. After prayers finished in Deraa, several thousand protesters gathered chanting anti-Assad slogans. “The Syrian people will not be subjugated. Go away doctor (Assad). We will trample on you and your slaughterous regime”, they shouted. Syria Middle East Protest Katherine Marsh Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Sen. John Ensign will finally resign from his seat in the Senate effective May 3. Lawrence O’Donnell said this is the kind of thing that generally happens after the Senate Ethics Committee lets them know they’re going to recommend expulsion. From The Hill — Sen. Ensign to resign : “It is with tremendous sadness that I officially hand over the Senate seat that I have held for eleven years,” he said in a statement. “The turbulence of these last few years is greatly surpassed by the incredible privilege that I feel to have been entrusted to serve the people of Nevada. I can honestly say that being a United States senator has been the honor of my life.”The senator plans to send his resignation letter to Vice President Biden on Friday. Ensign is under a Senate Ethics Committee investigation over claims he violated ethics rules in the aftermath of an affair with Cynthia Hampton, the wife of former top aide Doug Hampton, whom he helped obtain a lucrative lobbying job. He cited the investigation in his statement. “I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings. For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great,” he said. The committee ramped up its investigation earlier this year, including hiring an outside counsel. The investigation would be dropped, however, if Ensign is no longer a member of the Senate. The resignation announcement started speculation the committee was closing in the senator. Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) has already announced he’s running for Ensign’s seat, and it’s possible Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval would appoint him as Ensign’s replacement. If he’s appointed, it would give Heller an advantage over Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), his likely general election competition. Berkley was heavily recruited by Democrats to run and is considered the strongest competition to Heller. She quickly won the backing of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
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Accusations against Greg Mortenson highlight how many authors in the genre take a relaxed approach to accuracy The carcass of Greg Mortenson’s memoir Three Cups of Tea is being picked over in public as the Pakistani tribesmen he claims kidnapped him prepare to sue him and his publisher, Viking, “carefully review[s] the materials with the author”. But Mortenson is far from the first memoirist to fall from grace. From Surviving with Wolves by Misha Defonseca, who admitted in 2008 that her bestselling tale of living with a pack of wolves as she fled the Nazis was nothing more than a tale, to James Frey, who confessed under fire that his hit memoir, A Million Little Pieces, contained embellishments, readers these days would be forgiven for beginning to question the veracity of every memoir they read. “We don’t fact-check with memoirs, unless there are elements which could be libellous or damaging to other people,” admits Roland Philipps, managing director of John Murray, which publishes Frey. “A memoir is a different beast to an autobiography, which is a factual account, but a memoir is a literary form, in which some parts will be played up or down because it’s much more internal, how it felt to the author.” But a publisher has to be able, he says, “to trust the author to have a central truth”. Literary agent Luigi Bonomi of LBA agrees. “Apart from some basic fact checking, publishers absolutely have to rely on authors telling the truth – particularly if it’s a personal narrative, the veracity of which is only known to the author.” “There is a publishing assumption that authors warrant they have not plagiarised nor made facts up that are purporting to be facts,” says his fellow agent Jonny Geller, who will work to verify stories himself before he sells them as much as possible. “However, we expect fact verifications to be done by the publishers. In reality, this is rarely done. Publishers are willing to spend time and money on libel readings, but I have never had an editor question the premise or individual fact on a non-fiction book.” Author Andrew Crofts, who has ghost-written a host of memoirs, believes it’s better this way. “It is my experience that British publishers don’t tend to check facts in these sorts of emotion-based stories unless (a) there is something that doesn’t ring true, or (b) there is a danger of libel,” says Crofts. “I am very happy with (a). I tend to like books to be a matter of intuition, colour, emotional power and strong passions. I’m not a great fan of too many ‘facts’ in a narrative.” But with an increasing number of memoirs being discredited – as well as Frey and Defonseca, recent years have seen Kathy O’Beirne exposed for making up parts of her misery memoir, Don’t Ever Tell; Herman Rosenblat found to have lied about his romantic experiences during the Holocaust in Angel at the Fence: the True Story of a Love That Survived; and Margaret B Jones inventing a poverty-stricken, drug-ridden childhood in her memoir In Love and Consequences – isn’t there a danger the public is going to stop believing in the genre as a whole? Not necessarily: bad news, when it comes to books, can often be good news. Sales of A Million Little Pieces jumped from around 400-500 to around 1,500 copies a week in the UK in the first few months of 2006 when it was revealed that sections were made up, says the Bookseller’s charts editor, Philip Stone, while in January 2007, following the Celebrity Big Brother racism row, sales of the late Jade Goody’s memoir jumped 71% week on week. “In 2006, overall sales of memoirs were up 12% on 2005, so I don’t think that sales of memoirs in general were affected by the fact it was revealed Frey (and perhaps others) embellished, mis-recollected, or all-out lied about certain events,” says Stone. It’s all a question of degree, believes Philipps. “People respond to James Frey saying ‘I don’t care which bits you exaggerated or made up, it’s still a beautiful book’ – they’re responding to it as a piece of literature. “In the case of Three Cups of Tea, they are responding more to his external experiences and [the current situation] is potentially damaging for certain books [of that type] – the memoirs of people in extreme situations in extreme places.” Stone agrees. “I fully believe that sales of Three Cups of Tea will immediately have gone up following the column inches it has been getting, but [if the rumours are proven to be true] there may well be some much longer-term sales damage to the sort of humanitarian memoir genre in which Three Cups of Tea sits,” he says. “The UK public are very sceptical, and some book buyers may well think twice in the future before buying a similar title – especially Three Cups of Tea readers (of which there are many – about 3.5 million in the US, and 130,000 in the UK) who may feel they’ve been let down.” Publishing Alison Flood guardian.co.uk
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• More fierce fighting in Misrata as John McCain visits Benghazi • Syrian army deploys head of possible anti-Assad protests following Friday prayers 3.18pm: One more Syria update from Katherine Marsh: Activists say at least 20 people have now been confirmed dead, shot by security forces, but they are suggesting the toll could be much higher. Some of the more recent deaths are in Moudamiya, a town in the rural area around Damascus that has seen demonstrations today. Recently a young male protester from Moudamiyah who took part in the first protest there on 25 March explained to the Guardian how protests might spread: “I tasted freedom for the first time when I went out: it is an addictive feeling that my grandfather and father never had, and more people are now feeling.” The rising death toll is not a good sign for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime: here, as in other countries that have risen up, bloodshed has only made protesters angrier, whilst it makes the recent pledges of reform ring hollow. Earlier, Reem Haddad, a spokeswoman for the ministry of information told Al Jazeera: “I think if the people protest peacefully, if they cause no harm, if they don’t burn or destroy, I think [security forces] will allow them to do so [protest], and I think after a certain time they will actually disperse them, tell them to go home.” Responding to the question at what point forces would open fire on protesters, she said: “If they are shot at, which has been the case previously.” 3.02pm: Time for a summary of a busy day so far: Syria: • Up to 20 people are reported to have died after widespread protests in Syria against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad . These have taken place around the country, witnesses said , saying also that security forces used live bullets and teargas against protesters in some places, including Damascus and in the central city of Homs. Libya: • There has been further bitter fighting in Misrata , with rebels securing a significant victory when they seized an eight-storey office block from which pro-Gaddafi snipers had been operating. • The US senator – and strong supporter of Nato action in Libya – John McCain has called rebels “my heroes” during a visit to Benghazi . • The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, told reporters in Baghdad he believed the Libyan conflict was “moving towards a stalemate” , while saying that Nato has thus far destroyed up to 40% of Muammar Gaddafi’s ground forces. Yemen: • Tens of thousands of people have turned out on various demonstrations supporting or opposing the embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh . He has appeared to cast doubt on a pan-Arab plan which would see him step down soon, saying he backed it “within the framework of the Yemeni constitution”, while allows him to serve until 2013. Bahrain: • A US-based medical campaign group has released a report claiming doctors in the country have been systematically targeted for arrest by security forces. 2.43pm: Syria: Al-Jazeera is putting the total reported death toll following renewed protests around the country at 20. 2.06pm: AFP has sent out several photos taken, it says, on mobile phones and showing anti-government protests in Banias in north-eastern Syria. This is one of them. 1.59pm: On Syria again, Katherine Marsh has details of deaths during the protests: Activists have the names of at least nine people already confirmed killed today: two in Douma, at least one in Homs and at least six in Izraa close to Deraa. Varied chants have come from different people and different cities: in Kisweh, close to Damascus, people called for freedom; in Banias people shouted, “The people want to topple the regime”; while some protesters are directing anger directly at members of the ruling family. In some areas, statues and posters of Assad and his father and former president Hafez have been torn down, whilst there have been chants against Maher al-Assad, Bashar’s younger brother who commands the elite 4th division. The 4th division, regarded by most Syrians as a private militia, has been reportedly responsible for some of the shootings in Deraa and elsewhere. In Midan, people chanted: “Zanga zanga, dar dar, Maher is a bigger moron than Bashar!”. Another Assad family member who has been the butt of protesters’ ire is Rami Makhlouf, the business tycoon cousin of the president who is under US sanctions. (The FT has a nice piece on the latter (subscription) . 1.39pm: Back to Libya , and there is news of an apparent Moroccan peace plan for the country. The foreign ministry in Rabat is seeking a solution after officials met both Gaddafi representatives and rebels this week, an unnamed foreign ministry source told Reuters. No details as yet about what this plan might entail, or any prospects for its success. 1.35pm: Reuters has more details too on the scale of the for-and-against demonstrations in Yemen : Riot police fired in the air in the southern city of Taiz to try to keep vast, unruly crowds of pro and anti-Saleh demonstrators apart, witnesses said. Ambulance sirens could be heard, but there was no immediate word on casualties. A sea of anti-Saleh protesters, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands, inundated the streets of Taiz, Yemen’s third city and an epicentre of opposition to the 69-year-old president. Tens of thousands of Saleh loyalists turned out in Sanaa, the capital, for what they called a “Friday of Reconciliation”, waving Yemeni flags and pictures of the president. 1.29pm: Still on Syria , more details from Katherine Marsh: Tear gas has been used against protesters in Midan who came out of al-Hassan mosque. There are reports of fire opened in Douma and Homs and the Damascus suburb of Sayda Zeinab. Protests are spreading, quite possibly further afield than last week although the full picture is not yet clear. Further to my earlier update, activists and witnesses say they have also broken out in places including the dusty town of Raqqa, Banias, Hama, al-Tel close to Damascus, Sayda Zeinab, Harasta and Barzeh in Damascus. Tartous, a coastal town south of Banias and Latakia, is a new addition to the list. Here’s a video which purports to show Banias today , and one from Raqqa , where people shouted for Deraa, the besieged town where around 100 people have been killed since protests broke out there on March 18. A joint statement has been emailed to various media including the Guardian from “the Local Coordination Committees” across Syria setting out a list of demands including that all prisoners of conscience must be freed and the existing security apparatus be dismantled and replaced by one with a specific jurisdiction. It is not yet clear how representative of the protesters the statement is but it seems to have one thing right: “We will continue to demonstrate, whatever the sacrifices,” it says. 12.51pm: Syria: Security forces have fired live bullets at protesters, as well as tear gas, news agencies are reporting via witnesses. This from AP: Shootings were reported on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus, and in the central city of Homs … The witness accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has expelled journalists and restricted access to trouble spots. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. 12.35pm: Yemen: More from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s speech today in Sana’a (see 11.53am ). It seems he is not about to agree to the GCC’s plan and step down soon. Reuters has this: Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh welcomed a Gulf Co-operation Council initiative for a power transfer, but said it must fit with constitutional laws, suggesting he may try to stay in power until his term ends in 2013. “We welcome the initiative from the Gulf Co-operation Council and we will deal with it positively within the framework of the Yemeni constitution,” Saleh told a crowd of supporters in Sana’a. According to Yemen’s constitution, Saleh’s five-year term of office expires in 2013. The GCC plan in its current format seeks Saleh’s resignation within a month of the initiative’s enactment. 12.21pm: Bahrain: On Comment is Free, Bahraini writer Tahiyya Lulu details the role of the country’s state TV station in the crackdown on dissent – with a particular focus on sportspeople who dare to protest. 12.12pm: And on precisely the same subject, my colleague Harriet Sherwood , in Tripoli, emails the following update: Despite the Libyan government’s claim late last night that its forces had retaken the border crossing with Tunisia that passed into rebels’ hands earlier, this has been contradicted by a photographer at the border today. According to the photographer, who has visited the Dehiba crossing this morning, the rebels are in control and rebel flags are flying from the border post. 12.10pm: This al-Jazeera report features footage of the rebels who seized a border crossing with Tunisia yesterday . 12.03pm: Syria: A very interesting update from Katherine Marsh in Damascus. It seems the lifting of emergency rule yesterday has had little real impact: Thousands have started to protest in the following places: Douma, close to Damascus, and the suburbs of Zabadani and Midan – people in the latter have not taken to the streets before. There are also breaking reports of protests in Deir Ezzor, Latakia and towns in Idleb province. Kurdish sources also confirm that protests have broken out in the north-eastern towns of Ras al-Ayn, Amouda, Qamischli and al-Hassakeh, some shouting for freedom and others calling for the toppling of the regime. The fear barrier seems to have come down in Syria in a spectacular fashion. Concessions seem to be failing to quell unrest. Meanwhile, the first application to protest under the new law has ended in the temporary detention of the requester. Fadel al-Faisal from Hassakeh was held for several hours yesterday after filing a request to hold a protest in Hassakeh. Doesn’t bode well, activists say. 11.53am: Yemen: It’s also an interesting day in Yemen, where opponents and supporters of the under-siege president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been holding rival rallies after Friday prayers. One is being address by the president himself, who has promised to give a response to a stability plan proposed yesterday by the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), in which he would step down in favour of his vice president within a month. An alert just in from Reuters says Saleh has welcomed the GCC plan “within the framework of Yemen’s constitution”. More on whatever that means as it comes in. 11.45am: Bahrain: The US-based campaign group Physicians for Human Rights has released a report alleging that doctors and other medical staff in Bahrain have been targeted by security forces after treating protesters. The report also details attacks on civilians using “bird shot, physical beatings, rubber bullets, tear gas and unidentified chemical agents”. Richard Sollom of the group said attacks on doctors seemed to be “systematic”: While in Bahrain, I spoke with several eyewitnesses of abducted physicians, many of whom were ripped from their homes in the middle of the night by masked security forces. 11.17am: I’ve had another chat with Xan Rice in Misrata, who has further, significant news on a rebel success in the city (see 9.35am ). Xan has been to see the badly-damaged eight-storey office block where, until yesterday, a large number of pro-Gaddafi snipers were holed up, terrorising the population from the city’s highest vantage point. After rebels finally pushed the snipers out, Xan saw what they left behind, namely “thousands” of bullet casings, discarded uniforms and, chillingly, graffiti promising never to forgive the city’s people and to return and punish them. He adds: This has been the main objective of the rebels – to get these guys out of this building and surrounding buildings… this is a pretty big thing. – 10.55am: My colleague Brian Whitaker points out this interesting comment piece from Professor Juan Cole , the analyst who opposed the Iraq war but has been a strong proponent of intervention in Libya. Here’s a flavour: Those who complain about the course of the Libya intervention are being impatient or cynical. The intervention has saved Benghazi and other eastern cities from falling to Gaddafi’s tanks and jets. It has allowed Ajdabiya to be restored to rebel hands. It has allowed Misrata, Zintan, Yafran, Naluf and other western cities to hold out against vicious attacks by Qaddafi loyalist armour… I think there is actually some benefit to the war not ending quickly with a swift eastern conquest of the west with Nato backing. That may be what happens in the end. But in my view it would be preferable for the elites in Tripoli to gradually be pushed back and surrounded and put under such pressure that they turn on Gaddafi and declare for Free Libya. That way you don’t have a permanent group of losers, like the Sunni Arabs in Iraq, who would tend to make trouble in the medium term if not the long term. 10.50am: The McCain quotes (see 9.54am ) came in a brief chat he had with al-Jazeera’s Sue Turton as he left his hotel. This is the video of that encounter. 10.38am: Syria: Katherine Marsh – a pseudonym for a journalist living in Syria – sends in the following update: Today, dubbed “Great Friday” by activists, will be a test of protesters’ momentum after President Bashar al-Assad yesterday signed off his biggest concessions yet; lifting emergency law, abolishing the much-detested state security court and bringing in a law regulating protesters. Damascus, where activists say light drizzle won’t put them off coming out, is notably more tense than it has been on past Fridays. This weekend it is usually full of Easter festivities with street parades, street vendors and decorated churches, but this year Christians are holding celebrations inside churches only. Army and security have been deployed on the outskirts of the capital in expectation of a repeat of last week when thousands of protesters from around the capital tried to march on Abassiyeen Square. Witnesses are reporting checkpoints on some of the roads into the city. Army and security are also controlling entry and exit to Homs. Like last week, security is in force around Deraa but not inside, according to al-Jazeera. The full effects of Assad’s concessions are yet to become clear. Hundreds of those under travel bans, a tool used to prevent dissidents and activists (and often their families) from leaving the country, are assuming they will be free to travel once the decrees are implemented, but that remains to be confirmed. 10.22am: Libyan state TV says nine people died overnight in a Nato air attack on the city of Sirte, among them staff at a water facility. As ever, there is no way to check the veracity of the report. 10.13am: Interesting comments just in from America’s most senior military officer, who has openly said what many others arguably suspect – while Nato has thus far destroyed up to 40% of Muammar Gaddafi’s ground forces the Libya conflict is heading for “stalemate”. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is in Baghdad today visiting troops. This is what he had to say, according to Reuters: It’s certainly moving towards a stalemate. At the same time we’ve attrited somewhere between 30% and 40% of his main ground forces, his ground force capabilities. Those will continue to go away over time. Despite Gaddafi’s theatrical pronouncements on the subject , there was as yet no sign of any al-Qaida involvement, he added: We’re watchful of it, mindful of it and I just haven’t seen much of it at all. In fact, I’ve seen no al-Qaida representation there at all. 10.01am: There has as yet been no report of unrest in Syria. Here’s how Reuters set the scene for today: The Syrian army deployed overnight in the flashpoint city of Homs, witnesses said, ahead of Friday prayers that have been marked by intensifying protests in the last five weeks against authoritarian rule. The prayers will test whether President Bashar al-Assad’s decision to lift emergency law, imposed by his Baath Party when it took power in a coup 48 years ago, will defuse mass discontent with repression and corruption. Aided by his family and a pervasive security apparatus, Assad, 45, has absolute power in Syria. More than 220 protesters have been killed since pro-democracy protests erupted on 18 March in the southern city of Deraa, including 21 protesters killed this week in Homs, rights campaigners say. A decree Assad signed on Thursday that lifted emergency law is seen by the opposition as little more than symbolic, since other laws still give entrenched security forces wide powers. Human Right Watch said Assad “has the opportunity to prove his intentions by allowing (Friday’s) protests to proceed without violent repression. 10.00am: Apologies – the comment function below was not switched on. It should be working now. 9.54am: Here’s a photo of McCain, one of the strongest US supporters of intervention in Libya, meeting and greeting rebels in Benghazi today. The senator said he went to the rebel stronghold “to get an on the ground assessment of the situation”, the AP reports. He also aims to meet members of the National Transition Council, the would-be interim government for the rebel-held east of Libya. AP adds: “They are my heroes,” McCain said of the rebels as he walked out of a local hotel in Benghazi. He was travelling in an armoured Mercedes and had a security detail. A few Libyans waved American flags as his vehicle drove past. 9.39am: As promised, here’s a round-up of our overnight Libya coverage: • Xan Rice is Misrata sees the human cost of the bitter fighting in the besieged city, a toll also exacted on its youngest residents. • President Obama has approved the use of unmanned, missile-equipped Predator drones to help Nato hit pro-government forces. And here’s some comment: • For all its humanitarian veneer, the Libya campaign is another neocon war for the US, argues David Swanson . • Alaa al-Ameri says the Gaddafi regime’s offer of free elections is a sham. 9.35am: Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of events today in Libya, Syria and – as they happen – elsewhere in the Middle East. On Libya I’ll recap our overnight coverage imminently, but for now a couple of quick updates: • Further heavy fighting in Misrata has seen rebels making some significant gains , driving a number of pro-government snipers from tall buildings near the centre of the city, witnesses have told the Associated Press. • Further east, the US senator and former presidential candidate John McCain is visiting the rebel stronghold of Benghazi today. As for Syria : • Reuters is reporting that troops were deployed overnight to the city of Homs ahead of Friday prayers that often mark the beginning of protests against the repressive regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Libya Syria Bahrain Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Oh, so now the gullible adoption of nutty conspiracy theories is ‘inconsequential’, according to O’Reilly
April 22, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Funny. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Bill O’Reilly was making fun of anyone who would buy into the Birther conspiracy theories. Now that the Donald Trump candidacy has had a couple of weeks to ripen into a really fetid mess for Republicans, O’Reilly has decided he’s down with it. On Wednesday night, he devoted his opening Talking Points Memo segment to plumping up a Trump candidacy without a single mention of Trump’s ardent adoption of the Birther conspiracy theories. O’REILLY: Well, I don’t even care about the Birther stuff. Because it’s inconsequential. It really is. Because that’s an issue that’s not going to affect anybody. This is just gobsmacking hypocrisy, of course: O’Reilly has declared that anyone who adopts the 9/11 Truther conspiracy theories is vile and beyond the pale: He attacked Rosie O’Donnell for holding those views — she was being “hurtful” and “grossly irresponsible” — as well as Charlie Sheen and other figures, including Van Jones (who didn’t even actually adopt the theories). And of course, the Birther theories are every bit as offensive, hurtful, and grossly irresponsible. But hey, they don’t mean anything … because it’s a right-wing candidate who likes to talk tough like O’Reilly, so he’s good with that. It’s true that the Birther controversy at a certain level really is meaningless, because it has zero grounding in reality and is not going to affect reality directly in any way. (Sorta like the 9/11 theories.) But that doesn’t mean that a public figure’s embrace of them is meaningless. Especially when that person is running for public office. Especially when he’s running for the presidency. Because it’s a powerful demonstration of that person’s judgment — or rather, the complete and utter lack thereof. It means that they are stupid, gullible, and wantonly, willfully ignorant. Even more disturbingly, it means that the people who support him eagerly embrace that ignorance. Actually, Donald Trump reminds me of a half-dozen different bosses I have had over the course of my lifetime. You know the pointy-haired boss in Dilbert ? That guy: So gorged on his own certitude he becomes utterly uncaring about how well informed he is regarding issues he’s making command decisions about. Like the way he was completely stumped about the right to privacy the other day . And like those pointy-haired bosses, he just pulls crap out of ass and hurls it with extreme certitude and then thinks that he won the argument. Donald Trump is the pointy-haired boss on steroids. The only people I can imagine dumb enough to vote for him are Tea Partying Republican base voters. Not to mention Bill O’Reilly and Andrea Tantaros.
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Can’t face joining the millions stuck in traffic jams over the bank holidays? There’s plenty to do in Britain’s major cities without having to hit the road Manchester Those craving fresh air or a stress-free family day out should get the tram to Altrincham and amble over to Dunham Massey , a pretty National Trust estate and adjoining village. You’ll find ducks to feed, parkland and deer to marvel at and, if you’re happy to pay the entry fees (adults £10/children £5), an interesting Georgian mansion house and formal gardens to explore. For sustenance – and particularly superb traditional cakes – head to the quaint ramshackle Lavender Barn Tea Room (Dog Farm, School Lane, +44 (0)161 941 2153) or the Swan With Two Nicks (Park Lane, Little Bollington, +44 (0)161 928 2914), a cosy pub that serves Dunham Massey Brewery beers ( dunhammasseybrewing.co.uk ). There is also good speciality and delicatessen food shopping, locally, at Little Heath Farm Shop ( littleheathfarmshop.co.uk , +44 (0)161 928 0520) and Red House Farm (+44 (0)161 941 3480, redhousefarm.co.uk ). Both have cute animals on display to keep the kids entertained. Salford’s SFTOC new music festival (1 May, tickets £18 plus booking fee, soundsfromtheothercity.com ) is a big annual day out for denizens of the Chapel Street arts scene, its stages stretching across pubs, churches and creative spaces along this main road out of central Manchester. Highlights this year include new Kompakt electro-pop signings Rainbow Arabia, the Wave Pictures, Swedes Those Dancing Days and awesome ambient-trance outfit D/R/U/G/S. Tony Naylor, food and travel writer Bristol If you know someone who is a member of Henleaze Lake’s swimming club, celebrating its 93rd season this year, be extra nice to them. Waiting lists for membership to the club, which gives access to a flooded quarry-turned-lake hidden behind suburban houses in chi-chi suburb Henleaze, have been up to five years long. It’s well worth it for a chance to picnic beneath weeping willows, daringly dive from three high boards, or wallow in the cold, weed-fringed water with outdoor swimmers of all ages. With no music or barbecues allowed plus old-style wooden changing rooms, it’s got a delightful 1950s air. If you don’t know a member, the best bet for some alfresco water action is to jump on a train to Weston-super-Mare (try Sand Bay, where you can actually swim) or Portishead for its modern lido ( portisheadopenairpool.org.uk ), lovely cafe and views over the Bristol Channel to Wales (on a clear day). • Lake Road, Henleaze, henleazeswimmingclub.org . Entry for non-members (only permitted if accompanied by members) £7 Laura Dixon, travel writer Glasgow A trip to Millport is a trip back in time to a place where a paddle steamer is a legitimate form of transport, sweeties are sold by the quarter and holidays are taken within a 50-mile radius of your home. Nestled in the Firth of Clyde on the Isle of Cumbrae, Millport ( millport.org ) has been a destination for Glaswegians going doon the watter on the bank holiday for generations. Attractions include cycle-friendly roads, decent pubs, stunning views, crazy golf and a rock painted to look like a crocodile (official name Crocodile Rock, obviously). Later in the summer you can take the heritage route of the Waverley, the world’s last working paddle steamer, from Glasgow and back. For now the island can be easily reached with a train from Glasgow Central to Largs and then a 10-minute ferry ride. Bikes can be hired and ice-creams purchased in the town. • Caledonian MacBrayne runs ferries from Largs to Cumbrae (adult £4.90 return, child £2.45, calmac.co.uk ); the Waverley sails from Glasgow to Millport on 29 May, and various dates through the summer (adult £27 return, child £13.50, waverleyexcursions.co.uk ) Rosamunde West, editor of The Skinny, listings magazine for Scotland ( theskinny.co.uk ) Edinburgh The scenes of camaraderie on display among the hordes of sunshine groupies that descend upon Princes Street Gardens, the Meadows or Holyrood Park are a joy to behold; however, square inches tend to be at a premium on the warmest days. No less compelling are the striking panoramic views of the city to be had at Inverleith Park, adjacent to the decadent Botanic Gardens in the Stockbridge area of town. And there’s space in which to revel, lots of it. One of the largest urban parks in Scotland, tree-lined walkways and playing fields for a variety of sports abound, and a pond rather magnanimously shared by the ducks and the swans –it’s as good a picnic setting as any. • Inverleith Park, Arboretum Place ( inverleithpark.co.uk ) Paul Mitchell, travel editor, The Skinny Newcastle For a Saturday quayside stroll, wander along to the Tyne Bar in the Ouseburn Valley for their first Easter Day Market (noon-6pm, Maling St, thetyne.com ). For Sunday serenity, slide down to the £6m refurbished Jesmond Dene Park for the best suntrap in the city, with new landscaping, coffee shop and pets corner, – including a cute, white, one-horned pygmy goat we’ve told the kids is a unicorn ( jesmonddene.org.uk ). Still want more egg action on Monday? Bring the brood down to Ponteland Park for the Great Easter Egg Hunt (in aid of charity Legacare) with rides, bonnet parade, mad hatters’ party and prizes for best fancy dress (11am-3pm, West Road, Ponteland, visitnorthumberland.com ). Scott Tyrrell, poet – Scott will be performing at Annie Moir’s Prague Fringe preview show, GLUE, at the Cumberland Arms, Byker, on 11 May (7.30pm, £3, cumberlandarms.co.uk ), and in the Poetry and Words tent on Friday and Saturday at Glastonbury Leeds You don’t have to travel far from the centre of Leeds to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. A 10-minute bus journey or short hop from Headingley train station takes you to Kirkstall Abbey, a Cistercian ruin that dates back 850 years and provides a stunning backdrop for a picnic. With the Aire running alongside, you can enjoy a riverside stroll while soaking in the sunshine and sheer romance of the surroundings. Then find shade in the family-friendly Abbey House museum over the road, where kids love dressing up and exploring the replica Victorian streets, while bigger kids refuel in the cafe with coffee and cake. • Kirkstall Abbey, Abbey Road, leeds.gov.uk/kirkstallabbey ; Abbey House Museum, adult £3.80, child £1.70, leeds.gov.uk/abbeyhouse Simon O’Hare, deputy editor, Leeds Guide ( leedsguide.co.uk ) London Those clever East Enders – pretending to the world that their part of town is all bricks, mortar and tough streets so no one notices they’ve got two of the lushest open spaces in the capital. At 32 acres, the Isle of Dogs’ Mudchute Farm is London’s largest city farm and, aside from its 200-plus animals, it boasts the glorious Mudchute Kitchen cafe and extraordinary views of Canary Wharf. Meanwhile, along the river, the Thames Barrier Park has rightly won awards for its playful waves of hedges, fountains to romp in, and Green Dock, whose micro-climate hosts an uplifting array of colourful plants and butterflies. • Mudchute Park and Farm, Pier St, Isle of Dogs, free admission, +44 (0)20-7515 5901, mudchute.org ; Thames Barrier Park, North Woolwich Road, free admission, lda.gov.uk ). Both are accessible on Docklands Light Railway Dixe Wills, author of Tiny Campsites ( punkpublishing.co.uk ) Liverpool The riverside walk that is Otterspool Promenade runs from Aigburth to Grassendale in south Liverpool and is a gem for those who don’t know the outer suburbs of the city. The three-mile walk along the River Mersey has parkland, a fantastic children’s play area and free parking; all with views across to the Wirral. The prom’s wide open space is perfect for kite flying or picnicking, and many people use the prom for running, cycling or simply for a long, uninterrupted stroll along the river – given a good hour or more you can get within 15 minutes of the Albert Dock, walking toward the city centre. • visitliverpool.com Ian Moore is director of the Write Now Festival, a series of one-act plays at the Actors Studio, Seel Street (runs until 23 April, writenowfestival.co.uk ) Birmingham Birmingham is a surprisingly green city – often you have to trek across acres of lushly landscaped mature parkland in order to get to your own little piece of concrete. If you’re in the city centre then a trip to the beer garden of the Prince of Wales (behind the National Indoor Arena) is a must, a tiny Victorian pub that counts Lady Gaga (honest) as a recent convert. If you have kids, or just a childish disposition, then the Nature Centre is the sweetest and tiniest place to see animals in Brum. Monkeys, owls, otters and meerkats. You can get an ice cream too. • Prince of Wales, 84 Cambridge St, +44 (0)121 643 9460; Nature Centre, Pershore Road, adult £3.50, child £1, +44 (0)121 472 7775, birmingham.gov.uk/naturecentre Jon Bounds, founder, birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk Sheffield The Steel City lost its lido in the 1980s during the last age of austerity, and it’s a long haul to the sea by public transport, but Sheffielders take comfort from living in the most densely wooded city in Europe. There are 170 woodlands with an estimated 2.5m trees, in whose green shade you can while away the bank holiday, but if you’re up for it, the Round Sheffield Walk is quite a challenge. It takes in Sheffield’s south-west corner, from Endcliffe Park with its swings and busy cafe through Whiteley Woods and the Porter Valley to Ringinglow and down the Limb (the boundary between Mercia and Northumbria), through Ecclesall Woods – my patch, and you’re welcome for a brew – past Beauchief Abbey to Gleadless. It’s 14 miles, but you can opt out anywhere and take a bus home. • The walk begins at Endcliffe Park, Rustlings Rd, sheffieldroundwalk.co.uk Ed Douglas, travel writer and mountaineer Day trips Family holidays Manchester Bristol Glasgow Edinburgh Newcastle Liverpool London Birmingham Leeds guardian.co.uk
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Thailand and Cambodia blame each other for the first major skirmish in Surin since February’s ceasefire Six soldiers have died in the first major flare-up since a shaky ceasefire in the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute was signed in February. As soldiers fought with rocket-propelled grenades and guns, both countries evacuated thousands of villagers and accused each other of firing first in the jungle around Ta Moan and Ta Krabei temples in the north-eastern Thai province of Surin, about 93 miles south-west of the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, which saw a deadly standoff in February . Three Thai paramilitary rangers were killed and 13 wounded, while three Cambodian soldiers died and six were wounded. “Cambodia started attacking our temporary base with artillery fire and we responded to defend ourselves,” said Lieutenant-General Thawatchai Samutsakorn, of the Thai army. Thai army spokeswoman Sirichan Ngathong said fighting began after Cambodian troops altered a bunker in the area and moved closer in violation of a ceasefire pact. “When warned, Cambodian troops stepped closer and started firing,” she said. Cambodia’s defence ministry spokesman, Lieutenant-General Chhum Socheat, said Thai artillery shells had hit four Cambodian villages and Cambodian troops responded with rocket-propelled grenades. Soon after the clashes subsided, Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong sent a letter to the UN security council in New York, accusing Thailand of launching a “blatant, large-scale attack”. A witness in one Thai village said occasional gunshots and shelling could still be heard hours after the clash. Thailand’s government evacuated about 7,500 villagers, while Cambodian authorities moved several thousand people out of the area. The fighting is the most severe since three Thais and eight Cambodians were killed and dozens of people wounded between 4 and 7 February in the bloodiest fighting in nearly two decades. As part of a ceasefire deal, Thailand and Cambodia agreed on 22 February to allow unarmed military observers from Indonesia to be posted along the border. But that arrangement – brokered by the Association for South East Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers in Jakarta – has yet to be put in place. Thailand said international observers were not required, insisting the two countries should resolve the issue bilaterally. Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya said on Friday: “There’s a mechanism in place, so there’s no need to run crying to Asean or the international community.” In his letter to the UN, his Cambodian counterpart, Hor Namhong, said Thailand’s refusal to allow third party mediation was a “pretext for using its larger and materially more sophisticated armed forces against Cambodia”. Indonesia, the current chair of Asean, of which Thailand and Cambodia are members, urged both sides to stop fighting. Indonesia “strongly calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities between Cambodia and Thailand; for the two sides to continue to resolve their differences through peaceful means,” it said in a statement. Chhay Mao, a major in the Cambodian army stationed at the Preah Vihear temple, said the fighting had not spread to the ancient clifftop Hindu temple, which was awarded by an international court to Cambodia 49 years ago. Both countries lay claim to a 4.6 sq km (1.8 sq mile) patch of land around it. The temple has been a source of tension for generations and the two countries have been locked in a standoff since July 2008, when Preah Vihear was granted Unesco world heritage status. Some analysts say hawkish Thai generals and their ultra-nationalist allies, who wear the Thai king’s colour of yellow at protests, may be trying to create a pretext to stage a coup and cancel elections expected in June or July. Others say it may be a breakdown in communication at a time of strained relations and unease after a rumour of an imminent military coup swirled in Thailand overnight. The army has dismissed the rumours as baseless. Thailand Cambodia United Nations guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …After Public Outcry, Florida Workforce Agency Dumps Plan To Give Superhero Capes To The Unemployed
April 22, 2011 No Comment
enlarge ‘Be Super-Employable!’ From the Central Florida workforce development board website. I do think their hearts were in the right place. They were trying to lure unemployed workers into support programs intended to make them more employable, and they were probably desperate to come up with a way to show measurable progress at something. (We already know there aren’t any jobs, so any “solution” they came up with would have to be pointless, anyway.) But damn, what a stupid, insulting idea it was . After all, everyone knows you need Wonder Woman’s magic bracelets to defeat unemployment! Two days after defending its plans to give out super-hero capes to the unemployed , Central Florida’s workforce development board has killed the controversial public-relations effort. Widespread derision became the campaign’s kryptonite. “Workforce Central Florida has listened to the public, and will be withdrawing our admittedly out-of-the-box creative campaign, ‘Cape-A-Bility Challenge’ later today,” Board Chairman Owen Wentworth said in a statement. “Even though it seemed to offend some, it was the farthest thing from our intention, which was to introduce our programs and services to job seekers and employers who need them.” Wentworth said the decision to end the $73,000 campaign was made by board members who became concerned the effort “missed the mark” with the public. Since it was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel last week, the plan has been met with waves of criticism, disbelief and laughter. Much of the attention has focused on the 6,000 red capes the agency had planned to hand out to unemployed Central Floridians who participated in activities connected to the campaign. They could, for example, become a fan of the agency on Facebook. Or, they could have their photos taken next to life-size foam cutouts of “Dr. Evil Unemployment,” a cartoon villain at the heart of the campaign. The budget for the campaign was $73,000, with more than $14,000 being spent on capes and almost $2,300 on the “Dr. Evil” figures. Although the agency has said that was all public money, Vice President Kimbery Sullivan on Wednesday suggested the capes were bought using cash from a non-public account. She provided no details. Agency officials had portrayed the campaign as a fun, unusual way to engage the public. Many of Central Florida’s 116,000 unemployed saw it as juvenile or, worse yet, insulting.
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