Ivory Coast’s Gbagbo threatens international journalists in wake of reports of ‘heavy weapons’ being used on civilians
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media The UN has issued a warning: As the world focuses on Libya and Japan, UN aid agencies are warning that Ivory Coast is rapidly becoming a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe. Laurent Gbagbo, the sitting president of the4 Ivory Coast is now warning international reporters that they will be treated as terrorist accomplices if they don’t write what he approves of: The Ivorian leader refusing to cede power has warned international journalists that they would be considered accomplices to terrorists if they don’t do a more balanced job of reporting the country’s political crisis. In a statement read on state television, Ahoua Don Mello, a spokesman for sitting president Laurent Gbagbo, accused journalists of fabricating last week’s shelling of civilians in an Abidjan neighborhood. The United Nations said the attack could constitute a crime against humanity. Gbagbo also accused the media of refusing to report atrocities committed by forces loyal to his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, in the country’s West. He warned the press that if they didn’t do a better job of reporting, they would be dealt with like the U.N. peacekeepers, who have been repeatedly attacked by pro-Gbagbo mobs. If there’s ever a humanitarian need for help in the world, I’d say the Ivory Coast should be at the top of the list at least: The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast says it is concerned that heavy weapons could be used against civilians as rival presidents struggle for power . In a statement Tuesday, the mission said forces loyal to incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo are repairing an attack helicopter and preparing multiple rocket launchers for use. The mission called the weapons “a grave threat to the civilian population” and warned Gbagbo forces that the U.N. would act if such weapons are used . Earlier, Ivory Coast’s internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, called on the United Nations to authorize “legitimate force” to protect civilians. Mr. Gbagbo has resisted calls to relinquish power to Mr. Ouattara, who the United Nations and African Union back as the winner of a November president poll. Since the election, supporters of the rival presidents have engaged in intense fighting, sparking fears that Ivory Coast may be on the brink of a civil war. The U.N. says more than 435 people have been killed in post-election violence… read on enlarge Credit: BBC In December, the electorate commission said that Alassane Ouattara had beaten Gbagbo in the presidental runnoff. The BBC’s John James in the main city Abidjan says there will now be a tug of war between the two bodies with the outcome unclear. Supporters of President Laurent Gbagbo had tried to block the result, saying there had been fraud in the north. Former rebels control this area. It is also where Mr Ouattara is most popular. The election is intended to reunify the world’s largest cocoa producer. The announcement of the result of Sunday’s run-off had been much delayed, leading to heightened tension in the country. The electoral commission head, Youssouf Bakayoko, said Mr Ouattara had won 54% of the vote, compared to 46% for Mr Gbagbo. He was speaking under armed guard at a hotel, rather than from the commission’s headquarters. About the same time the head of the Constitutional Council, Paul Yao N’Dre, who is seen as being close to Mr Gbagbo, said it was taking over the declaration from the election commission. “Because of disagreements on the results of some regions, the independent electoral commission wasn’t able to give the provisional results. Is it any wonder people are trying to get out of there alive? The International Office for Migration [IOM] is helping the displaced find safe haven. Spokesperson Jemini Pandya says, “There’s been very large-scale displacement within Abidjan since fighting really increased a few weeks ago. It’s extremely difficult to be able to go and assess the real scale of the displacement because the security conditions are too bad and also because of the targeting of humanitarian aid workers.”
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• Waitrose.com went live a fortnight ago and cost £10m • Angry shoppers complain of slow speeds and ‘endless scrolling’ Waitrose has seen an exodus of online shoppers after a disastrous launch for its new £10m website. Waitrose.com went live with much fanfare a fortnight ago but has been beset with a number of problems such as slow speed. The upmarket grocer faces a barrage of criticism from customers, some of whom say they have switched to Sainsbury’s or Tesco. Waitrose’s troubles will also be a boost to rival online grocer Ocado. Before the launch, Waitrose, owned by the John Lewis partnership, claimed the new site would be easier to navigate and make ordering easier and quicker. However, a spokeswoman admitted on Wednesday: “We’ve had some teething problems and are working 24/7 to rectify these problems. We’re using our forum to let our customers know what changes have been made.” On the online forum , angry shoppers called on Waitrose to bring the old website back, with CheshireCat saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Sea_the_stars wrote: “After 2 hours, I don’t know what I have ordered and what I haven’t. I copied and pasted my list into Tesco’s shopping list and completed the order in less than 15 mins and 10% cheaper than Waitrose including their delivery charge, So it’s goodbye from me!” Another disillusioned shopper, Priya , wrote: “Waitrose seems to have completely overlooked the most basic requirement for a user interface – ease of use. The old website had a simple design and no performance issues that I can remember. Using the new site for the first time yesterday was incredibly painful – extremely slow response time, and the endless scrolling that was necessary due to the very poor design meant it took me over 40 minutes to create a short order – previously done in under 10 minutes.” In its latest update on the website, the grocer apologised for the problems to customers and said it was working on the overall speed of the site “as a matter of urgency”. Recent changes mean that customers can now add more than 12 items from their lists to their trolley and Waitrose promised to provide a new button to allow customers to add all items in their list. It has also improved the logons, and offer codes will now not be lost when an order is edited. However, the changes have done little to appease angry customers. “Bad to worse this morning, it seems… Oh dear. How are the mighty fallen!” Sarah by the Brook wrote on Wednesday. Supermarkets John Lewis Retail industry E-commerce Ocado Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
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Ogle at the classics of bike design in Cyclepedia: A Tour of Iconic Bicycle Designs by Michael Embacher
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Large parts of Allan Bank property in the Lake District destroyed by overnight fire after a suspected electrical fault One of the “big three” Wordsworth houses in the Lake District has been seriously damaged by fire after a suspected electrical fault. Large parts of Allan Bank at Grasmere, Cumbria, have been destroyed in spite of an overnight operation by fire crews from five stations. No one was hurt at the National Trust property, which William Wordsworth made notorious by repeated complaints about its smoky chimneys. Two women tenants were safely evacuated after the alarm was raised at 1.30am. Firefighters from Grasmere and Ambleside were reinforced by crews from Coniston, Windermere and Keswick as the blaze spread through the large mansion, completely gutting the first floor. Extensive water damage is also expected throughout the remains of the late 18th-century building, which the poet and his family also disliked because of its incurably damp walls. Initial tests suggest that an electrical fault in the roof-space may have caused the fire at the house, which overlooks Easedale valley and the rocky southern face of Helm Crag. Allen Bank is not open to the public but well-used footpaths crisscross its grounds. Wordsworth grumbled about it initially as an eyesore from his then home at Dove Cottage, the other side of Grasmere Lake. He disliked not only its bulk but the “belching” smoke from its ineffectively built chimneys. When he moved there in 1808 to have room for his growing family and regular visitors such as the writer Thomas de Quincey, he found the smoke often filled rooms as well as the garden and grounds, because of the hopeless down draught. He also fell out with the landlord and in 1813 moved to the much grander Rydal Mount, two miles away, where he lived until his death in 1850. Both Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount are open to the public and among the Lake District’s biggest attractions. Allan Bank was bought in 1915 by Hardwicke Rawnsley, an clergyman and one of the founders of the National Trust. Rawnsley left it to the organisation when he died five years later. The National Trust has only recently completed repairs to Wordsworth’s birthplace at Cockermouth, which was damaged by the Cumbrian floods in November 2009 but has reopened while restoration of its garden continues. William Wordsworth Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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Ruling party in Sana’a assembly backs President Saleh’s move to suspend constitution, ban protests and allow tougher powers of arrest Yemen’s parliament has enacted sweeping emergency laws after the embattled president asked for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship to quash a popular uprising demanding he step down. The move significantly escalates the showdown between US-backed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh and the movement that has unified military commanders, religious leaders and protesting youth behind demands that he quit immediately. The law suspends the constitution, allows media censorship, bans street protests and gives security forces 30 days of far-reaching powers to arrest and detain suspects. Its adoption was a virtual certainty because Saleh’s ruling party dominates the 301-seat legislature. The accelerating conflict has raised fears that Yemen could be pushed into even greater instability. Rival factions of the military have deployed tanks in the capital, Sana’a – with units commanded by Saleh’s son protecting the president’s palace, and units loyal to a top dissident commander protecting the protesters. Saleh, who has worked closely with a US offensive against the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, has already dramatically stepped up the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, with his security forces shooting dead more than 40 protesters on Friday in Sana’a. On Tuesday he offered to quit by the year’s end, but the opposition rejected his offer. He also warned of civil war following the defection of senior army commanders to the opposition. Tribal leaders, diplomats, politicians, provincial governors and newspaper editors have also joined the opposition. Saleh, who has ruled Yemen for 32 years, has also called for a dialogue with the leaders of the youth movements leading the protests at a central Sana’a square which has become the movement’s centre. The defection on Monday of Major-General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a high-level regime insider who commands the army’s powerful 1st armoured division, has been seen by many as a major turning point towards a potentially rapid end for Saleh. Clashes broke out late on Monday between Saleh’s republican guard and dissident army units in the far east of the country. On Tuesday, republican guard tanks surrounded an important air base in the western Red Sea coastal city of Hodeida after its commander, Colonel Ahmed al-Sanhani, a member of Saleh’s own clan, defected to the opposition. The turmoil raised alarm bells in Washington. The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said during a trip to Russia that “instability and diversion of attention” from dealing with al-Qaida was a “primary concern about the situation”. He refused to discuss whether Saleh should step down. Yemen Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Human rights Censorship Protest guardian.co.uk
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No 59: Elizabeth Taylor 1932-2011 Born in London to well-off American parents, Taylor was taken to America when war broke out and was in show-business from the age of 10. She became a major child star, giving one of her finest performances as Velvet Brown, the farmer’s daughter and Grand National winner, in National Velvet (1944). Her steady development from charming child to alluring adult star culminated in Vincente Minnelli’s Father of the Bride (1950). (Twenty one years later, Peter Bogdanovich used a clip from this in The Last Picture Show to present her as the belle id
Continue reading …Megyn Kelly Allows Wingnut Radio Host Gallagher to Claim There’s No Oil Remaining in the Gulf
March 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media While complaining about President Obama going to Brazil and encouraging them to do more offshore oil drilling, Fox’s Megyn Kelly allows right wing radio talk show host Mike Gallagher to get away with saying there’s no oil remaining in the Gulf after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. GALLAGHER: No, he’s worried about another one because one accident, which by the way, they still can’t find any remaining oil. That was supposed to be the catastrophe that ended our planet. We were all going to curl up and die from the BP oil spill. Remember how that was reported? And now they can’t even find any residue, any oil remaining. It was not the catastrophe that the do-gooders thought it was going to be. Mike wants the Fox viewers to believe that just because the media refuses to report on the remaining oil, it must have magically disappeared. That wasn’t the only ridiculous thing he said during this segment but it certainly was the most outrageous. I guess no one bothered to show him this, not that it would matter. I imagine he’d still lie about it even if they did. — Oil Still Leaking New Deepwater Horizon Drill Site enlarge Credit: Courtesy of Huffington Post (Jerry Moran/Stuart Smith oilspillaction.com)
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Reactors sharing similar design to ones at Japanese plant to be dropped because they fail to meet safety standards The Royal Navy is to drop a dangerous type of reactor used in its existing nuclear submarines because it fails to meet modern safety standards, defence ministers have disclosed. A safer type of reactor is expected to be used in the submarines that will replace the Trident fleet, as the existing design shares very similar features to the nuclear reactors involved in the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan. Liam Fox, the defence secretary, told MPs there was a “very clear-cut” case to use the new type of reactor because it has “improved nuclear safety” and would give “a better safety outlook”. A heavily censored Ministry of Defence report disclosed earlier this month by the Guardian and Channel 4 News said the current reactors are “potentially vulnerable” to fatal accidents , which could cause “multiple fatalities” among submarine crews. The report, written by a senior MoD nuclear safety expert, Commodore Andrew McFarlane, said the existing type compared “poorly” with those in the most modern nuclear power stations because it relied on a vulnerable type of cooling system, falling “significantly short” of modern best practice for nuclear reactors. McFarlane warned that the naval reactors are “potentially vulnerable to a structural failure of the primary circuit”. An accident could release “highly radioactive fission products”, posing “a significant risk to life to those in close proximity and a public safety hazard out to 1.5km [1 mile] from the submarine”. Known as the PWR2, this type is used in the four Trident submarines based at Faslane, near Glasgow, and six Trafalgar-class ones now being taken out of service. Like the Fukushima power station north of Tokyo, the PWR2 relies entirely on back-up power supplies to provide emergency cooling in the event of an accident. Despite the anxieties about its safety, PWR2s are also being fitted in the seven Astute-class submarines being built. These vessels will also be based at Faslane. There have been debates within the MoD and the navy about whether the PWR2 should be used if a replacement to Trident is finally approved – or if a safer type, PWR3, should replace it. The PWR3 uses “passive” cooling, which makes it far less reliant on back-up power, and has additional methods of injecting coolant into a reactor. The PWR3 is widely used in modern US nuclear submarines. The debate has delayed a decision on what type of reactor to install by 18 months, McFarlane’s report disclosed, and has cost a further £261m. Fox was questioned in the Commons on the reactor’s safety by Angus Robertson, the Scottish National party’s defence spokesman, after the disclosure of the report. Fox said: “The government’s view is that that is the preferred option, because those reactors give us a better safety outlook. That is a debate on both sides of the Atlantic, but we believe that in terms of safety, the case is very clear-cut.” Robertson said: “This still raises concerns about the currently operational and incoming nuclear submarines, which don’t satisfy acceptable safety standards. The UK should give up its nuclear obsession.” John Ainslie, from the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, who uncovered the original McFarlane report, said the new reactor would push up costs for the Trident replacement fleet by billions of pounds, since it would need designing and testing. “There is another option: they should completely abandon their plan to squander billions on new nuclear submarines,” he said. Defence policy Nuclear weapons Nuclear power Liam Fox Japan Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Volunteers searching for Swindon woman urged to stay away as detectives focus on area of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire Police have asked volunteer search parties helping hunt for missing Sian O’Callaghan to stay away after narrowing down the area of forest they are combing. Hundreds of people had turned up in Savernake Forest, near Marlborough, in Wiltshire on Tuesday to help look for signs of O’Callaghan in the dense woodland. But detectives have asked people to stay away for the moment as they had used “technological techniques” to focus their attention on a particular part of the forest. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who is leading the hunt, said: “The inquiry moves on at a rapid pace, with significant lines of inquiry being developed. The public have been fantastic in support of the search for Sian O’Callaghan and I’m very grateful. “I’ve been able to use new technological techniques to provide a tighter search parameter and have been able to rule out large areas of the six-and-a-half-mile radius we have all been searching. “Those tactics are being urgently progressed today by specialists. I may need further support from the public closer to the weekend but for now I would ask that people monitor the force website, media and social networks for my further requests if they are required.” O’Callaghan, 22, disappeared after leaving Suju nightclub in Swindon at about 2.50am on Saturday to walk the half mile home to the flat she shares with her boyfriend, Kevin Reape. O’Callaghan’s mobile phone records suggests that just over 30 minutes after she left the club her phone was somewhere in the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest. Police say the journey there could only have been made in a vehicle and they have been searching the forest since the weekend. Searchers were told to look for O’Callaghan or items she owned, including her LG E900 Optimus mobile phone. Detectives will not give details of the technology they have used to narrow the search down but it is possible that further analysis of her mobile phone records may have helped officers pinpoint more closely where her mobile ended up after she left the club. Coachloads of volunteers – including close friends of the office administrator – had been preparing to depart from Swindon and travel 12 miles to the woodland to search for her. A reward of £20,000 has been offered by an anonymous donor for information leading to O’Callaghan being found. Meanwhile a vigil and prayer service for her is being held on Wednesday at St Barnabas Church in Gorse Hill, Swindon. Crime Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
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Senior judges rule the former Labour MP damaged the ‘priceless democratic system’ and could have been jailed for longer Former Labour MP David Chaytor has lost an appeal to reduce his prison sentence for fiddling parliamentary expenses as senior judges ruled he had inflicted “serious damage” to our “priceless democratic system” and could have received an even longer jail term. The former lecturer had committed a “grave breach of trust” in falsely claiming more than £22,000 of taxpayers’ money for rent and IT work, for which he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Dismissing his claim that a 12-month sentence was more appropriate, the lord chief justice, Lord Judge, and two other judges said Chaytor, 61, the former MP for Bury North, had committed the fraud in a “calculated and deliberate way”. James Sturman QC had argued Chaytor should receive some leniency because he was a man of previous good character and high reputation who had made a “regrettable” and “stupid” error. But Lord Judge said: “It is difficult to exaggerate the levels of public concern at the revelation of significant abuse of the expenses system by some members of parliament. “Some elected representatives, vested with the responsibility for making laws which govern us all, betrayed the public trust. “There was incredulous consequent public shock. The result was serious damage to the reputation of parliament, with correspondingly reduced confidence in our priceless democratic system and the processes by which it is implemented and we are governed. “This element of damage caused by the appellant (and others) cannot be valued in monetary terms, but it is nonetheless real, and the impact of what has been done will not dissipate rapidly.” Chaytor had claimed his sentence should be reduced because he would have been entitled to “all” of the £18,350 he received in claims if he had made them legitimately. He could have designated his home in Todmorden, west Yorkshire, as his second home and claimed mortgage payments. Instead he submitted bogus documents for rental on a flat in London he already owned, and his mother’s house in Summerseat, near his Bury constituency. His lawyer also argued Chaytor deserved credit and a one-third reduction in sentence for pleading guilty, but had only been given a 25% discount. But Judge, sitting with Mr Justice Henriques and Mr Justice Foskett, disagreed, saying the discount could “without being open to criticism have been somewhat further reduced”. It was not until after Chaytor’s arguments that he had parliamentary privilege, and that his trial should be stayed because of adverse publicity, that he changed his plea to guilty, “Yet he must have known all along that he had been dishonest,” said Judge. Neither should he receive a reduction because he was of previous good character. His “sad fall from grace was entirely self-inflicted”, said Judge. “The appellant’s good character has been destroyed and his public life has been shattered. He has publicly admitted his dishonesty and his humiliation is complete”. But when the guidelines for reducing sentence because of good character were produced, “it never occurred to anyone that a member of parliament might set about defrauding the public purse in the calculated and deliberate way taken by the appellant. He knew exactly what he was doing.” Dismissing the appeal, Judge said he agreed with the trial judge, Mr Justice Saunders, that it was no easier to make a dishonest claim than an honest one. It was possible to understand that an individual claiming £150 in exaggerated expenses rather than £100 legitimately owed to him should be sentenced on the basis he dishonestly acquired £50. “In this case the element of dishonesty is not simply inflated claims for expenses, but rather the careful preparation of bogus claims, supported by bogus documents. In truth they were bogus in their entirety, from start to finish,” Judge said. The “loss to the public purse was significant,” he added. Chaytor, who was jailed in January, is currently at Spring Hill open prison in Buckinghamshire, and could be released as early as the end of May on condition he wears a tag and abides by a curfew. David Chaytor MPs’ expenses House of Commons Crime Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
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