Stock exchange plunges 12% after he wins close race against daughter of jailed former president Alberto Fujimori Ollanta Humala gained a narrow but undisputed victory in Peru’s election, it was confirmed on Monday , provoking rapture, dread and uncertainty over whether the former soldier would rule as a leftwing moderate or radical. With almost all votes from Sunday’s poll counted, Humala had won 7,182,788 and his rival Keiko Fujimori 6,807,933, translating into 51.3% and 48.7% respectively after a bitter campaign that polarised the country. Humala, 48, told cheering supporters in central Lima that a “great transformation” would share out Peru’s wealth more equally while respecting democratic norms and market capitalism. “It’s not possible to say that the country is progressing when 12 million people are living in extreme poverty without electricity or running water. The task will be difficult but we will work … to unite the Peruvian people without any type of discrimination.” Celebrations erupted in indigenous Andean communities where extreme poverty has persisted despite a commodities-fuelled economic boom. Humala, 48, promised new anti-poverty programmes partly funded from a tax on windfall mining profits. The election result exposed a sharp rural-urban divide, with many coastal towns and cities, including the capital, narrowly favouring Fujimori and her promise to keep foreign investment flowing into Peru. Big business and media groups backed the 36-year-old senator despite the fact that her father, Alberto, is in jail for corruption and human rights abuses committed while he was president in the 1990s. Humala, who led an unsuccessful coup against Fujimori in 2000, pulled ahead in the final days of the campaign after reminding voters of forced sterilisations and rampant corruption during Fujimori’s rule. His victory sent the stock exchange plunging 12%, prompting temporary suspension of trading and fears of capital flight. Investors fear the former lieutenant colonel may follow radical economic policies of his one-time mentor, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. Humala renounced Chávez during the campaign, swapped red T-shirts for dark suits and promised to rule like a Lula-style social democrat. But doubts remain. “We believe there is still a significant amount of uncertainty regarding who is the ‘real’ Humala,” said a research note from RBC Capital Markets. Humala and Fujimori are reviled by many Peruvians as dangerous demagogues but centrist rivals cancelled each other in the first round in April, putting the two populists from opposite ends of the political spectrum into the runoff. Bill Richardson, a former New Mexico governor who was in Lima as an Organisation of American States election observer, called Humala “a nationalist and an enigma with evolving views and a pragmatic streak”. He added: “I think he’s educable and the business community should give him a chance.” Analysts will watch closely to see who he names to his cabinet, especially the finance minister, and whether he seeks ties to the Chávez-led Alba trade group. Peru Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk
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Regime to intensify crackdown on protesters after claiming that dozens of government personnel were killed in Jisr al-Shughour The Syrian government has vowed to retaliate after claiming that dozens of its police and security forces were killed in attacks in and around the north-western town of Jisr al-Shughour. In an indication they will intensify the brutal crackdown on protesters that has already killed an estimated 1,200 civilians, authorities rapidly upgraded the toll in the town 20 miles from the Turkish border. The state news agency, Sana, initially said 28 personnel had been killed, including in an armed ambush and at the state security post. It revised the figure up to 43, 80 and then 120 within the space of an hour without an explanation. The claims could not be independently verified. “We will deal firmly and decisively based on the law [and] will never be silent over any armed attack that targets the country’s security,” the interior minister, Ibrahim Shaar, said in a statement broadcast on state television. A military operation has taken place in the town as part of a wider crackdown on 12 weeks of protests calling for the end of president Bashar al-Assad’s rule, although residents said the town was calm on Monday. The regime and state media have little credibility having waged an unprecedented war of disinformation while refusing to acknowledge a role in the brutal crackdown, blaming the escalating violence on armed gangs and extremist insurgents. Amateur footage and eyewitnesses have depicted scenes of plain-clothed security forces and the army shooting at peaceful protesters. Activists and analysts suggested members of the security forces may have been killed but that claims the killings were carried out by armed gangs was posed to fit the narrative of the regime and to justify a crackdown. They pointed out that armed gangs never roamed Syria before the Arab spring. A resident of Jisr al-Shughour told the Guardian on Monday evening there had been some clashes between plain-clothed security forces and the army over the weekend, but that this could not account for all the dead. Activists have admitted that a small number of protesters, pushed to the extreme by over two months of a bloody crackdown that has seen tanks and even helicopters bombard cities and towns, are fighting back, including in Jisr al-Shughour and Tel Kalakh. Two men from Jisr al-Shaghour said a small number of protesters had returned fire when shot at by security forces in the past few days, but did not know of Sunday night’s ambush. “We can’t know who killed the security because no one is allowed in to see,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which said at least 27 civilians and 13 security force personnel were killed in Jisr al-Shughour over the weekend. “You can’t control people who see their relatives killed or tortured and not expect a small minority not to fight back, but it is all regime stoked,” he said. Human rights organisations say more than 1,200 civilians, including 77 children, have been killed since the protests broke out in mid-March, while the government claims over 200 of its personnel have been shot dead. Two security personnel are reported to have been killed by mourners on Saturday in Hama, but some activists deny the claims. Many say the Syrian regime is trying to provoke predominantly peaceful protesters to fight back to justify the state’s crackdown which has turned increasingly bloody as the government refuses to offer substantive reform. “The government, willing to kill citizens and provoke Israel, is turning a peaceful, legitimate uprising into chaos,” said an analyst in Damascus. Nidaa Hassan is a pseudonym for a journalist in Damascus Syria Bashar Al-Assad Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Nidaa Hassan guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media MADISON (WKOW) — The makeshift community of protesters against Governor Scott Walker’s biennium budget is up and running. The two-week long “Walkerville” tent city began Saturday with a kickoff event at 7 pm. “This is all part of the anger and frustration at politicians that aren’t listening to working class folks from around this state,” said organizer Peter Rickman. Protesters are calling it “Walkerville” after the “Hooverville” towns set up during the Great Depression. Overnight camping is allowed along certain streets on Capitol Square, but not on Capitol grounds. … “If the people’s house is going to be closed down we’ve gotta have a presence known,” said Walkerville organizer Peter Rickman. Rickman hopes to bring back the presence everyone remembers in February. “We want to hold the politicians accountable for the bad choices they’re making,” said Rickman. Each day will have a theme. Sunday – a rally was held for K-12 education. “We’ll take this message of dignity for all workers across this state,” said Peggy Coyne, MTI President during a speech. “It’s the impact of those dollars across the state that really indicate how bad the choices are going to be,” said Mary Bell, President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council. “This budget is going to have a long lasting devastating impact on the kind of life we enjoy in Wisconsin,” said Bell.
Continue reading …You’d have to be living under a rock not to know there’s a battle in Wisconsin that’s crucial for the whole progressive movement and for the future of our country. That’s why Blue America started a new Wisconsin Recall page and it’s why we’ve invited state Senator Chris Larson and state Senate candidate Sandy Pasch here for a Blue America live chat today (2pm, CT, noon, PT). As you no doubt recall, earlier this year the newly elected extreme Republican governor of the state, Scott Walker, pushed through a radical attack on basic labor rights. His plan to strip workers of the right to bargain collectively for protections against unfair treatment and unsafe worker conditions was one of the greatest assaults on working families in the last half century. And now he’s pushing a radical, destructive agenda that guts priorities like education, health care and help for seniors while giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to huge corporations. He couldn’t have done it with an equally extremist state legislature, which has rubber stamped every single point on his destructive agenda. The recall elections next month matter far beyond the borders of Wisconsin. The Walker agenda is being duplicated in state after state by the extreme Republicans who swept into power in last November’s elections. This fight for rights and the basic values we all hold dear will reverberate across the nation, impacting elections in every region of the country. With the help of Blue America’s most trusted friend in Wisconsin , Sen. Chris Larson, we looked at all progressives running to replace the six Walkerites and we invited Assemblywoman Sandy Pasch to talk with us today about the elections. She and Chris are both open to answering questions about the campaign and about Wisconsin politics. Sandy’s running in the 8th Senate district. Over the course of a few months, more than 30,000 residents signed petitions to recall Walker-ally and friend of special interest, State Senator Alberta Darling. Darling is a 19- year Republican incumbent who has embraced the extreme conservative agenda. From slashing money for women’s health care, to raising taxes on seniors and the working poor while giving tax breaks to big corporations, to gutting money for Wisconsin schools, to making it easier to carry a concealed gun into days cares, malls and bars, Darling is a prime symbol of why we need to win these recall elections. Formerly a kind of mainstream conservative she’s devolved into a career politician who puts the extreme, divisive agenda of the party bosses and special interests ahead of her constituents. Remember, Democrats need just three net victories to take control of the state Senate and create a firewall against the reckless Walker agenda. Winning Darling’s seat will be a critical part of that equation. She’s vulnerable. Polling shows she can be beaten, and even her Republican allies in the Senate have said to the press she is in trouble. Sandy’s a dedicated progressive and has over 30 years of experience as a clinical nurse and educator. She is committed to stopping Walker’s assault on Wisconsin’s working families. Darling won her last election by only 1,007 votes and next month Sandy is the right candidate to fix that mistake. Winning these recalls will not just help protect Wisconsin– it will send a signal to the entire country that we will stand up to extreme, divisive agendas that hurt our values and threaten the priorities we know are so important. Help her campaign now , and this summer Wisconsin will be the first step in our national efforts to stand for the ideals under threat by the most extreme right wing special interests facing our country since the 1940′s. Please don’t forget to make your way over to the live forum in the comments section below and meet Chris and Sandy.
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Saeed Malekpour reprieve ‘a sigh of relief’ for wife who fought to prove he did not know adult site used his photo software Iran’s supreme court has quashed the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer who was facing execution on charges of developing and promoting porn websites . The 35-year-old was convicted of designing and moderating adult materials online although his family said he was a web programmer whose photo uploading software was used by a porn website without his knowledge. Defence lawyers said the conviction was quashed after they provided the court with expert evidence. Malekpour, a Canadian resident who was arrested in October 2008 on arrival in Tehran, will remain in jail while a judicial review into his case is held. Speaking from Toronto, his wife, Fatima Eftekhari, said: “This a sigh of relief for me, I’m very pleased that his life is finally saved. “It’s unbelievable that someone in this world has spent three years of his life in jail for merely designing software and was until now facing execution for that.” According to Eftekhari, the campaign by human rights groups in support of her husband was crucial in saving Malekpour’s life. . “Never underestimate the power of such campaigns when you can save the life of an innocent somewhere miles away from you by clicking a button or signing a letter,” she said. “I remember that I was collecting signatures in support of my husband and people were reluctant to put their names on the campaign because they were pessimistic that they can save someone else’s life by doing so. Now you can see how a signature affects lives.” A year after his arrest, Malekpour was put on state television to confess to his charges. He later retracted the confession in a letter sent from prison in which he said it was made under duress. Students from some of the Iran’s leading universities also wrote to the judges calling for his release. Iran Canada Software Middle East Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Saeed Malekpour reprieve ‘a sigh of relief’ for wife who fought to prove he did not know adult site used his photo software Iran’s supreme court has quashed the death sentence for Saeed Malekpour, a web programmer who was facing execution on charges of developing and promoting porn websites . The 35-year-old was convicted of designing and moderating adult materials online although his family said he was a web programmer whose photo uploading software was used by a porn website without his knowledge. Defence lawyers said the conviction was quashed after they provided the court with expert evidence. Malekpour, a Canadian resident who was arrested in October 2008 on arrival in Tehran, will remain in jail while a judicial review into his case is held. Speaking from Toronto, his wife, Fatima Eftekhari, said: “This a sigh of relief for me, I’m very pleased that his life is finally saved. “It’s unbelievable that someone in this world has spent three years of his life in jail for merely designing software and was until now facing execution for that.” According to Eftekhari, the campaign by human rights groups in support of her husband was crucial in saving Malekpour’s life. . “Never underestimate the power of such campaigns when you can save the life of an innocent somewhere miles away from you by clicking a button or signing a letter,” she said. “I remember that I was collecting signatures in support of my husband and people were reluctant to put their names on the campaign because they were pessimistic that they can save someone else’s life by doing so. Now you can see how a signature affects lives.” A year after his arrest, Malekpour was put on state television to confess to his charges. He later retracted the confession in a letter sent from prison in which he said it was made under duress. Students from some of the Iran’s leading universities also wrote to the judges calling for his release. Iran Canada Software Middle East Saeed Kamali Dehghan guardian.co.uk
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Zambian troops should have had ‘more visibility’ during fighting over Abyei, top military adviser finds The UN has admitted peacekeepers were wrong to stay in barracks during recent fighting between northern and southern Sudan that left scores of people dead and caused tens of thousands to flee. General Babacar Gaye, the UN peacekeeping department’s top military adviser, found that “we could have and should have had more visibility to deter any violence against civilians,” a spokesman said. The fighting and continued tensions over the fertile, oil-rich Abyei region have raised fears of renewed civil war a month before southern Sudan secedes from the north. UN diplomats reportedly criticised the peacekeepers from Zambia for failing to carry out their mandate to patrol and protect civilians last month. “They locked themselves up for a couple of days,” one was quoted as saying by Reuters. “They were then instructed to come out of their barracks and start patrolling, but they had already lost a crucial 48 hours.” One senior diplomat described their performance as pathetic, Reuters reported. The failings were confirmed when Gaye visited the unit. Michel Bonnardeaux, public affairs officer for the UN department of peacekeeping operations, said: “The military adviser went to Sudan to meet the force commander and troops on the ground. “He found that we could have and should have had more visibility to deter any violence against civilians and the destruction of property. He has given the appropriate guidance to the force commander and troops to be more proactive and visible.” The UN Missions in Sudan (Unmis) troops were themselves under fire at their base, Bonnardeaux added. “In terms of the physical protection of civilians, it must be recognised that most civilians left the area before the peak of the crisis and that Unmis troops and civilians were themselves in imminent danger as the Unmis compound itself was hit.” Zambian peacekeepers in Abyei have been criticised before. In 2008, they refused to allow civilians caught in crossfire between northern and southern Sudanese soldiers into their compound. The UN security council last week strongly condemned the north’s invasion of the Abyei region and takeover of Abyei town, which was precipitated by a 19 May attack on northern and UN troops by southern soldiers. It called on Sudanese forces to “ensure an immediate halt to all looting, burning, and illegal resettlement” in Abyei and asked both the north and the south to withdraw their troops from the area. A confidential UN human rights report obtained by Associated Press warned that the Sudanese army’s invasion of Abyei could lead to ethnic cleansing if the residents who fled were not able to return. More than 30,000 Ngok Dinkas, a black tribe that associates itself with Sudan’s south, fled Abyei when northern troops and ethnic Misseriya Arab cattle herders aligned with the north moved in and looted homes. The UN report estimated that 15-20% of the homes in Abyei were burned in what it called “deliberate destruction” and a violation of international humanitarian law. A south Sudan official said nearly 100 civilians had been killed in recent weeks in the Abyei region. UN troops have previously been accused of failing to protect civilians in the Balkans and Rwanda and, more recently, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. United Nations Sudan Africa David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Zambian troops should have had ‘more visibility’ during fighting over Abyei, top military adviser finds The UN has admitted peacekeepers were wrong to stay in barracks during recent fighting between northern and southern Sudan that left scores of people dead and caused tens of thousands to flee. General Babacar Gaye, the UN peacekeeping department’s top military adviser, found that “we could have and should have had more visibility to deter any violence against civilians,” a spokesman said. The fighting and continued tensions over the fertile, oil-rich Abyei region have raised fears of renewed civil war a month before southern Sudan secedes from the north. UN diplomats reportedly criticised the peacekeepers from Zambia for failing to carry out their mandate to patrol and protect civilians last month. “They locked themselves up for a couple of days,” one was quoted as saying by Reuters. “They were then instructed to come out of their barracks and start patrolling, but they had already lost a crucial 48 hours.” One senior diplomat described their performance as pathetic, Reuters reported. The failings were confirmed when Gaye visited the unit. Michel Bonnardeaux, public affairs officer for the UN department of peacekeeping operations, said: “The military adviser went to Sudan to meet the force commander and troops on the ground. “He found that we could have and should have had more visibility to deter any violence against civilians and the destruction of property. He has given the appropriate guidance to the force commander and troops to be more proactive and visible.” The UN Missions in Sudan (Unmis) troops were themselves under fire at their base, Bonnardeaux added. “In terms of the physical protection of civilians, it must be recognised that most civilians left the area before the peak of the crisis and that Unmis troops and civilians were themselves in imminent danger as the Unmis compound itself was hit.” Zambian peacekeepers in Abyei have been criticised before. In 2008, they refused to allow civilians caught in crossfire between northern and southern Sudanese soldiers into their compound. The UN security council last week strongly condemned the north’s invasion of the Abyei region and takeover of Abyei town, which was precipitated by a 19 May attack on northern and UN troops by southern soldiers. It called on Sudanese forces to “ensure an immediate halt to all looting, burning, and illegal resettlement” in Abyei and asked both the north and the south to withdraw their troops from the area. A confidential UN human rights report obtained by Associated Press warned that the Sudanese army’s invasion of Abyei could lead to ethnic cleansing if the residents who fled were not able to return. More than 30,000 Ngok Dinkas, a black tribe that associates itself with Sudan’s south, fled Abyei when northern troops and ethnic Misseriya Arab cattle herders aligned with the north moved in and looted homes. The UN report estimated that 15-20% of the homes in Abyei were burned in what it called “deliberate destruction” and a violation of international humanitarian law. A south Sudan official said nearly 100 civilians had been killed in recent weeks in the Abyei region. UN troops have previously been accused of failing to protect civilians in the Balkans and Rwanda and, more recently, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. United Nations Sudan Africa David Smith guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …New CBS Anchor Scott Pelley Threatens to Bring 60 Minutes-Style Fairness to Evening News
June 6, 2011 No Comment
CBS News has lately been running ads touting their new Evening News anchor Scott Pelley as bringing “the world class original reporting of 60 Minutes, now every weeknight.” If so, those who hoped CBS would finally shift towards a more fair-and-balanced approach to the news may again be disappointed. Last year, MRC news analysts reviewed “the world class reporting” on 60 Minutes and found a lopsided agenda that strongly favored liberals. In the previous five years, 60 Minutes aired 35 interviews with liberal leaders and celebrities, most of which (69%) were friendly and unchallenging. In contrast, only five of the 17 conservative segments (29 percent) were soft, a huge tilt both in the amount and the tone of CBS’s coverage. In a “ Profile in Bias ” report MRC put together earlier this spring, Pelley’s 60 Minutes segments were well-represented for his generous coverage of liberals, including Hillary Clinton (“star power”) and retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Pelley also used his podium to make a case for universal health insurance and decried the horrible economy as seemingly taken from “the pages of the Great Depression” (that was during the Bush years, when unemployment was 5%, not during the Obama years). And, when one of his 60 Minutes pieces on global warming came under fire as being too one-sided, he disdained those who disagreed as akin to “Holocaust deniers,” grumbling to a reporter for CBSNews.com: “If I do an interview with Elie Wiesel, am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier?” Here are a few of Pelley’s most notorious moments at CBS thus far (for the full package, visit www.MRC.org):
Continue reading …Yemeni president in Saudi hospital with ‘extensive’ injuries from palace attack
June 6, 2011 No Comment
Severe burns and shrapnel wounds – which require cosmetic surgery – reduce likelihood of Saleh returning to Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, suffered “extensive” injuries including severe burns in an attack on his Sana’a palace last week, reducing the chances that he will be able to return home after undergoing treatment in Saudi Arabia. Saleh was said on Monday to be in a stable condition in a military hospital in Riyadh after he was operated on by a Saudi-German medical team for shrapnel wounds to his face, neck and chest. Aides initially claimed he had suffered only minor injuries, but diplomatic sources estimated that he had received burns to 40% of his body. Al-Jazeera Arabic TV reported that he would require cosmetic surgery and quoted Saudi medical sources as saying he would need to recuperate for two weeks before returning to Sana’a, a timeframe which looks far too long in the current uncertain and volatile climate. The state news agency Saba reported vice-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, now acting leader, as saying the president would return home “in the coming days” after speaking to Saleh by telephone. Yemeni opposition forces have pledged to prevent Saleh’s return. Mohammad Qahtan, spokesman for the Joint Meeting Parties, said the coalition backed the transfer of presidential powers to Hadi, but as only a temporary rather than a permanent measure. Underlining fears about instability and chaos in the country, British naval sources revealed that Royal Marines were on standby off the coast of Yemen to evacuate British citizens. The Foreign Office has advised all UK nationals to leave Yemen by commercial means. Britain has already sent 80 commandos aboard one of the Royal Navy’s support ships, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Victoria, to sit off Yemen. It will soon be joined by another RFA vessel, the landing ship Cardigan Bay, which is heading through the Suez Canal to replace the hospital ship RFA Argus. The US, Britain and its EU partners are all urging the Saudis to persuade Saleh to stand down by signing a deal drawn up by the Gulf Co-operation Council granting him immunity from prosecution and paving the way for new elections. Diplomats said the Saudis had lost patience with Saleh but that a final decision rested with King Abdullah. The Saudi cabinet appeared to signal a shift towards the western position by saying it hoped “the Gulf initiative would be signed by all parties to resolve the Yemeni crisis and … preserve the security and stability of Yemen and its unity.” The standoff over Saleh’s return has focused attention on his sons and nephews, who control key elements of the security forces. Yemeni media reported that several of them had taken part in a meeting chaired by Hadi on Monday. A Saudi-brokered truce was largely holding in Sana’a after two weeks of fighting between Saleh’s forces and powerful tribal opponents in which more than 200 people were killed and thousands fled. There was fresh fighting in the southern city of Taiz, however, where the UN said it was investigating reports that as many as 50 people have been killed in the past week. Yemen Saudi Arabia Middle East Ian Black guardian.co.uk
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