When, in a recent New York Times interview, Comedian Chelsea Handler expressed disgust with the MTV show “16 and Pregnant,” pro-lifers (and fans of traditional morality) might have had reason to hope. “Getting rewarded for being pregnant when you're a teenager?” she fumed, “Are you serious? I mean, that makes me want to kill somebody.” Unfortunately, that somebody is a fetus. She went on to speak proudly of her own experience. “I had an abortion when I was 16,” she stated. “Because that's what I should have done. Otherwise I would now have a 20-year-old kid. Anyway, those are things that people shouldn't be dishonest about it.” This should come as no surprise to defenders of life, since for years now the media and those in the spotlight of American fame have contributed to the continued undermining of a culture of life, and have downplayed or simply ignored unpleasant stories that undermine the pro-abortion position. In February, the pro-life group Live Action released a hidden-camera video of a New Jersey Planned Parenthood employee giving advice to a man posing as a pimp about obtaining abortions and birth control for the underage foreign prostitutes he traffics. The networks ignored the story for a week. During the subsequent House of Representatives effort to defund the organization, only ABC mentioned the Live Action video as a cause. In fact, the networks during that month preferred to cover the Charlie Sheen's meltdown 20 times more than the Planned Parenthood scandal, the Culture and Media Institute found . While the news media prefer to ignore the debate over Planned Parenthood's federal funding, many celebrities haven't. Actress Scarlett Johansson came out swinging in support of Planned Parenthood, taking time out of her acting career to put on a show for Planned Parenthood's supporters, and filming an ad that urged the public to contact Congress and tell them not to cut funding. In her ad she desperately pleaded, “Every year, Planned Parenthood provides essential care to millions of women, men, and teens. For many people – especially those with low incomes – Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care. Let your Members of Congress know where you stand. Go to IStandWithPlannedParenthood.org . Sign the petition.” Johansson ignored the 8,000 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC's) that offer many of the same health services as Planned Parenthood, including others Planned Parenthood does not, at little or no cost. Johansson also mourned the lack of money for things like breast exams if funding was to be cut, but failed to mention that mammograms are not actually offered by Planned Parenthood. Singer Katy Perry, in a recent article in Vanity Fair , talked about her strict religious upbringing and how it supposedly tainted her view of Planned Parenthood: “Growing up, seeing Planned Parenthood, it was considered like the abortion clinic … I was always scared I was going to get bombed when I was there … I didn't know it was more than that, that it was for women and their needs. I didn't have insurance, so I went there and I learned about birth control.” Perry claims her upbringing misled her about Planned Parenthood, but Planned Parenthood is doing some misleading of its own. According to its 2011 fact sheet , with figures from 2009, abortion only makes up three percent of its services. However, the same fact sheet noted that Planned Parenthood served three million people and performed 332,278 abortions. This means 11 percent of its patients received an abortion, not three percent. Johansson and Perry are not the only stars rushing to Planned Parenthood's side. During the budget cutting debate, many others spoke out . Lisa Edelstein of “House M.D.” cut an ad for the left-wing group MoveOn.org that featured lies and scare tactics to oppose Planned Parenthood's defunding. Singer Hayley Williams, Oscar-winner Gweneth Paltrow and actress Julianne Moore did their part parroting the group's talking points. Still, there are some celebrities coming out on the side of life. Supermodel Kathy Ireland recently told FOX411's Pop Tarts, “I think Planned Parenthood needs to reassess and look at what their values are, what their mission is, what their goals are, and do they deserve government funding?” But the most surprising recent exception to the pro-abortion celebrity echo chamber came from rock n' roll. Rock star and Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler revealed in Aerosmith's autobiography Walk This Way , just how gut-wrenching his own personal experience with abortion was. In the mid-70s, Tyler had become the legal guardian of his teenaged girlfriend and eventually conceived a child with her. Friends persuaded Tyler abortiona was necessary and he persuaded his reluctant girlfriend to have an abortion in the fifth month of pregnancy, a decision that would come to haunt them both. He reflected in Walk This Way: “It was a big crisis. It's a major thing when you're growing something with a woman, but they convinced us that it would never work out and would ruin our lives … You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I'm going, Jesus, what have I done?” The abortion of his first child affected Tyler in ways noticeable even to others; his friend Ray Tabano remembers “it really messed Steven up because it was a boy. He was there, he saw the whole thing and it [messed] him up big time.” Tyler faced guilt and trauma that he tried to escape through his use of drugs. Like so many men and women who have faced the reality of an abortion, the guilt followed him: “It affected me later when I tried to get my real wife pregnant. I was afraid. I thought we'd give birth to a six-headed cow because of what I'd done with other women. The real-life guilt was very traumatic for me. Still hurts.” Obviously Tyler was not the only one affected by this abortion. Julia Holcomb, the teenager who carried Tyler's first child for five months and then was persuaded to abort, has also recently come out to speak about the event . Though she and Tyler seem to disagree about some of the specifics of the events surrounding their relationship, the share a deep regret for the abortion. She wrote: “It was a horrible nightmare I will never forget. I was traumatized by the experience. My baby had one defender in life; me, and I caved in to pressure because of fear of rejection and the unknown future. I wish I could go back and be given that chance again, to say no to the abortion one last time. I wish with all my heart I could have watched that baby live his life and grow to be a man.” The story of Tyler and Holcomb demonstrates the reality of abortion, the pain, the guilt, the trauma, and the killing which accompanies the procedure which so many celebrities laud as necessary and freeing. There's good news for the pro-life movement: more Americans than ever see abortion as morally wrong. But, highlighting their cultural disconnect from their audiences, celebrities are rallying around Planned Parenthood and the culture of abortion.
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Prime minister secures more time in office to focus on the post-tsunami recovery operation in north-east Japan The Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, has comfortably survived a no-confidence motion after offering to resign as soon as plans for Japan’s recovery from the tsunami and nuclear crisis are in place. MPs in the 480-seat lower house of Japan’s parliament voted down the motion on Thursday afternoon by 293 votes to 152. By offering to quit, possibly in the autumn, Kan has bought himself a few more months in office. The move will enable him to oversee the operation to stabilise the nuclear plant – which is expected to take several months – and to secure emergency funding for the reconstruction of the country’s battered north-east coast. The fate of Thursday’s motion, submitted by the main opposition Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and other opposition parties, was sealed after Kan’s main rival in his own Democratic party of Japan (DPJ), Ichiro Ozawa, indicated he would abstain along with 50 of his supporters, having earlier threatened to side with the opposition. Although he survived the motion, Kan faces a difficult few months, during which he is expected to struggle to reach deals on emergency budgets in a deeply divided parliament, and to introduce a controversial tax rise. The no-confidence motion has exposed divisions inside his own party, with DPJ executives vowing to take action against rebel MPs who voted with the opposition. Kan, who has been in office for almost a year, managed to pre-empt his opponents earlier in the day when he pledged to resign once his disaster mission was complete, and suggested it was time the political elite made way for a new generation. “I would like the younger generation to take over various responsibilities once I have finished fulfilling certain roles as a I work on handling the disaster,” he told DPJ MPs. “The nuclear crisis is ongoing, and I will make my utmost efforts to end the crisis and move forward with post-quake reconstruction work.” His offer to resign convinced his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, who also leads a large DPJ faction, to withdraw his support for the no-confidence motion. Kyodo News reported that Ozawa, a longtime Kan nemesis and notorious power broker, would abstain. At one stage it had looked possible that opposition parties would come tantalisingly close to securing the votes of the 80 or so governing party MPs they needed to force Kan to resign or call a general election. Kan, Japan’s fifth prime minister since 2006, remained vague about when he would step down. Shizuka Kamei, the leader of a minor partner, said he should resign as soon as the nuclear crisis has been resolved. Kan’s success in buying time to oversee the start of Japan’s reconstruction, which could cost up to £113bn, has all but ruined the prospects for a grand coalition comprising the DPJ and the LDP, whose leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, was behind the no-confidence motion. “Among possible scenarios the best one would be Kan voluntarily resigning and the DPJ forming a coalition with the LDP to stabilise politics,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at the Mizuho research institute in Tokyo. “Unstable politics would weigh on stock prices and delay reconstruction after the disaster. “From both Japanese and foreign investors’ point of view, now is not the time for political turmoil. Japan has various issues it needs to address swiftly – not only reconstruction but also tax and social security reform, TPP [a transpacific free trade agreement] and energy policy, which requires political initiative.” The return to business as usual in Nagatacho, Tokyo’s political nerve centre, has been met with anger and disbelief in the country’s north-east, where about 100,000 people are still living in evacuation shelters and construction of temporary housing is behind schedule. The damage to the region’s administrative infrastructure would have made it all but impossible for some communities to take part in a general election had the no-confidence motion succeeded. “We are in a situation of having to delay the prefectural assembly election because elections cannot be held in our prefecture right now,” Miyagi prefecture’s governor, Yoshihiro Murai, told reporters. “It will be difficult to hold a lower house election, especially in the municipalities along the coast.” An 82-year-old resident of Kamaishi who was living in a local school told the Asahi Shimbun: “Once things become more settled in the region struck by the disaster, they can go ahead and dissolve the lower house as many times as they like. If they dissolve it now, I will abstain from voting.” A day of political turmoil in Japan coincided with a visit by the British business secretary, Vince Cable, who offered British help with the operation to remove waste from the nuclear plant and to decommission its reactors once they have achieved “cold shutdown”. “We can help with strategic planning, technical help with various aspects of decommissioning and waste disposal – we have a lot of experience in that field – and independent verification, if that’s what the Japanese need,” Cable said. “But the most important contribution we’re making on the nuclear issue at the moment is being scientifically rational. This whole issue is in danger of getting out of control. “The fact that [UK chief nuclear adviser] John Beddington has been here and looked at this scientifically has an impact on UK public opinion. It’s about perception.” The Fukushima nuclear accident prompted Japan to abandon plans to build new reactors and Germany to announce it would close all of its atomic plants by 2022. But Cable said British energy policy, which envisions a key role for nuclear, remained unchanged. “There were periodic outbursts in the newspapers at the time [of the accident] and you’ve seen what’s happened in Germany with a sudden switch of policy. We’re not changing our policy. “There’s a continuing emphasis on safety – that’s got to be scientifically based – and we don’t believe in subsidisation of the industry. But we’ve got no fundamental, theological objections. “In the UK we’ve committed ourselves to these very ambitious low-carbon budgets, and it’s explicit that nuclear power has a significant role to play, provided safety issues are properly addressed and the government isn’t called upon to offer subsidies.” Cable, who is the first cabinet minister to visit Tokyo since the 11 March disaster, pledged British support for Japan as it attempts to put its economy back on track. “One of the main reasons I’m here is to show solidarity with the Japanese,” he said. “Britain has given a lot of practical help with humanitarian assistance and our companies have pitched in in various ways. “But one of the most useful ways we can help is to show that Japan is safe and that there is no reason why business people shouldn’t come here. “The message is that Japan is a country we want to do business with. Come here and get on with it.” Japan disaster Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather Nuclear power Energy Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Homeless charity Crisis says young disabled people who can no longer afford flats could end up being forced to live on the streets Controversial government changes to housing benefit could see 11,000 young disabled people forced out of their flats, putting them at risk of homelessness, according to campaigners. The homeless charity Crisis says the government’s own figures (pdf) show that almost one in five of the 62,500 people in England, Scotland and Wales affected by the proposed extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) have a disability. From 1 January 2012, single people aged 25-34 will only be able to claim housing benefit based on the cost of a room in a shared house rather than a modest one-bed flat, bringing them into line with existing rates for people under 25. The average loss will be £41 a week. This will force many disabled people into housing that is inappropriate for their condition, said Crisis. Although 4,000 of the most vulnerable disabled claimants will be exempt because they need help through the day or night, most ill and disabled people will be forced to move into cheaper accommodation, often outside the area where they live. In a survey of housing professionals published by Crisis last month, 87% said they already had problems finding appropriate properties for people on SAR and 72% believed there was not enough shared accommodation in their area. Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, said: “This disturbing cut will force people suffering serious physical disabilities or mental illness to share with strangers, even if it damages their health. “Government claims that discretionary funding will be able to support those who need it just don’t add up. “We are deeply concerned that some of the disabled people affected by this will end up homeless, and in the worst cases rough-sleeping.” James, 31, from Coventry, who is on incapacity benefit, faces a cut of £43 a week in his benefit, which will force him to leave the small one-bedroom flat he has lived in since 2008. He has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism; a hereditary condition that results in severe mobility problems; and has suffered from ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease. He says his Asperger’s makes it hard for him to live with strangers, and he fears that the stress of moving from his home will trigger health problems. He says there are no affordable one-bedroom flats where he lives. “I think it’s going to be horrific. I just won’t have the money to stay where I am. It will basically be ‘look for the least terrible option’.” James says he is frustrated by being unable to work. He says he has applied for jobs without success. “One of the things I’m most frustrated by is people saying I’m workshy. This is not a ‘lifestyle choice’. I’m not living in luxury at the taxpayer’s expense, I’m living in penury at the taxpayer’s expense, and I hate it, I hate living on handouts.” According to an equality impact assessment carried out by the Department for Work and Pensions, the average loss per week is £41, rising to £45 a week in the south east and £87 a week in London. The highest losses will be incurred by young people renting in Camden (a loss of £116 a week), Brent (£111), Islington (£109), Tower Hamlets (£109) and Westminster (£108). The Department for Work and Pensions said the measure, which it hopes will save £200m a year, was to ensure greater fairness so that people on housing benefit face similar “affordability choices” to those not on benefits. Disability Housing benefit Communities Housing Patrick Butler guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I read Jake Tapper’s article on the meeting between the President and the House Republicans with bated breath. Republicans described the meeting as being “frosty, good group therapy, nice conversation, frank and productive and even non-confrontational.” Wow, who could have guessed that? This is my favorite part, and it features Eric “The Tornado” Cantor: Cantor also criticized Democrats’ “Medi-scare” attacks, saying that the charges that the GOP is taking medicine from grandma to pad the pockets of the rich isn’t helpful. Oh, but they are doing exactly that , but that’s beside the point. The President replied: The president added that he is all for a reduction of demagoguery, an issue he understands since he is the ‘job killing, death panel, probably-wasn’t-born-here president.’ Eric Cantor, who heartlessly has been refusing to help the tornado victims in Joplin, MO, unless they are first paid for with politically-motivated spending cuts, is openly complaining to the president about how mean they’ve been treated. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri’s tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else. “ If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental ,” Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. The term “pay-fors” is used by lawmakers to signal cuts or tax increases used to pay for new spending He doubled down on those comments about tornado victims on Face The Nation and he’s crying to the Commander in Chief. You can’t make this up. Republicans get elected by fearmongering anything and everything — from “death panels” to incipient Marxism — so it just makes me smile when I see a wimpy Eric Cantor openly complain to the president about how mean they’ve been treated while residents of Joplin and other regions hit by these marauding tornadoes are the ones who are really suffering.
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Health secretary, under pressure over plans outlined in NHS bill, says he accepts case for rethink on certain elements The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has indicated that he is ready to accept “substantial and significant changes” to his health reforms, but warned that the status quo is “not an option”. Lansley – who has been under increasing pressure over the reform plans outlined in the health and social care bill – said he accepted the case for a rethink on certain elements “if they help us improve care for patients”. But in comments that appeared designed to scotch speculation that he is set to either quit or be sacked over his handling of the reforms, Lansley outlined the case for changes that would make the NHS work better and “smarter” and deliver better outcomes for patients by putting them “firmly in the seat”. The bill outlines plans to abolish primary care trusts and strategic health authorities and allow GP-led consortiums to decide to buy treatment either from public or private providers. The health secretary’s first remarks since the end of the government’s listening exercise on the plans, which was ordered by David Cameron two months ago, coincided with a warning from the leading doctors’ union about a “completely unethical” measure outlined in the bill. The British Medical Association urged the government to remove plans to introduce performance-related bonuses because that could undermine patient trust. Dr Laurence Buckman, the chairman of the BMA’s GPs committee, said the trust patients put in their doctor is the “cornerstone” of general practice. “Financially rewarding GPs by directly linking their earnings to their consortium’s financial management, particularly when the NHS is under continuing pressure to reduce budgets, is completely unethical. “GPs are very concerned about the potential conflicts of interest inherent in the health bill.” The latest intervention shows the pressure Lansley will be under to amend his reforms following the publication of the NHS Future Forum report following the listening exercise. In an article in the Daily Telegraph, Lansley sought to allay fears that the plans would lead to privatisation, but said sticking with the status quo was “not an option” because of the twin pressures of an ageing population and rising treatment cost which “paint a compelling picture of why we have to modernise our health service and make it sustainable for the long term”. A failure to act now would “almost certainly mean a crisis tomorrow” which could threaten the NHS as a comprehensive and universal service free at the point of use. “I will not allow that to happen,” he wrote. “We will never privatise our NHS. But if we choose to ignore the pressures on it, the health service will face a financial crisis within a matter of years that will threaten the very values we hold so dear – of a comprehensive health service, available to all, free at the point of use and based on need and not the ability to pay.” The Labour MP John Healey MP accused Lansley of “adding to confusion and uncertainty in the health service” with the Telegraph article. “He makes a case for change, but not the Tory-led government’s top-down reorganisation of the NHS,” Healey said. “As Labour has argued from the outset and, as the chorus of criticism during the ‘pause’ [listening exercise] has underlined, these are the wrong reforms for the NHS. They are being forced through for reasons of political ideology not improved patient care. “The huge upheaval of reorganisation is making it harder, not easier, for the NHS to deal with the financial and efficiency squeeze.” Health policy Andrew Lansley Health NHS GPs Public services policy Doctors Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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Greek government understood to have agreed to €6.4bn in austerity measures in return for next tranche of aid The cost of insuring Greek government bonds rose on Thursday after ratings agency Moody’s said there was now a 50% chance of the country defaulting on its debts. The warning came as Moody’s cut Greece’s credit rating to Caa1, almost the lowest rating assigned to any country. The move intensified the pressure on European leaders as negotiations over a second rescue package for Greece continued in Vienna . This “troika review”, involving the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, is also considering what additional measures Greece must take in return for the next instalment of its original bailout plan. Greece is understood to have agreed to €6.4bn (£3.9bn) of fresh austerity measures, including tax increases and accelerated privatisations. The next tranche of Greece’s original aid deal, worth €12bn, is seen as vital by Greek officials to pay public sector wages and pensions. Moody’s justified the downgrade by arguing that Greece will fail to meet the deficit reduction targets that were set as part of its existing bailout deal. The Athens government, though, said Moody’s had failed to appreciate the efforts it is taking to bring its debts under control. “Over five-year investment horizons, around 50% of Caa1-rated sovereigns, non-financial corporate and financial institutions have consistently met their debt-service requirements,” Moody’s said. “Around 50% have defaulted.” It now costs €1.455m to insure €10m of Greek debt until 2016, after traders pushed the five-year Greek credit default swap (CDS) contract up by 25 basis points to 1455, according to data from Markit. In contrast, the Spanish CDS was trading at 252bp. “The downgrade … adds to negative sentiment ahead of the troika review results, which are expected before the weekend,” said Gavan Nolan, director of credit research at Markit. “A bailout is expected to follow by the end of the month. ECB and EC officials still appear to be at odds over the issue of rescheduling debt, though there are signs that the ECB is becoming more flexible.” Bloomberg reported that Greece has “entered the debt rating hall of shame” , with only Ecuador sporting a worse rating. Nolan added that the prices of Greek debt already imply that the country’s credit rating is even lower, at CCC. Prime minister George Papandreou is expected to present details of his new “mid-term fiscal plan” to Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the group of eurozone finance ministers, on Friday. Negotiations over the shape of a second bailout package will continue in the coming weeks, before being definitely decided on at the next EU summit meeting in June. European debt crisis Ratings agencies Bonds Economics Euro IMF Global economy Greece European Union Europe Graeme Wearden Helena Smith guardian.co.uk
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Boats carrying migrants fleeing Libya capsize in rough seas near Kerkennah leaving 250 still missing after 570 rescued About 250 people are missing in the Mediterranean sea after vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty off the Tunisian coast, a Tunisian security official has reported. Tunisian coastguards and military rescued 570 people, but many others went into the water when a stampede to get off the small fishing boats – combined with the effect of rough seas – capsized some of the vessels, the official said. “Search operations are still continuing. About 250 people are missing,” said the official from the southern Tunisian port of Sfax, where survivors were taken. “We haven’t found a single body so far.” “Five hundred and seventy people have been rescued. Most of them are in good health and they are in the military barracks in Sfax and some are in hospital. Among those who were hospitalised, three have died,” he said. “They are all of African nationalities and they were on small fishing boats,” said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. The boats encountered problems on Tuesday about 12 miles (20km) off the Tunisian island of Kerkennah as they headed for Italy, the Tap state news agency said. They were carrying refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya. Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in north Africa have been heading to Italy on rickety boats in recent months, creating an immigration crisis in Lampedusa, an Italian island situated halfway between Tunisia and Sicily. Tunisia Refugees Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Libya Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Boats carrying migrants fleeing Libya capsize in rough seas near Kerkennah leaving 250 still missing after 570 rescued About 250 people are missing in the Mediterranean sea after vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty off the Tunisian coast, a Tunisian security official has reported. Tunisian coastguards and military rescued 570 people, but many others went into the water when a stampede to get off the small fishing boats – combined with the effect of rough seas – capsized some of the vessels, the official said. “Search operations are still continuing. About 250 people are missing,” said the official from the southern Tunisian port of Sfax, where survivors were taken. “We haven’t found a single body so far.” “Five hundred and seventy people have been rescued. Most of them are in good health and they are in the military barracks in Sfax and some are in hospital. Among those who were hospitalised, three have died,” he said. “They are all of African nationalities and they were on small fishing boats,” said the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. The boats encountered problems on Tuesday about 12 miles (20km) off the Tunisian island of Kerkennah as they headed for Italy, the Tap state news agency said. They were carrying refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Libya. Thousands of people fleeing upheavals in north Africa have been heading to Italy on rickety boats in recent months, creating an immigration crisis in Lampedusa, an Italian island situated halfway between Tunisia and Sicily. Tunisia Refugees Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Libya Africa guardian.co.uk
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Yemen death toll rises as explosion hits Libyan rebel-held city of Benghazi 2.40pm: Russia is advising its citizens in Yemen to leave . A foreign ministry spokesman said: “The situation is escalating every hour, the tensions are not easing.” 2.35pm: Reports now from al-Jazeera that Sana’a aiport is closed and flights are being diverted to Aden. CNN correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom tweets that Yemen State TV is quoting official sources denying that there are any changes or delays. 1.50pm: Reuters now report that the airport in Sana’a has re-opened. Thousands of other people are also fleeing fighting in the Yemen capital by car, it said: “It felt as if the artillery shells were flying next to my head… My wife, my daughter were screaming. It was horrible,” resident Sadeq al-Lahbe said before leaving. “There is no electricity, no water and violent strikes shaking the house. Is this life?” 1.32pm: Yemen : The AFP news agency quotes medical staff as saying at least 15 people died overnight in the Al-Hasaba area of Sana’a, Sadiq al-Ahmar’s stronghold, among them a seven-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet. 12.49pm: According to rights campaigners in Syria , quoted by Reuters, security forces have killed 11 people today in the under-siege central town of Rastan. As ever, there is no way to independently verify this. 12.18pm: A brief return to Bahrain : I’ve been passed an email from the rights group Avaaz urging F1 teams to boycott the emirate’s Grand Prix if it is rescheduled following a meeting tomorrow . The race had been due to begin the 2011 season in March, but it was called off amid the quashing of pro-democracy protests. Azaaz said: F1 mustn’t give credibility to a pariah regime that is as brutal as Iran and Zimbabwe. If F1 decides to race in Bahrain, it will be on a par with the sporting tours that chose to play in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. 12.06pm: Francis Matthew of the Gulf News highlights the role of Hamid al-Ahmar , the prominent Yemeni businessman and politician – and brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the tribal leader at the centre of the conflict – who turned against Saleh this week. (Our correspondent Tom Finn wrote about the family last week . The political initiative was seized this week by Hamid al-Ahmar, when he rebelled against Saleh. A businessman and politician, Ahmar holds an important position in the major Hashid confederation. His elder brother Sadiq al-Ahmar is the paramount chief of the Hashid confederation, and they are the sons of the late Shaikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was a major figure in Yemeni politics till his death in 2007, backed by substantial Saudi influence. A third brother, Hussain, commanded the Saudi-backed Hashid militia in the recent fighting in Sa’ada. Hamid al-Ahmar’s challenge will be viewed favourably by Saudi Arabia, which has had a close relationship with his family for decades. The Saudi leadership is the most concerned of all the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states that Yemen does not slip into chaos, and it will naturally back an alternative to Saleh based on northern leaders. And if Ahmar is dismissed as being just a businessman rather than a politician, his relative, General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar is an effective military commander who has already rebelled against Saleh. But Matthew says the intervention of the Ahmar family is not necessarily a win for the pro-democracy opposition, who have rejected the idea of supporting a leadership bid from another member of the power elite They have promised to hold out for a peaceful transfer to a civilian authority. The activists are slowly developing their own management structure and deciding on mechanisms to nominate their leaders, but this was not sufficiently advanced to enable them to send observers to the GCC transition talks. But others who are not yet part of the action are the leaders from the south. When Yemen united in 1990, the president of South Yemen, Ali Salim al-Beidh, became vice-president of the united country. He despaired that Saleh would not listen to his concerns, and resigned to lead a breakaway movement when he declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which only lasted in the south from May to June 1994. Beidh is the leader of Al Harak, a party dedicated to a southern breakaway. The GCC sees Yemen as too important and too close to be allowed to fail. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Saudis ran massive grant programmes which they allowed to wither away after the border settlement in 2000. Now they are leading GCC efforts to find a political solution. They have reopened their links with northern political leaders like al-Ahmar to try and find a way forward. But in the end, any long-term solution in Yemen will also need to take into account southern ambitions, as well as the new demands of the young people on the streets, who have time and demographics on their side, even if they have failed to find a leader to articulate their demands and take part in the talks this time round. 12.02pm: Reuters are reporting a Yemen detail I’d so far missed: Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, has arrived in Saudi Arabia en route for he United Arab Emirates, and is seeking help from both countries to pressure Saleh into stepping down. 11.34am: My colleague Brian Whitaker has the following useful context for the situation in Yemen : Fighting in and around Yemen’s capital seems to be intensifying, and this morning there are reports that Sana’a airport has been closed. Is this the end for President Saleh? Certainly many people are hoping so. With many erstwhile supporters – both civil and military – abandoning him, it’s clear that Saleh can never regain the authority he once had. But there’s still the question of how, exactly, he can be ousted from office. One thing to keep in mind is that armed conflict in Yemen is not unusual; in fact it’s almost routine. The regime has fought an on-off war with Houthi rebels in the north for years, as well as a separatist insurrection in the south which sprang up more recently. Tribal militias have also fought the army often in the past, and sometimes got the better of it. Saleh’s regime, therefore, is well accustomed to sitting-out periods of turmoil, and even military setbacks, without feeling that its survival is challenged to the core. The difference this time is that a lot of the fighting is concentrated in the capital rather than more remote areas where it would be only scantily reported, and that its objective this time is the removal of Saleh himself. The situation now is beginning to resemble that in Ivory Coast earlier this year when Laurent Gbagbo was holed up in his presidential compound and refusing to budge. Saleh has his own well-protected compound and in theory could stay there for ages while the country falls apart all around him. In fact, even if he were to resign, he would technically still be president unless the Yemeni parliament – where his party holds an overwhelming majority – agreed to accept it. 11.03am: We’re going to try and speak to a couple of Yemen experts to see where things might be heading for President Saleh and his country. In the meantime, here’s AP’s latest summary of events: Street battles raged Thursday between the army and opposition tribesmen in Sana’a and dozens of people on both sides were killed and wounded. Elsewhere a thousands-strong force of tribal fighters fought to break through government lines on the northern outskirts of the city. Sana’a airport was closed Wednesday night and remains shut for fear that planes could be hit in the heavy shelling around the city. The Defence Ministry issue a statement claiming the army stopped the tribesmen from entering Sana’a, but an army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military, said the fighting continues. The officer, who spoke on condition he not be named in accordance with opposition force custom, said the fighting was within 10 miles of the northern outskirts of Sana’a. He said the tribesmen had captured but later released 30 soldiers from the elite Republican Guard. Heavy casualties were reported inside the city’s Hassaba neighborhood where resident Talal Hazza said government troops were shelling opposition forces for a second day running. The army is trying to dislodge fighters loyal to pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Amar. The Defence Ministry acknowledge fighting in Hassaba for the first time Thursday. Opposition fighters have taken control of some government buildings in the region. In the southern city of Taiz, three protesters were wounded in the fighting with the army, security men and plain-clothes government enforcers, said activist Mohammed al-Darfi. He said security forces stormed the house of Taiz opposition lawmaker Sultan al-Samie Wednesday night and confiscated his computer and documents. 10.55am: Al-Jazeera has some spectacular footage of the burning car bomb outside Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel, and of the anti-Gaddafi protests which followed. 10.47am: Yet another update from Yemen , where Reuters is reporting that flights have been suspended at Sana’a airport as fighting approaches the area. No news yet on how permanent this could be. The airport closed last week, but only briefly. 10.29am: Some more on Yemen , where the situation does appear to be deteriorating. This from Reuters: Yemeni soldiers have fired at protesters in the southern city of Taiz who are calling for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-rule over the impoverished Arab state, witnesses said on Thursday. There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The U.N. human rights envoy said earlier this week her office was investigating reports that Yemeni soldiers have killed at least 50 protesters in Taiz since Sunday. 10.13am: There has been more overnight violence in Yemen , with “dozens” hurt, according to reports. AP writes: A Yemeni army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s camp says government forces and armed tribesmen who sided with the opposition have fought new street battles overnight in the capital Sanaa, leaving dozens killed and injured. The officer also says that thousands of armed tribesmen have fought the Yemeni army about 10 miles from the city in an effort to push toward Sana’a… A Sana’a resident, Talal Hazza, says government forces continued shelling positions of pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar’s tribesmen in the capital’s Hassaba neighborhood on Thursday. 10.03am: In connection with the above video, Richard Norton-Taylor writes: Spectacular explosions followed the bombing by RAF Tornado and Typhoon jets of ten ammunition storage bunkers and a vehicle at a site near Waddan, in central Libya. The Ministry of Defence has released the video of the bombing on Tuesday of the targets with weapons equipped with satellite and laser guidance systems. Secondary explosions, which can be seen in the video, show that a significant quantity of ammo was stored at the site, the MoD said. Major General John Lorimer, the ministry’s chief military spokesman, said Gaddafi forces had become increasing dependent on Waddan for ammunition. 9.44am: Unicef , the UN children’s organisation, has sent us this blog from one of its staff members in Libya . Rebecca Fordham recounts the impact the conflict has had on two children in particular. It’s worth quoting at some length: June 1st 2011: I witnessed the graphic impact of conflict on children when I boarded a boat coming into Benghazi from Misrata. Two young boys, who had been severely injured by explosive remnants of war (ERW) lay on beds inside the on board field hospital, provided by LibAid, with their fathers standing patiently beside them. Both boys stared out, Ayman, 14, his wrists heavily bandaged and, Mamud, 9, lying quietly in the bed next to him. The boys had been playing close to the Medical Technical College in Misrata, Ayman’s father told me, when his son picked up what he thought was shrapnel from an exploded bomb to take home and show his family. It exploded when he touched it. His father knew there were “cluster bombs” that had been dropped close by, and that they could explode when someone tried to move them but, he didn’t know the exact location and what they looked like. Children are particularly at risk, because their natural curiosity means that they often pick up items that adults are more cautious to touch. In Libya, where some children have been living under extremely challenging and stressful conditions for over three months, they need to understand the dangers of unexploded ordinance and also have safe spaces to play. … The ERW threat in Misrata is particularly grave. Limited surveys of Misrata confirm the use of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines amongst a litany of ERW across the city. It has been reported that 30 ammunition storage areas have been destroyed by air strikes, spreading even more ERW. According to ICRC [Red Cross], in the past six weeks there have been 13 reported casualties from ERW in Misrata. … Both Ayman and Mamud were taken to a Misrata hospital where Ayman had to have both his hands amputated. They are now receiving medical treatment in Benghazi. I have visited the hospital and hope to again soon. 9.38am: Al-Jazeera’s English service has this good round-up of yesterday’s post-martial law clashes in Bahrain, including security forces seemingly aiming live fire at protesters. 9.25am: Behind its paywall the FT has an interesting article about yesterday’s meeting in Turkey during which Syrian opposition activists sought to agree a united front. It’s not an easy task, as the report says: Some activists have questioned what the meeting in Antalya can achieve, given the difficulty of representing an inchoate and still-evolving protest movement inside Syria. There are no high-profile leaders, and the movement is apparently driven by young, non-affiliated people – different from the traditional opposition made up of the Muslim Brotherhood, leftwingers and Kurdish nationalists… Some also voiced distrust of the motives of those outside Syria campaigning for change. “Some are looking to capitalise on the intifada inside the country – this is not acceptable,” one said, arguing that trust was key in a movement where many were putting their lives at risk. A statement released on behalf of some activists within Syria said they had “reservations about the rush to hold such a conference without any pre-consultation with the inside”. 9.19am: Here’s a photo of the debris following last night’s car explosion in Benghazi. Al-Jazeera have their own, slightly more dramatic photos . 9.11am: A Libya update from late last night, via AP : A United Nations panel has said that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people. The UN investigators found evidence that opposition forces also committed “some acts which would constitute war crimes,” the global body said. “The commission is not of the view that the violations committed by the opposition armed forces were part of any ‘widespread or systematic attack’ against a civilian population such as to amount to crimes against humanity,” it added. Their 92-page report was commissioned in February by the UN Human Rights Council, which has now power itself to launch proceedings. 8.54am: A couple of interesting items from today’s Independent: • A 20-year-old female student in Bahrain , who was arrested two months ago for reading a poem at a pro-democracy meeting , is to go on trial, according to her mother. Some earlier reports said Ayat al-Gormezi was bekiueved to have been killed. • On a parallel note, an Amnesty International campaigner for women’s rights argues that self-confident young women are worrying established male authorities in the Middle East. 8.35am: Good morning. Welcome to today’s live updates from the Middle East unrest. Here’s a brief rundown of the latest news: • The crisis in Yemen is escalating , with at least 41 people killed yesterday during clashes between President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s troops and forces loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, the influential tribal leader. Hillary Clinton last night increased US pressure on Saleh to step down , telling reporters that he and his regime should “move out of the way to permit the opposition and civil society to begin a transition to political and economic reform”. • A car has exploded in Benghazi , the de facto capital city for Libya’s rebels. It’s believed a grenade was thrown into the car outside the Tibesti Hotel, where most foreign diplomats and journalists stay in the city, late yesterday. Rebels called it a “cowardly act” carried out by supporters of Muammar Gaddafi. Earlier, it emerged that Gaddafi’s oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, has defected and now backs the rebels. • Bahrain remains tense after yesterday’s renewed clashes between demonstrators and security forces after martial law was lifted. Plus a couple more things from today’s paper and website: • The daughter of a veteran Iranian dissident has died during clashes between mourners and security forces at her father’s funeral in Tehran. • Hosni Mubarak will face trial for alleged corruption and killing protesters from 3 August, an Egyptian court official has said. His two sons will also be tried for corruption . Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Yemen Syria Libya Bashar Al-Assad Bahrain Muammar Gaddafi Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Yemen death toll rises as explosion hits Libyan rebel-held city of Benghazi 2.40pm: Russia is advising its citizens in Yemen to leave . A foreign ministry spokesman said: “The situation is escalating every hour, the tensions are not easing.” 2.35pm: Reports now from al-Jazeera that Sana’a aiport is closed and flights are being diverted to Aden. CNN correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom tweets that Yemen State TV is quoting official sources denying that there are any changes or delays. 1.50pm: Reuters now report that the airport in Sana’a has re-opened. Thousands of other people are also fleeing fighting in the Yemen capital by car, it said: “It felt as if the artillery shells were flying next to my head… My wife, my daughter were screaming. It was horrible,” resident Sadeq al-Lahbe said before leaving. “There is no electricity, no water and violent strikes shaking the house. Is this life?” 1.32pm: Yemen : The AFP news agency quotes medical staff as saying at least 15 people died overnight in the Al-Hasaba area of Sana’a, Sadiq al-Ahmar’s stronghold, among them a seven-year-old girl struck by a stray bullet. 12.49pm: According to rights campaigners in Syria , quoted by Reuters, security forces have killed 11 people today in the under-siege central town of Rastan. As ever, there is no way to independently verify this. 12.18pm: A brief return to Bahrain : I’ve been passed an email from the rights group Avaaz urging F1 teams to boycott the emirate’s Grand Prix if it is rescheduled following a meeting tomorrow . The race had been due to begin the 2011 season in March, but it was called off amid the quashing of pro-democracy protests. Azaaz said: F1 mustn’t give credibility to a pariah regime that is as brutal as Iran and Zimbabwe. If F1 decides to race in Bahrain, it will be on a par with the sporting tours that chose to play in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. 12.06pm: Francis Matthew of the Gulf News highlights the role of Hamid al-Ahmar , the prominent Yemeni businessman and politician – and brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar, the tribal leader at the centre of the conflict – who turned against Saleh this week. (Our correspondent Tom Finn wrote about the family last week . The political initiative was seized this week by Hamid al-Ahmar, when he rebelled against Saleh. A businessman and politician, Ahmar holds an important position in the major Hashid confederation. His elder brother Sadiq al-Ahmar is the paramount chief of the Hashid confederation, and they are the sons of the late Shaikh Abdullah al-Ahmar, who was a major figure in Yemeni politics till his death in 2007, backed by substantial Saudi influence. A third brother, Hussain, commanded the Saudi-backed Hashid militia in the recent fighting in Sa’ada. Hamid al-Ahmar’s challenge will be viewed favourably by Saudi Arabia, which has had a close relationship with his family for decades. The Saudi leadership is the most concerned of all the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states that Yemen does not slip into chaos, and it will naturally back an alternative to Saleh based on northern leaders. And if Ahmar is dismissed as being just a businessman rather than a politician, his relative, General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar is an effective military commander who has already rebelled against Saleh. But Matthew says the intervention of the Ahmar family is not necessarily a win for the pro-democracy opposition, who have rejected the idea of supporting a leadership bid from another member of the power elite They have promised to hold out for a peaceful transfer to a civilian authority. The activists are slowly developing their own management structure and deciding on mechanisms to nominate their leaders, but this was not sufficiently advanced to enable them to send observers to the GCC transition talks. But others who are not yet part of the action are the leaders from the south. When Yemen united in 1990, the president of South Yemen, Ali Salim al-Beidh, became vice-president of the united country. He despaired that Saleh would not listen to his concerns, and resigned to lead a breakaway movement when he declared the Democratic Republic of Yemen, which only lasted in the south from May to June 1994. Beidh is the leader of Al Harak, a party dedicated to a southern breakaway. The GCC sees Yemen as too important and too close to be allowed to fail. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Saudis ran massive grant programmes which they allowed to wither away after the border settlement in 2000. Now they are leading GCC efforts to find a political solution. They have reopened their links with northern political leaders like al-Ahmar to try and find a way forward. But in the end, any long-term solution in Yemen will also need to take into account southern ambitions, as well as the new demands of the young people on the streets, who have time and demographics on their side, even if they have failed to find a leader to articulate their demands and take part in the talks this time round. 12.02pm: Reuters are reporting a Yemen detail I’d so far missed: Barack Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, has arrived in Saudi Arabia en route for he United Arab Emirates, and is seeking help from both countries to pressure Saleh into stepping down. 11.34am: My colleague Brian Whitaker has the following useful context for the situation in Yemen : Fighting in and around Yemen’s capital seems to be intensifying, and this morning there are reports that Sana’a airport has been closed. Is this the end for President Saleh? Certainly many people are hoping so. With many erstwhile supporters – both civil and military – abandoning him, it’s clear that Saleh can never regain the authority he once had. But there’s still the question of how, exactly, he can be ousted from office. One thing to keep in mind is that armed conflict in Yemen is not unusual; in fact it’s almost routine. The regime has fought an on-off war with Houthi rebels in the north for years, as well as a separatist insurrection in the south which sprang up more recently. Tribal militias have also fought the army often in the past, and sometimes got the better of it. Saleh’s regime, therefore, is well accustomed to sitting-out periods of turmoil, and even military setbacks, without feeling that its survival is challenged to the core. The difference this time is that a lot of the fighting is concentrated in the capital rather than more remote areas where it would be only scantily reported, and that its objective this time is the removal of Saleh himself. The situation now is beginning to resemble that in Ivory Coast earlier this year when Laurent Gbagbo was holed up in his presidential compound and refusing to budge. Saleh has his own well-protected compound and in theory could stay there for ages while the country falls apart all around him. In fact, even if he were to resign, he would technically still be president unless the Yemeni parliament – where his party holds an overwhelming majority – agreed to accept it. 11.03am: We’re going to try and speak to a couple of Yemen experts to see where things might be heading for President Saleh and his country. In the meantime, here’s AP’s latest summary of events: Street battles raged Thursday between the army and opposition tribesmen in Sana’a and dozens of people on both sides were killed and wounded. Elsewhere a thousands-strong force of tribal fighters fought to break through government lines on the northern outskirts of the city. Sana’a airport was closed Wednesday night and remains shut for fear that planes could be hit in the heavy shelling around the city. The Defence Ministry issue a statement claiming the army stopped the tribesmen from entering Sana’a, but an army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s military, said the fighting continues. The officer, who spoke on condition he not be named in accordance with opposition force custom, said the fighting was within 10 miles of the northern outskirts of Sana’a. He said the tribesmen had captured but later released 30 soldiers from the elite Republican Guard. Heavy casualties were reported inside the city’s Hassaba neighborhood where resident Talal Hazza said government troops were shelling opposition forces for a second day running. The army is trying to dislodge fighters loyal to pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Amar. The Defence Ministry acknowledge fighting in Hassaba for the first time Thursday. Opposition fighters have taken control of some government buildings in the region. In the southern city of Taiz, three protesters were wounded in the fighting with the army, security men and plain-clothes government enforcers, said activist Mohammed al-Darfi. He said security forces stormed the house of Taiz opposition lawmaker Sultan al-Samie Wednesday night and confiscated his computer and documents. 10.55am: Al-Jazeera has some spectacular footage of the burning car bomb outside Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel, and of the anti-Gaddafi protests which followed. 10.47am: Yet another update from Yemen , where Reuters is reporting that flights have been suspended at Sana’a airport as fighting approaches the area. No news yet on how permanent this could be. The airport closed last week, but only briefly. 10.29am: Some more on Yemen , where the situation does appear to be deteriorating. This from Reuters: Yemeni soldiers have fired at protesters in the southern city of Taiz who are calling for the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year-rule over the impoverished Arab state, witnesses said on Thursday. There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths. The U.N. human rights envoy said earlier this week her office was investigating reports that Yemeni soldiers have killed at least 50 protesters in Taiz since Sunday. 10.13am: There has been more overnight violence in Yemen , with “dozens” hurt, according to reports. AP writes: A Yemeni army officer who defected from President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s camp says government forces and armed tribesmen who sided with the opposition have fought new street battles overnight in the capital Sanaa, leaving dozens killed and injured. The officer also says that thousands of armed tribesmen have fought the Yemeni army about 10 miles from the city in an effort to push toward Sana’a… A Sana’a resident, Talal Hazza, says government forces continued shelling positions of pro-opposition Sheik Sadeq al-Ahmar’s tribesmen in the capital’s Hassaba neighborhood on Thursday. 10.03am: In connection with the above video, Richard Norton-Taylor writes: Spectacular explosions followed the bombing by RAF Tornado and Typhoon jets of ten ammunition storage bunkers and a vehicle at a site near Waddan, in central Libya. The Ministry of Defence has released the video of the bombing on Tuesday of the targets with weapons equipped with satellite and laser guidance systems. Secondary explosions, which can be seen in the video, show that a significant quantity of ammo was stored at the site, the MoD said. Major General John Lorimer, the ministry’s chief military spokesman, said Gaddafi forces had become increasing dependent on Waddan for ammunition. 9.44am: Unicef , the UN children’s organisation, has sent us this blog from one of its staff members in Libya . Rebecca Fordham recounts the impact the conflict has had on two children in particular. It’s worth quoting at some length: June 1st 2011: I witnessed the graphic impact of conflict on children when I boarded a boat coming into Benghazi from Misrata. Two young boys, who had been severely injured by explosive remnants of war (ERW) lay on beds inside the on board field hospital, provided by LibAid, with their fathers standing patiently beside them. Both boys stared out, Ayman, 14, his wrists heavily bandaged and, Mamud, 9, lying quietly in the bed next to him. The boys had been playing close to the Medical Technical College in Misrata, Ayman’s father told me, when his son picked up what he thought was shrapnel from an exploded bomb to take home and show his family. It exploded when he touched it. His father knew there were “cluster bombs” that had been dropped close by, and that they could explode when someone tried to move them but, he didn’t know the exact location and what they looked like. Children are particularly at risk, because their natural curiosity means that they often pick up items that adults are more cautious to touch. In Libya, where some children have been living under extremely challenging and stressful conditions for over three months, they need to understand the dangers of unexploded ordinance and also have safe spaces to play. … The ERW threat in Misrata is particularly grave. Limited surveys of Misrata confirm the use of cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines amongst a litany of ERW across the city. It has been reported that 30 ammunition storage areas have been destroyed by air strikes, spreading even more ERW. According to ICRC [Red Cross], in the past six weeks there have been 13 reported casualties from ERW in Misrata. … Both Ayman and Mamud were taken to a Misrata hospital where Ayman had to have both his hands amputated. They are now receiving medical treatment in Benghazi. I have visited the hospital and hope to again soon. 9.38am: Al-Jazeera’s English service has this good round-up of yesterday’s post-martial law clashes in Bahrain, including security forces seemingly aiming live fire at protesters. 9.25am: Behind its paywall the FT has an interesting article about yesterday’s meeting in Turkey during which Syrian opposition activists sought to agree a united front. It’s not an easy task, as the report says: Some activists have questioned what the meeting in Antalya can achieve, given the difficulty of representing an inchoate and still-evolving protest movement inside Syria. There are no high-profile leaders, and the movement is apparently driven by young, non-affiliated people – different from the traditional opposition made up of the Muslim Brotherhood, leftwingers and Kurdish nationalists… Some also voiced distrust of the motives of those outside Syria campaigning for change. “Some are looking to capitalise on the intifada inside the country – this is not acceptable,” one said, arguing that trust was key in a movement where many were putting their lives at risk. A statement released on behalf of some activists within Syria said they had “reservations about the rush to hold such a conference without any pre-consultation with the inside”. 9.19am: Here’s a photo of the debris following last night’s car explosion in Benghazi. Al-Jazeera have their own, slightly more dramatic photos . 9.11am: A Libya update from late last night, via AP : A United Nations panel has said that Libyan government forces have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in a conflict it estimates has killed between 10,000-15,000 people. The UN investigators found evidence that opposition forces also committed “some acts which would constitute war crimes,” the global body said. “The commission is not of the view that the violations committed by the opposition armed forces were part of any ‘widespread or systematic attack’ against a civilian population such as to amount to crimes against humanity,” it added. Their 92-page report was commissioned in February by the UN Human Rights Council, which has now power itself to launch proceedings. 8.54am: A couple of interesting items from today’s Independent: • A 20-year-old female student in Bahrain , who was arrested two months ago for reading a poem at a pro-democracy meeting , is to go on trial, according to her mother. Some earlier reports said Ayat al-Gormezi was bekiueved to have been killed. • On a parallel note, an Amnesty International campaigner for women’s rights argues that self-confident young women are worrying established male authorities in the Middle East. 8.35am: Good morning. Welcome to today’s live updates from the Middle East unrest. Here’s a brief rundown of the latest news: • The crisis in Yemen is escalating , with at least 41 people killed yesterday during clashes between President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s troops and forces loyal to Sadeq al-Ahmar, the influential tribal leader. Hillary Clinton last night increased US pressure on Saleh to step down , telling reporters that he and his regime should “move out of the way to permit the opposition and civil society to begin a transition to political and economic reform”. • A car has exploded in Benghazi , the de facto capital city for Libya’s rebels. It’s believed a grenade was thrown into the car outside the Tibesti Hotel, where most foreign diplomats and journalists stay in the city, late yesterday. Rebels called it a “cowardly act” carried out by supporters of Muammar Gaddafi. Earlier, it emerged that Gaddafi’s oil minister, Shukri Ghanem, has defected and now backs the rebels. • Bahrain remains tense after yesterday’s renewed clashes between demonstrators and security forces after martial law was lifted. Plus a couple more things from today’s paper and website: • The daughter of a veteran Iranian dissident has died during clashes between mourners and security forces at her father’s funeral in Tehran. • Hosni Mubarak will face trial for alleged corruption and killing protesters from 3 August, an Egyptian court official has said. His two sons will also be tried for corruption . Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Yemen Syria Libya Bashar Al-Assad Bahrain Muammar Gaddafi Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …