Bank of America is close to a deal that calls for the lender to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims from a group of heavyweight investors who bought mortgage-backed securities before the housing collapse and lost a ton of money in the process. A person familiar with the discussions…
Continue reading …The suburbs aren’t the magnet for young families they used to be: Census figures show that 40% of residents are 45 or older, a big jump from 34% a decade ago, reports the Washington Post . That compares with 34% of city residents currently in the same age group. The reason?…
Continue reading …With a wildfire burning up her state and threatening the Los Alamos nuclear lab, Gov. Susana Martinez thinks this would be a terrific year to skip the Fourth of July fireworks. She doesn’t have the authority to order a statewide ban, so she’s merely making an appeal to common sense….
Continue reading …The USA women’s soccer team started the World Cup with a 2-0 victory today thanks to goals by Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler and, er, a lightning a strike on June 8. Or so says the North Korean coach, who claims five of his players were hospitalized earlier this month…
Continue reading …A choked-up Glenn Beck described a rough night for his family in New York City’s Bryant Park when they tried to watch a movie this week. “These people were some of the most hateful people I have ever seen,” said Beck on his radio show today, reports Mediaite . One person…
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The images were the first of Chavez to be released since he appeared with both Fidel and Raul Castro in photographs taken 11 days earlier and published in Cuban media Images of a convalescing President Hugo Chavez meeting with Fidel Castro were broadcast on Venezuelan state television on Tuesday night, two weeks after he underwent urgent surgery in Cuba. An aide to Venezuela’s president said the encounter in Cuba took place earlier in the day. “We see him recovering,” Information Minister Andres Izarra said on state television as the short video clips and photographs were shown of Chavez standing and talking outdoors with Castro. Cuban state TV also broadcast pictures of the get-together. They were the first images of Chavez to be released since he appeared with both Fidel and Raul Castro in photographs taken 11 days earlier and published in Cuban media. But neither the new images nor government officials provided details about Chavez’s health. Despite assurances that he is doing well, the lack of information since the government announced on June 10 that Chavez had undergone pelvic surgery has spurred talk among both the president’s supporters and opponents that he might be very ill. Officials did not say when Chavez might return to Venezuela, which next week will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain. Chavez seemed healthy and animated as he talked and smiled alongside Castro in what appeared to be the patio and living room of a house. Chavez wore a track suit jacket with the colours of Venezuela’s flag while Castro sported a red baseball cap and a blue and white track suit. “There we are seeing commander Chavez very dynamic,” Izarra said, describing the images and adding that he spoke with Chavez earlier on Tuesday about government-related issues. At one point in the video, Chavez and Castro look at a copy of what appears to be the Tuesday edition of Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma and apparently discussing it. “There we saw the president sharing a moment with Fidel,” Izarra said. “They discussed different current events.” The words of Chavez and Castro were inaudible and Venezuelan folk music played during the short presentation of video clips and still photos. The normally loquacious Chavez, who Venezuelans are used to seeing in near daily television appearances, has been unusually quiet since the surgery more than two weeks ago. In his only comments that have been heard back home, he told Venezuelan state TV on June 12 that the operation removed a pelvic abscess. His silence and seclusion since then have spurred growing speculation that he might be seriously ill. The leftist president’s political allies have insisted he is improving and is firmly in control of affairs in Venezuela. On state television, Izarra held up a document that he said Chavez had signed earlier on Tuesday approving funds for a government housing project. Izarra’s Twitter account carried a message earlier in the day suggesting Chavez is energetically tending to day-to-day duties, but it did not provide details of his health. The information minister’s tweet said Chavez is governing “like a dynamo” following the operation. In Cuba, Cuban state TV broadcast a one-minute segment on the meeting showing the same pictures, including some with a woman in the background. It said the two longtime friends “reminisced about the past” in the company of family members. Cuba’s report also gave no details about Chavez’s health, but said Wednesday afternoon’s newscast would offer more information about the encounter. Hugo Chávez Venezuela Fidel Castro Cuba guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The images were the first of Chavez to be released since he appeared with both Fidel and Raul Castro in photographs taken 11 days earlier and published in Cuban media Images of a convalescing President Hugo Chavez meeting with Fidel Castro were broadcast on Venezuelan state television on Tuesday night, two weeks after he underwent urgent surgery in Cuba. An aide to Venezuela’s president said the encounter in Cuba took place earlier in the day. “We see him recovering,” Information Minister Andres Izarra said on state television as the short video clips and photographs were shown of Chavez standing and talking outdoors with Castro. Cuban state TV also broadcast pictures of the get-together. They were the first images of Chavez to be released since he appeared with both Fidel and Raul Castro in photographs taken 11 days earlier and published in Cuban media. But neither the new images nor government officials provided details about Chavez’s health. Despite assurances that he is doing well, the lack of information since the government announced on June 10 that Chavez had undergone pelvic surgery has spurred talk among both the president’s supporters and opponents that he might be very ill. Officials did not say when Chavez might return to Venezuela, which next week will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of its independence from Spain. Chavez seemed healthy and animated as he talked and smiled alongside Castro in what appeared to be the patio and living room of a house. Chavez wore a track suit jacket with the colours of Venezuela’s flag while Castro sported a red baseball cap and a blue and white track suit. “There we are seeing commander Chavez very dynamic,” Izarra said, describing the images and adding that he spoke with Chavez earlier on Tuesday about government-related issues. At one point in the video, Chavez and Castro look at a copy of what appears to be the Tuesday edition of Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper Granma and apparently discussing it. “There we saw the president sharing a moment with Fidel,” Izarra said. “They discussed different current events.” The words of Chavez and Castro were inaudible and Venezuelan folk music played during the short presentation of video clips and still photos. The normally loquacious Chavez, who Venezuelans are used to seeing in near daily television appearances, has been unusually quiet since the surgery more than two weeks ago. In his only comments that have been heard back home, he told Venezuelan state TV on June 12 that the operation removed a pelvic abscess. His silence and seclusion since then have spurred growing speculation that he might be seriously ill. The leftist president’s political allies have insisted he is improving and is firmly in control of affairs in Venezuela. On state television, Izarra held up a document that he said Chavez had signed earlier on Tuesday approving funds for a government housing project. Izarra’s Twitter account carried a message earlier in the day suggesting Chavez is energetically tending to day-to-day duties, but it did not provide details of his health. The information minister’s tweet said Chavez is governing “like a dynamo” following the operation. In Cuba, Cuban state TV broadcast a one-minute segment on the meeting showing the same pictures, including some with a woman in the background. It said the two longtime friends “reminisced about the past” in the company of family members. Cuba’s report also gave no details about Chavez’s health, but said Wednesday afternoon’s newscast would offer more information about the encounter. Hugo Chávez Venezuela Fidel Castro Cuba guardian.co.uk
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Security forces and demonstrators clash in Cairo after former interior minister’s trial is put off without explanation Clashes between protesters and security forces engulfed Cairo once again on Tuesday night, as the fiercest street battles since the fall of Hosni Mubarak left dozens injured. Fighting began after the fall of darkness following earlier protests by relatives of those killed during this spring’s uprising. Armed central security police showered Tahrir Square with tear gas canisters and fired bullets into the air as several thousand demonstrators amassed and called for the resignation of Egypt’s de facto head of state, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. Some members of the crowd tore up paving stones and threw them towards police lines. The Guardian witnessed successive volleys of tear gas launched into the square and surrounding streets by government forces, including towards areas where ambulances had congregated to treat the wounded. Injured protesters, mostly with head wounds and gas inhalation, were carried to safety on the shoulders of fellow demonstrators. “Mubarak was nothing – this is the revolution,” said one man caught by tear gas. The Interior Ministry blamed a group of “thugs” for the unrest, claiming that they had disrupted an event held earlier in the day to commemorate the martyrs of the revolution and went on to attack the ministry headquarters. Protesters vociferously denied that suggestion, insisting that the police had attacked unarmed relatives of the martyrs – an account seemingly backed up by unverified videos posted on YouTube. The violence came after the trial of the former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, on the charge of unlawfully killing pro-change protesters had been delayed by a judge this week, with no reason given to the public. “People are saying that we’ve replaced one Habib al-Adly with another,” said Mostafa Hussein, a 30-year-old activist in Tahrir. “They believe the Interior Ministry has returned to its former incarnation under the Mubarak regime.” Also on Tuesday an administrative court ordered the dissolution of Egypt’s 1750 municipal councils, a form of local government that was almost entirely controlled by the old ruling NDP party and was a key tool of control for Mubarak’s dictatorship. Revolutionary activists have long demanded that the councils be disbanded, pointing out that in ‘elections’ held in 2008 over 99% of open seats were awarded to Mubarak allies. However it is not yet clear whether the interim government will implement the judicial ruling. Almost 1,000 people are believed to have died in the year’s 25 January revolution, in which Mubarak’s black-suited central security troops were beaten off the streets by a mass uprising. Since the resignation of the former president, Egypt has been run by the armed forces who have promised a swift transition to a democratic civilian government. But many fear that the pace of change has been too slow, accusing generals of hijacking the revolution and failing to hold members of the old regime to account. “For those that had loved ones killed in January – and indeed all those who lived through that time – just the sight of the Amin al-Markazi [central security forces] on the streets is a provocation in itself,” a doctor who had been treating the injured told the Guardian. “People are shouting ‘our revolution is being stolen’. The situation is very tense.” In the early hours of the morning Tahrir Square remained shrouded in gas with the battle continuing. Activists took to Twitter and other social media sites to call for medical supplies and people to join the gathering. Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Security forces and demonstrators clash in Cairo after former interior minister’s trial is put off without explanation Clashes between protesters and security forces engulfed Cairo once again on Tuesday night, as the fiercest street battles since the fall of Hosni Mubarak left dozens injured. Fighting began after the fall of darkness following earlier protests by relatives of those killed during this spring’s uprising. Armed central security police showered Tahrir Square with tear gas canisters and fired bullets into the air as several thousand demonstrators amassed and called for the resignation of Egypt’s de facto head of state, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. Some members of the crowd tore up paving stones and threw them towards police lines. The Guardian witnessed successive volleys of tear gas launched into the square and surrounding streets by government forces, including towards areas where ambulances had congregated to treat the wounded. Injured protesters, mostly with head wounds and gas inhalation, were carried to safety on the shoulders of fellow demonstrators. “Mubarak was nothing – this is the revolution,” said one man caught by tear gas. The Interior Ministry blamed a group of “thugs” for the unrest, claiming that they had disrupted an event held earlier in the day to commemorate the martyrs of the revolution and went on to attack the ministry headquarters. Protesters vociferously denied that suggestion, insisting that the police had attacked unarmed relatives of the martyrs – an account seemingly backed up by unverified videos posted on YouTube. The violence came after the trial of the former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, on the charge of unlawfully killing pro-change protesters had been delayed by a judge this week, with no reason given to the public. “People are saying that we’ve replaced one Habib al-Adly with another,” said Mostafa Hussein, a 30-year-old activist in Tahrir. “They believe the Interior Ministry has returned to its former incarnation under the Mubarak regime.” Also on Tuesday an administrative court ordered the dissolution of Egypt’s 1750 municipal councils, a form of local government that was almost entirely controlled by the old ruling NDP party and was a key tool of control for Mubarak’s dictatorship. Revolutionary activists have long demanded that the councils be disbanded, pointing out that in ‘elections’ held in 2008 over 99% of open seats were awarded to Mubarak allies. However it is not yet clear whether the interim government will implement the judicial ruling. Almost 1,000 people are believed to have died in the year’s 25 January revolution, in which Mubarak’s black-suited central security troops were beaten off the streets by a mass uprising. Since the resignation of the former president, Egypt has been run by the armed forces who have promised a swift transition to a democratic civilian government. But many fear that the pace of change has been too slow, accusing generals of hijacking the revolution and failing to hold members of the old regime to account. “For those that had loved ones killed in January – and indeed all those who lived through that time – just the sight of the Amin al-Markazi [central security forces] on the streets is a provocation in itself,” a doctor who had been treating the injured told the Guardian. “People are shouting ‘our revolution is being stolen’. The situation is very tense.” In the early hours of the morning Tahrir Square remained shrouded in gas with the battle continuing. Activists took to Twitter and other social media sites to call for medical supplies and people to join the gathering. Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Unfortunate tweet department: A telecom mogul in Egypt thought it would be a hoot to re-tweet images of Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed in Islamic attire. Now tens of thousands have joined Facebook groups condemning Naguib Sawiris and demanding a boycott of his company, Orascom, which happens to be the…
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