Following an aggressive crackdown on protesters last week, Bahrain’s king has announced the “failure” of a foreign plot against his country, and thanked Sunni allies for sending troops into Bahrain. “An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years until the ground was ripe for subversive designs,” King…
Continue reading …Wyclef Jean was shot over the weekend in Haiti—or was he? The hip-hop star claimed he was getting out of a car in a city just outside the capital when he “heard blow, blow, blow” and looked down to see that a bullet had “grazed” his right hand. But…
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A century after Machu Picchu’s rediscovery, ancient Mayan and Moche sites are being ransacked for tourist baubles Etched into the surviving art of the Moche, one of South America’s most ancient and mysterious civilisations, is a fearsome creature dubbed the Decapitator. Also known as Ai Apaec, the octopus-type figure holds a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other in a graphic rendition of the human sacrifices the Moche practiced in northern Peru 1,500 years ago. For archaeologists, the horror here is not in Moche iconography, which you see in pottery and mural fragments, but in the hundreds of thousands of trenches scarring the landscape: a warren of man-made pillage. Gangs of looters, known as huaqueros , are ransacking Peru’s heritage to illegally sell artefacts to collectors and tourists. “They come at night to explore the ruins and dig the holes,” said Cuba Cruz de Metro, 58, a shopkeeper in the farming village of Galindo. “They don’t know the history, they’re just looking for bodies and for tombs. They’re just looking for things to sell.” A looting epidemic in Peru and other Latin American countries, notably Guatemala, has sounded alarm bells about the region’s vanishing heritage. The issue is to come under renewed scrutiny in the run-up to July’s 100th anniversary of the rediscovery of Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel in southern Peru, by US historian Hiram Bingham. He gave many artefacts to Yale university, prompting an acrimonious row with Peru’s government which ended only this year when both sides agreed to establish a joint exhibition centre. A recent report, Saving our Vanishing Heritage, by the Global Heritage Fund in San Francisco, identified nearly 200 “at risk” sites in developing nations, with South and Central America prominent. Mirador, the cradle of Mayan civilisation in Guatemala, was being devastated, it said. “The entire Peten region has been sacked in the past 20 years and every year hundreds of archaeological sites are being destroyed by organised looting crews seeking Maya antiquities for sale on the international market.” Northern Peru, home to the Moche civilisation which flourished from AD100-800, had been reduced to a “lunar landscape” by looter trenches across hundreds of miles. “An estimated 100,000 tombs – over half the country’s known sites – have been looted,” the report said. The sight breaks the heart of archaeologists and historians piecing together the story of a society which built canals and monumental pyramid-type structures, called huacas , and made intricate ceramics and jewellery. The Moche, who pre-dated the Incas by 1,000 years, also painted murals and friezes depicting warfare, ritual beheading, blood drinking and deities such as the Decapitator, who has bulging eyes and sharp teeth. Analysis of human remains confirmed that throat-cutting was all too real but, in the absence of written records, archaeology must shed light on what happened. In villages such as Galindo that is becoming all but impossible. Crude tunnels and caves make Moche ruins resemble rabbit warrens. Deep gashes cut into walls expose the brickwork below. Millennia-old adobe bricks are torn from the ground and scattered as though in a builder’s yard. Most huaqueros are farmers supplementing meagre incomes. Montes de Oca, one of three police officers tasked with environmental protection in a region of a million people, said he was overwhelmed. “I’ve been doing this for 28 years. There are three of us and one truck. It’s insufficient but we do everything possible.” Ten miles away Huaca del Sol, one of the largest pyramids in pre-Columbus America, is an eroded, plundered shell. Here the culprits were not impoverished farmers but Spanish colonial authorities who authorised companies to mine for treasure, said Ricardo Gamarra, director of a 20-year-old conservation project. “They diverted the river to wash away two-thirds of the huaca and reveal its insides,” he said. “They mined through the walls and caused it to collapse in various places. It’s impossible to guess how much was taken because we don’t know how much was there.” Donations from businesses and foundations have helped Gamarra’s team protect what is left, drawing 120,000 visitors each year, but of 250 other sites in the region just five have been protected. “In the mountains it’s the same. It is full with archaeological sites, almost all of them have been destroyed,” said Gamarra. There has been good news from Chotuna, also in northern Peru, where archaeologists found frescoes in a 1,100-year-old temple of the Lambayeque civilisation, which flourished around the same time as the Incas. Jeff Morgan, executive director of the Global Heritage Fund, urged Peru to funnel tourists away from Machu Picchu, overrun by two million visitors a year, to lesser known sites which could then earn revenue to protect their heritage. The government should resist the temptation to pocket the money. “One of the biggest problems is the disconnect between local communities and management of the sites. We think locals should get at least 30% of revenues.” Only then, said Morgan, would cultural treasures fom the Moche and other civilisations be saved. Peru Guatemala Archaeology Rory Carroll guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Defence minister vows to stand by president after 12 senior military commanders defect from regime A military showdown is looming in Yemen after the defence minister announced that the army would defend the president against any “coup against democracy”. The statement came just hours after 12 military commanders, including a senior general, defected from the regime and promised to protect anti-government protesters in the capital. “The armed forces will stay faithful to the oath they gave before God, the nation and political leadership under the brother president, Ali Abdullah Saleh,” said the defence minister, Mohammed Nasser Ahmed. “We will not allow under any circumstances an attempt at a coup against democracy and constitutional legitimacy, or violation of the security of the nation and citizens.” Prior to the statement, Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, suffered a significant blow when General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, a longtime confidant of the president and head of the Yemeni army in the north-west, announced he would support “the peaceful revolution” by sending soldiers under his command to protect the thousands of people gathered in the capital demanding that Saleh step down. “According to what I’m feeling, and according to the feelings of my partner commanders and soldiers … I announce our support and our peaceful backing to the youth revolution,” Ali Mohsen said via a video statement released before noon. Minutes after Ali Mohsen’s defection, tanks belonging to the republican guards, an elite force led by the president’s son Ahmed Ali, rolled into the streets of Sana’a, setting the stage for a standoff between defectors and loyalists. Republican guard tanks took up strategic locations across the city, at Saleh’s residence, the ministry of defence and at the central bank. Meanwhile, tanks of Ali Mohsen’s 1st armoured division took up positions elsewhere in the city. Ali Mohsen’s pledge opened the floodgates to a stream of defections from the regime. Scores of ambassadors, regional governors, editors of government newspapers, prominent businessmen and senior members of the ruling party are among those who have either quit or announced their allegiance to protesters in the past few hours. Within hours, seven Yemeni ambassadors – to Japan, Syria, the Czech Republic, Jordan, China, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – announced they were standing down, too. “The regime is crumbling. There is very little support left for the president now,” said Mohammed al-Naqeeb, head of the ruling party in Aden, now resigned. At first, protesters gathered at Sana’a University were unsure what to make of the general’s pledge, with many fearing an increased military presence might mean further attacks. But confusion soon gave way to jubilation as hundreds of soldiers from the 1st armoured division arrived on foot, greeted by protesters, who kissed them and hoisted them on to their shoulders. The soldiers were soon mingling with protesters as small entourages of Ali Mohsen’s men picked their way through the tent-filled streets, cheered on by young men waving placards carrying pictures of the general. Soon a line of policemen, soldiers, and businessmen had formed, each waiting their turn to step up on to a huge stage and announce their resignations to a roaring crowd of thousands. “We’ve bought you a birthday present, Ali – it’s a plane ticket to Saudi,” shouted Haeman Saeed, a leading Yemeni businessman after announcing his resignation from the ruling party. “The army are with you,” roared Abdallah al-Qahdi, a senior military general from Aden who was fired from his position last week for refusing to put down a peaceful demonstration. Qahdi said many regime insiders had been waiting for someone like Ali Mohsen to lead the way, and he expected most of the army to have defected by nightfall. But for the time being, the outcome remained unclear. Analysts said there may soon be a violent standoff within the military between those who have defected and the significant portions of the army still under the president’s control. Yemeni political analyst Abdul Irayani said: “Unfortunately, the president and his sons still have control over powerful sections of the military, including the republican guard and the air force. “We are all praying that Saleh leaves quickly and quietly to prevent the situation deteriorating rapidly.” Others suggest the resignations may have been negotiated behind the scenes. “I believe this is a step towards a transitional military government in Yemen,” said Abdullah al-Faqih, a professor at Sana’a University. The army split followed Saleh’s decision to sack his entire government after tens of thousands of mourners flooded the streets of the Yemeni capital on Sunday in a mass funeral for the 52 protesters killed on Friday in a sniper attack by loyalists. The president asked the cabinet to serve as a caretaker government until he forms a new administration. Piling further pressure on Saleh, the country’s most powerful tribal confederation also called on him to step down. Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, the leader of Hashed, which includes Saleh’s tribe, issued a statement on Sunday asking the president to respond to the people’s demands and leave peacefully; several religious leaders co-signed it. Ali Mohsen is between 50 and 60 years old, and is generally perceived to be the second most powerful man in Yemen. Most reports indicate he is the cousin of Saleh’s two half-brothers, although there is much confusion on this matter, with some claims that he is himself a half-brother to Saleh. Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar’s name is mentioned in hushed tones among most Yemenis, and he rarely appears in public. Those who know him say he is charming and gregarious. But as commander of the north-east region and the 1st armoured division, Ali Mohsen acted as Saleh’s iron fist. The area he controls includes the governorates of Sa’ada, Hodeidah, Hajja, Amran, and Mahwit, and he is more powerful than any governor. Ali Mohsen was instrumental in the north’s victory in the 1994 civil war and in crushing the recent Sa’ada uprising. It is estimated that he controls more than half of all military resources and assets. Yemen Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …International air strikes have not yet turned the tide in Libya: Rebel forces tried to advance toward the strategically important town of Ajdabiya today, but were stopped in their tracks by heavy tank and missile fire from Moammar Gadhafi loyalists, the New York Times reports. Though international planes were heard…
Continue reading …Workers at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant were evacuated again today after smoke rose from one of the damaged reactors, the AP reports. The cause of the smoke was not yet clear. Earlier today, a village about 20 miles from the plant was advised by the Health Ministry its tap…
Continue reading …We’re guessing “job openings” is a popular Google search term: Nearly 25% of young professionals would like to work for Google, according to a new survey. It was by far the most popular would-be employer, reports the Wall Street Journal . Apple snatched second place, followed by Walt Disney, the State…
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Producers searching for someone with ‘the right mix of raw charm and charisma’ to portray the late rapper Tupac Shakur lookalikes have been offered the chance of screen stardom after a website invited online auditions for the lead in a biopic of the late rapper. Insearchoftupac.skeetv.com calls on would-be actors to download and perform a scene from the film as well as their favourite Tupac track. The scene appears to be a courtroom monologue in which the rapper protests: “I just don’t wanna be the scapegoat. I just wanna be. I wanna be.” The auditions are to run until 30 April. Morgan Creek Productions plans to start shooting its version of the music star’s life story this summer, with Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua in the director’s chair. Producer David Robinson told the Hollywood Reporter : “We’re looking for someone with the right mix of raw charm and charisma for the role. At this point, we’re more concerned about finding someone with the ability to give their entire heart into the performance than just looks and personality.” Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in 1996, curtailing a career that appeared to be hitting new heights following the success of his album All Eyez on Me. The rapper continued to sell millions of albums after his death, however, with a string of posthumous releases. In addition to his musical projects, he appeared in a number of films including 1993′s Poetic Justice, in which he starred opposite Janet Jackson. Shakur’s work and untimely death imbued him with near-mythical status in the eyes of some hip-hop fans, and he continues to inspire devotion. One follower reacted with dismay to news of the current casting call, saying on YouTube : “It’s impossible to find somebody to play Tupac or even tell a story about him. He was like the most complex man in the past decades! It’s like making another Mona Lisa with a cell phone. It’s not gonna work!” Rap Hip-hop Urban music Ian J Griffiths guardian.co.uk
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Government spokesman says the education secretary is ‘crystal clear’ that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact The Department for Education has said Michael Gove is “crystal clear that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact” after a warning that the government’s new free schools could be exploited by fundamentalist churches looking to promote a literal interpretation of the Bible. The remarks follow a letter to the education secretary from the British Centre for Science Education (BCSE) suggesting that creationists planned to use government legislation on free schools to mount a “concerted attack” on science education. Free schools can be set up by charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, teachers and groups of parents. They will have more freedom over the contents of their curriculum, leading to fears that science teaching in the schools may not be as rigorous. Teachers working at free schools will also not need to have formal teaching qualifications. The BCSE, which describes itself as the leading anti-creationist organisation in Europe, wrote to Gove to express its “extreme concern” at applications from groups such as the Everyday Champions Church and the Christian Schools Trust to run free schools. The trust has already had one proposal accepted. A primary school in Hampstead “with a distinctive Christian ethos that permeates every aspect of school life” will open in September. The BCSE says the trust has four applications outstanding. The Everyday Champions Church, in Newark, Nottinghamshire, submitted its proposal for a 652-place school in January, shortly before the DfE held its first free school conference where Gove said he would consider applications from creationist groups on a case-by-case basis. On its website the church says it has “660 children ‘definitely’ signed up to the school and 185 considering”. It spent January and February carrying out public presentations and found parental response “overwhelmingly positive”. “Creationism will be embodied as a belief at Everyday Champions Academy, but will not be taught in the sciences,” said its leader Gareth Morgan. “Similarly, evolution will be taught as a theory. We believe children should have a broad knowledge of all theories in order that they can make informed choice.” The DfE spokesman said groups setting up new free schools in the UK will be vetted to ensure that they have “strong education aims” and “high curriculum standards”. He said: “The education secretary is crystal clear that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact. Ministers have said they will not accept any proposal where there are concerns about the people behind the project.” In the letter from the BCSE, Professor Paul Braterman wrote that the embodiment of creationism “as a belief” could only mean that science was “subordinate to religious considerations, and that the central concepts of the natural sciences, as developed over the past 350 years, must be rejected as doctrinally unsound.” In an accompanying report, the BCSE recommended the DfE “carefully vet” free school applications and “be very wary” of approving applications from creationist groups. Last July, Gove acknowledged there were concerns about “inappropriate faith groups using this legislation to push their own agenda.” The education secretary, who was addressing MPs on the cross-party Commons education committee, said his department was working on the regulations to ensure there were no “extremist groups taking over schools”. Braterman claimed that teaching in schools run by such groups in Sweden forced a revision of the original “friskolor” legislation there, making free schools subject to the same regulations that ensure teaching is objective as traditional schools. Evolution Biology Creationism Religion Free schools Teaching Michael Gove Riazat Butt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Security firm to provide 10,000 guards to patrol London Games venues in 2012 Organisers of the 2012 Olympic games have signed a £100m deal with the security firm G4S to provide 10,000 guards to patrol venues during the event. Under the £757m security plan developed for the Games, the government is responsible for policing outside the venues and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games must provide security inside the park in east London. Mark Hamilton, G4S’s managing director of security services for the Games, said it would dwarf similar events in terms of size and complexity. “Nothing compares to the Olympic Games in scale and complexity. But we’ve got decades of experience managing large-scale events such as Wimbledon, the Grand National at Wembley, music festivals and the G20 summit in London,” he said. “This is where the breadth of our experience comes in, in particular across the field of sports. We’re well versed with managing security needs for large sporting events and understand the need for maintaining the visiting experience. It’s about making sure staff are aware this is a unique visitor experience.” Like the police, the company’s staff will have to walk the line between tight security and a welcoming atmosphere. Hamilton also said the company was working on new methods of reducing queuing time by ensuring that entrance searches were conducted as quickly as possible. But the appointment of G4S could prove controversial if the Crown Prosecution Service decides to pursue a case of corporate manslaughter against the company. Last week it emerged that Scotland Yard is considering charging G4S over the death of an Angolan deportee . Passengers on the British Airways flight in October told police they saw three G4S guards heavily restraining Jimmy Mubenga, who had been complaining of breathing difficulties before he collapsed. The guards were later arrested and have been bailed until 4 May. They could face manslaughter charges. However, sources with knowledge of the case have said police are also considering passing a file to the CPS recommending a corporate manslaughter charge against G4S. The company earns more than £600m from the UK government for services including the running of four prisons, three immigration removal centres and 675 court and police cells, and is the second-largest private employer in the world, boasting a £7bn turnover. G4S said in a statement last week: “As this is the subject of an on-going investigation, we are unable to comment as this time. We can confirm that G4S has received no approach at this time from the authorities in relation to the company’s position and potential liabilities. Olympic Games 2012 G4S G4S London Owen Gibson Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk
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