Ed Miliband has called on Jeremy Clarkson to apologise for his "absolutely disgraceful and disgusting" claim that striking public sector workers should be "shot".
Showing posts with label Scandal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scandal. Show all posts
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Strauss-Kahn opens up in new book
Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn says his sexual encounter with a New York hotel maid was “consensual but stupid” and cost him his chance to be the next French president, according to a biography to be published today.
The book, written by Michel Taubmann who says Strauss-Kahn confided in him, covers sex scandals that have dogged the former French finance minister even after the US assault case ended his career as IMF head and wrecked his chances of running in France’s 2012 election.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
US House leader Boehner says Weiner should resign
A man holds a sign out of their car calling for representative Anthony Weiner to resign, outside Weiner's residency at the Queens borough of New York on June 12, 2011.
US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said today he thought Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner, who has been snared in an Internet sex scandal, should resign.
Boehner, a Republican, simply said “yes” when asked by reporters if he thought Weiner should step down.
The House granted Weiner, who has admitted to sending lewd photos and messages to half a dozen women, a two week leave of absence for treatment. The lawmaker has refused calls by Democrats and Republicans to resign but instead said he wanted to get medical treatment to get back on track.
President Barack Obama weighed in an interview yesterday, saying he would resign if he were in Weiner’s position.
Weiner, 46, admitted last week that he sent online messages and photos of himself to at least six women then lied about it.
Weiner’s refusal to resign has angered Democrats, who say his inappropriate online exchanges with women have hurt the party as it looks toward next year’s elections when it will seek to win back the House from Republicans.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who joined with other Democratic leaders over the weekend to urge Weiner to step down, spoke to a closed-door meeting of House Democrats.
Today’s meeting she repeated her position and members of the Democratic caucus praised her handling of the matter, according to a congressman in the meeting.
Democrats had hoped to put an end to the issue, which has been dragging on for weeks, overshadowing other news on Capitol Hill and efforts to focus on the economy.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Rep. Anthony Weiner's Sexting Bombshell
Rep. Anthony Weiner encouraged a porn star to lie about their on-line relationship and offered her the help of his public relations team, according to a report on Tuesday. Weiner sent emails to former X-rated ...
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
FIFA bribes
Two of football's biggest corporate sponsors have voiced concern over allegations of bribery at Fifa, saying the storm is bad for football.
World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola and German sportswear company Adidas, which have both ploughed millions into the sport, fear the corruption allegations could harm the game.
Last night, Coca-Cola said in a statement: 'The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport. We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner
Meanwhile Adiadas said the negative publicity was 'neither good for football nor Fifa and its partners.'
The concern comes hours after pictures emerged of an envelope full of cash allegedly used to influence Fifa’s presidential election.
Officials from 25 Caribbean associations were said to have each been offered a $40,000 (£24,000) bribe three weeks ago to vote for Mohamed Bin Hammam from Qatar.
At the same time, an email was revealed in which a leading Fifa official hinted that Qatar had ‘bought’ the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
If the allegations are proven it raises the possibility that the Arab emirate could lose the right to host the competition and there would have to be a ‘re-vote’.
Fifa’s president Sepp Blatter, 75, conceded at a news conference that the organisation’s image had suffered ‘great damage’ but refused to step down and added: ‘We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties which will be solved within our family.’
Blatter will now stand unopposed at the presidential election tomorrow – which critics say should be postponed.
His only challenger, Bin Hammam, withdrew his candidacy hours before he was suspended by Fifa’s ethics committee over the bribery allegations along with another executive committee member, Jack Warner of Trinidad, and two other Caribbean officials.
The pictures of $40,000 in cash were taken by Fred Lunn, vice-president of the Bahamas FA, who attended a special meeting with other members of the Caribbean Football Union on May 10 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Trinidad.
According to his affidavit, the 25 football associations had been asked to attend a conference room to pick up a ‘gift’.
He said he was handed a large brown envelope. When he opened it ‘stacks of $100 bills fell out on to the table. I was stunned to see this cash’.
Lunn said he was not authorised to accept such a gift but was urged to do so by a CFU official.
He texted his association’s president Anton Sealey to say that several representatives had accepted the cash.
Sealey called him and said that ‘under no circumstances would the Bahamas FA take such a cash gift’ and he should return it.
Lunn took a picture of the money before he replaced it in the envelope and returned to the conference room to hand it back.
The email which apparently suggested Qatar had bought the World Cup was sent to Jack Warner by Fifa’s secretary-general Jerome Valcke, a Frenchman.
The message, made public by Warner yesterday, alluded to Bin Hammam’s bid for the Fifa presidency and referred to him by his initials.
According to Warner, the email said: ‘For MBH, I never understood why he was running.
‘If really he thought he had a chance or just being an extreme way to express how much he does not like anymore JSB [Joseph Sepp Blatter]. Or he thought you can buy Fifa as they bought the WC [World Cup].
’Valcke confirmed he sent the email to Warner but said he had not meant to suggest ‘unethical’ behaviour.
‘When I refer to the 2022 Fifa World Cup in that email, what I wanted to say is that the winning bid used their financial strength to lobby for support.’
Qatar’s winning bid, announced in December, was hugely controversial. Temperatures there reach 50c (122f) in summer when the tournament will be staged.
The organisers plan to get round this by using solar-powered air conditioning at the stadiums.
They denied that they ‘bought’ the right to stage the tournament and said they were ‘taking legal advice to consider our options’.
At yesterday’s news conference, Sepp Blatter ruled out action against four Fifa executive committee members accused during a British parliamentary hearing this month of corruption relating to England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
Fifa had received a report from Lord Triesman of the FA concerning the allegations against Jack Warner, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Worawi Makudi of Thailand. But it decided there was no case to answer.
Labour MP Tom Watson suggested that the FA should now try to recoup the costs of its failed bid, while Tory MP Therese Coffey called for tomorrow’s Fifa presidential election to be suspended while corruption claims are investigated.
The reek of bribery swirling around Fifa’s Zurich HQ was condemned yesterday by two of international football’s biggest sponsors.
Ominously for Blatter and his supporters, Coca-Cola and Adidas warned that the allegations were damaging the sport ‘and its partners’.
World Cup sponsor Coca-Cola and German sportswear company Adidas, which have both ploughed millions into the sport, fear the corruption allegations could harm the game.
Last night, Coca-Cola said in a statement: 'The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport. We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner
Handed back: The cash which fell out of an envelope marked 'Bahamas'
Fifa: Mohamed Bin Hammam (left) and Jack Warner (right)
Uncontested: Fifa President Sepp Blatter will stand unopposed at tomorrow's election for his role
Meanwhile Adiadas said the negative publicity was 'neither good for football nor Fifa and its partners.'
The concern comes hours after pictures emerged of an envelope full of cash allegedly used to influence Fifa’s presidential election.
Officials from 25 Caribbean associations were said to have each been offered a $40,000 (£24,000) bribe three weeks ago to vote for Mohamed Bin Hammam from Qatar.
At the same time, an email was revealed in which a leading Fifa official hinted that Qatar had ‘bought’ the right to stage the 2022 World Cup.
If the allegations are proven it raises the possibility that the Arab emirate could lose the right to host the competition and there would have to be a ‘re-vote’.
Fifa’s president Sepp Blatter, 75, conceded at a news conference that the organisation’s image had suffered ‘great damage’ but refused to step down and added: ‘We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties which will be solved within our family.’
Blatter will now stand unopposed at the presidential election tomorrow – which critics say should be postponed.
His only challenger, Bin Hammam, withdrew his candidacy hours before he was suspended by Fifa’s ethics committee over the bribery allegations along with another executive committee member, Jack Warner of Trinidad, and two other Caribbean officials.
The pictures of $40,000 in cash were taken by Fred Lunn, vice-president of the Bahamas FA, who attended a special meeting with other members of the Caribbean Football Union on May 10 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Trinidad.
According to his affidavit, the 25 football associations had been asked to attend a conference room to pick up a ‘gift’.
He said he was handed a large brown envelope. When he opened it ‘stacks of $100 bills fell out on to the table. I was stunned to see this cash’.
Lunn said he was not authorised to accept such a gift but was urged to do so by a CFU official.
He texted his association’s president Anton Sealey to say that several representatives had accepted the cash.
Sealey called him and said that ‘under no circumstances would the Bahamas FA take such a cash gift’ and he should return it.
Lunn took a picture of the money before he replaced it in the envelope and returned to the conference room to hand it back.
The email which apparently suggested Qatar had bought the World Cup was sent to Jack Warner by Fifa’s secretary-general Jerome Valcke, a Frenchman.
The message, made public by Warner yesterday, alluded to Bin Hammam’s bid for the Fifa presidency and referred to him by his initials.
According to Warner, the email said: ‘For MBH, I never understood why he was running.
‘If really he thought he had a chance or just being an extreme way to express how much he does not like anymore JSB [Joseph Sepp Blatter]. Or he thought you can buy Fifa as they bought the WC [World Cup].
’Valcke confirmed he sent the email to Warner but said he had not meant to suggest ‘unethical’ behaviour.
‘When I refer to the 2022 Fifa World Cup in that email, what I wanted to say is that the winning bid used their financial strength to lobby for support.’
Qatar’s winning bid, announced in December, was hugely controversial. Temperatures there reach 50c (122f) in summer when the tournament will be staged.
The organisers plan to get round this by using solar-powered air conditioning at the stadiums.
They denied that they ‘bought’ the right to stage the tournament and said they were ‘taking legal advice to consider our options’.
At yesterday’s news conference, Sepp Blatter ruled out action against four Fifa executive committee members accused during a British parliamentary hearing this month of corruption relating to England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
Fifa had received a report from Lord Triesman of the FA concerning the allegations against Jack Warner, Ricardo Teixeira of Brazil, Nicolas Leoz of Paraguay and Worawi Makudi of Thailand. But it decided there was no case to answer.
Labour MP Tom Watson suggested that the FA should now try to recoup the costs of its failed bid, while Tory MP Therese Coffey called for tomorrow’s Fifa presidential election to be suspended while corruption claims are investigated.
The reek of bribery swirling around Fifa’s Zurich HQ was condemned yesterday by two of international football’s biggest sponsors.
Ominously for Blatter and his supporters, Coca-Cola and Adidas warned that the allegations were damaging the sport ‘and its partners’.
Monday, May 9, 2011
WWF takes images of rare tigers in logging forest
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has recorded images of 12 endangered Sumatran tigers, including a mother playing with cubs, in an Indonesian forest that it said is about to be cleared by loggers.
WWF, which estimates that there are only 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild, captured the images on camera traps in the Bukit Tigapuluh forest on central Sumatra island, which has seen rampant deforestation for palm oil and paper plantations.
Karmila Parakkasi, leader of WWF’s tiger research team in Sumatra, said the number of big cats seen in two months of observation was impressive.
“What’s unclear is whether we found so many tigers because we’re getting better at locating our cameras or because the tiger’s habitat is shrinking so rapidly here that they are being forced into sharing smaller and smaller bits of forests,” Parakkasi said.
Still images show six individual tigers and a mother with a cub, while the video shows footage of another mother and three young cubs playfully chasing a leaf.
WWF said Indonesia’s government had pledged to protect this forest area, but it was inside a land concession belonging to a subsidiary of Indonesian paper firm Barito Timber Pacific.
The firm was not immediately available for comment.
“As soon as pending permits are granted by the government, the company could clear the forest to supply the wood to Asia Pulp & Paper of Sinar Mas Group,” said WWF, adding that it and other environmental groups have opposed the clearance plan.
Indonesia agreed with Norway a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear forest, under a landmark US$1 billion (RM3 billion) deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation, but it has yet to be signed into law as ministries wrangle over details.
The moratorium was expected to slow rapid industry expansion by the world’s largest producer of palm oil, used to make everything from biscuits and soap to biodiesel and seeing growing demand from consumers in fast-growing Asia.
In the last 50 years, Indonesia has lost both the Bali tiger and Java tiger.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Are U.S. government microwave mind-control tests causing TV presenters' brains to melt down?
A bizarre spate of television presenters dissolving into on-air gibberish has sparked claims that the U.S. military could be to blame.
In four high-profile cases, the latest involving fast-talking Judge Judy, the presenters have started off speaking properly but have then descended into undecipherable nonsense - looking confused and unstable.
The frequency of the 'attacks' - and the fact that recorded examples of the mental meltdowns have been popular on websites - has led to conspiracy theorists pointing the finger at shadowy government experiments.
A popular theory being circulated online blames the U.S. Military’s supposed research into using microwaves as a mind control weapon.
America has never admitted conducting such research but proponents say the effects - produced by microwave signals stimulating the brain with fake images and voices - exactly mimic those displayed in the recent on-air breakdowns.
As to why the Pentagon might be targeting U.S. television presenters, the microwave theorists are less clear.
The phenomenon, which has provided internet video sites with some of the oddest footage for months, has now claimed one of America’s most highly paid broadcasters
Judith Sheindlin, the fast-talking judge on Judge Judy, was taken to hospital on Wednesday after she began speaking a nonsensical string of words during a live recording of her courtroom TV show.
Studio insiders said Sheindlin, who earns £28 million a year for a show that is the most watched programme on American daytime TV, was sitting on camera and 'started saying things that didn’t make any sense'.
Sheindlin then announced she needed to stop as she didn’t feel well and asked a crew member to call an ambulance.
The 68-year-old lawyer was released from hospital the following day but a spokesman said medical tests had not revealed what caused her garbled speech and double vision.
Her verbal breakdown is the fourth such recent case and the odd coincidence has prompted feverish speculation over the cause.
No video has been released of the Judge Judy incident but footage of the other three has rapidly gone viral on the internet.
The first victim was Serene Branson, a Los Angeles reporter for CBS, who delivered a completely incoherent piece to camera on the Grammy music awards last month.
The presenter was unable to get out her words and continued to struggle to speak for around 10 seconds outside the Staples Centre before producers cut to a video.
She said later: 'My head was definitely pounding and I was very uncomfortable, and I knew something wasn’t right. I was terrified and confused.'
Her doctor later said she had suffered a complex migraine whose symptoms mimic a stroke.
Her case was followed by a Canadian news reporter whose report on his country’s contribution to the military campaign in Libya suddenly collapsed into gibberish.
Mark McAllister of Global Toronto News told viewers that the Canadian defence minister had confirmed that 'more than sifty four 18 fighter jets are spending about as much as 20 and ready to assist 600 hundred, hundred deployed over the an-amount needed'.
His piece-to-camera went on to become even more odd before he signed off.
His employers later confirmed there had been no problem with the autocue but McAllister had also suffered from a migraine.
In January, Sarah Carlson of WISC-TV in Wisconsin was also struck. She started out fine in her report on Wisconsin’s challenge to Barack Obama’s health care reforms, but it soon became apparent that she was having trouble forming words and the camera switched to a startled-looking co-presenter.
Unlike the others, Carlson, 35, has a history of seizures, but America’s army of conspiracy theorists are unconvinced by the medical explanations.
In four high-profile cases, the latest involving fast-talking Judge Judy, the presenters have started off speaking properly but have then descended into undecipherable nonsense - looking confused and unstable.
The frequency of the 'attacks' - and the fact that recorded examples of the mental meltdowns have been popular on websites - has led to conspiracy theorists pointing the finger at shadowy government experiments.
Over the border: Mark McAllister, of Canadian Global Toronto News, soldiered on with his report on Libya, despite his words being unintelligible
Latest victim: Judge Judy Sheindlin had to stop her courtroom TV show on Wednesday after descending into nonsensical language
Targeted? Serene Branson's garbled Grammys report became an internet sensation, while WISCTV's Sarah Carlson suffered a similar meltdown in January
A popular theory being circulated online blames the U.S. Military’s supposed research into using microwaves as a mind control weapon.
America has never admitted conducting such research but proponents say the effects - produced by microwave signals stimulating the brain with fake images and voices - exactly mimic those displayed in the recent on-air breakdowns.
As to why the Pentagon might be targeting U.S. television presenters, the microwave theorists are less clear.
The phenomenon, which has provided internet video sites with some of the oddest footage for months, has now claimed one of America’s most highly paid broadcasters
Judith Sheindlin, the fast-talking judge on Judge Judy, was taken to hospital on Wednesday after she began speaking a nonsensical string of words during a live recording of her courtroom TV show.
Studio insiders said Sheindlin, who earns £28 million a year for a show that is the most watched programme on American daytime TV, was sitting on camera and 'started saying things that didn’t make any sense'.
Sheindlin then announced she needed to stop as she didn’t feel well and asked a crew member to call an ambulance.
The 68-year-old lawyer was released from hospital the following day but a spokesman said medical tests had not revealed what caused her garbled speech and double vision.
Her verbal breakdown is the fourth such recent case and the odd coincidence has prompted feverish speculation over the cause.
No video has been released of the Judge Judy incident but footage of the other three has rapidly gone viral on the internet.
The first victim was Serene Branson, a Los Angeles reporter for CBS, who delivered a completely incoherent piece to camera on the Grammy music awards last month.
The presenter was unable to get out her words and continued to struggle to speak for around 10 seconds outside the Staples Centre before producers cut to a video.
She said later: 'My head was definitely pounding and I was very uncomfortable, and I knew something wasn’t right. I was terrified and confused.'
Her doctor later said she had suffered a complex migraine whose symptoms mimic a stroke.
Her case was followed by a Canadian news reporter whose report on his country’s contribution to the military campaign in Libya suddenly collapsed into gibberish.
Mark McAllister of Global Toronto News told viewers that the Canadian defence minister had confirmed that 'more than sifty four 18 fighter jets are spending about as much as 20 and ready to assist 600 hundred, hundred deployed over the an-amount needed'.
His piece-to-camera went on to become even more odd before he signed off.
His employers later confirmed there had been no problem with the autocue but McAllister had also suffered from a migraine.
In January, Sarah Carlson of WISC-TV in Wisconsin was also struck. She started out fine in her report on Wisconsin’s challenge to Barack Obama’s health care reforms, but it soon became apparent that she was having trouble forming words and the camera switched to a startled-looking co-presenter.
Unlike the others, Carlson, 35, has a history of seizures, but America’s army of conspiracy theorists are unconvinced by the medical explanations.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Bangladesh court upholds removal of Nobel winner as bank head
Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and managing director for Grameen Bank
A Bangladeshi court today upheld an order removing Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as head of the microlending bank he founded, a move seen as part of the government’s vendetta with him over his political ambitions.
Yunus, 70, had been removed as head of Grameen Bank last week by the central bank at the government’s behest on grounds that he had stayed on past the legal retirement age of 60.
In 2007, while Bangladesh was ruled by an interim military government, Yunus tried to set up a political party, but later stepped back from the idea, saying it would not sit well with Bangladesh’s traditional politics and cycles of unrest.
Though Yunus was unlikely to pose a threat to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, his proposed party could well have challenged the prime minister’s party as he was extremely popular among poor voters.
On the eve of today’s court ruling, Yunus said his dismissal had been staged by Hasina’s government as part of its drive to take over the bank.
“This is a bank owned by poor women and that’s right now under threat because our government somehow feels ... that they would like to take control of the bank,” Yunus said by video link to a panel on microfinance in Washington.
Action against Yunus coincides with increasing criticism of microlending in developing countries, including neighbouring India, with officials accusing bankers of exploiting the poor.
But analysts said the dismissal would annoy the country’s friends, including the United States, and could even provoke protests within the country. Thousands of protesters marched through Dhaka last weekend to denounce Yunus’s removal.
Yunus has said he wants to step down from his position but at a time of his choosing to ensure a smooth transition for what he calls an institution “of the people”.
Yunus set up Grameen, which means village in Bengali, and had been its managing director since 2000. Lauded abroad by politicians and financiers, he has been under attack by the government since late last year, after a Norwegian documentary alleged the bank was dodging taxes.
Yunus has denied any financial irregularities.
Chirac corruption trial suspended
Paris judge delays long-awaited trial of former French president following a constitutional challenge by the defence. A Paris judge has suspended the long-awaited corruption trial of Jacques Chirac, France's former president, after a constitutional ...
Monday, February 21, 2011
S. Korea spies break into Indonesians’ hotel room: ReportS. Korea spies break into Indonesians’ hotel room: Report
Three agents for South Korea’s spy agency broke into a downtown Seoul hotel room occupied by a delegation of Indonesian presidential envoys last week, apparently seeking secrets about bids for a defence contract, a newspaper said today.
The three left after being confronted by a member of the Indonesian delegation, led by a senior Cabinet minister. They had been discovered looking at files on a laptop computer, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.
“National Intelligence Service employees were looking to identify the Indonesian delegation’s negotiating strategy with a view on our national interest,” a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying by the Chosun Ilbo.
The National Intelligence Service denied the report.
South Korea has been bidding for a contract to supply trainer fighter jets to Indonesia, the newspaper said. South Korean firms have also been increasingly eyeing Indonesia’s growing consumer market and natural resources.
Indonesia’s investment chief said last year he expected South Korea to invest up to US$10 billion in the next three to four years, with LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor considering taking part.
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that there had been a break-in, leading to a laptop being stolen, but said it was returned 20 minutes later and played down the incident.
“The laptop belonged to a staff member, not a high-ranking official,” spokesman Michael Tene said in Jakarta.
The staff member worked in the trade ministry, a government source told Reuters.
“This has caused uneasiness in the relations of the two countries,” Teguh Juwarno, a member of the Indonesian parliament’s defence and foreign affairs commission, said.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Chinese demand ban on goldfish magic trick watched by hundreds of millions on TV amid claims of animal abuse
A magic trick with goldfish that was watched by hundreds of millions of Chinese on TV during the Lunar New Year celebrations may have involved abuse including implanted magnets and should be banned, according to animal rights activists.
The trick was performed during a China Central Television gala on January 30, eve of the Lunar New Year festival. The gala is China's most watched broadcast of the year.
Goldfish are a symbol of wealth in China, but the image of six of them swimming in perfect synchronisation under magician Fu Yandong's direction alarmed many Chinese, who worried that magnets were implanted in the fish or that they were controlled by electric current.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Eco-warriors' £4m supership claims first victory as Japan suspends whaling after chase in Antarctic Ocean
A new four million pounds anti-whaling super-ship has claimed its first victory after clashing with Japanese whalers in the Antarctic Ocean.
Activists chased Japanese Whalers across the icy seas for several weeks in a desperate bid to prevent their annual hunt of the enormous mammals.
The high tech Gojira ship is understood to have blocked the Japanese fleet on the sea forcing the ships to flee.
Anti-whaling campaigners today welcomed the news that Japanese whaling ships had halted their hunt in the Antarctic.
Japanese government officials said the country's fleet had suspended its Antarctic whaling activities in the wake of repeated disruptions by direct action group Sea Shepherd which has targeted the whaling vessels on the high seas.
The Japanese fleet set sail in November to the Southern Ocean to hunt up to 945 whales under a loophole in the worldwide ban on whaling which allows catching the ocean mammals for 'scientific' purposes.
Japan's continued whaling in the Antarctic has drawn criticism from countries including the UK and Australia.
Today the International Fund of Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said it had received reports that the fleet was heading back to port early with less than half its projected quota.
Patrick Ramage, director of Ifaw's global whale programme, said: 'Under pressure from all fronts the Japanese whaling fleet is apparently withdrawing early this season from the internationally recognised sanctuary around Antarctica.
'Ifaw welcomes this positive move for whales.
'We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers-recognising there is no future for whaling in the 21st century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whale, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan.'
Last year, Japanese whalers ended up catching only about half of their target in the Southern Ocean after pressure from anti-whaling campaigners.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for weeks in the icy seas off Antarctica in a bid to stop their annual hunt.
Activists have used the Sea Shepherd craft, named Gojira, after its predecessor lost its bow in a confrontation with whalers.
The director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Jeff Hansen, previously insisted that Gojira is the fastest and strongest Sea Shepherd ever built.
While hunting for scientific purposes is allowed by the International Whaling Commission as an exception to the 1986 global moratorium on whaling, opponents say Japan uses it as a cover for commercial whaling.
Last year a 10-year 'peace plan' designed to break the impasse between anti-whaling nations and the handful of countries which still hunt whales was thrown out.
Nations discussing the International Whaling Commission's plan to allow limited commercial whaling for the first time in almost 25 years, in an attempt to curb the number of whales hunted by Norway, Iceland and Japan, failed to reach agreement.
A spokesman for the Environment Department (Defra) said: 'There is no justification for Japan's whaling operations, which have no basis in scientific research and undermine international efforts to conserve and protect whales.
'The UK continues to oppose commercial and scientific whaling.'
Activists chased Japanese Whalers across the icy seas for several weeks in a desperate bid to prevent their annual hunt of the enormous mammals.
The high tech Gojira ship is understood to have blocked the Japanese fleet on the sea forcing the ships to flee.
Menacing: The 35-meter long Gojira ship roars out on to the open ocean to join the rest of the Sea Shepherd fleet in its fight against whaling
Anti-whaling campaigners today welcomed the news that Japanese whaling ships had halted their hunt in the Antarctic.
Japanese government officials said the country's fleet had suspended its Antarctic whaling activities in the wake of repeated disruptions by direct action group Sea Shepherd which has targeted the whaling vessels on the high seas.
The Japanese fleet set sail in November to the Southern Ocean to hunt up to 945 whales under a loophole in the worldwide ban on whaling which allows catching the ocean mammals for 'scientific' purposes.
Japan's continued whaling in the Antarctic has drawn criticism from countries including the UK and Australia.
Today the International Fund of Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said it had received reports that the fleet was heading back to port early with less than half its projected quota.
Patrick Ramage, director of Ifaw's global whale programme, said: 'Under pressure from all fronts the Japanese whaling fleet is apparently withdrawing early this season from the internationally recognised sanctuary around Antarctica.
'Ifaw welcomes this positive move for whales.
'We hope this is a first sign of Japanese government decision makers-recognising there is no future for whaling in the 21st century and that responsible whale watching, the only genuinely sustainable use of whale, is now the best way forward for a great nation like Japan.'
Last year, Japanese whalers ended up catching only about half of their target in the Southern Ocean after pressure from anti-whaling campaigners.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been chasing the Japanese whaling fleet for weeks in the icy seas off Antarctica in a bid to stop their annual hunt.
Activists have used the Sea Shepherd craft, named Gojira, after its predecessor lost its bow in a confrontation with whalers.
The director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Jeff Hansen, previously insisted that Gojira is the fastest and strongest Sea Shepherd ever built.
While hunting for scientific purposes is allowed by the International Whaling Commission as an exception to the 1986 global moratorium on whaling, opponents say Japan uses it as a cover for commercial whaling.
Last year a 10-year 'peace plan' designed to break the impasse between anti-whaling nations and the handful of countries which still hunt whales was thrown out.
Nations discussing the International Whaling Commission's plan to allow limited commercial whaling for the first time in almost 25 years, in an attempt to curb the number of whales hunted by Norway, Iceland and Japan, failed to reach agreement.
A spokesman for the Environment Department (Defra) said: 'There is no justification for Japan's whaling operations, which have no basis in scientific research and undermine international efforts to conserve and protect whales.
'The UK continues to oppose commercial and scientific whaling.'
Cannons: Nisshin Maru turns round and sails towards Gojira while using water cannons to knock over crew members in the clash
Damage: Gojira's predecessor, the Ady Gil, prepares to be rescued after being damaged in a confrontation with Japanese whaling vessel Nisshin Maru
Berlusconi’s woes likely to lead to early elections
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is likely to dig in his heels after being ordered to stand trial but ultimately he will not be able to stem the tide heading toward early elections, commentators said today.
“Objectively speaking, Berlusconi is worn down and gasping for breath,” wrote Massimo Franco, a leading political commentator for the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
In perhaps the hardest blow in a string of judicial problems, a judge ordered Berlusconi (picture) to stand trial in April on charges of paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office for intervening with police to get her freed from custody.
He has so far not commented on the indictment but his lieutenants have blasted the trial order as what they call another calculated move by leftist magistrates to destroy his political career.
But the momentum against him seems to be building. The trial date was set two days after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated throughout the country demanding his immediate resignation.
“Berlusconi is now in a defensive position and (the court order) breathes electoral hope into an opposition that smells a precious opportunity to beat him,” Franco said.
Another influential commentator, Stefano Folli of the economic daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said: “It’s obvious that the legislature is over and parliament is heading towards a paralysis.”
The timing of elections before the next scheduled national vote in 2013 depends how long Berlusconi’s increasingly fragile coalition can stick together, commentators said.
The sex scandal has riveted Italy and, commentators say, caused untold damage to the country’s image abroad.
Much will depend on the position of the Northern League and its mercurial leader Umberto Bossi.
Bossi, speaking after centre-right leaders held crisis talks with Berlusconi yesterday night, was quoted as telling the prime minister that “the moment is difficult but I am standing by you”.
Commentators say Bossi is biding his time until federalists reforms are in place to placate his northern constituents and then will pull the plug on the coalition, as he did in 1994 when he provoked the collapse of Berlusconi’s first government.
“EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF”
“Let’s get federalism passed and then it’s every man for himself,” the La Republica newspaper quoted Bossi as telling his lieutenants before Tuesday night’s meeting.
Berlusconi’s legal problems have added a complicating factor to a political situation already tangled by a split in the People of Freedom coalition last year, which left Berlusconi barely clinging to power.
The government survived a no-confidence motion in parliament in December by a small margin. Since then, Berlusconi has gradually built up support by winning over deputies from smaller centrist parties and splinter formations.
Italian media have been dominated for weeks by the alleged prostitution affair, which turns on the case of a teenaged Moroccan nightclub dancer named Karima el Mahroug, whose stage name Ruby has become a household term in Italy.
Prosecutors say they have ample evidence that Berlusconi paid el Mahroug for sex when she was under 18 — an offence in Italy — and also telephoned a police station to pressure officers to release her after she was held on theft allegations.
She denies having sex with Berlusconi but admits receiving at least €7,000 euros (RM29,000) after attending a party at the premier’s luxurious private residence at Arcore near Milan.
Berlusconi has denied doing anything illegal in the case and says he has been targeted by politically motivated judges backed by the left who are determined to bring him down.
He says he has never paid for sex and says that when he telephoned the Milan police station it was because he believed el Mahroug to be the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and he wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.
India’s cornered PM vows to press on despite scandals
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed today to stay in office to press ahead with reforms, denying a series of massive corruption scandals had made him a lame duck leader.
Allegations the government may have lost up to US$39 billion (RM119 billion) in revenues after firms were awarded telecoms deals at rock-bottom prices in return for kickbacks have caused months of parliamentary paralysis, rocked the ruling coalition, and rattled India’s markets.
“Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck prime minister, we take our job very seriously,” an often frail-looking Singh, 78, said in a rare media roundtable with TV editors to improve his worsening image.
“We are here to govern, and to govern effectively. Tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward.”
That Singh was forced to deny talk of resignation underscored both the gravity of the scandals and how Singh’s decision-making has been paralysed in his second term despite winning re-election in 2009 with an increased majority.
The last parliamentary session was halted by opposition protests demanding a probe into the telecoms scam, effectively stopping any reform bills such as one to make land acquisition easier for both industry and farmers.
“I never felt like resigning because I have a job to do ... I will stay the course,” Singh said in comments broadcast live.
Foreign investors have pulled hundreds of millions of dollars from the Indian stock market since the start of the year, while foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen for three consecutive years, from 2.9 per cent of GDP in 2008/09 to around 1.8 per cent of GDP in 2010/11.
Some of this is connected with the global economic slowdown, but regulatory uncertainty may also be a factor.
“This sort of atmosphere is not good. It saps our own self-confidence. It also spoils the image of India,” Singh said over the corruption scams, but he denied they had impacted FDI.
For more than an hour, editors peppered Singh with questions about why he had failed to act on corruption cases and why probes had taken so long. On each question, Singh, looking defensive and rattled, denied wrongdoing, and often referred to a prepared written statement.
Singh’s stumbling has prompted some commentators to predict a repeat of 1989, when Congress lost a general election due to the Bofors scandal. That centred on gun contracts involving close associates of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who were accused of taking bribes.
The next general election is still three years away and Singh has opportunities to regain the initiative, whether through spending on social welfare programmes or doing better than expected in state elections.
But Singh has always been hampered by the image of playing second fiddle to Congress Party head Sonia Gandhi, and, as a figurehead leader, exercising little real power.
In today’s broadcast, Singh at times gave the impression of indecision, such when he replied when asked why he did not act quickly over problems in the allocation of telecom licences between 2007 and 2008.
“Although complaints were coming in, although complaints were coming from all sides, some from companies not benefiting (from the telecoms spectrum allocation) ... I was not in a position to make up my mind that anything seriously was wrong,” Singh said.
PARLIAMENTARY BREAKTHOUGH?
Singh’s government now appears close to agreeing to a broad, cross-party investigation in the scandal, paving the way for parliament to resume as normal for a Feb. 21 budget session, and Singh said he would press ahead with reforms.
“We have not given up, we will persist (on reforms). There are difficulties, particularly when government is not allowed to function.”
In one sign the prime minister may refresh his government, Singh said there would be another reshuffle of his cabinet after the budget session. The first reshuffle of his second term in January was widely criticised as cosmetic.
“We have important legislation, apart from the budget, to put before parliament,” Singh said. “And talks are going on with the opposition parties to ensure that whatever our differences, parliament should be able to function normally.”
The scandals have taken a heavy toll on Singh, who is concerned his legacy is shifting from that of a founder of India’s economic boom, to someone who did nothing to stop corruption or policy paralysis.
Singh may have hoped the current scandals would ebb. But an aggressive media, an assertive Supreme Court and an opposition tasting political blood have seen momentum into the corruption probes expand.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Berlusconi refuses to resign, dismisses protest
Protesters gather in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo to demonstrate against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on February 13, 2011
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said today he had no intention of stepping down and dismissed a weekend demonstration by thousands of women across Italy over his involvement in a sex scandal.
Hundreds of thousands of women took part in rallies yesterday to defend their dignity and protest over the underage prostitution scandal that has rocked the 74 year-old prime minister’s centre-right government.
The billionaire media entrepreneur told his Canale 5 network the protests were the work of his political opponents and denied that he disrespects women.
“I saw the usual factional forces mobilised against me by a certain section of the left which uses any pretext to beat an adversary whom they can’t manage to beat at the polls,” he told a morning programme.
“All women who have had the opportunity to get to know me, know how much I respect them. I have always behaved and I always behave with great care and great respect, both in my companies and in my government.”
“I have always tried to act in such a way that every woman feels special,” he said.
Sunday’s protests included several leading figures from the opposition centre-left and many conservative middle-aged women, a group which has traditionally supported him.
Berlusconi said the government would not resign over the affair, potentially opening the way for new elections.
“There is a lot of confusion but I have very clear ideas. The interest of the country is to have a stable government which carries on with its programme with determination,” he said.
Milan prosecutors have requested that Berlusconi face trial over accusations that he paid for sex with a girl below the age of 18 — an offence in Italy — and that he improperly pressured police to release her from custody over theft allegations.
A decision on whether to accept the request is expected early this week.
Using material obtained from investigators’ wiretaps, newspapers have splashed lurid accounts of “bunga bunga” sex parties involving dozens of young women at Berlusconi’s private villa near Milan.
Berlusconi has never hidden his fondness for the company of young women but denies doing anything illegal and his lawyers have produced witness statements saying that the events at his villa were no more than convivial dinner parties.
“The Milan prosecutors’ office and the media in contrast has trampled on the dignity of my guests, exposing them to public scorn without any reason or regard for them and trampling on the truth,” Berlusconi said.
“It’s really a disgrace, a big disgrace.”
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
‘Naked chef’ to debut on Hong Kong adult channel
Floria Cheung Ching-sze wants to get men interested (in cooking): “(The apron) covers pretty much everything but hides nothing.
A Hong Kong adult channel is set to debut a cooking show headlined by a nude host who will prepare Cantonese dishes wearing a transparent apron — an apparent bid to encourage more men to cook.
Host Flora Cheung will start each 30-minute show shopping for fresh ingredients in the city’s famous wet markets, undressing once she is back in the privacy of her studio kitchen, the South China Morning Post reported.
Cheung, who admits she has never worked in a restaurant kitchen, said she hoped the risqué show would draw more men into the kitchen. The first episode is set to air later this month.
“I have always liked cooking and I thought I should share (the) enjoyment with more people,” the 26-year-old told the Post.
“Most men don’t like to cook, but I want to get them interested . . . From shopping to cooking — it’s the whole shebang,” Cheung added.
The host promised that her tailor-made, transparent apron would not leave much to the imagination.
“It covers pretty much everything but hides nothing,” she was quoted as saying.
Producer Jesse Au told the paper that the show might spawn similar offerings, with nude hosts cooking up a range of Asian cuisine: “This could be an endless series if it proves popular.”
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Bindi: Women will turn against ‘sultan’ Berlusconi
One of Italy’s most senior woman politicians has condemned Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as a “sultan” who degrades women, and predicted many of those who voted for him will abandon him in the next election.
Rosy Bindi, president of the opposition Democratic Party and deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, said in an interview that sex scandals were likely to cost Berlusconi power.
“Italian women are paying the highest price for this scandal, with an image being spread of women whose value is reduced to their bodies and who become tradeable goods at the disposal of the sultan, the emperor,” she told Reuters.
“Berlusconi has based an important part of his electoral success on women . . . but undoubtedly his approval ratings are now falling . . . women will represent a key element in putting an end to Berlusconi’s honeymoon in our country,” she said in her office in the lower house yesterday evening.
Italy’s next elections are not scheduled until 2013 but most commentators say either Berlusconi’s sex scandals or the fracturing of the centre right will lead to the collapse of his government and early national polls, perhaps this year.
Milan prosecutors have alleged that Berlusconi paid for sex with prostitutes who attended parties at his villa, including a teenaged nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug, who goes by the stage name of “Ruby the Heart-Stealer”.
The billionaire media mogul denies any wrongdoing and says he has never paid for sex. He says politically motivated leftist magistrates are bent on destroying him and he has refused to face questioning.
Berlusconi has survived previous scandals about his private life. Middle-aged and elderly women have been key sources of electoral support for the prime minister.
But Bindi, who has called for Berlusconi to resign, said the most recent scandal would likely be seen as a step too far.
“In the last weeks there has been a jump to a new level: before it was our head of government who was ridiculed, but now we are all at risk of being ridiculed,” she said.
Newspapers have run transcripts of phone taps by magistrates that paint a picture of wild parties attended by Berlusconi, other older men and young starlets and models who received money and favours such as free rent.
Berlusconi has frequently joked about Bindi, once calling the bespectacled, grey-haired 59-year-old “more beautiful than intelligent”.
That stirred a backlash from thousands of Italian women, and her quick response — “I’m not a woman at your disposal” — became a rallying cry printed on T-shirts and placards.
Bindi said then there was a “new feminism” taking root in Italy, where scantily clad women are a common sight on TV, especially on channels owned by Berlusconi.
“When Berlusconi starts to offend me or others, I rely on my inner strength, and in that case I told him I’m not at his disposal like a woman he can buy,” she told Reuters.
Charlie Sheen enters Rehabs for drug and alcohol abuse with pornstar in orgies.
For fans of Two and a Half Men, the news that Charlie Sheen would voluntarily enter a rehabilitation center was no doubt bittersweet: The 45-year-old actor could get the help that he needs even though his ...
WikiLeaks founder says enjoys making banks squirm
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he enjoys making banks squirm thinking they might be the next targets of his website which has published US diplomatic and military secrets.
“I think it’s great. We have all these banks squirming, thinking maybe it’s them,” Assange told the CBS television programme “60 Minutes” in an interview.
CBS released a partial transcript yesterday ahead of Sunday’s broadcast of the full segment.
Bank of America Corp shares fell more than 3 per cent on November 30 on investor fears that the largest US bank by assets would be the subject of a document release.
Interviewer Steve Kroft asked Assange whether he had acquired a five-gigabyte hard drive belonging to one of the bank’s executives, as Assange had previously asserted.
“I won’t make any comment in relation to that upcoming publication,” said Assange, who is under a form of modified house arrest in England, awaiting an extradition hearing to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex offences that he denies.
Assange had told Forbes magazine that WikiLeaks planned a “megaleak” by releasing tens of thousands of internal documents from a major US bank in early 2011 that he expected would lead to investigations of the bank.
In an October 2009 interview, Assange told Computerworld that WikiLeaks had obtained five gigabytes of data from a Bank of America executive’s hard drive.
The Forbes interview came just after WikiLeaks released 250,000 US government diplomatic cables. Previously, WikiLeaks had made public nearly 500,000 classified US files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Major headlines were generated by some of the cables, which revealed that Saudi leaders had urged US military action against Iran and detailed contacts between US diplomats and political dissidents and opposition leaders in some countries.
Assange told “60 Minutes” he fully expected US retaliation but that the American government was incapable of taking his website down.
“The US does not have the technology to take the site down. ... Just the way our technology is constructed, the way the Internet is constructed,” Assange said.
“We’ve had attacks on particular domain names. Little pieces of infrastructure knocked out. But we now have some 2,000 fully independent in every way websites, where we’re publishing around the world. It is — I mean, it’s not possible to do.”
WikiLeaks says it is a nonprofit organisation funded by human rights campaigners, journalists and the general public. Launched in 2006, it promotes the leaking of information to fight government and corporate corruption.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Pamela Anderson advert too racy for HK airport
Undated screen grab released by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on December 29, 2010 shows actress Pamela Anderson in a security guard outfit playing a role in the animal rights advertisment ‘Cruelty Doesn’t Fly.
An animal rights commercial starring former Playboy centrefold Pamela Anderson, which is banned at some US airports, has been deemed too racy for Hong Kong, one of Asia’s busiest aviation hubs.
The advertisement, titled “Cruelty Doesn’t Fly”, features the scantily-clad former “Baywatch” star as an airport security guard who strips passengers of leather, fur and other skins.
A couple, seen nude from behind, also appears in the video commercial created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
“Given the groping that you see at security checkpoints and the nudity that you see in body scans we’re surprised that our lighthearted ad was deemed too risqué,” said Jason Baker, PETA Asia’s vice president.
The animal rights group said its ad was vetoed by JCDecaux, the advertising agency responsible for airing videos at Hong Kong’s airport.
In a statement, the city’s airport authority said the commercial was “considered inappropriate” because it might offend some visitors.
The ad – which also features comedian Steve-O, a star of the “Jackass” movie series, and German punk icon Nina Hagen – is already banned at airports in New York City and Boston, PETA said.
The animal rights group said it is still hoping to run the ad in other Asia-Pacific airports, including Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
