17. februar 2004

Haiti appeals for help The security situation on Haiti is detoriating rapidly, with rebels taking control of the city of Hinche. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is appealing for international help. France is pondering whether to organise an international force to be sent to the island nation, obviously under the non-written international rule saying the former colonial ruler has an obligation to clean up the mess every time the post-colonial regimes mess up too badly, even if said colonial ruler was kicked out with extreme prejudice (the French typically were). It is quite precisely ten years ago US forces had to invade Haiti to restore Aristide to power the last time. 9:06:49 PM    comment []  trackback []

Saudi terror warning The British Foreign Office has warned that there is an imminent terror threat to unspecified targets in Saudi Arabia. The official statement said: We believe that terrorists remain determined to carry out further attacks in Saudi Arabia, and that these may be in the final stages of preparation Deadly terror attacks on Saudi soil were carried out on May 12 and November 8 last year. Both terror attacks were preceded by specific terror warnings by US and UK intelligence. 6:56:04 PM    comment []  trackback []

Galloway et al grabbed UN money British politicians used funds illagelly drawn from the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq to finance campaigns to have the Iraqi sanctions lifted. Money illicitly siphoned from the UN oil-for-food programme by Saddam Hussein was used to finance anti-sanctions campaigns run by British politicians, according to documents that have surfaced in Baghdad. Undercover cash from oil deals went to three businessmen who in turn supported pressure groups involving the ex-Labour MP George Galloway, Labour MP Tam Dalyell, and the former Irish premier Albert Reynolds, it is alleged in documents compiled by the oil ministry, which is now under the control of the US occupation regime. It is worth noting that this is from the Guardian, a leftist newspaper. The British government is investigating. The Telegraph, a rightist newspaper, has been sued by Galloway over charges he had taken bribes from Saddam's government. 5:26:35 PM    comment []  trackback []

004 Pierce Brosnan will not be returning for a fifth James Bond movie, despite his films being increasingly successful.   5:10:21 PM    comment []  trackback []

4,450 Catholic priests accused of sex abuse A draft survey commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lists 11,000 accusations of sexual abuse against 4,450 different priests. That means that fully 4 per cent of all priests who served uring the 52 years covered by the survey is accused of sexually abusing children. More than half of the accused priests had only one allegation against them. Nearly 25 percent, or 1,112 priests, had two or three allegations, and almost 13 percent, or 578 priests, had four to nine allegations, according to the draft report. Nearly 3 percent, or 133 of the priests, had 10 or more allegations. The report said that 6,700 of the 11,000 allegations were investigated and substantiated, and another 1,000 were unsubstantiated. The remaining 3,300 were not investigated because the priests involved had died by the time the allegation was made. Representatives for the victims say that the numbers are still too low, and do not believe that the covering up is a thing of the past. You can't build an organisation on a fraud and expect it to become anything but a morally bankrupt system. It is organised like a crime syndicate, and sometimes operates as one. 2:46:09 PM    comment []  trackback []

Kerry affair story goes mainstream after "intern" denial Alexandra Polier, the 27 year old woman (Telegraph still flatters the lady and says 24) that John Kerry is accused of having an affair with, has broken her silence, and with that the US mainstream press breaks theirs. "For the last several days, I have seen Internet and tabloid rumors relating to me and Senator John Kerry," Polier said in a statement to the AP issued from Kenya, where she is visiting her fiance's family. "Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them. "It seems that efforts to peddle these lies continue, so I feel compelled to address them. I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry, and the rumors in the press are completely false. Whoever is spreading these rumors and allegations does not know me, but should know the pain they have caused me and my family." Personally, I don't understand how what wasn't a story when Kerry denied it suddenly becomes a big story when both Kerry and Polier deny it, but then I am not a journalist. WaPo also insist on holding the high moral ground while issueing a kick towards conservative competitors: Drudge's report was promptly picked up by conservative radio hosts Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and by the Web sites of National Review and the Wall Street Journal, and was analyzed online by Slate, Salon and commentator Andrew Sullivan, among others. Although it was probably the most talked-about story in Washington that day, most of the mainstream press, including The Washington Post, declined to report it because of the lack of evidence. [...] Several British newspapers, meanwhile, named Polier and ran her photo. The story was prominently featured by the Times of London ("Dirty tricks row hits race for President") and the Sun ("New JFK Hit by Scandal"), which, like the New York Post, are owned by conservative media baron Rupert Murdoch. Interestingly, Polier's parents issued a statement of their own, and there was no calling Kerry a sleazeball this time around: In a separate statement today, Polier's parents, Terry and Donna, also dismissed the rumor, saying: "We appreciate the way Senator Kerry has handled the situation, and intend on voting for him for president of the United States." Alexandra Polier asked "that the press respect our privacy and leave all of us alone." If one thing (apart from some actual evidence) can keep this story in the press in the forthcoming weeks, it is precisely speculation about why the Polier parents said that Kerry was a "sleazeball" who was after their daugther one day, and yet state they intend to vote for him a few days later. What is new? A media consultant? Some sane words from their daughter? PS: Even the NYT writes the rumour denial story. 8:43:17 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2004 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.03.2004; 14:42:09.