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Paul Oakenfold, Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk unite for Love Parade tribute

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:18:37 -0500

Superstar DJs dedicate track to victims of German festival tragedy, with proceeds going to those injured and the families of those who died

Some of the world's top DJs have announced a new collaboration dedicated to the victims of this year's Love Parade tragedy. Paul Oakenfold, Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk have recorded a new song, Remember Love, with proceeds going to those affected by the stampede in Duisburg, Germany.

"I think this is the first time this has ever been done in the dance scene, to give back, to help people," Oakenfold said. "In many other music genres, artists come together, like Live Aid and after the Haiti disaster. We should do something [too]." The project began with Oakenfold, who wrote the song's basic structure and then spent the past month co-producing with Van Buuren and Van Dyk. "I thought it was a good idea to have England, Holland and Germany coming together," he said. "Love Parade [represented] a big part of the essence of the dance movement."

Twenty-one people died and dozens were injured after panic broke out at this year's Love Parade festival inGermany. Hundreds of people stampeded toward an entrance tunnel when police began turning festivalgoers away. Organisers have announced that the annual event, which began as a Berlin peace march in 1989, will not take place again.

"In its last years outside Berlin, the vibe of the Love Parade was a far cry from its original spirit," said Van Dyk, who has performed several times at the festival. "With Remember Love, we want to recapture the essence of Love Parade and try to assist those who suffered."

The single will go on sale on 11 September, initially available exclusively on Beatport. According to Oakenfold, Remember Love offers his signature "melodicism", Van Buuren's "emotion and movement" and "the energy and uplifting touch that no one does better than Paul van Dyk". Proceeds will go to the Association of Non-statutory Welfare in North Rhine-Westphalia Germany, which launched a campaign to benefit the families and victims affected by the July 24 tragedy.

Sean Michaels

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German banker hits nerve with anti-immigration book (AFP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:12:39 -0500

AFP - Politicians have rushed to condemn a board member of the German central bank for a new book tackling immigration, but his views have found considerable support among the population at large.

Philippines asks court to outlaw Abu Sayyaf (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:09:40 -0500

AP - The Philippine government has asked a court to outlaw the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist group and blacklist more than 200 of its Islamic fighters blamed for two decades of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, officials said Monday.

Christopher Hitchens asks fans not to pray for him

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:08:13 -0500

The author and well-known advocate of atheism, who is suffering from cancer, has asked that people refrain from 'troubling deaf heaven' over his plight

Author and vociferous atheist Christopher Hitchens, who was diagnosed with cancer this summer, has appealed to his religious fans and friends not to "trouble deaf heaven" with their "bootless cries" for his recovery.

Writing in October's issue of Vanity Fair, Hitchens revealed that, since he announced in June that he was undergoing chemotherapy on his oesophagus, he has been inundated with thousands of offers of prayers for his health and salvation, from all kinds of religious persuasions. "Devotional websites consecrated special space to the question," said Hitchens. September 20 has been designated "Everybody Pray for Hitchens Day", and he has even found a website inviting people to put money on whether he will renounce his atheism and embrace religion by a certain date, "or continue to affirm unbelief and take the hellish consequences".

"What if I pulled through and the pious faction contentedly claimed that their prayers had been answered? That would somehow be irritating," he wrote. "I don't mean to be churlish about any kind intentions, but when September 20 comes, please do not trouble deaf heaven with your bootless cries. Unless, of course, it makes you feel better."

After advocating atheism in his 2007 book God is not Great: The Case Against Religion, Hitchens also pointed out that if he abandoned the principles he has held throughout his life "in the hope of gaining favour at the last minute", it would be something of a "hucksterish choice". "The god who would reward cowardice and dishonesty and punish irreconcilable doubt is among the many gods in which (whom?) I do not believe," he wrote.

Hitchens has also been the recipient of less generous responses from the religious, he said, highlighting one website contribution which asked readers: "Who else feels Christopher Hitchens getting terminal throat cancer [sic] was God's revenge for him using his voice to blaspheme him? ... He's going to writhe in agony and pain and wither away to nothing and then die a horrible agonising death, and THEN comes the real fun, when he's sent to HELLFIRE forever to be tortured and set afire."

But, asked Hitchens, "why not a thunderbolt for yours truly, or something similarly awe-inspiring? The vengeful deity has a sadly depleted arsenal if all he can think of is exactly the cancer that my age and former 'lifestyle' would suggest that I got," he wrote, also musing on the question of why, if "god awards the appropriate cancers", infants contract leukemia and devout people die young and in pain, while "Bertrand Russell and Voltaire, by contrast, remained spry until the end, as many psychopathic criminals and tyrants have also done".

He assured his "Christian correspondent" that his "so far uncancerous throat" is not "at all the only organ with which I have blasphemed ... And even if my voice goes before I do, I shall continue to write polemics against religious delusions, at least until it's hello darkness my old friend. In which case, why not cancer of the brain? As a terrified, half-aware imbecile, I might even scream for a priest at the close of business, though I hereby state while I am still lucid that the entity thus humiliating itself would not in fact be 'me'. (Bear this in mind, in case of any later rumours or fabrications.)"

Alison Flood

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Mozambican police attempt to stamp out protests (AFP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:07:09 -0500

AFP - Mozambican police Monday deployed across impoverished neighbourhoods in the capital Maputo to prevent fresh protests over food prices, after 10 people died in three days of rioting last week.

Fresh suspicion over Pakistan-Australia cricket Test (AFP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:06:39 -0500

AFP - Pakistan's January Test defeat to Australia came under renewed scrutiny on Monday after it emerged an agent at the centre of a 'spot-fixing' scandal met players a few weeks after the match.

Eta only called ceasefire as it's too weak to attack, says Spain

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:05:16 -0500

Ministers rule out immediate talks with Basque seperatist group, saying it is regrouping after arrests of senior members

Spain's socialist government today ruled out negotations with the armed Basque separatist group Eta, claiming the organisation had announced a ceasefire yesterday purely because it was too weak to carry out terrorist attacks.

"Eta kills in order to impose itself, so that means one cannot dialogue," the interior minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, said this morning. "Eta has stopped because it cannot do anything ... and also in order to rebuild itself."

The government declined to comment officially yesterday, but this morning was busily repeating the message that it did not believe in Eta's ceasefire.

"The Eta terrorist group is very weakened," said the transport minister, José Blanco. The government was only interested, he said, in "a definitive laying down of arms and end to violence".

The momentary excitement caused by yesterday's video message from Eta had almost entirely dissipated today — though some radical separatists in the Basque country welcomed what they called a "unilateral, unconditional and indefinite" ceasefire.

Analysts gave little credence to the idea that the ceasefire might mark the end of four decades of violence that have claimed more than 800 lives. They said the group had been forced to stop planning attacks six month ago after a series of arrests left it leaderless and disorganised.

"The statement aims to give political meaning to a strategic rest decreed by Eta's leaders six months ago in order to reorganise internally to cope with police pressure," wrote Florencio Domínguez, an Eta expert, in La Vanguardia newspaper.

Dominguez pointed to the arrest in February of Ibon Gojeaskoetxea, a senior Eta commander, as the key moment. That arrest was hailed as the fifth time in two years that police had detained the person directly in charge of Eta's handful of remaining armed units.

At the same time, police had prevented new units from being formed in several parts of Spain, and discovered Eta's latest bombmaking laboratory and had dismantled its new bases in Portugal — the country where it hoped to move the support infrastructure that had historically been based in France.

The killing in March of a French police officer, who discovered members of the gang trying to steal cars at a showroom near Paris, was the result of a panicked attempt to escape arrest and came despite the decision to stop carrying out attacks, according to Rogelio Alonso of Madrid's Rey Juan Carlos University.

"Eta is selling smoke," he said. "Even during their ceasefires, they continue to kill."

The immediate result of that killing , in any case, had been to increase the intensity of French police pressure on the group.

Observers saw the ceasefire statement – read out by a masked woman – as a response to pressure from former leaders of the banned Batasuna party, who have been urging Eta to call a permanent ceasefire so that the party can be legalised once more.

But the announcement fell short of meeting the demands of the Batasuna leaders, with Eta failing to indicate whether its ceasefire was permanent or temporary.

A group of spokesmen for the radical Basque separatist movement that is close to Eta nevertheless hailed the ceasefire as "a valuable contribution to the construction of peace and the consolidation of democratic process".

Attempts by radical separatists to guide Eta towards abandoning violence were being "sabotaged" by the government, columnist Ramón Sola claimed in the Basque language newspaper Gara.

"The announcement that there will be no attacks provides a secure zone where the socialist government can resolve an armed conflict that has outlasted two different regimes and dozens of governments," he said, referring to the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco and the democratic governments elected after his death in 1975.

Giles Tremlett

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Massive earthquake sets back NZ economic recovery (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:04:41 -0500

AP - New Zealand's prime minister warned Monday that the country's economic recovery will be hurt by the weekend's powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake that smashed buildings and wrecked roads and rail lines in the city of Christchurch.

Spain rejects truce by Basque separatist group (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:04:31 -0500

AP - The Spanish government on Monday rejected a new ceasefire announcement by the separatist group ETA and ruled out negotiations on an independent Basque homeland, saying the militants have been decimated by arrests and are desperate to regroup and rearm.

The Long Road to Becoming a Lifer

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:57:47 -0500

Dick Norman of Belgium, the tour’s oldest player at 39, has turned to doubles to stay close to the game he loves.

Lebanon PM: accusations against Syria were mistake (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:55:21 -0500

AP - Lebanon's prime minister says it was a mistake to accuse Syria of being behind the 2005 assassination of his father.

In Britain, Labour Politicians Call for New Look at Scandal

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:52:36 -0500

Downing Street’s chief communications officer is being accused again of encouraging reporters to illegally intercept messages when he was editor of The News of the World.

Afghanistan: Run on Kabul Bank Shakes a Fragile Economy (Time.com)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:50:00 -0500

Time.com - The government insists there is no reason for anxiety but the depositors outside Afghanistan's largest bank are implacable. They want their money back

The Bettencourt Scandal Puts Sarkozy in Growing Peril (Time.com)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:50:00 -0500

Time.com - As the scandal surrounding the L'OrÉal billions further entwines Eric Woerth, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's support for his labor minister could cost him the next election

Greenpeace 'Tokyo Two' anti-whaling activists sentenced to jail

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:44:35 -0500

Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki have each been sentenced to one year in prison after intercepting a box of whale meat

Two anti-whaling activists were today found guilty of theft and trespass while attempting to expose embezzlement in Japan's heavily subsidised whaling industry.

Greenpeace members Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki were each sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years. Prosecutors had sought 18-month terms for the "Tokyo Two".

Sato and Suzuki intercepted a 23kg (50lb) box of whale meat at a delivery depot in the northern city of Aomori in 2008, claiming it had been stolen by a member of the country's whaling crew.

The meat, worth about 60,000 yen, was part of a much larger quantity habitually taken from the Nisshin Maru, the fleet's mother ship, and sold for personal profit, they said.

"This sentence is totally disproportionate and completely undeserved," Suzuki said after the ruling at Aomori district court. "We set out to reveal the truth about the government's whaling programme, but instead have been punished, while those behind the misuse of public money walk free."

The Institute of Cetacean Research, a quasi-governmental body that organises the annual hunts, insists that members of the crew traditionally take home small amounts of meat as gifts for their families after spending months at sea.

The International Whaling Commission permits Japan to kill about 950 whales a year for "scientific research," despite a 1986 ban on commercial whaling. The meat from the culls is sold on the open market in Japan.

Suzuki, 43, and Sato, 33 who were alerted to embezzlement by a member of the whaling crew, took their findings to the authorities in May 2008 after a three-month Greenpeace investigation into the whistleblower's claims.

Some whalers would take home between five and 10 boxes of whale meat, which fetches about 20,000 yen a kilo when sold legally, the whistleblower, known only as "Kujira-san" (Mr Whale), told the Guardian in an interview.

Prosecutors decided not to pursue the case and instead arrested the activists. They were held for 23 days without charge, during which they were interrogated while strapped to chairs and compared them to members of Aum Supreme Truth, the doomsday cult that carried out the fatal gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995.

"In the international court of public opinion, Junichi and Toru were acquitted a long time ago," Kumi Naidoo, director of Greenpeace International, told reporters in Aomori. "Their actions were not of a criminal nature, they were acting in the public interest and to expose the mass theft of Japanese taxpayers' money.

"We appeal to the Japanese government to launch an independent commission of inquiry to explore the initial allegations made by Junichi and Toru."

Justin McCurry

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US artists support Israelis' settlement protest (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:39:00 -0500

AP - A dovish U.S. Jewish group says more than 150 film and theater artists have signed a letter of support for Israeli actors who refused to perform in a West Bank settlement.

World markets rise as double-dip fears ease (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:32:27 -0500

AP - World stock markets advanced modestly Monday as investors rode momentum from Friday, when an upbeat U.S. jobs report eased fears that the global economy could slip back into recession.

The Book of Common Prayer, part 3 | Alan Wilson

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:30:38 -0500

With the Book of Common Prayer, marriage takes its place at the heart of domestic and civil society

The solemnisation of matrimony, best loved and known of the Book of Common Prayer's occasional offices, looks backward and forward. The rite recapitulates, in terms reminiscent of Chaucer's Parson's Tale, medieval traditions of ring, joined hands and vows. Looking forward, it brings these into church from the porch, where couples had gathered to get married, but only in the comparatively recent past.

Early Christians had no particular coupling liturgy, but were simply married and given in marriage like everybody else. They often held exalted views of fidelity and saw marriage as a mirror of mystical theology, but their marriage ceremonies were not distinctive.

BCP's preface gathers the dearly beloved in the sight of God and in the face of this congregation. Marriage is a public reality, and, although it was to be almost 200 years before Lord Hardwicke's Act banned clandestine marriages, matrimony was a communal event, to be recorded in the new parish registers, required since 1538. Before 1929, the minimum age for marriage was 14 for a male, and 12 for a female with parental consent.

The preface sets the scene, followed by a final reading of the banns to the congregation and the couple. Next, the bride is given away, promises are exchanged and a ring given. Right hands are joined, and the priest declares "Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."

Incidentally, Henry VIII never divorced. For Henry to have done such a thing, he would have had to travel forwards in time 110 years for a Dr Who style tryst with John Milton. There is no evidence that he ever achieved this feat. He cast off unwanted wives exactly like other European renaissance monarchs, but writing his own tickets rather than purchasing them from Rome.

Once the puritans had invented divorce, however, the marriage of divorcees in church was not prohibited, but mandatory, until the courts of judicature Amendment Act 1925 first gave clergy a right to refuse to marry divorcees on condition they provided another clergyman in their place.

Consents having been given and received, promises made, hands joined, and a ring given and received, the couple are pronounced to be man and wife.

BCP's purposes for marriage included procreation and chastity, but emphasised in a new way the "mutual society, help and comfort that the one ought to have of the other, both in prosperity and adversity". The BCP sees marriage as more than a dynastic act or union of families. It is a personal reality, founded on love. This companionate third purpose has, these days, entirely stolen the show.

After prayers for the fruitfulness of both parties, not just the woman as hitherto, the couple is left with a homily that calls on husbands to love their wives, but rather spoils the effect by pointing out that by doing so they are only loving themselves. It also enjoins obedience on godly matrons with a promise of blessing for those "whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well and are not afraid with any amazement". Well-to-do medieval couples, having exchanged vows in the porch, proceeded into church for a nuptial mass. A vestigial reminder of this comes with a final provision that "it is convenient that the new-married should receive the Holy Communion at the time or at the first opportunity after their marriage".

The Book of Common Prayer marks a new status for marriage in a post-medieval domestically-based society, founded on companionate bliss. With its married clergy and country house family groups, the English henceforth saw the married state as the ideal, not only a remedy against fornication but, increasingly, cornerstone of civil society.

Compare and contrast two 16th/17th-century writers, one Italian, one English. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine taught that marriage was a human joy but celibacy the higher, angelic, life. A few years later, the puritan divine Richard Baxter taught that marriage was the best and normative state of life for a Christian man, who should not enter it until he is sure he can love entirely, remembering that God commands him to love someone who has forsaken all the world for him, to be a companion in labour and suffering, a sharer of all things. Amidst much quaint 17th-century sexism, Baxter bids the Christian man remember that God has made women ordinarily affectionate, passionate, and loving. Thus she may rightly expect much love in return from her husband – this way to two point four children, mortgage and a family car.

For Baxter the English puritan, marriage, not celibacy is the norm, the most excellent way – a cultural inclination that has recently been drawn seriously to the attention of a foreign secretary who does not disagree with it.

Alan Wilson

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Spain brands Eta ceasefire 'insufficient'

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:29:09 -0500

The Spanish government says a ceasefire announced by Eta is "insufficient" and calls on the Basque separatist group to renounce violence forever.

Video: Andy Murray: I was struggling physically

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:23:49 -0500

British tennis No1 Andy Murray speaks about his exit from the US Open

Floods in Pakistan Carry the Seeds of Upheaval

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:16:43 -0500

As devastating floods appear to widen divisions, Pakistani officials, some accused of ineptitude and favoritism, are trying to repair the political damage.

Ambohimirary Journal: Dead Join the Living in a Family Celebration

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:16:36 -0500

The famadihana, a ritual in which relatives remove the dead from their tombs in an atmosphere of celebration, continues among various faiths in the island nation.

The blitz: day one timeline of where the bombs fell

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:15:00 -0500

Hitler intended the relentless bombing of British cities to crush the morale of his enemy. Using London Fire Brigade records from the time, this interactive guide charts the impact, hour by hour, of the first day of this terrible nine-month campaign

Paddy Allen

Jenny Ridley

Video: Yasir Hameed denies cricket fixing claims

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:13:42 -0500

Pakistan batsman hits back at News of the World allegations

A bleak outlook, but so be it | Ramesh Rao

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:00:38 -0500

Thay is right: spirituality dies when capitalism is the guiding force in society – and there is no magic solution

The question: Is capitalism a spiritual failure?

God is dead, said Nietzsche. He had the "mad man" in The Gay Science ask, "Where has God gone?" and have him answer thus: "I shall tell you. We have killed him – you and I." This theme was followed up in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", where Nietzsche hypothesizes that human beings were in between the stages of apes and supermen, and that supermen would gain "self-mastery", "self-cultivation", "self-direction", and have the capacity for "self-overcoming".

What Thay is urging the world, in this late and decaying stage of capitalism, is to acknowledge that the system of consumption and production we have put in place is unsustainable, unethical, dangerous, addictive, and that it is extremely destructive – to the point that our civilisation is on the verge of collapse. Either we die because we cannot get over our addiction or we evolve into supermen who are attentive, live completely in the present, take only what we must, and reach the next stage of transcendence towards cosmic oneness or God.

As a Hindu, who is constantly reminded about the need to follow dharma in every aspect of his life, and after having just finished reading Ram Dass's book on the great guru, Neem Karoli Baba, entitled "The Miracle of Love", Thay's eloquent and passionate advice does not get my skin all tingly, nor does it make me experience an "ah-ha" moment as it might a fundamentalist Christian who has all along been told that God is generous and has created the world for man to use it as he wants to. I have heard this all before. But I cannot deny the importance, urgency, or significance of the message.

Indian spiritual and religious traditions have consistently and continuously sought to separate righteous living from the unrighteous – or dharma from adharma. Patanjali, the second-century compiler of the famous "Yogasutras" listed virtues needed to attain the peace of mind that Thay recommends. Patanjali proposed niyamas (observances) and yamas (restraints) that would enable the student to end the ceaseless wandering of the mind.

The 10 traditional yamas comprise ahimsa (nonviolence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-covetousness), brahmacharya (divine conduct and continence), kshama (acting in the present), dhriti (steadfastness), daya (compassion), arjava (honesty), mitahara (moderation in consumption), and shaucha (cleanliness or purity in mind, body and speech).

The 10 traditional niyamas include hri (modesty), santosha (contentment, not desiring more), daana (giving without expecting), asktiya (faith), ishwara puja (devotion to and worship of God), siddhanta shravana (studying the wisdom of the sages), mati (developing a spiritual will), vrata (fulfilling religious vows and following rules), japa (recitation of God's name/s), and tapas (enduring opposites, and cultivating austerity).

Anyone who carefully considers the list above, and evaluates what capitalism promotes (profit, greed, consumption, production, and competition) will realise that the two cannot be reconciled in any meaningful or workable system. Capitalism cannot be sustained when spirituality enters the realm, and spirituality dies when capitalism is the guiding force in society despite the fact that some enterprising yoga gurus and yoga caterers have pushed the capitalism envelope as far as they can by "inventing" a variety of yoga systems, and selling a variety of yoga mats in their multiple yoga magazines!

Unbridled capitalism has run amok and is killing us all – spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It cannot be sustained, but since it is massively addictive we cannot let go.

There is no new grand theory on the horizon that can explain it nor propose a cure for escaping its debilitating influence. While acknowledging Thay's regret that ancient civilisations like China and India have jumped on the capitalism bandwagon, we also have to acknowledge that the seduction of Johnny Walker Black Label is too powerful for many Indians to resist, and the lure of power is too seductive for the Chinese to stop flooding the world with imitation Rolexes.

Tathaastu. So be it!

Ramesh Rao

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Colombian is world's shortest man at 27 inches (AP)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:46:09 -0500

AP - Edward Nino Hernandez is in many ways a typical 24-year-old Colombian male. He loves to dance reggaeton, dreams of owning a car — preferably a Mercedes_ and wants to see the world.

London Blitz 1940: the first day's bomb attacks listed in full. Map and spreadsheet

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:45:00 -0500

London's Blitz is recorded in meticulous detail by London Fire Brigade records. See - for the first time online - how they showed September 7, 1940, the first 24 hours of attacks
• Get the data

The London Blitz started quietly. Less than 100 incidents reported by the London Fire Brigade up to 5pm on September 7, 1940. Only a few weeks after the British victory in the Battle of Britain, what came then must have been a terrible shock for Londoners. You can read the original Guardian archive report of the night here.

At 5.30pm, some 348 German bombers escorted by 617 fighters pounded London until 6.00pm. Guided by the flames, a second group attacked with more incendiary bombs two hours later, lasting into the next day.

The London Metropolitan Archives holds the definitive account of the Blitz in meticulously hand typed records kept by the London Fire Brigade at the time. September 7 was just the start - by November, Coventry had been destroyed and attacks hit cities across the UK, including Plymouth and Liverpool. It lasted 79 days.

At the end of the war, the city's civil engineers undertook a full study of bomb damage from 1939 to 1945, identifying every property in London hit by bombs and rockets - and the severity of the attack. These London bomb maps were published a number of years ago as a book, now out of print. But you can see the maps in person at the archive, where there is talk of making them properly available online.

We wanted to see how that first day and night unfolded and the Archives have allowed us to enter the records for September 7, 1940 in full detail - thanks to Alicia Weekes and Naomi Burley-Baker for their work on this. What you see here in this spreadsheet is the first time those records have been available online.

If you live in London you might even find your street.

But the capital has changed a lot since 1940 and some of the streets listed here no longer exist. Even so, it's possible to use Google Fusion tables to produce a quick and dirty interactive.

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• DATA: download the full list as a spreadsheet

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Simon Rogers

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Australia election impasse expected to end Tuesday (Reuters)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:29:36 -0500

Reuters - Australian Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard will know on Tuesday if she can form a new minority government with the support of three independents, ending more than two weeks of uncertainty after the August 21 elections.

Israeli FM doubts peace possibility

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:23:46 -0500

Lieberman quoted as saying deal with Palestinians unattainable in a year or 'during the next generation'.

Guatemala mourns its dead

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:19:08 -0500

Central American nation declares a national day of mourning as fresh landslides hinder rescue operations.

Merkel confident about nuclear power extension deal (Reuters)

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:17:45 -0500

Reuters - Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was confident her government's plans to extend the lifespans of Germany's nuclear power plants will not need the approval of the upper house of parliament.

Stories I missed during a blogging break...

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:15:56 -0500

It was only a short break, but a lot happened in the newspaper world while I was away. I will deal with the big stories involving Andy Coulson, the Pakistan cricket team, Wayne Rooney and William Hague in separate postings later today.

For now, and for the record, here's a round-up of some other interesting developments that deserve recognition on this blog...

It appears that seven out of 10 Scots continue to read newspapers, either in print or online, at least three to four times a week, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI Scotland, reported by AllMediaScotland.

The telephone survey - conducted on 1,013 people in mid August - also found evidence to suggest that the supposed disinterest of young readers towards news has been overstated.

Some 75% of people aged between 18 and 24 said they read newspaper content on a regular basis. That compared with 68% of 25-34 year-olds, 65% of 35-54 year-olds and 73% of over-55s.

Then again, there is increasing proof that print itself cannot be resurrected. See this infographic from last week headlined "Is print dead?"

In Ireland, the closure of three newspapers - the Longford News, the Roscommon Champion and the Athlone Voice - was strongly condemned by readers and journalists. The owner, Alpha Newspapers, was accused of "indecent haste" for its action.

This video shows demonstrators gathered outside the offices of the Longford and Roscommon titles - which date back 74 years and 83 years respectively - to vent their feelings. Sources: RTE/YouTube Video: Paula Geraghty

On press freedom...

Africa's leading press freedom advocates met in Nairobi last week to support the Declaration of Table Mountain, a freedom of expression campaign organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) to repeal criminal defamation and insult laws across the continent. Source: Editors' weblog and more details

And there were plenty of examples of the continent's problems in that regard, as this sample shows...

Somalian radio journalist Abdullahi Omar Gedi was stabbed to death in Galkayo, capital of the country's semi-autonomous Puntland region. He was the third journalist to be killed in Somalia since the start of the year. Source: CPJ

Burundi editor Jean Claude Kavumbagu is facing a life-long jail sentence for treason over an article published on his online newspaper Net Press, that claimed the country may face a terrorist attack from a Somalian Islamist group. Having been arrested on 17 July, he has been in detention ever since. Source: RSF

Togo's president, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, filed three defamation suits against two privately-owned newspapers, L'Indépendant Express (for accusing the administration of mismanagement and corruption) and Liberté (for publishing an article claiming that sex influences the management of the country's affairs). Source: IFEX

Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, has threatened to shut down newspapers that "tarnish" his government's image. He was exercised by a story in the privately-owned Malawi News Daily, about the country's need for food aid. Sources: Reuters/AllAfrica.com

On press freedom in Britain...

Police have been reminded by a chief constable who chairs the Association of Chief Police Officers' Communications Advisory Group (CAG), Andy Trotter, that they do not have the power to stop photographers taking pictures. Nor should they confiscate or delete pictures without a court order.

A pdf of Trotter's letter can be found here. Source: Newspaper Society

And just one more thing..

John Traynor, the man suspected to have been involved in the 1996 murder of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, was arrested in Holland and now faces extradition to the UK. At the time of Guerin's death, Traynor was seeking a court order to prevent her from writing about his criminal activities.

He is wanted in England after fleeing abroad while serving a seven-year sentence for handling stolen bearer bonds reportedly worth millions.

Guerin was named an IPI World Press Freedom Hero in 2000 for her reporting of organised crime in Dublin. Sources: IPI/Irish Times

Roy Greenslade

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