Thursday, February 3, 2011

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

A woman whose Facebook message sparked Egyptian unrest

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A 26-year-old woman worried about the state of her country wrote on Facebook: "People, I am going to Tahrir Square". The message was soon to snowball into a movement to oust Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The Facebook appeal by Asmaa Mahfouz led to popular protests that saw tens of thousands congregating at Tahrir Square to demand an end to Mubarak's unbridled 30-year rule. Mubarak has said he is ready to step down at the end of his term in September, but has refused to quit immediately now.

Violent clashes during the protests have left six dead and over 800 injured.

Asmaa Mahfouz told Al-Mihwar TV (Egypt) that the first activity was on Facebook.

"Yes. I was angry that everybody was saying that we had to take action, but nobody was doing anything. So I wrote on Facebook: 'People, I am going to Tahrir Square today'. This was a week before January 25."

"I wrote that I was going to demand the...rights of my country. I wrote that I was 26 years old...," the Middle East Media Research Institute quoted her as saying in a report on Thursday.

Referring to the uprising, Asmaa said: "Whenever we talked to the people and told them to express their views, they would say: 'Who can we talk to? We will be thrown in prison and tortured.' When they saw what happened in Tunisia, the people realised that there was an Arab people that revolted and demanded its rights."

"We began to tell people that we must take action, that we must revolt and demand our rights."

"...People began to set fire to themselves, one after the other, and the response of the officials was that these people were mentally ill. The people's blood began to boil."

She recounted: "The number of people setting fire to themselves gradually rose, and in response, people began to say, on the streets and in Facebook: 'How come nobody is doing anything? Why aren't you taking action? Everybody says that something must be done, but the streets are empty'."

Asmaa said she wrote on Facebook that whoever is worried about Egypt should accompany her to Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.

The gutsy woman said she also wrote, "Anyone who is worried about me or thinks that I am mentally ill should come in order to protect me...If the police wants to burn me - fine, I will be at Tahrir Square in half an hour."

"There were lots of messages saying: Wait until January 25. I said: There is no reason to wait for the 25th. I went to Tahrir Square and raised a sign," she recounted.

"I began to shout at the top of my lungs in Tahrir Square: 'Egyptians, four people set themselves on fire out of humiliation and poverty. Egyptians, four people set fire to themselves because they were afraid of the security agencies, not of the fire. Four people set fire to themselves in order to tell you to awaken - we are setting ourselves on fire so that you will take action. Four people set themselves on fire in order to say to the regime: Wake up. We are fed up. We are setting ourselves on fire in order to convey a message'."

Then she began to talk about 30 years of corruption.

"People began to gather to listen, and filmed me with their cell phones. All of a sudden, I saw four vehicles of the Central Security Agency arriving, and the square was suddenly filled with hundreds of agents and officers...They tried to push us into the entrance of a building. People began to shout: 'Leave them alone, leave them alone'."

"When they got us into the building entrance, the officers began to say: We are as fed up as you, but why didn't you inform us of your demonstration? I said: What are you talking about? Four people set themselves on fire, and you are asking why we didn't announce the demonstrations?"

"You should be asking yourselves why they set themselves on fire. Because of the poverty and the corruption. One of them couldn't feed his daughter. Yet, you still continue this oppression. I am not going to remain silent. If you want to set me on fire - go ahead. I am not budging from Tahrir Square," Asmaa recounted.

That snowballed into the unrest which has rocked Egypt for the past 10 days.

Man raped underage daughter in front of mum, jailed for 80 yrs

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A father of nine was sentenced to 80 years in jail and ordered to be whipped 40 times for raping his underage daughter in front of his wife.

The sentence was delivered by Sessions Court judge Mohamad Sekeri Mamat on Wednesday, reports the Star Online.

The accused, a food stall operator, has admitted to committing four counts of incest against his 15-year old daughter, the fifth of nine siblings.

He went to a room and raped his 15-year-old daughter in front of her mother at about 4 pm in early November last year, at 10 pm in mid November, 3 pm in late December, and on January 23 this year, at about 2 pm.

Three days later, the accused again told the victim's mother that he wanted to rape the girl and asked her to bring his daughter to him at 9 pm that night.

The mother then asked the help of a neighbour to lodge a police report. Police raided the house in Cheras and arrested the man the next day.

It was only then that the rape victim lodged a police report over the incest.

Pleading for leniency on Wednesday, the accused said he had co-operated with the police and court. But Judge Mohamad said he had to impose a deterrent sentence in view of public interest.

The jail terms are to run consecutively from the date of arrest on January 27.

Woman accused of killing hubby 'sent used condoms to his lover'

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An Australian court has heard that a woman accused of murdering her husband had sent a used condom to one of his lovers.

Eileen Creamer, 53, is charged with killing David Creamer at their home in the regional Victorian city of Moe in February 2008.

A Victorian Supreme Court trial has heard Eileen sent a used condom to one of Creamer's lovers and told the woman her husband was still with her, reports the Herald Sun.

She also asked a psychic to cast spells to help her save her marriage.

Creamer had planned to return to his home country, South Africa, to be with his first wife

It also heard Eileen and her husband were in an open relationship and both had lovers.

Prosecutor Thomas Gyorffy said Eileen killed her husband because she wasn't prepared to accept the relationship was over.

"She wasn't prepared to accept that. The Crown says that is the motive for killing him," he said.

Jurors have seen a police crime scene DVD that shows a bloodied house with Creamer lying on the floor of a bedroom.

The trial is continuing.

Was Mona Lisa a man?

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For centuries, experts have been trying to figure out the reason for her enigmatic smile. Now, it's claimed that Mona Lisa may have been hiding a remarkable secret -- she was actually a man.

An Italian art historian has claimed that the model in Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was one of his male muses, a young man called Gian Giacomo Caprotti, whose nose and mouth bear striking similarities to those of Mona Lisa. Caprotti, who was also known as Salai, worked as an apprentice with the artist for more than two decades from 1490 and they were probably the lovers, said Silvano Vinceti, president of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage.

Some experts had already suggested that Leonardo could have based his masterpiece on a self portrait. But Vinceti, who has been analysing the painting using state-of-the-art high-magnification techniques, also claims to have found the letter 'S' in the model's eyes, which may be a reference to Salai, the Daily Mail reported.

Several of Leonardo's works, including 'St John the Baptist' and a drawing called 'Angel Incarnate', are said to have been based on Salai. These paintings, Vinceti said, depict a slender, effeminate young man with long auburn curls and almost identical facial features to the Mona Lisa. "Salai was a favourite model for Leonardo," he said. "Leonardo certainly inserted characteristics of Salai in the last version of the Mona Lisa."

It has been believed that the model for the Mona Lisa painting, which hangs at the Louvre in Paris, was Lisa Gherardini, the 24-year-old wife of a rich Florentine silk merchant. Experts also believe that Leonardo started painting her in 1503. But, according to Vinceti, Leonardo might have started painting in the late 1490s in Milan, coinciding with the time he built up a relationship with Salai.

The claims, meanwhile, have caused a stir in the art world, with many dismissing the idea that Mona Lisa was a man. Pietro Marani, a Da Vinci expert, described the theory of Vinceti as 'groundless'. "All Leonardo subjects look like each other because he represents an abstract ideal of beauty. They all have this dual characteristic of masculine and feminine," said Marani, an art professor at Milan's Politecnico University.

"The work began as the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, but over the years it slowly turned into something else; an idealised portrait, not a specific one. "That's also why you have this fascinating face that transcends time and transcends a specific person, and why all these theories keep piling up."

Cairo clashes leave five dead, 600 injured

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Shots rang out Thursday in Cairo's Tahrir Square as violent clashes broke out between anti- and pro-Hosni Mubarak protesters leaving five people dead and over 600 injured.

The running clashes took place for over 12 hours with daybreak witnessing an escalation in the deteriorating situation as gunfire was being heard in this city of 18 million. Faced with the escalating protests, the octogenarian president has said he would step down only at the end of his term in September.

The pro-Mubarak supporters - some of them on horses and camels - plunged into the protesters and lashed out with sticks Wednesday. Anti-Mubarak supporters initially retreated but came back in force and surrounded some of the horsemen and pulled them down from their steed. The horsemen were left bloodied.

The anti-Mubarak protesters continued to remain defiant in the face of the attacks mounted on them as their protest entered the 10th day.

Witnesses told DPA that the two latest victims were anti-government protesters who died from gunshot. A soldier was among the three killed late Wednesday.

Salma, a young activist camping out in the square, said she would not leave until Mubarak and his entire government resigned.

"Mubarak should be tried as a war criminal for unleashing armed people on unarmed civilians," she said.

The clashes have left at least 600 injured, Xinhua estimated.

Witnesses said the army permitted thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters to enter the square that has been the focal point of the political unrest.

Salma Eltarzi, an anti-government protester, told Al Jazeera there were many wounded people. "There are no ambulances in sight, and all we are using is Dettol," she said.

"We are all so scared."

Aisha Hussein, a nurse, said dozens of people were being treated at a makeshift clinic in a mosque near the square.

She said it was "absolute mayhem", as injured protesters began to arrive in the clinic.

"People are coming in with multiple wounds. All kinds of contusions. We had one guy who needed stitches in two places on his face. Some have broken bones," she was quoted as saying.

The opposition groups have said that the "members of security forces dressed in plain clothes and a number of thugs have stormed Tahrir Square".

Former head of IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei accused Mubarak of resorting to scare tactics.

"I'm extremely concerned, I mean this is yet another symptom, or another indication, of a criminal regime using criminal acts," said the Nobel laureate.

Amnesty International has criticised the Egyptian army for failing to protect anti-government protesters.

"The army has failed in its commitment to protect peaceful protesters. The fact that such violence is allowed to continue as they stand there begs the question whether they have orders not to interfere," said Amnesty International's deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa, Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui.

"The Egyptian authorities cannot simply sweep the board of demonstrators. The protesters' right to peacefully demonstrate must be upheld," AKI quoted Hadj-Sahraoui as saying.

Mubarak said late Tuesday he would not run for another term in September, but refused to step down.

US President Barack Obama told long-time US ally Mubarak Tuesday an orderly transition of power in Egypt "must begin now".

But Egypt has rejected international calls for any transfer of power. "What foreign parties are saying about 'a period of transition beginning immediately' in Egypt is rejected," foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement, asserting that such calls "sought to inflame the internal situation in Egypt".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday called violence against peaceful protesters "unacceptable". Ban spoke alongside Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron in London as they called for speedy political reform.

"I am deeply concerned at the continuing violence in Egypt," said Ban. "I once again urge restraint to all the sides. An unacceptable situation is happening. Any attack against the peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable and I strongly condemn it."

Teenager raped, whipped to death in Bangladesh

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A teenager in Bangladesh died after being raped and then whipped 100 times following a fatwa by local clerics this week, a media report said.

The Dhaka High Court directed the authorities concerned to explain why they failed to protect the teenager who was raped and then whipped following the fatwa (religious edict) by local Muslim clerics, Daily Star reported.

The officials in Shariatpur in Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh must explain within 15 days their failure to protect the 14-year-old, said the bench of Justice A.H.M. Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Mohammed Zakir Hossain.

The high court had about eight months back declared issuing of fatwa illegal and a cognisable offence.

The media report said that the victim was raped by her 40-year-old relative Mahbub Sunday. On Monday, a fatwa was announced at a village arbitration that she must be given 100 lashes. She fell unconscious after nearly 80 lashes.

She was taken to Naria health complex where she succumbed to her injuries.

Supreme Court lawyer Seema Zahur Wednesday placed before the high court bench a media report on the incident on behalf of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association.

Bangladesh is an Islamic Republic with nearly 90 percent Muslim population.

Italian Pm's Ruby to tie the knot

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Moroccan teenage dancer at the heart of scandal involving Silvio Berlusconi plans to tie wed 41-year-old disco manager

Ruby 'the heart stealer,' the young Moroccan who sparked an investigation into Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a minor, announced yesterday she is about to get married.

Karima "Ruby" El Mahroug (18), told a newspaper she would marry her fiance, 41-year-old disco manager Luca Rizzo, and live in the northern city of Genoa.



The belly dancer said she would like to finish high school. Asked about Berlusconi, accused of sex with an under-age prostitute, she said he was a "lonely" man.

Mahroug, who turned 18 in November, has always denied having sex with the prime minister when she was 17.

However, she admitted accepting a "gift" of 7,000 euros (Rs 4.40 lakh) after attending a party held by the head of Italy's government last year.

Berlusconi (74), also denies having sex with Miss Mahroug. He has refused to attend questioning and has vowed to punish magistrates who, he insists, are pursuing a political vendetta against him.

An opinion poll carried by the newspaper yesterday suggested that his popularity rating had fallen from 40 per cent to 35 per cent since December.

Speaking in an interview for the paper, Mahroug said she and her fiance planned to have a civil marriage in three weeks' time, followed by a church wedding in June.

She was, she said, "not at all" worried about the investigation into Berlusconi, pointing out that she only featured in it as a witness.

On her feelings about Berlusconi, she said: "He (Berlusconi) is alone and struggling with loneliness, a bit like myself," she said.

Asked whether she would choose to be Ruby if she could relive her life, she said: "If I could
back, I would not do it again."

Knicker protest
A GROUP of women are planning to throw knickers at the mansion of playboy Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The bizarre protest, due to be held on Sunday, is over his attitude to women and his involvement in an alleged prostitution ring.


Monster cyclone Yasi slams into Australia

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Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a top-category storm, hit the Australian coast yesterday, the weather bureau said, packing destructive winds which were expected to rage for hours.

Still a top-level category five storm as it made landfall, Yasi touched down near the popular tourist spot of Mission Beach, bringing howling winds and extremely dangerous tidal surges.

Coastal settlements would be buffeted by gusts of up to 290 kilometres (175 miles) per hour and the bureau said the "very destructive core" would take four hours to pass.


Strong winds batter a deserted Esplanade evacuated ahead of a huge tidal storm surge predicted to accompany Cyclone Yasi in Cairns yesterday

Destructive and damaging winds of between 125 and 90 kilometres per hour would persist today as far west as Mount Isa, some 900 kilometres from the coast, it added.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has warned of a terrifying night for the one million people in Yasi's path, with major cities losing power as advance winds cleared a path for the monster cyclone, sending trees and roofing tin flying.

The first category five storm to hit the region since 1918, Yasi is expected to be one of the worst cyclones in Australia's history.

"Without doubt we are set to encounter scenes of devastation and heartbreak on an unprecedented scale," Bligh said earlier as the storm bore down.

"This cyclone is like nothing we have ever dealt with before as a nation."

Queensland is still reeling after January's devastating floods swamped scores of towns and killed more than
30 people in Australia's most expensive natural disaster on record.

1918
The year in which the last comparable storm hit Queensland and killed 90 people. The Yasi winds are believed to be even stronger than Hurricane Katrina

Camels and horses storm the streets

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Chaos erupts as Egyptian Prez Mubarak supporters, opponents clash

Thousands of supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak attacked anti-government forces in Tahrir Square yesterday, some charging the demonstrators atop camels and horses in an attempt to break up their defiant challenge.


A supporter of President Mubarek rides a camel through the melee during a clash between pro-Mubarek and anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square, Cairo yesterday

The dramatic descent into violence marked an abrupt change of atmosphere after days of raucous but peaceful demonstrations that had more closely resembled a giant block party.

Pro-Mubarak forces, emboldened by the president's vow the day before to serve out his term through the autumn, pushed their way into the square through side streets, wielding clubs and horse whips against cordons of protesters who abandoned their peaceful posture to meet the attackers with hurled stones and chunks of concrete.

"In spirit and blood we want you, Mubarak," the presidents' supporters chanted. "You are our president."

Demonstrators tossed Molotov cocktails, igniting small fires and scattering opponents.

Army forces deployed at the historic square, which had previously shown restraint, turned water cannon on the crowd to quell the confrontation.

The two sides surged back and forth for more than an hour, with at least a dozen of the pro-Mubarak Egyptians injured by the flying stones.

At least two were carried away unconscious. One man staggered off with blood running down his face after apparently being hit by a rock. Other men brandished wooden clubs and glass bottles.

As rival groups threw rocks and bottles back and forth, terrified bystanders huddled in doorways around the periphery of the square.

At one point, the anti-government demonstrators attacked one of the men on horseback, pulling him down to the street and pummeling him.

"We're not leaving. We'll sit under the tanks if the army tries to stop us," said Omar Adli, an anti-Mubarak demonstrator.

Journalists attacked
Journalists covering the scene on the ground found themselves the targets of violence by demonstrators chanting slogans. The targeting of reporters came as Internet access was restored.


Posted by Harshad at 7:55 AM

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