Sarkozy calls for 'refounding of Europe'

AL Jazeera English Europe

French President says he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will push for treaty changes to protect the euro. Last Modified: 01 Dec 2011 19:49

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has warned that economic convergence would be long and difficult [Reuters] French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel will push for European treaty changes to "rethink the organisation of Europe" in order to protect the euro. In a speech to his party faithful in the southern city of Toulon, Sarkozy said he and Merkel would meet on Monday in Paris to announce their joint debt crisis plan, ahead of the EU leaders summit on December 9 He said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together. Europe must be "refounded" he said, with France and Germany at its heart to ensure "a zone of stability". Stricter financial discipline was needed, he added, with more severe sanctions for countries which did not meet their responsibilities. Sarkozy also made a robust defence of measures he has already introduced to tackle France's debts. He said the country had to end doubts about its ability to pay. The French president's speech in Toulon comes amid warnings by analysts that France could lose its triple-A credit rating due to its exposure to the European debt crisis. Merkel will be laying down her vision on how the EU should work, in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament on Friday. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reporting from London said: "We may see fundamental changes to the way the eurozone will work as a result from the summit". "One option is to make the ECB provide funds to the IMF to give to some cash starved eurozone countries", said our correspondent said. "Should not be asked" Meanwhile the new president of the European Central Bank has said that it is ready to take fresh steps to tackle the euro zone debt crisis in an economic sense, saying risks to the economy have increased. But Draghi staunchly defended the role of the ECB, as they "should not be asked to do things that are not within the treaty", he told the European Parliament. "It would be not legal, but also a mistake because... it would undermine the credibility in the ECB," he added. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports on the ongoing eurozone crisis Highlighting action the ECB and other central banks took on Wednesday to provide dollar liquidity, Draghi said the bank aimed to ensure inflation did not undershoot or exceed its target of just below 2 per cent. Draghi said "the ECB's monetary policy is constantly guided by the goal of maintaining price stability in the euro area over the medium term -- and this applies to price stability in both directions." Although it was the first time Draghi addressed a full sitting or so-called plenary session of the European Parliament, only a handful of its 736 legislators turned up to listen or ask him a question. For those who were present, Draghi delivered a sobering message on the economic outlook: "We have observed serious credit tightening in the most recent period, which combined with the weakening of the business cycle, doesn't bode at all well for the months to come," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

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In Boston Terrorism Trial, A Free Speech Defense

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by Dina Temple-Raston

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Enlarge Sudbury Police Department/AP Tarek Mehanna was arrested in 2009 and charged with conspiring to plot terrorist attacks. Opening statements in his trial are expected to begin Thursday.

October 27, 2011

Opening statements are expected to begin Thursday in an unusual terrorism trial, involving a young Massachusetts man named Tarek Mehanna. What makes this case unusual isn't the alleged terrorist's plot. It's his defense: the First Amendment.
Mehanna's lawyers asked the judge Wednesday to instruct the jury about free-speech rights under the U.S. Constitution. Prosecutors say 29-year-old Mehanna tried to help al-Qaida by promoting its cause in an online blog. Mehanna's attorneys say he was just exercising his right to free speech — and isn't a terrorist at all.
When Mehanna was arrested two years ago, the charges against him sounded serious. Prosecutors said he traveled to Yemen in 2004 to train in a terrorist camp and conspired to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq. (Although Mehanna never actually found a camp or trained in one.) The part of this case that people seem to remember most, though, is what Mehanna allegedly wanted to do after he returned to Boston: shoot up a shopping mall.
Alleged Mall Plot
"It is alleged that there were multiple conversations about obtaining weapons and randomly shooting people in a shopping mall," acting U.S. Attorney Michael Loucks said in announcing the charges two years ago. "This mall assault planning consisted of the logistics of a malls attack, the coordination of an assault from different entrances, weapons needed for such an assault and the possibility of attacking emergency responders."
But that plot, randomly shooting people at a shopping mall, never happened. It fact, everyone seems to agree it never got much past the discussion stage and just how much Mehanna was involved in that plot is in dispute, too. What makes this case different from the roster of terrorism cases that have gone to trial in recent months is the two issues around which it revolves: First, whether talking about terrorism, but not acting on it amounts to a crime and, second, if posting something on a blog can amount to supporting a terrorist group.
"There is a huge amount of potential for abuse in those kinds of inchoate crimes, meaning crimes that are planned or thought about but nothing has actually happened yet," said Boise attorney David Nevin, who defended a client in a similar terrorism case in Idaho in 2004. "So whenever you have law enforcement doing that kind of work, you have potential for abuse."
Born In America
Mehanna seems an unlikely terrorist suspect. He was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the affluent suburb of Sudbury, just outside Boston. He has a doctorate from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, where his father is a professor. But prosecutors say over the past decade Mehanna began to embrace a more radical form of Islam. He began translating and distributing violent writings on his blog.
"Find me one spot anywhere on my brother's blog where he condones violence," said Tamer Mehanna, Tarik's younger brother. "Find me one word that my brother wrote."
He says his brother is on trial because of one of the books he translated: "39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad." The book is considered an al-Qaida tract that teaches readers how to become homegrown terrorists.
"We live in a country where the First Amendment is supposed to allow us to say these things," Tamer Mehanna said. "We're supposed to be able to talk about our views and share. I should be able to translate a text and not worry about being charged with terrorism. How is this not ridiculous?"
There may be another reason why Mehanna is facing seven charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and conspiracy to kill in a foreign country. His blog had a good-sized following, particularly among Muslim converts; and because he speaks English, law enforcement officials told NPR they were worried he might inspire a whole new set of young men to violence. If that sounds familiar, it should. That's what worried U.S. officials about Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical imam who was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen last month.
Tarek Mehanna's trial is expected to last eight weeks. He faces up to life in prison.

Cain blasts critics for 'character assassination'

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 1, 2011 -- Updated 1031 GMT (1831 HKT)

CNN) -- A defiant Herman Cain tried to turn the tables on his growing legion of critics and accusers Wedneday, blasting them for allegedly engaging in gutter politics and giving no indication of any immediate intent to abandon his embattled presidential campaign.
"They have been trying to do a character assassination on me," Cain told an enthusiastic crowd in West Chester, Ohio. "They are attacking my character, my reputation and my name in order to try and bring me down."
"I don't believe that America is going to let that happen," he declared.
His fund-raising took a hit, Cain acknowledged later Wednesday, after a woman said Monday she had engaged in a long-term affair with the former Godfather's Pizza CEO.
"The day that this latest one (allegation) hit, fund-raising went way down," Cain said. "But here's the good news. As the week has gone on and this woman who has made these accusations is basically starting to contradict herself, our fundraising is going back up. It's not to the level where it was but a lot of people are saying -- you know what? They don't believe it."

Cain, who is dropping in Republican presidential polls, urged his audience to "know the facts" and "stay informed because ... stupid people are running America."
Cain's unorthodox campaign has been under siege in the wake of a string of accusations relating to alleged sexual harassment. On Monday, it took a new hit with allegations from Ginger White.
"This was not a consistent love affair," White told ABC's "Good Morning America." It was "on and off" for about 13 years.
Cain has denied the affair and called his relationship with White "very casual."
Regardless, the candidate told his staff Tuesday that he was "reassessing" his campaign in the wake of White's allegation.
On his official Twitter feed, Cain wrote, "The definition of reassess is: To consider again, esp. while paying attention to new factors. Doesn't sound like dropping out..."
Cain told reporters in New Hampshire on Wednesday night that he does not make decisions "based on a knee-jerk reaction." He said he also will look at his support, which he described as "overwhelming."

In a fundraising letter Tuesday night, Cain wrote that "a troubled Atlanta business woman used national media outlets to promulgate a fabricated, unsubstantiated story about a 13 year affair with me. I am writing you today to assure you that this woman's story is completely false.
"I do know Ms. White. I have helped her financially at times over the past few years, just as I have helped many friends and acquaintances throughout the years. I thought Ms. White was a friend in need of a supportive hand to better her life. Ms. White has made it apparent that she was abusing the friendship."
He added, "Let me assure you, I am not deterred."
On Wednesday morning, White responded, "It's very disappointing that he would call me troubled."
"I'm only here to state the truth and what's happened in the past," she said.
She acknowledged that Cain has given her money. "I've received gifts and money for the last 2 1/2 years consistently," she said, adding that he did not ask for anything in return.
She and Cain were in touch until last week, when there were leaks about the relationship and members of the media began to call her cell phone and family members, White said.
White said she came forward to share her side of the story.
"I can't imagine waking up one morning and deciding to come out with this if this was not true," she told ABC. "This has been a very difficult situation for myself, for my family and it's nothing that I am proud of."
"So far I have been absolutely humiliated, embarrassed," she said.
White said she had not saved receipts and notes throughout the affair because she never planned to make the relationship public.
But, she said, Cain took her on several trips, including to a boxing match in Las Vegas.
"I can't make this stuff up," she said.
Asked whether his recent texts to her included requests that she not come forward, she replied, "Absolutely not. The funny thing about Herman Cain is, never in a million years did he probably think that I would speak out on this. And honestly speaking, I never wanted to."
White said she had seen reports of several women accusing Cain of sexual harassment. For his part, Cain has repeatedly denied all of the allegations.
While her experience with him does not compare, White said, "I feel their pain."
Two women -- Sharon Bialek and Karen Kraushaar -- accused Cain this month of sexually harassing them in the 1990s while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. Two other women also have said Cain sexually harassed them while they worked at the association, but they have declined to be identified.
White acknowledged she is being sued for libel by a former business partner. "There were disputes and disagreements" with the partner and the experience became emotional, she said, acknowledging that she made mistakes. White said she thought the situation had been resolved.
Asked whether she believes Cain should end his campaign, White responded, "That's something he has to decide for himself."
"Last night I slept very well," she said, "telling the truth."
A top campaign source told CNN Tuesday he expects Cain to make a decision shortly about the future of his presidential bid, based on whether fundraising dries up.
Another source familiar with internal campaign deliberations told CNN the question now is "money and support." The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the already small campaign operation would likely have to lay off some staffers.
"We just staffed up some, but at a minimum it looks like (there is) no choice but to staff down," the source said. "We are in the period of the campaign where we need to spend to perform."
The question is, the source said, whether donors and Republicans believe Cain or his newest accuser.
The story broke Monday night when Atlanta television station WAGA aired an interview with White, who said the affair began after she and Cain met in the late 1990s in Louisville, Kentucky, where Cain was giving a talk as head of the restaurant association.
"I was aware that he was married, and I was also aware that I was involved in a very inappropriate situation -- relationship," she said.
White told CNN affiliate WSB that the relationship was sexual in nature.
White told WAGA the affair ended early this year as Cain prepared to announce his presidential bid. But she pointed to mobile phone records she said prove Cain was calling her as late as September, including one call at 4:26 a.m.
White showed WAGA some cell phone records that included 61 phone calls or text messages from a phone number she identified as Cain's private cell phone. The station texted the number and Cain called them back.

CNN's Alan Silverleib, Josh Levs, Kevin Bohn, Gloria Borger, Peter Hamby, Wolf Blitzer, and John King contributed to this report

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Latest allegation affected fund-raising, Cain says
• Cain blasts critics for "character assassination"
• In a fundraising letter, Cain says Ginger White is abusing a friendship
• White says she came forward when leaks were beginning

Hardline Islamist surge in Egypt polls

By Adam Plowright (AFP) – 3 hours ago 

CAIRO — Egypt is awaiting results on Thursday from its first election since its February revolution which are set to confirm moderate Islamists as the dominant force, but with a strong showing from hardliners.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a moderate Islamist movement banned for decades by Hosni Mubarak, has emerged from the shadows since the fall of the autocrat and has forecast its party will take at least 40 percent of the vote.
The battle for second place had been seen as between secular liberals and hardline Islamists who follow the strict Salafi brand of Islam, with local media indicating the latter might prevail in the new parliament.
"Al-Nur, the surprise of the moment," headlined the independent Al-Shorouq daily on Thursday, referring to the main party of the Salafists whose members follow a strict form of Islam dominant in Saudi Arabia.
Estimates in the press indicated they would win around 20 percent of the vote when results are published later Thursday at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT) for the areas that voted on Monday and Tuesday -- about a third of all constituencies.
Millions of Egyptians embraced their new democratic freedoms in the capital Cairo and second-city Alexandria earlier this week in the first phase of multi-stage parliamentary elections.
Analysts warn against reading too much into only the first stage of a parliamentary election that will last until March, but the results will reveal the political trends in a country that has not had a free vote in 60 years.
The prospect of an Islamist-dominated parliament raises fears among liberals about civil liberties and religious freedom in a country with the Middle East's largest Christian minority, and tolerance of multi-party democracy.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party says it strives for a "civil state, defined as a non-military non-religious state... that respects human rights" according to its political programme.
Leaders have repeatedly stressed their commitment to multi-party democracy and inclusiveness, and pledged to ensure freedoms.
The group has been officially banned since the 1950s, but it counts hundreds of thousands of members and is known for its vast network of social and religious outreach programmes, as well as its stand against corruption.
"The Brotherhood beats the drums of victory," headlined the independent daily Al-Shorouk on Thursday.
Al-Nur was initially part of the Democratic Alliance coalition led by the Muslim Brotherhood, but they left to form their own Islamic Alliance, which calls for a strict interpretation of Islamic law in economic and social life.
"The fear is that if the Islamist forces dominate the new parliament, that could lead to an undemocratic system, and one that is authoritarian in the name of religion," said Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at the University of Cairo, quoted by Al-Shorouq.
"We don't want to replace Mubarak with a theocratic and authoritarian regime," he added.
Rabab al-Mahdi, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo, said a large Salafist block in parliament "could also expose the divisions within Islamist movements."
"The Islamists are far from being one homogenous group," she told AFP.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged Egypt to continue its transition to democracy "in a just, transparent and inclusive manner."
Last week, 42 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured in violent protests against the interim military regime that took power after the fall of Mubarak.
Pro-democracy activists accuse it of trying to consolidate its influence and many fear the military will prove unwilling to fully hand over power to the new civilian leaders.
The military's new choice as caretaker prime minister, 78-year-old Mubarak-era politician Kamal al-Ganzuri, is set to name his cabinet this week, probably on Friday, press reports said.
The vote on Monday and Tuesday in Cairo and Alexandria and other areas was the first of three stages of an election for a new lower house of parliament. The rest of the country follows next month and in January.
After each round, there will be a run-off vote, and then a further three rounds of voting for the upper house of parliament from January.
It remains unclear how the new parliament will function and how much power it will be given by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces headed by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's long-time defence minister.

Kenya to scrap taxes on digital TV devices

Thursday
December 1,  2011

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There will be a lot of activities geared towards rollout of digital infrastructure outside Nairobi. Francis Wangusi, Acting Director-general ,CCK 

By GEORGE OMONDI  (email the author)

Posted  Wednesday, November 30  2011 at  00:00

Kenya has won approval from East African Community partners to remove taxes on set top boxes — the equipment that converts analogue television signals to digital ones.

The tax exemption is among a raft of policy measures aimed at making the devices affordable. It will see the cost of set top boxes —which retail at between Sh3, 000 and Sh10, 000—fall by 25 per cent in what is expected to boost their uptake as the country races to meet a regional deadline for switch-over to digital broadcasting next year.

The decision to scrap taxes on set top boxes was reached by a committee of the region’s ministers in charge of transport, communication and meteorology in Arusha two weeks ago.

This paves the way for the region’s finance ministers to scrap the 25 per cent common external tariff applicable on such items, allowing majority of the citizens to buy them ahead of planned switch over.

“The stage is now set for Kenya to move to digital television under the banner of Digital Kenya,” Information and Communications minister Samuel Poghisio told African Telecommunications Union (ITU) delegates who began their three-day digital migration and spectrum policy Summit in Nairobi yesterday. Migration to digital TV is a global project that has set 2015 as the deadline by which all broadcasters must have changed from analogue to digital platform. Apart from normal broadcasting and content generation, the project is expected to expand opportunity for digital terrestrial TV, broadcast mobile TV, commercial wireless broadband services, public protection and disaster relief.

For the African continent, a digital dividend spectrum will improve the delivery of broadband, especially in rural and areas which are expected to receive clearer TV signals.

The five countries of EAC have, however, chosen their own deadline of 2012, creating a three-year headroom to handle the aftermath of the migration.

“Kenya is ready for the 2012 deadline. In the coming months, there will be a lot of activities geared towards rollout of digital infrastructure outside Nairobi by the already operating signal distributor, KBC (Signet), so as to extend coverage to other cities.” said Mr Francis Wangusi, acting director-general at the Communications Commission of Kenya.

Kenya has been lobbying to remove custom taxes on the equipment from late 2009 when President Kibaki directed the Treasury to make them affordable but the region’s Custom Union Management Act requires consensus from all the five EAC states to do so. On Tuesday, the African delegates attending the ITU Summit cited the high cost of set top boxes as a cross-cutting hurdle that could prevent the continent from meeting the June 2015 deadline given by United Nation to complete the migration to digital platform.

“In this is part of the world where majority still struggle to raise money to buy second-hand TV sets, it will take them forever to raise more for set top boxes sold at double the TV prices,” said Mr Yomi Bolarinwa, Director General of Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission.

Hollywood home cinema coming to Saudi Arabia

Ben Flanagan

Dec 1, 2011 

Internet TV subscriptions in Saudi Arabia are forecast to quadruple next year, boosted in part by a new home-cinema service showing Hollywood films.

 

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There are currently about 20,000 subscribers to the Saudi Telecom Company's (STC) internet protocol television (IPTV) service.
That is forecast to grow to up to 90,000 next year, according to Intigral, which operates STC's television service.
Karim Daoud, the chief executive of Intigral, said there had been a "very encouraging start" to the InVision TV service, which launched last year. "We're closing the year on target, in terms of reaching slightly more than 20,000 homes connected to the IPTV service," said Mr Daoud. "Next year we should be at anywhere from 70,000 to 90,000 subscribers."
STC's InVision is similar to broadband TV services provided by Etisalat and du in the UAE. Such services compete with satellite television, the dominant form of TV broadcasting in the Arab world.
Intigral acquires the rights to film and TV content and encodes it for delivery over IPTV, as well as via mobile devices and the Web. It also censors content according to its clients' instructions.
The company is a joint venture between STC, All Asia Networks and Saudi Research and Marketing Group.
Mr Daoud said Intigral had this year signed deals with four big Hollywood studios to show movies in Saudi Arabia at the same time they are released in the cinema elsewhere in the region. Cinemas are banned in Saudi Arabia.

Customers will be able to watch the videos on a pay-per-view basis, said Mr Daoud.
"We're able to tap into this unique window, where the movie is available on the [IPTV] box at the same time it shows in theatres in the neighbouring GCC countries or in Egypt," he said.
"We have confirmed all the Hollywood studios. They're bringing on board the best of Hollywood entertainment, from Warner, Disney, Sony and Paramount. There's one more to go, which is Universal. But all the others are signed up."
He added Intigral was in "the final stages of concluding the deal" with Universal.
A similar movie service is already available for Arabic and independent films, and Mr Daoud said he hoped the Hollywood titles would be available "in the first half of next year". Intigral also provides mobile and Web-based TV services in Saudi Arabia, as well as mobile-TV in Bahrain and Kuwait.
It says it is in discussions with "various operators" in the region over similar services.

"We're not a [business to consumer] player. We always do it in partnership with the local telecoms operators," said Mr Daoud. "We provide white-label solutions."
Intigral has deals with local media companies to carry 150 standard-definition channels, including those owned by OSN, Al Jazeera, and Abu Dhabi Media, which also owns and publishes The National.

bflanagan@thenational.ae

Saudi Arabia accused of repression after Arab Spring

Middle East

1 December 2011 Last updated at 00:01 GMT

Saudi authorities are accused of of arresting people for demanding political and social reform

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• Clashes in eastern Saudi region

Amnesty International has accused Saudi Arabia of reacting to the Arab Spring by launching a wave of repression.

In a report, the human rights group said hundreds of people had been arrested, many of them without charge or trial.
Prominent reformists had been given long sentences following trials Amnesty called "grossly unfair".
So far unrest has largely been confined to the Shia minority in the east of the country.
In its 73-page report published on Thursday, Amnesty accuses the Saudi authorities of arresting hundreds of people for demanding political and social reforms or for calling for the release of relatives detained without charge or trial.

“Start Quote

The abusive practices being employed by the Saudi Arabian government are worryingly similar to those which they have long used against people accused of terrorist offences.”

Philip Luther Amnesty Interantional

Continue reading the main story 

The report says that since February, when sporadic demonstrations began - in defiance of a permanent national ban on protests - the Saudi government has carried out a crackdown that has included the arrest of mainly Shia Muslims in the restive Eastern Province.

Since March, more than 300 people who took part in peaceful protests in Qatif, Ahsa and Awwamiya in the east have been detained, Amnesty says. Most have been released, often after promising not to protest again. Many face travel bans.
Anti-terror law Last week 16 men, including nine prominent reformists, were given sentences ranging from five to 30 years in prison. Amnesty said they were blindfolded and handcuffed during their trial, while their lawyer was not allowed to enter the court for the first three sessions.
"Peaceful protesters and supporters of political reform in the country have been targeted for arrest in an attempt to stamp out the kinds of call for reform that have echoed across the region," said Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, Philip Luther.
"While the arguments used to justify this wide-ranging crackdown may be different, the abusive practices being employed by the Saudi Arabian government are worryingly similar to those which they have long used against people accused of terrorist offences," he said.
Amnesty says that the government continues to detain thousands of people on terrorism-related grounds. Torture and other ill-treatment in detention are widespread, it says - an allegation Saudi Arabia has always denied.
The BBC's Security correspondent Frank Gardner says Saudi Arabia has so far resisted the wave of change that has swept over much of the Arab world.
Our correspondent says the kingdom's ageing monarch, King Abdullah, has reacted by releasing billions of dollars into the security and religious establishments, two of the pillars that support his ruling Al-Saud family.
Amnesty says the government has drafted an anti-terror law that would effectively criminalise dissent as a "terrorist crime" and allow extended detention without charge or trial.
Questioning the integrity of the King would carry a minimum prison sentence of 10 years, according to Amnesty.

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