Friday, April 1, 2011

Victim Hits Out At PNU, ODM Over ICC Suspects

Kenya:

Justus Ochieng

31 March 2011

A survivor of the post-election violence who lost 11 family members in Naivasha during the skirmishes has condemned PNU's and ODM's plans to support the Ocampo Six.
Bernard Orinda Ndege, who lost nine children and two wives during the violence, said the six suspects who have since been summoned to The Hague should not get any assistance.
Ndege said supporting the suspects means leaders still encourage impunity.

PNU had hinted that they will offer financial assistance to head of public service Francis Muthaura, former police commissioner Hussein Ali and Deputy PM Uhuru Kenyatta.
Last week ODM said it would hire lawyers for suspended Higher Education minister William Ruto, Tinderet MP Henry Kosgey and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang'.
Speaking in Kisumu when he officially joined Safina Party, Ndege said it is unfortunate that the government want to assist suspects associated with crimes against humanity at the expense of resettling the internally displaced persons.
"These are suspects of crimes against humanity yet the government wants to support them instead of helping we who were displaced from our homes," he added.
He said it is wrong for the government to help the six whom he described as 'stinking rich' yet there were majority of Kenyans living in abject poverty.

Kenya: Victim Hits Out At PNU, ODM Over ICC Suspects

Justus Ochieng

31 March 2011

"Majority of Kenyans live below a dollar a day and nobody has ever hinted at contributing money to help them yet our leaders are rushing to help people whose reputations have been tainted," he said.
He cited that none of the six persons summoned to The Hague lost a relative yet they were receiving offers of financial assistance from the government.
"I lost my nine children and two wives and the only support I received was for transport of my late family members home for burial, since then nobody apart from Safina party officials have offered me a helping hand," he added.
Safina officials Margaret Wayona, John Wamagata and Safina's only councilor from the region Aloyce Openda challenged the government to help IDP's in Nyanza province which they said have been marginalized.

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Qatar says only Libyans can decide their future

Reuters

Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:36am GMT

DOHA, March 31 (Reuters) - The leader of Qatar, the only Arab state to have recognised Libyan rebels, said on Thursday military operations in Libya were only aimed at protecting civilians and Libyans would decide their own future.
"The Libyan question is a humanitarian issue to protect civilians and nothing else. So it is the Libyan people who will decide their future," the emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani said in comments to Qatari pan-Arab TV station Al Jazeera.
The tiny Gulf Arab state recognised Libyan rebels on Monday, a day after a senior Libyan rebel official said Qatar had agreed to market crude oil produced from east Libyan fields no longer under the control of leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Energy-rich Qatar was also the first Arab country to contribute planes to police the U.N.-backed no-fly zone over Libya last Friday -- a move that helped the United States to argue that the Western-led air strikes have Arab support.
Arab states are wary of association with a Western-led military intervention with no clear end that reminds them of the 2003 invasion of Iraq where Washington helped create an entire new political system after bringing down the previous rulers.
Reports of civilian casualties have increased this nervousness at a time when many Arab countries are witnessing protest movements by angry populations.
The Arab League supported the creation of a no-fly zone but has not gone any further. NATO has agreed to take over all military operations from a coalition led by the United States, France and Britain.
Qatar's emir said the Arab League should play a bigger role.
"The international community has to be there because of the weakness of the Arab League," he said. "After the changes that have taken place hopefully the Arab League will play its role because it is capable of doing what NATO is doing." (Reporting by Andrew Hammond; editing by Jon Boyle)

Qatar: Arab inaction in Libya led to West strikes

AFP , Thursday 31 Mar 2011

Qatar's emir calls on Arab League to meet its responsibility in protecting civilians in Libya

The West intervened in Libya after the Arab League, many of whose members also face revolts, failed to live up to its duty to protect civilians, Qatar's emir said in an interview broadcast Thursday.
Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani told Aljazeera television, based in Doha, that he hoped the 22-member organisation would now step up and meet its responsibility "amidst the ongoing changes" sweeping the region.
His country has joined the Western-led air strikes on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces under a UN Security Council resolution after the Arab League backed a no-fly zone over the country.
"The suffering of civilians in Libya led the international community to intervene because of the inaction of the Arab League, which was supposed to assume the role," said Sheikh Hamad.
In London at an international conference on the Libya conflict, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Al-Thani said Tuesday that the crisis was an Arab affair in which the region's states should play much more of a role.
Several Arab states stayed away from the conference which set up a Libya Contact Group, with its first meeting to take place in Qatar. They included Egypt, where pro-democracy protesters forced Hosni Mubarak from power in February, and Algeria, where President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is confronted by a wave of pro-reform protests.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa was represented by an ambassador after declining to take up his invitation. Qatar, meanwhile, apart from being the first Arab state to take part in the air strikes, has scored another regional first by officially recognising the transitional council of Libya's battling rebels.

Egypt 'must scrap plans to outlaw protest'

cafonline

1 April 2011

The Egyptian government must immediately scrap plans to outlaw peaceful protests and strikes, it has been urged.
Commenting ahead of a planned march against the draft law today (1 April), Amnesty International said the plan is "an insult" to the people who lost their lives during recent protests in Egypt.
The Egyptian cabinet is considering making it illegal to participate in action that may "hinder the work of public institutions or authorities during a state of emergency".
Protesters defying the proposed law could face fines or jail, the charity noted.
"The Egyptian authorities should protect the right to protest and strike but instead they are entrenching repressive measures, all too well known to Egyptians," the organisation added.
Protests and strikes have continued since the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak last month, primarily over the rising cost of living in the country.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International emphasised the importance of Egyptians being able to vote freely in the constitutional referendum, which took place on 19 March.
© Adfero Ltd

Jordanians call for release of Reuters journalist

(Reuters)

1 April 2011,

AMMAN - Prominent Jordanian journalists and rights activists staged a silent protest on Thursday over the detention in Syria of Reuters correspondent Suleiman al-Khalidi, who was arrested while covering Syrian protests.

Diplomatic sources said that Khalidi, a Jordanian national based in Amman, was detained by Syrian authorities in Damascus on Tuesday. He was able to make two brief telephone calls to his wife on Thursday, saying he hoped to return soon.

“Suleiman is a veteran journalist and a consummate professional of high integrity. His arrest cannot be but to restrict international media coverage of Syria,” said political columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Hassan al-Shobaki said: “The media is not a combatant in what is going on in Syria.”

Around 40 journalists raised placards that said “Freedom for Suleiman al-Khalidi. No to arrest of journalists”, and stood silently at the steps of Jordan’s Journalists Syndicate.

British-educated Khalidi, who has worked for Reuters for more than 20 years in Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Iraq, was last seen in the old city of Damascus on Tuesday.

Khalidi, 54, is married with three-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. His arrest has created outrage on Jordan’s blogosphere and social networks, with top Jordanian officials tweeting to express concern about his wellbeing.

“The Syrian authorities are under international obligations to reveal why he was arrested, or release him,” said Maysara Malas, head of the freedoms committee at Jordan’s General Syndicate of Unions.

Khalidi was arrested a day after Reuters photographer Khaled al-Hariri, a Syrian based in Damascus, went missing. He has not been in contact with colleagues since Monday.

A Syrian official said authorities were working to establish what had happened to the two men.

Hariri, who has also worked for Reuters for more than 20 years, was last seen arriving at the Reuters bureau in Damascus on Monday morning. He has not been in touch since then and has not answered his mobile telephone.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler has called on Syrian authorities to ensure both men are released safely and soon.

Their disappearance followed the detention in Syria of two Reuters television journalists, producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji. They were held incommunicado for two days before being released by Syrian authorities on Monday.

Both Lebanese, they were expelled to Lebanon. They had been working in Syria since the previous week.

Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis, a Jordanian who had been based in Damascus since 2006, was expelled from Syria on Friday for what a Syrian Information Ministry official described as his “unprofessional and false” coverage of events.

Reuters said it stood by its coverage from Syria, where nearly two weeks of protests have posed the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s 11-year rule.

On Wednesday, the Libyan government expelled a Reuters correspondent from Tripoli. Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia expelled the Reuters foreign correspondent from Riyadh.

Four CNN reporters detained in Bahrain for violating rules

1 April 2011, 8:10 PM

MANAMA — Four CNN reporters were arrested at a security checkpoint in the Northern district on Wednesday.

“The journalists, who failed to produce any document proving their identity, have been handed over to the Northern Police Directorate,” Information Affairs Authority (IAA) External Information Director General Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said.

Initial investigations revealed that they entered Bahrain on March 28 to prepare a programme on social media.

However, they violated their real mission for which they arrived in Bahrain and visited an area without having official documents to prove their identity.

The journalists were later released after they signed an undertaking not to exceed the limits of their mission or violate rules or regulations. Meanwhile, one of the largest Sunni groups has called for the withdrawal of passports of all those found responsible for disturbing Bahrain’s security during the recent unrest.

The Al Asala Islamic Society said in a statement on Wednesday that Article 10 of the Nationality Law should be implemented on those individuals who promoted violence that led to the death of citizens, residents and policemen. The society stressed that the passport withdrawal should mainly cover the plot’s leaders.

About a Kuwait mediation offer between the government of Bahrain and the opposition, Kuwaiti Ambassador Shaikh Azzam Mubarak Al Sabah had denied his country’s involvement in the mediation.

The Kuwaiti ambassador described security and stability as a top priority, dismissing any other option for the time being. Police forces have denied website reports that a 15-year-old Bahraini boy was killed when police shot him in the face. A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior told the press on Thursday that the boy died after suffering serious injuries.

A hospital alerted the Northern Police Directorate of his death. A post-mortem revealed that he suffered a fatal neck fracture, badly damaging his blood vessels.

The Northern Police Director General denied allegations claiming the youngster had been shot. “No clashes between police and protesters were reported at the area from which his relatives brought him to the hospital,” he said. Authorities are conducting an investigation to uncover the circumstances surrounding his death.

shamada@khaleejtimes.com

Is this the world's worst wedding video?

Cameraman who filmed backs of heads, grass and people who weren't even attending ordered to pay compensation

By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 3:49 PM on 21st March 2011

'Wedding coordinator had to go searching for cameraman Clayton Bennett and found him at another wedding'
He missed Martin and Heidi Shubrook signing register and cutting cake

When Martin and Heidi Shubrook sat down and watched their wedding video they were moved to tears.
But instead of tears of joy they couple were left weeping in despair over the disastrous coverage of the big event.
Footage of them cutting the cake and signing the register was replaced with video showing guests' feet, grass and some people who had not even attended the wedding.

Martin and Heidi Shubrook, from Harlow, Essex

Bad footage: Clayton Bennett, left, has been ordered to pay newly married Martin and Heidi Shubrook, right, compensation after filming a comically bad video of the couple's big day

Spot the bride: Perhaps Mr Bennett forgot to attach the long-range lens. Heidi can, just about, be seen in the distance walking across the churchyard

Now the couple, from Harlow, Essex, have won a court battle against videographer, Clayton Bennett, who was hired to film the happy event.
Mrs Shubrook, 29, a primary school teacher, said: 'When we got the disk back from him I knew it was going to be awful. Watching it was really emotional.
'When it first came on it had pictures of people's feet on the floor and then there was shots of people who weren't even at our wedding.
'It wasn't edited at all, the only thing he had done with the video was to fade it in and out. I was in tears watching it back. There was no effort put into it at all.'
Mrs Shubrook said: 'He turned up to our wedding with scars all over his face and when he was asked about them he said he was a cage fighter.

Party time: A supposed action shot of the dance floor at the couple's reception. The Shubrooks took legal action in the small claims court for breach of contract

Awful: Shot from the video, which Heidi claimed had not been edited, shows a guests shoulder - but missed them cutting the cake and signing the register

Here come the legs: A guest arrives. Which one is anyone's guess!

'During the day he went missing and our wedding co-ordinator had to chase him up and found him at another wedding.'
Mr Shubrook, 34, said: 'Clayton Bennett was utterly unprofessional. He turned up in unsuitable clothing, and vanished for most of the day.
'As a result he missed the shot of us signing the register, the shot of us coming out of the church and the cutting of the cake, as well as some of the speeches.

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Kate Middleton's mother 'up in arms' over £15-a-head bash at village pub

'What we did get was poorly filmed. The angles were wonky and the framing bad.
'For part of it, the camera was left lying on the floor so half of the shot was grass, and people's heads were cut off.'
The couple contacted Bennett's Lasting Impressions video and photography services, based in Sunderland, to cover the wedding in July 2009 and paid him £350.
The videographer, of Howden, County Durham, told the couple he could deliver a professional package that would uniquely capture their special day forever.
The couple were astonished when they saw the video and immediately launched legal action against him in the small claims court for breach of contract.
Eventually a judge sitting at Durham County Court found in the couple's favour and ordered Bennett to pay a total of £600.
He was also ordered to refund the couple, who have two children, £150 and pay court costs and travel expenses.
Bennett, who has since declared himself bankrupt, says he has ceased trading and agreed to pay back the money in £20 instalments. He claims he has paid three of them.

Wonky: Out of focus shot shows the grass and the side of a church - and cost the couple £350

But Mr Shubrook, who runs the family's publishing business in Essex, said: 'I don't think we are going to see a penny. But I want the wider pubic to be aware of what happened to us. It is not right that this individual can take people's money and then not deliver.'
Mrs Shubrook said: 'It was heartbreaking. Because we had organised a videographer we told our guests not to bring anything to record the day, and now we have no video record of our wedding at all.
'We had the most wonderful day but this just left a bad taste in our mouths. Luckily we had a really good photographer who took some pictures.'
The videographer said: 'The Shubrooks expected the money they paid for the video to buy them an awful lot. I went out of my way for them. I had only been paid until 8.30pm but I stayed until 10pm for free. I have paid £20 a month as agreed and I have records to prove that.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1368143/Wedding-videographer-ordered-pay-compensation-dreadful-350-video.html#ixzz1IFjL0lb6

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