Wednesday
3rd
February
2010
Fate of Obama’s aunt to be fought behind closed doors
Laurel J. Sweet - Boston Herald
The illegal alien aunt of President Obama could learn this week whether she can put down roots in Boston - or start packing her bags for a one-way trip back to Kenya.
And, save for U.S. Immigration Court Judge Leonard I. Shapiro, she’ll know before anyone else. Zeituni Polly Onyango has persuaded Shapiro to bar the public from her removal proceeding Thursday morning at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, though it’s unclear why.
“I assume (Shapiro) thought it would be a three-ring circus. She’s the aunt of the president of the United States - the most famous man in the world,” said Mike Rogers, spokesman for the Ohio law firm defending Onyango, 57, against the Department of Homeland Security.
Shapiro could not be reached for comment. However, Lauren Alder Reid of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which speaks for the court, said closed hearings are “not uncommon.”
Reid said removal proceedings are sometimes held behind closed doors in cases of political asylum - such as Onyango is requesting - domestic abuse and security.
“The immigration judge will hear the merits of the case from both parties,” Reid said yesterday. “The judge may make a ruling from the bench, but there’s no guarantee.”
Onyango, she said, can call witnesses if she likes.
Neither Reid nor Rogers claimed any knowledge of Obama meddling on behalf of his late father’s African half-sister, and Rogers said Onyango isn’t trying “to capitalize” on family favortism.
“Everyone knows she’s related to him,” Rogers said. “It’s a no-win situation for him. He can’t get involved in this. The law has got to run its course.”
Onyango, a computer programmer, has been in the country illegally since 2004, when Shapiro ordered her to leave. Recent attempts to reach her at the South Boston housing development where she’s been living since a December 2008 stay of her deportation have been unsuccessful.
In First Lady's Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery
Barack Obama's brother pushes Chinese imports on US
Beatings and abuse made Barack Obama's grandfather loathe the British
Pill that will help you live to 100
A pill to help people live to 100 is set to "revolutionise" ageing, experts said
Donna Bowater - Express
A pill to help people live to 100 free from debilitating health problems is set to “revolutionise” ageing, experts said yesterday.
The breakthrough has come after scientists identified three “super-genes”.
People born with the genes are 20 times more likely to reach a century – and 80 per cent less likely to develop the senility disease Alzheimer’s.
Even being overweight or a heavy smoker does not stop a third of those with the genes living to 100.
Now US researchers are working to produce a drug that can mimic the genetic benefits and hope it will be ready for testing within three years. Their work features tonight on a BBC TV documentary.
Life expectancy for men in the UK is 77, for women it is 82. At the same time nearly half a million Britons are affected by Alzheimer’s.
Lead scientist Dr Nir Barzilai said: “The advantage of finding a gene that involves longevity is we can develop a drug that will imitate what this gene is doing. If we can imitate that, then long life can be terrific.”
Professor Judith Phillips, president of the British Society of Gerontology, said the discovery would change how people look at growing old.
She said: “It’s a huge opportunity because the ageing population is growing anyway. They would be a huge resource because people would be able to work longer and they would have a healthier life, and it would revolutionise the way we look at older people.
“And it would reduce costs in terms of care.”
A US study looked at 500 Ashkenazi Jews living in New York with an average age of 100.
They were chosen after previous studies found the group to have a very specific genetic footprint because their bloodline had been kept very pure.
Although a third were obese or had smoked two packets of cigarettes a day for more than 40 years, they shared three “super-genes” that extended life expectancy.
Two genes produced “good” cholesterol, which reduced the risk of heart disease and strokes, while a third gene protected against diabetes.
Those with the longevity genes had a one in 500 chance of reaching 100, compared with a one in 10,000 chance in the rest of the population.
Dr Barzilai, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, said: “Because our centenarians have longevity genes, they are protected against many effects of the environment.
“That’s why they do whatever they want to do and they get through anyhow.”
He said two of the genes “increase good cholesterol in a significant way”. He added: “There’s no drug that does it so effectively.”
The specific genotype that seemed to protect against diabetes also appeared to radically cut that person’s chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “I think it’s optimistic to say we’re going to have pills in three years but it would certainly add significantly to the ways in which we can help prolong life.
“It’s perfectly logical that if you have heart disease, you’re likely to live less long so if you stop that happening, you might live longer.”
Long-life gene that triples chance of living to 100 found
The Okinawans - Japanese Longevity and Healthy Aging
Men age faster 'because of Stone Age sex'
Iran to unveil 3 new satellites
Iran will unveil three new satellites and a satellite carrier on Wednesday, state television reported. It said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would attend the ceremony in Tehran, but gave no further details.
Exactly one year ago, Iran launched a domestically made satellite into orbit for the first time, a step that worried western powers which fear the Islamic Republic is seeking to build a nuclear bomb and missile delivery systems.
IAF bombs Gaza smuggling tunnels
Jerusalem Post
IAF strikes early Wednesday morning targeted weapons smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The strikes came in response to two barrels containing explosive devices which washed ashore on beaches in the South Monday, in Ashkelon and Ashdod. Both were destroyed by police sappers.
"The IDF will continue to operate with determintation and force against those who use terror against Israel, and hold Hamas responsible [for the attempted attack]," an army statement read.
The Al-Arabiya network, however, reported that the goal of the IAF strike was to damage the Gaza airport, and claimed several people were wounded in the attack.
Dozens of policemen resumed searches for additional explosive barrels after sunrise on Wednesday and the public was asked to stay off the beaches from Ashdod to Zikim for a second day running.
While three terrorist groups – Islamic Jihad, Popular Resistance Committees and Fatah’s Aksa Martyrs Brigades – claimed responsibility for the explosives barrels discovered Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted on Tuesday that Israel would hold Hamas responsible for the attempted attack.
“We view very seriously the Hamas activities that came from Gaza, actions which just by coincidence did not extract a price on human life ... We view this very gravely and will respond in time,” Netanyahu said.
Low Serotonin levels cause infant deaths
Xinhua
Researchers have found that low Serotonin levels may be the cause of the sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, according to media reports Wednesday.
Infants who died of SIDS had low levels of serotonin, a brain chemical that helps the brainstem regulate breathing, temperature, sleeping, waking and other automatic functions, according to an autopsy study in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
The finding may help identify babies at risk for SIDS, which each year kills more than 2,300 babies before their first birthday.
Abnormal levels of serotonin may hamper an infant's breathing, especially when the baby breathes in too much exhaled carbon dioxide while sleeping face down.
"When the infant is breathing in the face-down position, he or she may not get enough oxygen. An infant with a normal brain stem would turn his or her head and wake up in response. But a baby with an intrinsic abnormality is unable to respond to the stressor," said Dr. Hannah Kinney of Harvard and Children's Hospital.
Doctors hope to use their discovery to screen babies for serotonin problems and find a way to protect them, says co-author David Paterson, also of Harvard and Children's Hospital. Those developments are still years away, he says.
Scientists Explain Chocolate Cravings
Reactionary Depression
Food Security Experts Paint Grim Picture
of Developing Situation in Zimbabwe
VOA
The Commercial Farmers Union warned this week that Zimbabwe was likely to need to import 1 million tonnes of maize, a staple food, given the combined effect of poor rains in the current cropping season and ongoing farm takeovers
Some agricultural experts are painting a grim picture of the outlook for Zimbabwe's food supply in 2010.
The Commercial Farmers Union warned this week that Zimbabwe might need to import 1 million tonnes of maize, a staple food, given the combined effect of poor rains and ongoing takeovers of white-owned commercial farms under land reform.
The Commercial Farmers Union said that Zimbabwe would be lucky if the 2010 harvest yields even 500,000 tonnes of maize.
The General Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union reported that labor shortages will also weigh on maize yields.
Midlands Chairman Peter Muchengeti of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations told VOA Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere that malnutrition-related conditions such as kwashiorkor are being seen in some areas.
Mission Improbable for Zimbabwe
'Say sorry, Zuma'
Xolani Mbanjwa and Shaun Smillie - The Star
President Jacob Zuma needs to come clean about his love child and his relationship with Sonono Khoza so that South Africans can decide whether he can be trusted, a legal expert believes.
He should also apologise for his behaviour.
Amid the storm around the revelation that Zuma fathered a now four-month-old child with longtime friend Irvin Khoza's daughter, calls from several quarters have been made for the president to take the country into his confidence and reassure the public that he acted responsibly.
Constitutionally, Zuma has done nothing wrong, said legal expert Pierre de Vos. But as the highest public official in the land, he had an obligation to set the record straight and quell any conjecture.
"We need to know if he took steps to protect himself and his partner from HIV," De Vos said.
The ANC's argument that Zuma's extramarital activities were a private matter was wrong, said De Vos.
"The higher you go as a public figure, the less claim you have on privacy," he explained.
De Vos also pointed out that with so many children, it raised questions about how Zuma was going to support them all.
"If you consider that it costs a million rands to raise a child, and you have 20, we need to ask ourselves where the president is going to get the money," he said.
"A president under severe financial pressure could turn to devious means to obtain money," he said.
Meanwhile, DA leader Helen Zille attacked the ANC's defence of Zuma on the grounds of his right to privacy about his personal life as "profoundly problematic", and said people who were elected should be fit to hold office.
Unlike private individuals, they had to "embody a series of principles and values upon which their support is based", which is why people resigned from public office if they were found to have violated those principles
"If a public representative says corruption is bad in public, but commits corruption in private, his or her situation becomes untenable. This contradiction undermines public faith in their convictions and in the integrity of their office," Zille added.
If Zuma publicly stated that unprotected sex with multiple sexual partners was bad, he was expected to uphold those values in private - "otherwise there is little or no reason to take seriously anything he or his government says".
"The president ought to apologise and act to better embody the values he advocates for other South Africans. The only question is whether, if he apologises this time around, anyone will actually believe him," Zille said.
Zille was responding to a statement by ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu, who on Monday said the president had done nothing wrong and that it was matter between two consenting adults.
But Zille said the ANC did not understand "the relationship between public office and private behaviour".
Changing people's attitudes to the private act of intercourse lay at the heart of the government's challenge with its campaign against HIV/Aids, she noted.
"In this case, the problem is particularly serious because the issue the president is being duplicitous on concerns a national threat - HIV/Aids - and thus the damage done is more acute," said Zille.
She agreed with Mthembu's statement that the ANC saw no correlation between its HIV/ Aids policies and Zuma's personal relationships.
"We don't either," she said.
"A good leader is both consistent and transparent ... They embody a series of principles and should be able to explain their action in terms of those principles
Jacob Zuma cannot do this."
And "it was not the first time that Zuma had been dishonest. He is building a reputation as being duplicitous on myriad different issues ... He suggested that our labour laws would be reformed, he has done no such thing. He preaches one position on affirmative action to one section of the population and another to the other," Zille said.
Meanwhile, the SA Students' Congress (Sasco), an ANC affiliate, on Tuesday accused the media of being irresponsible.
Sasco president Mbulelo Mandlana said it was a private matter.
Asked what message Zuma's love child sent to the youth, Mandlana said: "It's obviously not cool (having children out of wedlock). It would not make sense to support (that).
"However, in South Africa there are many children born out of wedlock and we should be careful not to create a perception of a discriminatory attitude against children born out of wedlock."
South Africans do not deserve this
Ampatuan pleads not guilty to 15 more murder raps
Mangudadatu grilled by respondent’s legal team
Tetch Torres, Marlon Ramos, Abigail Kwok and Cathy C. Yamsuan - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. has pleaded not guilty to the additional 15 murder cases filed against him for his alleged role in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao last November 23.
Aided by his lawyer Sigfried Fortun, Andal Jr. entered his plea before presiding Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes at the resumption of his petition for bail in Camp Crame Wednesday.
The additional cases were filed by the relatives of the 15 journalists and media workers who were also victims in the carnage.
This brought to 56 the total number of cases filed against Andal Jr.
Meanwhile, a heated exchange ensued between the prosecution and defense panels as Fortun questioned Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu's real intent in accusing his client of multiple murder.
“You accuse the entire Ampatuan clan of abduction, mass murder, damage to property and robbery,” Fortun charged Mangudadatu during cross examination, citing several names of male Ampatuan family members. “But you do not have factual basis,” the lawyer said.
Mangudadatu insisted the Ampatuans were behind the crimes. “Sila-sila may gawa nu'n [They did it],” he replied.
“That's because you're a politician against the Ampatuan clan! Isn't that correct? That's why you included them all, isn't that correct,” Fortun countered.
“Yes,” Mangudadatu replied, in reference to his being a politician.
“What better way to put down the Ampatuans than accuse them of murder,” Fortun told Mangudadatu.
“By making the statement [accusing Andal, Jr.] you are now catapulted in the limelight,” Fortun said.
Fortun added that Mangudadatu has another murder case in 2001 and was a respondent in multiple attempted murder complaints and illegal possession of firearms before the Department of Justice.
Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Leila de Lima told reporters waiting outside the makeshift courtroom at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame that Ampatuan’s legal team had tried to discredit Mangudadatu.
"[The Ampatuan camp is] trying to impeach his credibility. The counsel for the accused confronted him with records of criminal cases like murder," said De Lima, a court observer.
"He was also being put on the corner on supposed family of Mangudadatu. Ang insinuation is that since malaki silang political clan meron din silang kakayahan na ganyang scenario [The insinuation is since they are a big political clan, they also have the capacity to stage a similar scenario]," De Lima said, referring to the massacre of 57 people last November 23 allegedly perpetrated by the Ampatuans.
Mangudadatu’s wife, two sisters, lawyers and several supporters were among those ambushed and killed as they tried to file candidacy of the local exec for Maguindanao governor.
Andal Jr. was also seeking the same post currently held by his father, Andal Sr.
De Lima said the CHR was looking into reports that several of the witnesses against Ampatuan were receiving death threats.
De Lima noted that the sister of Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki was "under duress."
Sangki was one of those who implicated Ampatuan in the massacre.
"It should be a serious concern that we are allowing possible witnesses to be intimidated," De Lima said.
Suspected US drone strikes kill at least 29 in Pakistan
Hindustan Times
Multiple missile strikes carried out by suspected US pilot less drone aircraft killed at least 29 people in Pakistan's restive tribal region Tuesday, a Pakistani intelligence official said.
Several more people were injured in the air attacks that took place in at least four villages of North Waziristan district, a known sanctuary of Taliban and Al Qaeda militants conducting cross-border raids on US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
"At least eight drones took part in the attack, and they have fired some 18 missiles at three training camps of Taliban, their two vehicles and some bunkers," said a local intelligence official that spoke on condition of anonymity.
Taliban militants have fired at the US aircraft from some of these bunkers. The militants shot down one drone on January 24.
"According to the initial reports we have received from various areas, at least 29 people have been killed while around a dozen more are injured," said the official about Tuesday's attack, adding that the death toll might rise.
People are buried under the debris of the demolished house, but no one dares to carry out rescue work since the drones are still flying in the area, the official said over phone. "Almost all those killed are Taliban (fighters)."
The US has intensified its campaign to target militant hideouts with drone strikes in Pakistan's rugged tribal region since an Al-Qaeda double agent killed five CIA officials and two private security contractors in a suicide bombing in the Afghan province of Khost on December 30.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was reported to have been killed in a similar missile strike in early January, but days later he denied the reports in two audio messages released to local reporters.
Pakistan publicly opposes the air raids, saying they violate the country's territorial sovereignty and stoke anti-American sentiments among the local population.
Assassination: A Brief History
Iran 'will comply over uranium'
Tehran accuses US of stirring up Iran-phobia in Middle East
- then Ahmadinejad signals he will comply with UN
David Usborne - The Independent
In a day of curiously mixed signals, the regime in Tehran yesterday accused the United States of stirring "Iran-phobia" in the Middle East by laying plans to deploy new missile defences in the region, yet only hours later suggested that it was ready after all to accept a compromise deal to end the stand-off with the West over nuclear arms.
Speaking on state television, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he could agree to sending partially enriched uranium to foreign countries for processing into fuel rods that would then be returned to Iran. Thus he outlined more or less what the United Nations has asked of Iran in recent negotiations, but which it had previously rejected.
Mr Ahmadinejad said he would have "no problem" with the arrangement and dismissed critics within Iran who have worried publicly that foreign powers would take the uranium and never return it. Fuel rods are suitable for civil atomic uses like energy generation but not for the making of nuclear armaments.
The comments came as the US and its allies at the UN are preparing to debate a fourth round of sanctions against Iran, which could include blacklisting the central bank. With China still showing little enthusiasm for sanctions and Russia also blowing hot and cold, a more severe package with a ban on imported refined fuels is no longer on the table.
Mr Ahmadinejad's words contrasted starkly with the rhetoric unleashed earlier about the missile shield deployments. The Pentagon is preparing to expand patriot land defensive systems in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The move is partly to counter the existing ballistic capabilities of Iran, which, according to a Pentagon report released this week, represents a "significant" threat to US and allied forces in the Gulf region.
"Regional countries should know that this puppet show by the US, while claiming to create security in the region, is nothing except a new political ploy to increase the military presence at the expense of others," the Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani complained.
"We regard these measures as a conspiracy by foreign countries to create a sense of Iran phobia," the foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast added. "Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the other countries in the region are very good and friendly."
President Ahmadinejad, attending talks yesterday with the Crown Prince of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, had accused Washington of seeking to undermine peace in the area. "They have always tried to keep the countries of the region weak, and their existence dependent on division and insecurity," he argued. So it was something of a surprise when he later appeared to soften his stance on the nuclear issue. However, Iran has a long history of appearing to embrace compromise with the West only to back off later.
The US State Department said that if Iran was serious about a deal they should take it directly to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is responsible for nuclear inspections
President Ahmadinejad and his government turned their focus on the US just as domestic political opposition seemed ready to escalate, with the state preparing to hang nine more rioters arrested during the unrest after last summer's disputed elections. Two alleged dissidents were hanged last week.
The opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi, argued on his website yesterday that the repression showed that the 1979 Islamic revolution "had not achieved its goals".
In his television appearance, the President also said that he was ready to enter into a prisoner a swap with the US under which he would release three US hikers who were imprisoned after straying onto Iranian soil last summer while Iranians in custody in the US would also be released. Which Iranians he had in mind is unclear, and such a deal is highly unlikely to interest Washington.
Here's how Israel would destroy Iran's nuclear program
U.S. built major Iranian nuclear facility
Police earn £100 overtime for answering phone
Tom Whitehead - Telegraph
The true scale of extra payments for police has been disclosed in a report which showed off-duty officers can earn four hours overtime just for taking a short phone call.
For some officers it would be the equivalent of more than £100 on top of their salary even though the call may last a matter of minutes.
Sergeants and constables are also paid double time if they work a rest day with less than five days notice and double time plus a lieu day for working bank holidays.
The rates were disclosed as David Hanson, the policing minister, warned there was a "culture" of overtime within the police and vowed to crack down.
It was part of a Home Office-led review on how the police can save more than £500 million a year by 2014.
Up to half a billion pounds a year is spent on police overtime in England and Wales and ministers want to cut that by at least £70 million annually.
That would be the equivalent of every one of 134,000 constables and sergeants, who are the only ranks entitled to overtime, giving up around £520 from their annual pay packet.
Senior officers and rank and file leaders both warned last night that overtime was necessary if police are able to offer an around-the-clock service to protect the public.
But anti-crime campaigners said police should do the job they are paid for and said it was "appalling" that some officers are being paid large sums for potentially very little work.
The Police Value for Money review found officers who are 'recalled' to duty are paid time and a third but on the basis of a minimum of four hours.
The recall can include taking a short phone call "requiring a decision" when off-duty.
It means an experienced sergeant earning more than £40,000 a year would be given more than £100 for taking a call that might only last a few moments.
Even a newly trained constable earning around £25,000 would pocket £64 for a similar call.
It also emerged that officers asked to work on planned days off are given double time if they have less than five days notice and time and a half if less than 15 days notice.
The policy was criticised last night by Hazel Smith, a neighbourhood watch coordinator and friend of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her daughter, who suffered from learning disabilities, after nothing was done to tackle years of abuse from yobs even though she made dozens of complaints to officers.
Mrs Smith said: "It is ridiculous and should be part and parcel of the job.
"It is appalling. If I get called in to my job then I go in but I am not paid more for it. This is over the top and they should pull their weight and do the work they are paid for."
Mr Hanson said: "There is a culture that overtime is acceptable in the system and therefore it is something that has not been looked at with scrutiny in the way it should have been.
"The simple challenge we have put down is to say to both managing officers, police authorities, senior officers and their members on the ground 'We need to look at how overtime is being undertaken. Is it the best use of resources?'."
Mr Hanson said overtime could be saved by restructuring police rotas, putting extra officers on at peak times, and recruiting special constables who work for free.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: "These resources are provided for the front line fight against crime, and people will be very surprised to learn that their money is being handed out in return for things as simple as answering the occasional phone call. Reforming these rules would save money and bring the police onto a more normal set of working practices."
But Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation, said talk of cutting overtime "fails to appreciate the nature of the job officers do, that we don't do overtime out of choice, but out of a duty to uphold the law".
He added: "We cannot just walk away from criminals or turn our backs on crimes being committed – policing is a 24/7 job and forces have to ensure the resilience of shifts matches the demands placed by crime."
North Yorkshire Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, the national police lead on finances, added: "Overtime is paid to officers of constable or sergeant rank only and reflects the realities of modern policing.
"It should always be properly monitored by chief officers and police authorities for cost-effectiveness."
It emerged last summer that police could be paid as much as £150 a day to be on call after winning a four-year battle over allowances.
An independent tribunal ruled that there should be a national rate for officers who are on call and could be made to work at any moment.
Yesterday's review, which was drawn up in association with policing bodies, is the latest salvo in the struggle to get more from the £9.7 billion spent on policing every year.
It said public servants must be "more frugal" in everything they do, from buying equipment to forward planning.
They repeated claims that national deals for vehicles, body armour, phones and computer systems will help them save £545 million every year by 2014.
Back office staff also face a squeeze as the Government moves to cut the number of human resources employees and get more from administrators.
Stressed police take 300 years off
How police forces spend £3m on tea and biscuits
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