Wednesday
10th
March
2010
Cyprus police detain three for corpse theft
Cyprus police have detained three men for the theft of the body of late former president Tassos Papadopoulos. It was recovered on Monday, three months after being mysteriously snatched from its grave.
Police found the body at a cemetery in a Nicosia suburb, near the original burial place of the former leader, following a tip-off provided from a telephone box. DNA identification tests were carried out overnight and a police spokesman has since confirmed that the body is indeed that of Mr Papadopoulos.
Grave robbers stole the body from inside the coffin on 11 December 2009, one day before a memorial service was due to be held to mark the first anniversary of the 74-year-old president's death from lung cancer. Police said at the time the robbery was carefully planned, with the perpetrators taking precautions to cover their tracks. It is unclear what the motive for the macabre theft was.
A dispute has meanwhile arisen between Justice Minister Loucas Louca and the Papadopoulos family. The minister claims ransom money was demanded by the body snatchers, but not paid. However, a family spokesman phoned in to a state television news programme to deny they had received any such demand and reprimand the minister.
The minister, meanwhile, ruled out political motives or the involvement of Turkish Cypriots on the divided island. He gave no clues as to the identity of the perpetrators, citing the ongoing police investigation as a reason for his silence on this aspect.
Mr Papadopoulos, who fought against the British colonial power in Cyprus in the 1950s, was president of Cyprus from 2003 to 2008 and made several political enemies during his lifetime. In 2004, he led Greek Cypriots in rejecting a United Nations plan to reunify the country. Turkish Cypriots voted in a similar referendum to back the plan, which ultimately failed, Later, the Greek part of the island, recognised officially by most of the international community as Cyprus, joined the EU without the Turkish dominated north.
'Naked' Rahm Emanuel adds twist to President Obama's health reforms
Tim Reid - The Times
A naked Rahm Emanuel is accused of poking congressman Eric Massa in the chest because of his failure to support Mr Obama's health care bil
President Obama’s troubled and marathon effort to reform the US health industry took a bizarre twist yesterday after a Democratic congressman said he was lambasted over the issue by a naked White House chief of staff in a men’s locker room.
The image of a naked Rahm Emanuel angrily poking the congressman in the chest because of his failure to support Mr Obama's health care bill was becoming a major distraction for the White House and a boon for conservative talk radio hosts.
The congressman, Eric Massa, announced on Friday he was resigning because, he said at the time, his cancer had returned. By Sunday however, he had changed his story, claiming he was forced out of office – the House Ethics Committee is investigating allegations that he sexually harassed a male staffer – through a conspiracy hatched by top Democrats.
Mr Massa, a liberal, has suddenly become a hero to conservatives because of his opposition to the health legislation. Even Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk radio host who vilifies Mr Obama and democrats on a daily basis, has invited him on to his show.
The allegations against Mr Emanuel, described by Mr Massa as the “Devil’s spawn”, were described by the White House as “ridiculous”. Yet at a time when Mr Obama is desperately trying to end the health care debate and get a bill through Congress in a matter of weeks, the episode is the last thing the President needs.
As Mr Massa put it, “I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped round his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me because I wasn’t going to vote for the president’s budget. Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?"
N Ireland Assembly approves police devolution
The Northern Ireland Assembly has approved the Hillsborough Castle Agreement on devolution by a vote of 88 to 17. This means that control of the police and judiciary in the United Kingdom country will now move from the English capital London to the Northern Ireland capital Belfast. The region’s first minister of justice will be appointed on 12 April.
The agreement was signed by three of the four main parties in the Assembly’s executive: the Democratic Unionist Party, Sinn Fein and the Social Democratic and Labour Party. The fourth party, the Ulster Unionist Party, was the only one not to sign. It said it would rather see the Assembly settle other issues before having to deal with the region’s policing.
The agreement is a milestone in the peace process that began in 1998 between the region’s unionists and republicans. Analysts say failed negotiations would have led to the fall of the government and an upsurge in violence.
Republicans want a united Ireland in contrast to unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. The political split usually runs along religious lines, with Catholics on the republican side and Protestants on the other.
Canadian leaders tuck into ‘seal meal’ to defy EU ban over annual slaughter
As many as 275,000 harp seals are killed with guns or the hakapik - a spiked club -
in Canada's culls in March and April
James Bone - The Times
Canadian lawmakers are to protest against the European Union’s ban on seal imports today — with their stomachs.
About 30 senators, MPs and provincial ministers will gather in the parliamentary dining room in Ottawa to feast on seal meat in a rebuke to opponents of the country’s annual seal cull.
The menu, prepared by the parliamentary chef, features hors d’oeuvres of sliced seal sausage and a main course of bacon-wrapped seal loin in a port reduction.
“It will be the first time for most of them — especially in a very exquisite way, cooking it with port,” Céline Hervieux-Payette, the Liberal senator from Quebec who organised the meal, told The Times. “I’m very sure it’s going to be good.”
Canadian politicians from across the political spectrum are angry about the EU decision to ban imports of seal products from the controversial hunt.
Up to 270,000 harp seals are killed every year in March and April with guns or the hakapik, a spiked club.
The annual cull first stirred international indignation four decades ago when television pictures showed baby seals being battered to death. The EU imposed its ban in July after years of complaints by animal rights activists who decry the hunt as barbaric and poorly monitored.
This year’s hunt has provoked protests from Sir Paul McCartney and the Canadian actress Pamela Anderson.
The EU ban covers not only sealskin — which is used to make coats, bags, clothing and even sporrans — but meat, blubber and seal oil, which is used in some omega-3 pills.
It excludes imports derived from traditional hunts by the Inuit in the Canadian Arctic.
Canada has requested consultations with the EU at the World Trade Organisation in the first move towards an official challenge of the European ban.
Canadian politicians say that the ban threatens an industry that produced C$10 million (£7 million) in exports last year for people living in remote Atlantic fishing villages. The Government says that about 6,000 people take part in the annual east coast hunt. One politician in the northern Nunavut territory has proposed that the region should retaliate by banning European alcohol, ranging from Scotch whisky to French wine, in its three off-licences.
G7 finance ministers declined to take up the seal hunt row at their recent meeting at Iqaluit in the icy Canadian north. The visiting ministers also skipped the chance to sample seal meat for themselves at a “country food” event organised by Inuit leaders at a local school.
Ms Hervieux-Payette said that she decided to organise today’s “seal meal” after eating the meat on a recent seal hunt.
“I was in the north two weeks ago and I went seal hunting with some Inuit hunters. I spent a day in minus 35 degrees. I ate the raw meat.”
She added: “Because I am of French origin, we are used to eating things raw — whether it’s fish or meat.
“It tastes a lot like oyster. It’s a little bit soft. You have a taste of the ocean. It’s a little bit sloppy but it’s very smooth. It’s like eating sushi.”
The senator said that she had also eaten cooked seal meat cooked at a Montreal restaurant that serves it. When she started sending out invitations for the C$35-a-head meal, she was overwhelmed by the response. All the main Canadian parties will be represented among the dinersat the C$35-a-head meal, she added.
Ms Hervieux-Payette said that there was only one critic in the Canadian Parliament, a fellow senator from the Liberal Party, Mac Harb, “We have 400 on one side and only one on the other side,” she said.
Mr Harb, who is introducing a Bill to end the commercial seal hunt, said that the vast majority of seal hunters never eat seal meat. They usually take the pelt and leave the skinned body on the ice, he said.
He planned to attend the seal meal but not to sample the food, Mr Harb said.
Seal of approval
• Seals have been hunted by Inuits in Canada for more than 4,000 years
• Seal meat is a deep red, a result of the extra haemoglobin that allows the mammals to store oxygen when they dive. Critics describe its tender texture and flavour as closer to liver than steak. The fatty meat and its blubber are excellent sources of iron, protein, vitamin A and vitamin B
• Canada, Norway, Russia, Namibia and Greenland are the only countries still to hunt seals
• Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, refused to eat seal meat at a G7 dinner in February. He could not, however, avoid the seal-upholstered chairs
Israel's building plans threaten peace talks
Israel says it is planning to build 1600 houses for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. Palestinians reacted angrily to the announcement, saying it undermined the proposed peace negotiations to be held under United States leadership.
Israel announced the plan as US Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the Middle East to lead the peace talks that the Palestinians only agreed to on Monday.
The construction of Jewish settlements has long been a stumbling block to the resumption of talks. In November, Israel announced a ten-month moratorium on new building on the West Bank. However, it says construction in east Jerusalem does not come under the terms of the moratorium.
The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of their promised state.
Ex-MI5 head: US hid torture tactics from UK
Lewis Smith and Robert Verkaik - Independent
A former head of MI5 has accused intelligence services in the US of deliberately hiding the mistreatment of terror suspects from their British allies.
Baroness Manningham-Buller, giving a lecture in London last night, said the US was "very keen" to prevent Britain discovering how they were getting vital intelligence. She cited the case of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident, who was held at Guantanamo Bay after the 9/11 attacks and provided his captors with useful intelligence which was passed on the the UK security services. She was unaware until 2007, she said, that he had been subjected to waterboarding.
She was surprised at the extent of the information coming from Mr Mohamed as Britain's previous experience of questioning terrorism suspects during the Troubles in Northern Ireland was that they remained silent. "I said to my staff, 'Why is he talking?' because our experience of Irish prisoners, Irish terrorists, was that they never said anything," she said. "They said, well, the Americans say he is very proud of his achievements when questioned about it. It wasn't actually until after I retired that I read that, in fact, he had been waterboarded 160 times."
Her comments follow the insistence of ministers and Jonathan Evans, the current head of MI5, that there was no collusion by British security services in the torture of suspects. Lady Manningham-Buller added at the event, organised by the Mile End Group, a political and historical research body, that allegations Britain was complicit in the torture of suspects could damage MI5's ability to carry out its work.
Indonesian police kill suspected Bali bomber
During raids in the Indonesian capital Jakarta on Monday, police killed three suspected Islamist terrorists. One of them is thought to be Dulmatin. He is said to have played a role in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed over 200 people, many of them foreign nationals.
Dulmatin is a member of the Islamist terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamyah, as well as an al-Qaeda trained bomb-maker. The United States has offered a 10-million-dollar bounty for him. A DNA investigation must now be carried out on the body to determine its identity.
One of the raids took place in an internet café. The second took place in the streets, where two men were shot dead on a motorbike. The operation comes less than two weeks before a visit to Indonesia by the United States President Barack Obama.
Patients' medical records go online without consent
Patients’ confidential medical records are being placed on a controversial NHS database without their knowledge, doctors’ leaders have warned.
Kate Devlin - Telegraph
Those who do not wish to have their details on the £11 billion computer system are supposed to be able to opt out by informing health authorities.
But doctors have accused the Government of rushing the project through, meaning that patients have had their details uploaded to the database before they have had a chance to object.
The scheme, one of the largest of its kind in the world, will eventually hold the private records of more than 50 million patients.
But it has been dogged by accusations that the private information held on it will not be safe from hackers.
The British Medical Association claims that records have been placed on the system without patients’ knowledge or consent.
It follows allegations that the Government wanted to complete the project before the Conservatives had a chance to cancel it.
In a letter to ministers published today, the BMA urges the Government to suspend the scheme.
Hamish Meldrum, its chairman, writes: "The breakneck speed with which this programme is being implemented is of huge concern.
"Patients’ right to opt out is crucial, and it is extremely alarming that records are apparently being created without them being aware of it.
"If the process continues to be rushed, not only will the rights of patients be damaged, but the limited confidence of the public and the medical profession in NHS IT will be further eroded."
At present 1.29 million people have had their details placed on the system. A further 8.9 million records are due to be added by June. By the end of next year, the NHS hopes to have more than 50 million uploaded.
The "summary" records contain basic medical information including illnesses, vaccination history, and could include medication patients have been given. Ages and addresses are also included.
Patients are supposed to be notified by letter at least 12 weeks before their details go live on the system and given the chance to opt out.
The BMA says that letters have gone to the wrong addresses and that many patients have been unsure what they mean.
Doctors point out that there has been no national advertising programme to explain the scheme, as has been the case with other government initiatives.
The BMA also criticises the fact that the information packs do not include the form which allows patients to opt out. It can only be obtained via the internet or by calling a helpline.
Katherine Murphy, of the Patients Association, said: "The Health Service should not put in place bureaucratic obstacles to patient choice because they are worried about what patients might choose to do."
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "The Government needs to end its obsession with massive central databases.
"The NHS IT scheme has been a disastrous waste of money and the national programme should be abandoned."
A spokesman for the Department of Health said that ministers "absolutely support" the right of patients to opt out of the scheme, adding that various options were provided to make this straightforward.
Lumley named in row over Gurkha charity
Minister attacks campaigner's 'silence' as inquiry is launched into donations solicited in Nepal
Kim Sengupta - The Independent
A legal firm that had campaigned alongside the actress Joanna Lumley has been dragged into an investigation into charges levied on Gurkha veterans seeking to settle in Britain.
The Defence minister Kevan Jones ordered the inquiry after it emerged that former soldiers had paid thousands of pounds to a welfare charity which referred their cases to immigration lawyers in this country.
Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, Mr Jones said some of the advice given to the veterans by the charity was misleading and encouraged them to have false expectations about Britain, including their right to free homes. Large amounts of money, he said, were being claimed in legal aid by firms when the Gurkhas could, instead, receive free advice on their settlement rights from a Ministry of Defence funded office in Nepal.
The minister demanded that Ms Lumley, who led a successful and high-profile fight for Gurkhas to settle in Britain, should speak out and ensure that veterans were not being exploited. "Her deathly silence, frankly, irritates me," said Mr Jones. The legal firm in question, Howe & Co, has categorically denied "taking a single penny" from the Gurkhas and accused Mr Jones of making unsubstantiated accusations.
Ms Lumley's son, Jamie, said last night that his mother was unlikely to make any comments on the matter. However Kieran O'Rourke, a partner with Howe & Co, who visited Nepal with the actress following the landmark High Court victory and remains in contact with her, said: "I know that Joanna was given no notice that she was going to be attacked in this unfair way. She has no alternative now but to appear before the committee herself to give her side of things and the committee should call her."
Ms Lumley's campaign on behalf of the Gurkhas received widespread public and parliamentary backing, including that of rebel Labour MPs, forcing the Government into a U-turn on the settlement issue. On one highly publicised occasion she confronted the Immigration minister, Phil Woolas, to press the case for the veterans.
The Justice minister Lord Bach will be in charge of the inquiry. Mr Jones, speaking to the committee, highlighted the "relationship" between the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation (Gaeso) and Howe & Co.
"As I understand how the system works, you go to Gaeso, a voluntary donation is made of about £500 and you then get passed on the Howe & Co. Now, I am not sure what the relationship is between Howe & Co and Gaeso," he said. "But I think you have also got to take a step back to last year. It's about credibility and that's where people can't just walk away once the headlines die down because Howe & Co were the solicitors arguing for the campaign, along with Joanna Lumley. Gaeso, I understand, organised the victory tour for Joanna Lumley to Nepal. You have to look at this through the eyes of people in Nepal and if they see an organisation which has 'credibility' then asking them for money, you can understand why they should do that."
Mr O'Rourke said: "I do not know why Mr Jones is making these comments. If the Government has any evidence that we are taking money from the Gurkhas they should come up with evidence. We have absolutely nothing to hide from any inquiry. We did receive a claim last year that Gaeso was using our name to collect money from veterans, but we contacted Gaeso and they have categorically denied this.
"The Government want the Gurkhas to just use the office that they had set up. But we are qualified solicitors who become liable before a disciplinary body if we give the wrong advice – that is not the case with the government-run office."
British military charities have reported cases of Gurkha veterans turning up in the UK and ending up destitute on the streets, having paid substantial sums of money to private organisations in Nepal.
Glyn Strong, of the group Veterans Aid, said: "We are not in the business of blaming Joanna Lumley for this. What we are saying is that we have come across cases of Gurkhas who have ended up here totally lost. We had one elderly man who had somehow raised £9,000 which he had given to some people who promised him there would be a home waiting for him here. He was in a dishevelled state, and in some distress and had ended up living rough. He had some very bad experiences in the streets and at the end just wanted to go home, we paid for that and put him on a flight. I am afraid we may be seeing a lot more of these cases in the future."
Explainer: The allegations
*The allegations made by Kevan Jones concern what are, effectively, referral charges. It is claimed the Gurkha charity Gaeso is taking around £500 from Gurkha veterans who want to settle in the UK, and passing them on to become clients of the British law firm Howe & Co for legal advice.
This is despite the fact that the Ministry of Defence has an office in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, offering the same advice for free.
Howe & Co strenuously deny any impropriety and say they have not received "a penny" from either Gaeso or any Gurkhas. They insist the MoD office can offer only limited help and many veterans do not trust the office.
Europe to investigate possible flu panic
The European Parliament has announced an investigation into the way the European Union reacted to last year's outbreak of the A(H1N1) virus. The virus is known as Mexican flu in the Netherlands and swine flu elsewhere.
The parliament wants to find out whether governments panicked in their reactions, and whether or not they also allowed the pharmaceutical industry to exert undue pressure on them.
Judith Merkies, a Euro MP from the Dutch Labour Party, said that over the last two or three years there had been regular waves of panic about health problems. She cited last year's A(H1N1) outbreak and, before that, the fears of a SARS epidemic.
She said that when such viruses surface, the pharmaceutical industry increases pressure on countries to order vaccines "before it is too late". She added that the Netherlands currently "has a surplus of 19 million vaccines for which we paid 300 million euros and which we might as well throw away".
She hopes the parliamentary investigation will result in a plan that leads to the EU reacting to future epidemics more calmly.
Britain made string of protests to US over Falklands row
Giles Whittell, Michael Evans and Catherine Philp - The Times
British diplomats have expressed serious concerns to the US State Department at least three times over Washington’s response to the latest dispute over the Falkland Islands, The Times has learnt.
In telephone calls and meetings, senior diplomats and specialists were forced to restate Britain’s position on sovereignty over the islands and seek clarification of the US position after a State Department spokesman in February answered a question about the Falklands by saying: “Or the Malvinas, depending on how you see it.”
British anger over the Obama Administration’s apparent indifference to the issue mounted when Hillary Clinton endorsed President Fernández de Kirchner’s call for talks on sovereignty while she was in Buenos Aires last week, State Department sources said.
The new details of British complaints emerged as influential conservatives in Washington described the Administration’s handling of the dispute as offensive, ignorant and a reflection of a lack of enthusiasm for the idea of a special relationship between the two countries.
British officials in Washington say publicly that the Falklands issue has been raised only in “friendly conversations in the course of normal business” between the Embassy and the Administration. Privately, however, there is a sense that the Obama Administration has not taken on board British sensibilities and that it has been too dismissive of points raised in London. Officials said that several phone calls were made and an e-mail was sent after the State Department spokesman called the islands the Malvinas.
Asked why the US chose to remain neutral despite Britain’s longstanding claims, the spokesman twice avoided calling them the Falklands, first saying “whatever you want to call them” and then using the Argentine name. US sources described the calls and meetings as demarches — in diplomatic parlance, formal protests. A British official insisted that “nobody’s been writing any formal letters”, adding that Britain was “genuinely quite relaxed” about the American position.
The same cannot be said of President Obama’s critics in Washington. The Pentagon official primarily responsible for providing the British Forces “with whatever they needed” in the Falklands campaign in 1982 yesterday accused the Administration of insulting Britain. Richard Perle, then assistant Secretary for Defence said: “I think using the description Malvinas is offensive to British interests.”
Yesterday David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, who has made much of his close personal relationship with Mrs Clinton, flew to Boston, where he will give a speech today on Afghanistan. Washington is not on his itinerary and he will return to London without meeting his opposite number.
The State Department denied last night any friction with “our British friends” over the Falklands but stood by everything Mrs Clinton said in her meeting with Mrs Kirchner.
The Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said: “The Secretary said we stand ready to help if that is desired.” Mr Crowley acknowledged “conversations” with British officials over the dispute with Argentina but said that he was not aware of ill-feeling.
What's in a name?
Falkland Islands From Falkland Sound, the channel between the two main islands, which was named in 1690 by John Strong, a British mariner, after his patron Anthony Cary, Fifth Viscount Falkland
Islas Malvinas The Spanish name is derived from the French name, Îles Malouines, given to the islands by Louis Antoine de Bougainville in 1764 after the first known settlers — mariners and fishermen from Saint-Malo
BNP plans to vet would-be members at their homes
Party's revised constitution would require all applicants to submit to
a two-hour home visit, court is told
Peter Walker and Matthew Taylor - The Guardian
The British National party plans to send officials to vet all would-be members in their homes, a court heard today.
A clause in the far right group's revised constitution would require all applicants to submit to a two-hour home visit by two party officials, Central London county court was told.
That could operate as a form of indirect discrimination against non-whites, said Robin Allen QC, representing the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is challenging the party's membership rules. "One way the provisions could operate would be to intimidate someone who wanted to join the party," he said, adding: "Of course, it could simply be a greeting."
BNP members last month voted to scrap the whites-only membership criteria after it was warned it faced legal action under equality laws.
The EHRC is arguing that the new constitution remains indirectly racist, even though the colour bar has been removed. That is rejected by the BNP, which argues that ever since it officially opened its doors to all ethnic groups it has acquired a "waiting list" of black and Asian would-be members.
The party's new constitution, which has yet to be published, remains prejudicial because it requires members to agree to clauses including that they are "implacably opposed to the promotion, by any means, of the integration or assimilation" of the UK's indigenous white population, Allen said.
"It would be jolly difficult for a mixed-race person to join the BNP without effectively denying themselves," he argued.
Gwyn Price Rowlands, representing the BNP, described the EHRC argument as nonsense and claimed the party already had a "significant number" of non-white members, all of whom were "welcome".
"I am informed that there is a waiting list of black, Asian and Chinese people to join," he said.
Judge Paul Collins is to rule on whether the new BNP constitution is indirectly racist on Friday.
An internal BNP memo seen by the Guardian tells members: "We don't expect any more than a handful of people of ethnic minority origin to apply to join the party nationally, and we will not let this deflect us from our political objectives of saving Britain and restoring the primacy of the indigenous British people."
The legal wrangling comes amid claims of a renewed challenge to the BNP from other extreme rightwing groups. The National Front says it has seen an upsurge in membership enquiries in recent months – mainly from BNP supporters who feel the party is "selling out".
National Front's spokesman, Tom Linden, said there had been a 70% increase in inquiries since Griffin appeared on BBC Question Time and the NF is expected to stand around 25 candidates at the general election.
"The British National party is no longer a white racist party, it is becoming a multi-racial party by giving into the race industry," he said.
This
report
is
in
part
summarised from Radio
Netherlands.
Visit their site to enjoy further informative writing and multimedia
Visit their site to enjoy further informative writing and multimedia
Readers
please
email
comments to: editorial AT
martinfrost.ws including full name
Return to Home Page
Return to Home Page