NAIROBI, Kenya – Somali pirates hijacked a German tanker loaded with liquefied petroleum gas Thursday off the Horn of Africa. The ship's 13-man crew was reported safe, even though gunshots were heard over the ship's radio.
The MV Longchamp is the third ship captured by pirates this month in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Piracy has taken an increasing toll on international shipping in the key water link between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. Pirates made an estimated $30 million hijacking ships for ransom last year, seizing more than 40 vessels off Somalia's coastline.
More than a dozen warships from countries including Britain, France, Germany, Iran, China and the United States now patrol Somali waters to protect vessels. But the warships were not near the Longchamp when it was taken, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a Bahrain-based spokesman for the U.S. 5th Fleet.
Seven pirates boarded the Bahamas-registered Longchamp early Thursday, the tanker's manager, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, said in a statement.
Spokesman Andre Delau said the ship's master had been briefly allowed to communicate with the firm and had said the crew of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian were safe.
"We think that everything is in order, nobody is injured," he told The Associated Press.
No ransom demands have been made yet, the company said.
Robin Phillips, deputy director of the Bahamas maritime authority in London, said the Longchamp had been traveling in a corridor secured by EU military forces when it sent a distress signal before dawn.
"Ships and helicopters were dispatched, but they arrived too late," said Phillips, adding that gunshots could be heard over the radio.
He said the ship later set a course for Somalia, to the south.
Christensen said the ship was seized off the southern coast of Yemen, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) from the town of al-Mukalla, the capital of the Hadramaut region.
He also said 21 ships since Dec. 1 have taken "aggressive, evasive maneuvers" and successfully evaded pirate attacks.
Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center, said Thursday's hijacking was the first attack since Jan. 14. For the past two weeks, strong winds have made it difficult for pirates to launch their small boats, but the weather has now improved, Choong said.
There have been 15 attacks so far this year, and three ships seized, he said.
Cyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau said 166 crew on nine ships were still being held off the coast of Somalia, not including the Longchamp. Six other hijacked ships have been released this month, including an oil tanker freed for a reported $3 million ransom.
Somalia, a nation of about 8 million people, has not had a functioning government since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991 and then turned on each other. Pirates see its lawless coastline as a haven.
Also Thursday, an official said the breakaway Somali region of Puntland had agreed to a French request that it take custody of nine suspected pirates arrested Tuesday by France.
"We consider them to be a real threat for the regional security and the world, as well," said Abdullahi Said Samatar, the Puntland security minister.
The German military reported two more suspected attempts by pirates to attack ships in the Gulf of Aden early Thursday.
A German navy frigate received an emergency call from a cargo ship, the European Champion, which reported that it was being followed by a skiff. A military statement said the skiff backed off after the German ship sent its on-board helicopter to the scene.
A second cargo ship, the Eleni G., radioed that it was being pestered by several skiffs. A German frigate sailed toward the ship, which shook off the suspected pirates.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
S. American leaders join anti-Davos social forum
BELEM, Brazil – South America's leading advocates of socialism got a hero's welcome from 100,000 activists at the mouth of the Amazon River Thursday as they demanded an overhaul of global capitalism.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the time has come for the world's leftists to "leave the trenches," propose solutions and "launch a political ideological offensive everywhere."
About 500 advocates for landless Brazilians in a sweltering gymnasium and roared in approval as Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa belted out the Cuban classic "Comandante Che Guevara," accompanied by a lone guitarist. Bolivia's Evo Morales and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo joined them on stage at the World Social Forum. But the loudest cheers were for Chavez.
"Chavez is fighting for people like me and his presence validates our movement," said 34-year-old Brazilian activist and singer Nicinha Durans, whose bright red shirt read "Hip Hop Militant."
Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, also saluted the crowd at the annual protest against the World Economic Forum, where the rich and powerful gather at the Swiss ski resort of Davos each year.
"Before you are four presidents — four presidents who could not be here were it not for your fight," he said. "I see so many brothers and sisters here, from Latin America's social movements to European figures."
Later, more than 10,000 of the 100,000 activists in Belem for the forum packed a convention center, waving red flags and dancing atop chairs to Brazilian music while waiting for the leaders plus Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to address the crowd.
A Brazilian Indian who identified himself only as Vander said he traveled for a full day by riverboat to reach the event so he could "be here to represent my people and their struggle."
Silva — a former union leader who has steered Brazil on a centrist course as president — decided to make his first social forum appearance in three years instead of going to Switzerland.
Some activists said they weren't angry at him for shunning the gathering in previous years, and predicted a warm welcome.
But Durans said others will protest against Silva because his administration has embraced many of the free-market economic policies he denounced before being elected president in 2003.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the time has come for the world's leftists to "leave the trenches," propose solutions and "launch a political ideological offensive everywhere."
About 500 advocates for landless Brazilians in a sweltering gymnasium and roared in approval as Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa belted out the Cuban classic "Comandante Che Guevara," accompanied by a lone guitarist. Bolivia's Evo Morales and Paraguay's Fernando Lugo joined them on stage at the World Social Forum. But the loudest cheers were for Chavez.
"Chavez is fighting for people like me and his presence validates our movement," said 34-year-old Brazilian activist and singer Nicinha Durans, whose bright red shirt read "Hip Hop Militant."
Morales, Bolivia's first Indian president, also saluted the crowd at the annual protest against the World Economic Forum, where the rich and powerful gather at the Swiss ski resort of Davos each year.
"Before you are four presidents — four presidents who could not be here were it not for your fight," he said. "I see so many brothers and sisters here, from Latin America's social movements to European figures."
Later, more than 10,000 of the 100,000 activists in Belem for the forum packed a convention center, waving red flags and dancing atop chairs to Brazilian music while waiting for the leaders plus Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to address the crowd.
A Brazilian Indian who identified himself only as Vander said he traveled for a full day by riverboat to reach the event so he could "be here to represent my people and their struggle."
Silva — a former union leader who has steered Brazil on a centrist course as president — decided to make his first social forum appearance in three years instead of going to Switzerland.
Some activists said they weren't angry at him for shunning the gathering in previous years, and predicted a warm welcome.
But Durans said others will protest against Silva because his administration has embraced many of the free-market economic policies he denounced before being elected president in 2003.
Rebels begin joining DR Congo army
RUMANGABO, DR Congo (AFP) – The first of more than 6,000 Congolese rebels took part in a ceremony Thursday to integrate their units into the regular army as part of a deal to end the conflict in eastern DR Congo.
Defence Minister Charles Mwando presided over the ceremony at one of the country's biggest military barracks, which had fallen to National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebels last October.
"I note the integration of the CNDP and (self-defence militia) Pareco into the FARDC," said the minister, referring to the government army.
Nord Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku told the ceremony that "at the end of this integration, the two million displaced people can hope to return to their homes."
The province, which borders Rwanda in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has been worst hit by a spate of conflicts over the last 15 years which have displaced an estimated two million people.
Eleven rebels marched in line to a table where they were each given green FARDC (Armed Forces of DR Congo) uniforms in exchange for their CNDP fatigues, to applause and shouts of approval from civil society representatives.
They were then examined by two army doctors before they dissolved into the ranks of army soldiers.
"We are going to form integrated brigades within the FARDC (Armed Forces of the DR Congo)," one of four CNDP commanders at the ceremony, Colonel Claude Micho, told AFP.
More than 6,200 rebels are to be integrated into the regular army, according to the army chiefs of staff.
However, the International Crisis Group think-tank has called on the Congolese authorities to introduce a vetting mechanism "to exclude significant human rights abusers from the national army and to address issues of accountability."
It said in a statement that the CNDP and the FARDC had committed "mass crimes and widespread sexual violence" in the province.
It said the rebel chief of staff Bosco Ntaganda in particular "has a horrendous record of causing severe suffering to civilans during his operations," and had been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Rebel leaders declared an end to their conflict with Kinshasa last month following an internal rift which sidelined long-time leader Laurent Nkunda.
Nkunda was subsequently arrested in neighbouring Rwanda, his erstwhile sponsor, as the bulk of his rebel force backed a joint operation by Rwandan and Congolese forces to oust Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels from Nord Kivu, who have been at the centre of more than a decade of unrest in the region.
Sporadic clashes between the Rwandan army and the FDLR, however, have gone on for a week, a rebel spokesman, Laforge Fils, told AFP on Thursday.
"There have been clashes followed by lulls... for a week between us and the Rwandan army," he said.
"The Rwandan army is preparing to attack two strategic areas," where many FDLR rebels were based, he added.
Rebels on Wednesday predicted that more intense fighting would erupt within days in eastern Congo amid an expected assault by government forces on rebel positions.
Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint military operation on January 20 against the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) which has been based in eastern Congo for more than a decade.
Elements of the FDLR, at the centre of years of instability in the region, are believed to have taken part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
International Crisis Group also warned that the Rwanda-DR Congo joint operation "carries as many dangers as opportunities."
"The deployment of up to 7,000 Rwandan troops in eastern Congo will not achieve its goals within two weeks, as claimed by the Congolese information minister," it said, adding that they would have to track down the FDLR deep into Nord Kivu and far from their own bases.
Defence Minister Charles Mwando presided over the ceremony at one of the country's biggest military barracks, which had fallen to National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) rebels last October.
"I note the integration of the CNDP and (self-defence militia) Pareco into the FARDC," said the minister, referring to the government army.
Nord Kivu provincial governor Julien Paluku told the ceremony that "at the end of this integration, the two million displaced people can hope to return to their homes."
The province, which borders Rwanda in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, has been worst hit by a spate of conflicts over the last 15 years which have displaced an estimated two million people.
Eleven rebels marched in line to a table where they were each given green FARDC (Armed Forces of DR Congo) uniforms in exchange for their CNDP fatigues, to applause and shouts of approval from civil society representatives.
They were then examined by two army doctors before they dissolved into the ranks of army soldiers.
"We are going to form integrated brigades within the FARDC (Armed Forces of the DR Congo)," one of four CNDP commanders at the ceremony, Colonel Claude Micho, told AFP.
More than 6,200 rebels are to be integrated into the regular army, according to the army chiefs of staff.
However, the International Crisis Group think-tank has called on the Congolese authorities to introduce a vetting mechanism "to exclude significant human rights abusers from the national army and to address issues of accountability."
It said in a statement that the CNDP and the FARDC had committed "mass crimes and widespread sexual violence" in the province.
It said the rebel chief of staff Bosco Ntaganda in particular "has a horrendous record of causing severe suffering to civilans during his operations," and had been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Rebel leaders declared an end to their conflict with Kinshasa last month following an internal rift which sidelined long-time leader Laurent Nkunda.
Nkunda was subsequently arrested in neighbouring Rwanda, his erstwhile sponsor, as the bulk of his rebel force backed a joint operation by Rwandan and Congolese forces to oust Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels from Nord Kivu, who have been at the centre of more than a decade of unrest in the region.
Sporadic clashes between the Rwandan army and the FDLR, however, have gone on for a week, a rebel spokesman, Laforge Fils, told AFP on Thursday.
"There have been clashes followed by lulls... for a week between us and the Rwandan army," he said.
"The Rwandan army is preparing to attack two strategic areas," where many FDLR rebels were based, he added.
Rebels on Wednesday predicted that more intense fighting would erupt within days in eastern Congo amid an expected assault by government forces on rebel positions.
Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo launched a joint military operation on January 20 against the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) which has been based in eastern Congo for more than a decade.
Elements of the FDLR, at the centre of years of instability in the region, are believed to have taken part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
International Crisis Group also warned that the Rwanda-DR Congo joint operation "carries as many dangers as opportunities."
"The deployment of up to 7,000 Rwandan troops in eastern Congo will not achieve its goals within two weeks, as claimed by the Congolese information minister," it said, adding that they would have to track down the FDLR deep into Nord Kivu and far from their own bases.
North Korea scraps all accords with South
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea said on Friday it was scrapping all accords with the South, the latest in a series of verbal attacks on its neighbor that analysts say are more aimed at grabbing the attention of new U.S. President Barack Obama.
One analyst said the latest rise in tension increased the chances of a military clash on the heavily armed border that has divided the two Koreas for more than half a century.
"There is neither way to improve (relations) nor hope to bring them on track," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea as saying.
Tension had reached "such extremes" that "inter-Korean relations have reached the brink of a war," KCNA said, using a phrase commonly carried by North Korean state media.
South Korean officials were not immediately available for comment.
Friday's threat focused largely on a basic accord the two Koreas struck in 1991 that analysts said Pyongyang might feel inadequately reflects its position on disputed ocean waters.
Other deals were reached during a brief period of detente that followed a summit between the leaders of North and South Korea in June 2000, which led to reunions of separated families, communication systems to defuse military tensions and rail and road links across their heavily armed border.
Impoverished North Korea has bridled at the hard-line policy of the year-old conservative government in the South which has ended a free flow of unconditional aid. Seoul has promised massive aid and investment only if Pyongyang is serious about giving up its nuclear weapons program.
But the isolated state has made clear it is not ready to sacrifice the little international leverage it has in the form of a nuclear threat, without first establishing diplomatic relations with the United States.
In recent months, it has all but closed the few border links with the South that were open, though a lucrative industrial park operated by Seoul just inside its border has remained open.
"First, all the agreed points concerning the issue of putting an end to the political and military confrontation between the north and the south will be nullified," KCNA quoted the committee as saying.
"Second, the Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression, Cooperation and Exchange between the North and the South and the points on the military boundary line in the West Sea stipulated in its appendix will be nullified," it said.
SEEKING UPPER HAND
Korea University professor Yoo Ho-yeol said the latest comments had three main aims: to pressure South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, scare the United States and to drum up political support at home.
North Korea had hinted in a New Year's message that it was willing to work with Obama by saying it wanted good relations with countries that treated it in an amicable manner.
"The North probably believes that this type of thing is the most effective way of getting the upper hand with the U.S. ahead of negotiations by raising tension," Yoo said.
The North's bureaucracy works slowly to form policy and it may still be trying to figure out its approach with the new Obama team, analysts said, making it easier for Pyongyang to direct its anger of Washington's allies, including Seoul.
"What is worrying is that the possibility of a military clash is rising," Yoo said, pointing to the possibility of broader confrontation than naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
The latest move follows comments by a U.S. national security official that the secretive state's leader, Kim Jong-il, appeared to have rebounded politically from his recent health scare and is making major decisions.
One analyst said the latest rise in tension increased the chances of a military clash on the heavily armed border that has divided the two Koreas for more than half a century.
"There is neither way to improve (relations) nor hope to bring them on track," North Korea's KCNA news agency quoted the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea as saying.
Tension had reached "such extremes" that "inter-Korean relations have reached the brink of a war," KCNA said, using a phrase commonly carried by North Korean state media.
South Korean officials were not immediately available for comment.
Friday's threat focused largely on a basic accord the two Koreas struck in 1991 that analysts said Pyongyang might feel inadequately reflects its position on disputed ocean waters.
Other deals were reached during a brief period of detente that followed a summit between the leaders of North and South Korea in June 2000, which led to reunions of separated families, communication systems to defuse military tensions and rail and road links across their heavily armed border.
Impoverished North Korea has bridled at the hard-line policy of the year-old conservative government in the South which has ended a free flow of unconditional aid. Seoul has promised massive aid and investment only if Pyongyang is serious about giving up its nuclear weapons program.
But the isolated state has made clear it is not ready to sacrifice the little international leverage it has in the form of a nuclear threat, without first establishing diplomatic relations with the United States.
In recent months, it has all but closed the few border links with the South that were open, though a lucrative industrial park operated by Seoul just inside its border has remained open.
"First, all the agreed points concerning the issue of putting an end to the political and military confrontation between the north and the south will be nullified," KCNA quoted the committee as saying.
"Second, the Agreement on Reconciliation, Non-aggression, Cooperation and Exchange between the North and the South and the points on the military boundary line in the West Sea stipulated in its appendix will be nullified," it said.
SEEKING UPPER HAND
Korea University professor Yoo Ho-yeol said the latest comments had three main aims: to pressure South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, scare the United States and to drum up political support at home.
North Korea had hinted in a New Year's message that it was willing to work with Obama by saying it wanted good relations with countries that treated it in an amicable manner.
"The North probably believes that this type of thing is the most effective way of getting the upper hand with the U.S. ahead of negotiations by raising tension," Yoo said.
The North's bureaucracy works slowly to form policy and it may still be trying to figure out its approach with the new Obama team, analysts said, making it easier for Pyongyang to direct its anger of Washington's allies, including Seoul.
"What is worrying is that the possibility of a military clash is rising," Yoo said, pointing to the possibility of broader confrontation than naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.
The latest move follows comments by a U.S. national security official that the secretive state's leader, Kim Jong-il, appeared to have rebounded politically from his recent health scare and is making major decisions.
Australian throws four-year-old daughter off bridge: police
SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian man was charged with murder after allegedly throwing his four-year-old daughter from a city bridge into a river during peak hour traffic on Thursday, police said.
The 36-year-old man, believed to be involved in a custody battle with the girl's mother, allegedly threw her from a 60-metre (200-feet) high section of the West Gate bridge into the Yarra River in the southern city of Melbourne.
The incident took place in front of hundreds of motorists while two other children, boys believed to be aged six and eight, remained in the four-wheel drive, police said.
"No one had the opportunity to intervene ... it all happened fairly quickly," Detective Inspector Steve Clark told reporters.
"He's got straight out of the car and taken the young girl and walked to the edge of the bridge, so that would have happened in a matter of seconds."
Horrified witnesses called police, who were on the scene within moments and retrieved her body from the water. They spent 45 minutes attempting to resuscitate the girl on the riverbank.
She died from severe internal inuries within hours of being airlifted to hospital.
The man was arrested outside the city's law courts building with the two young boys shortly after the incident, and was "visibly distressed", Clark said.
He was not mentally fit to be interviewed, and his lawyers said he could not appear in court because he was suicidal and in an "acute psychiatric state". His case will be heard in May.
"It's a dreadful set of circumstances, and often you think you've seen it all but you haven't," Clark said, adding that the man was believed to be embroiled in a custody battle with his wife.
"There have been some ongoing family court matters as I understand it between the father and his wife," he said.
The couple reportedly reached an agreement in court on Wednesday appointing joint custody. The boys were interviewed by police and have been returned to their mother.
The 36-year-old man, believed to be involved in a custody battle with the girl's mother, allegedly threw her from a 60-metre (200-feet) high section of the West Gate bridge into the Yarra River in the southern city of Melbourne.
The incident took place in front of hundreds of motorists while two other children, boys believed to be aged six and eight, remained in the four-wheel drive, police said.
"No one had the opportunity to intervene ... it all happened fairly quickly," Detective Inspector Steve Clark told reporters.
"He's got straight out of the car and taken the young girl and walked to the edge of the bridge, so that would have happened in a matter of seconds."
Horrified witnesses called police, who were on the scene within moments and retrieved her body from the water. They spent 45 minutes attempting to resuscitate the girl on the riverbank.
She died from severe internal inuries within hours of being airlifted to hospital.
The man was arrested outside the city's law courts building with the two young boys shortly after the incident, and was "visibly distressed", Clark said.
He was not mentally fit to be interviewed, and his lawyers said he could not appear in court because he was suicidal and in an "acute psychiatric state". His case will be heard in May.
"It's a dreadful set of circumstances, and often you think you've seen it all but you haven't," Clark said, adding that the man was believed to be embroiled in a custody battle with his wife.
"There have been some ongoing family court matters as I understand it between the father and his wife," he said.
The couple reportedly reached an agreement in court on Wednesday appointing joint custody. The boys were interviewed by police and have been returned to their mother.
Russia's S7 cancels Boeing 787 order
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Russia's S7 has become the first airline to cancel a major contract for Boeing Co's (BA.N) 787 Dreamliner, as the country's airlines face their worst-ever financial crisis.
The order for 15 787s, due to be delivered in 2014, was worth about $2.4 billion at list prices. The cancellation is a blow for Boeing, whose new, lightweight jetliner has not yet left the ground and is about two years behind schedule.
S7, the main domestic rival to Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot (AFLT.MM), will seek to lease the planes instead, the company said on Thursday.
"S7 retains interest in using the Dreamliner and at the moment is looking into receiving the planes under a leasing scheme at an earlier date, for which it is in negotiations with several leasing companies," it said, without naming the leasing company.
Russia's airlines were hit hard by high oil prices and global economic turmoil, which left about a dozen of them unable to fly last year.
The resulting crisis prompted Russia's government to create a new state giant, Russian Airlines, to absorb crippled carriers.
Boeing, which has faced a series of production problems on the 787 and a two-month strike last year by its assembly workers, is expecting more cancellations from airlines this year as the demand for flights wanes.
The plane maker warned on Wednesday that an airline had canceled a 787 order, but did not say which.
Boeing shares were down 4.5 percent to $41.30 in late morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
The order for 15 787s, due to be delivered in 2014, was worth about $2.4 billion at list prices. The cancellation is a blow for Boeing, whose new, lightweight jetliner has not yet left the ground and is about two years behind schedule.
S7, the main domestic rival to Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot (AFLT.MM), will seek to lease the planes instead, the company said on Thursday.
"S7 retains interest in using the Dreamliner and at the moment is looking into receiving the planes under a leasing scheme at an earlier date, for which it is in negotiations with several leasing companies," it said, without naming the leasing company.
Russia's airlines were hit hard by high oil prices and global economic turmoil, which left about a dozen of them unable to fly last year.
The resulting crisis prompted Russia's government to create a new state giant, Russian Airlines, to absorb crippled carriers.
Boeing, which has faced a series of production problems on the 787 and a two-month strike last year by its assembly workers, is expecting more cancellations from airlines this year as the demand for flights wanes.
The plane maker warned on Wednesday that an airline had canceled a 787 order, but did not say which.
Boeing shares were down 4.5 percent to $41.30 in late morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
Lab confirmed salmonella for Ga. peanut plant
WASHINGTON – A lab company president called to testify before Congress in the salmonella outbreak investigation said Thursday that manufacturers "can't retest away a positive result."
Charles Diebel, whose labs conducted tests for Peanut Corp. of America, said that if 100 containers were tested and only one or two turned up salmonella, the company should "throw the whole lot out."
Federal health officials say Peanut Corp. shipped tainted peanut products from its Blakely, Ga., facility after retesting them and getting a negative result for salmonella.
Peanut butter, peanut paste and other goods from the plant are being blamed for an outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people, triggered a massive international recall and raised doubts about the food industry's safety practices.
Deibel said his company — Deibel Labs Inc. — did not conduct day-to-day testing for the Blakely plant, but was asked on occasion to carry out certain tests. He said the company has turned over bacterial cultures to federal investigators.
Deibel and the president of another lab, J. Leek Associates Inc., have been called to testify Feb. 11 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Deibel firm has been in existence since the 1960s and has its main lab in Chicago.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the panel conducting a hearing into the outbreak said the investigation shows "major gaps" in the nation's food safety system.
"I am extremely troubled by reports that the plan tested positive for salmonella numerous times but nothing was done to ensure that the product did not go on the market," Waxman said.
Peanut Corp., based in Lynchburg, Va., said in a statement it "categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products."
Charles Diebel, whose labs conducted tests for Peanut Corp. of America, said that if 100 containers were tested and only one or two turned up salmonella, the company should "throw the whole lot out."
Federal health officials say Peanut Corp. shipped tainted peanut products from its Blakely, Ga., facility after retesting them and getting a negative result for salmonella.
Peanut butter, peanut paste and other goods from the plant are being blamed for an outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people, triggered a massive international recall and raised doubts about the food industry's safety practices.
Deibel said his company — Deibel Labs Inc. — did not conduct day-to-day testing for the Blakely plant, but was asked on occasion to carry out certain tests. He said the company has turned over bacterial cultures to federal investigators.
Deibel and the president of another lab, J. Leek Associates Inc., have been called to testify Feb. 11 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Deibel firm has been in existence since the 1960s and has its main lab in Chicago.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the panel conducting a hearing into the outbreak said the investigation shows "major gaps" in the nation's food safety system.
"I am extremely troubled by reports that the plan tested positive for salmonella numerous times but nothing was done to ensure that the product did not go on the market," Waxman said.
Peanut Corp., based in Lynchburg, Va., said in a statement it "categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products."
People of Illinois happy to see Blagojevich go
People across Illinois who watched former Gov. Rod Blagojevich get the boot Thursday said they hoped removal of the scandal-plagued governor helps the state begin rebuilding its image after weeks of ridicule.
"I figured it was coming," said Darlene Lewis, an investment securities representative in Chicago, after the state Senate's 59-0 vote. "He needs to be impeached. He's not above the law."
From Chicago's famous Billy Goat Tavern to southern Illinois farm country, many residents said they were weary after weeks of watching the state become a laughingstock.
"I'm in the camp that says, 'Finally.' I'm glad we're moving forward," said Richard Borgsmiller from his farm near Murphysboro.
By Thursday, Borgsmiller had run out of patience with Blagojevich, believing the governor peddled influence, abused his power and showed "a little bit of arrogance" by living in Chicago instead of the governor's mansion in Springfield.
"From the get-go, that was something that bothered me," he said.
At the Billy Goat, Gene Ciepierski considered Blagojevich's impeachment "very embarrassing."
"I think it's a shame that with our city and Illinois, everybody thinks we're all corrupt," Ciepierski said after watching the announcement of Blagojevich's fate, which played on all the bar's televisions. "To think he would do something like that, it hurts more than anything."
Some of Blagojevich's former political foes rejoiced — cautiously.
"Nobody is happier to see Rod go than I am, but this is not time to celebrate," said Edwin Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman who lost to Blagojevich in the 2006 Democratic primary. "We have serious and sobering work to do before we firmly close this sorry chapter in our state's history."
Earlier Thursday, Blagojevich's 47-minute speech to the state Senate played big in Chicago's Loop, where lunch-goers paused in front of a billboard-sized TV screen facing Daley Plaza.
Brian David, a student at the University of Illinois-Chicago, found the Democrat's bid to save his job unconvincing.
"I just don't think I believe him at all," David said.
Chicago attorney Thomas Westgard called Blagojevich's last stand in Springfield "hilarious and saddening. It's one of those laugh or cry things."
"It's so shocking you don't know how to react," Westgard said. "He needs to go. They're correct to throw him out."
At JV's Downtown Bar and Grill in Waterloo, a community of less than 9,000 people southeast of St. Louis, off-duty bartender Patrick Meegan nursed a bottle of Bud Light after watching Blagojevich get removed.
Meegan's only surprise: That the vote was unanimous, "a clean sweep."
"I thought there might be a couple of dissenters," said Meegan, who voted for Blagojevich in 2002 but sided with his opponent four years later.
"He made his plea in front of the Senate, and it didn't work," Meegan said. "I'm glad this is done. Let's start all over. We're the laughingstock of the country."
"I figured it was coming," said Darlene Lewis, an investment securities representative in Chicago, after the state Senate's 59-0 vote. "He needs to be impeached. He's not above the law."
From Chicago's famous Billy Goat Tavern to southern Illinois farm country, many residents said they were weary after weeks of watching the state become a laughingstock.
"I'm in the camp that says, 'Finally.' I'm glad we're moving forward," said Richard Borgsmiller from his farm near Murphysboro.
By Thursday, Borgsmiller had run out of patience with Blagojevich, believing the governor peddled influence, abused his power and showed "a little bit of arrogance" by living in Chicago instead of the governor's mansion in Springfield.
"From the get-go, that was something that bothered me," he said.
At the Billy Goat, Gene Ciepierski considered Blagojevich's impeachment "very embarrassing."
"I think it's a shame that with our city and Illinois, everybody thinks we're all corrupt," Ciepierski said after watching the announcement of Blagojevich's fate, which played on all the bar's televisions. "To think he would do something like that, it hurts more than anything."
Some of Blagojevich's former political foes rejoiced — cautiously.
"Nobody is happier to see Rod go than I am, but this is not time to celebrate," said Edwin Eisendrath, a former Chicago alderman who lost to Blagojevich in the 2006 Democratic primary. "We have serious and sobering work to do before we firmly close this sorry chapter in our state's history."
Earlier Thursday, Blagojevich's 47-minute speech to the state Senate played big in Chicago's Loop, where lunch-goers paused in front of a billboard-sized TV screen facing Daley Plaza.
Brian David, a student at the University of Illinois-Chicago, found the Democrat's bid to save his job unconvincing.
"I just don't think I believe him at all," David said.
Chicago attorney Thomas Westgard called Blagojevich's last stand in Springfield "hilarious and saddening. It's one of those laugh or cry things."
"It's so shocking you don't know how to react," Westgard said. "He needs to go. They're correct to throw him out."
At JV's Downtown Bar and Grill in Waterloo, a community of less than 9,000 people southeast of St. Louis, off-duty bartender Patrick Meegan nursed a bottle of Bud Light after watching Blagojevich get removed.
Meegan's only surprise: That the vote was unanimous, "a clean sweep."
"I thought there might be a couple of dissenters," said Meegan, who voted for Blagojevich in 2002 but sided with his opponent four years later.
"He made his plea in front of the Senate, and it didn't work," Meegan said. "I'm glad this is done. Let's start all over. We're the laughingstock of the country."
Prosecutor in LA church abuse tries fraud tactic
LOS ANGELES – A federal prosecutor with a penchant for applying the law creatively is taking on the nation's largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese in a child molestation case that could break ground for prosecuting high-ranking church officials.
But legal experts questioned whether U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien could persuade a jury that by allowing the molestation of hundreds of children by Catholic priests church leaders violated the federal "honest services" fraud law.
The law, which makes it illegal to scheme to deprive others of their right to honest services, has most often been used to prosecute politicians and chief executive officers of corporations. It has never been used against a church.
The Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that O'Brien was pursuing the honest services fraud strategy.
He would have to show that parishioners were denied the honest services of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other church leaders. A federal grand jury is investigating how they handled their internal investigation of child-molest allegations brought against Catholic priests.
The Archdiocese reached a record $660 million settlement in 2007 with more than 500 alleged victims of child abuse.
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola University Law School and a former federal prosecutor, predicted the honest services fraud would be difficult to prove because it requires evidence of "a specific intent to defraud."
"Federal statutes are designed to cover a myriad of kinds of behavior, but just because you can charge them doesn't mean the jury is going to convict," Levenson said.
Mahony said the Archdiocese was cooperating, but he thought the matter had already been laid to rest by previous state and local investigations.
"Basically we were mystified and puzzled by the whole thing," Mahony told Los Angeles radio station KNX on Thursday. "We have been through these investigations for years now."
One legal expert seemed to agree, suggesting a federal prosecution was unwarranted.
"It's outrageous that they're in it," said G. Robert Blakey, a professor who teaches federal law at Notre Dame University and who helped draft the honest services statute.
"What does this have to do with the federal government?" Blakey asked. "The state of California has prosecuted many cases. They got a huge settlement in civil cases. Why is the federal government doing it now? Doesn't he (O'Brien) have enough to do with terrorists, with financial fraud, with drug smuggling?"
The U.S. attorney's office said Thursday it would have no comment.
O'Brien gained attention last year when he stepped in after local authorities declined to prosecute a Missouri woman for allegedly causing the suicide of a teenage girl through an Internet hoax. Authorities said Lori Drew created a phony MySpace profile for a teenage boy and used it to flirt with the girl, then dump her.
O'Brien brought computer fraud charges under a law normally used in hacking and trademark infringement cases. Drew was convicted of minor charges of using computers without authorization, but she was acquitted of more serious crimes.
Advocates for victims of clergy abuse expressed joy that he was going after the Archdiocese.
"From our perspective, it's crystal clear that parishioners were deceived and defrauded. It's simply common sense," said David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Steve Rubino, a New Jersey attorney who has represented numerous priest abuse victims and attempted to bring federal conspiracy charges against church officials, said the U.S. attorney's effort "is a natural outgrowth of the whole attempt to find accountability for all of this."
But he said trying to prosecute high-level church officials could be difficult.
"Chief executives (of companies) are tried every day," he said. "Chief executives who happen to be sitting cardinals are not. It will be a political and legal test of will."
Mahony's attorney, J. Michael Hennigan, accused the government of leaking word of the investigation, adding the Archdiocese would press for an investigation.
"The Archdiocese is not aware of any fact or set of facts that would support a responsible federal investigation of the Archdiocese or of Cardinal Roger Mahony," Hennigan said in an e-mailed statement.
But legal experts questioned whether U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien could persuade a jury that by allowing the molestation of hundreds of children by Catholic priests church leaders violated the federal "honest services" fraud law.
The law, which makes it illegal to scheme to deprive others of their right to honest services, has most often been used to prosecute politicians and chief executive officers of corporations. It has never been used against a church.
The Los Angeles Times, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that O'Brien was pursuing the honest services fraud strategy.
He would have to show that parishioners were denied the honest services of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and other church leaders. A federal grand jury is investigating how they handled their internal investigation of child-molest allegations brought against Catholic priests.
The Archdiocese reached a record $660 million settlement in 2007 with more than 500 alleged victims of child abuse.
Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola University Law School and a former federal prosecutor, predicted the honest services fraud would be difficult to prove because it requires evidence of "a specific intent to defraud."
"Federal statutes are designed to cover a myriad of kinds of behavior, but just because you can charge them doesn't mean the jury is going to convict," Levenson said.
Mahony said the Archdiocese was cooperating, but he thought the matter had already been laid to rest by previous state and local investigations.
"Basically we were mystified and puzzled by the whole thing," Mahony told Los Angeles radio station KNX on Thursday. "We have been through these investigations for years now."
One legal expert seemed to agree, suggesting a federal prosecution was unwarranted.
"It's outrageous that they're in it," said G. Robert Blakey, a professor who teaches federal law at Notre Dame University and who helped draft the honest services statute.
"What does this have to do with the federal government?" Blakey asked. "The state of California has prosecuted many cases. They got a huge settlement in civil cases. Why is the federal government doing it now? Doesn't he (O'Brien) have enough to do with terrorists, with financial fraud, with drug smuggling?"
The U.S. attorney's office said Thursday it would have no comment.
O'Brien gained attention last year when he stepped in after local authorities declined to prosecute a Missouri woman for allegedly causing the suicide of a teenage girl through an Internet hoax. Authorities said Lori Drew created a phony MySpace profile for a teenage boy and used it to flirt with the girl, then dump her.
O'Brien brought computer fraud charges under a law normally used in hacking and trademark infringement cases. Drew was convicted of minor charges of using computers without authorization, but she was acquitted of more serious crimes.
Advocates for victims of clergy abuse expressed joy that he was going after the Archdiocese.
"From our perspective, it's crystal clear that parishioners were deceived and defrauded. It's simply common sense," said David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Steve Rubino, a New Jersey attorney who has represented numerous priest abuse victims and attempted to bring federal conspiracy charges against church officials, said the U.S. attorney's effort "is a natural outgrowth of the whole attempt to find accountability for all of this."
But he said trying to prosecute high-level church officials could be difficult.
"Chief executives (of companies) are tried every day," he said. "Chief executives who happen to be sitting cardinals are not. It will be a political and legal test of will."
Mahony's attorney, J. Michael Hennigan, accused the government of leaking word of the investigation, adding the Archdiocese would press for an investigation.
"The Archdiocese is not aware of any fact or set of facts that would support a responsible federal investigation of the Archdiocese or of Cardinal Roger Mahony," Hennigan said in an e-mailed statement.
Ohioan gets 44 years in underwear molestation ploy
CINCINNATI – A suburban Cincinnati man convicted of sexually touching children while claiming to be a market researcher who wanted to measure their underwear has been sentenced to 44 years in prison.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman imposed the maximum sentence possible on Ben Hawkins on Thursday.
Prosecutors said the 44-year-old Hawkins targeted boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16, and sometimes convinced parents to let him be alone with their kids.
They say he arranged to meet parents and children at schools, hospitals or their homes and told parents he needed to measure underwear for research.
Hawkins pleaded guilty in December to nine charges of importuning and three counts of gross sexual imposition.
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman imposed the maximum sentence possible on Ben Hawkins on Thursday.
Prosecutors said the 44-year-old Hawkins targeted boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 16, and sometimes convinced parents to let him be alone with their kids.
They say he arranged to meet parents and children at schools, hospitals or their homes and told parents he needed to measure underwear for research.
Hawkins pleaded guilty in December to nine charges of importuning and three counts of gross sexual imposition.
NY madam gets 6 months in case linked to Spitzer
NEW YORK – A college student who managed the prostitution ring that brought down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer was sentenced Thursday to six months in prison.
Cecil Suwal, 24, of New York, cried as she apologized and asked for mercy from U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones.
"It is my aim to prevent others, especially young girls, from making the kind of mistakes that I have made," Suwal said.
She pleaded guilty last year to money laundering, conspiracy and conspiring to promote prostitution.
The federal probation department had recommended that Suwal receive no prison time. Prosecutors had sought roughly two years.
Suwal was 18 when she got involved with a man nearly three times her age. She was Mark Brener's "paramour, his companion and ultimately his assistant" at the Emperors Club VIP, a $5,500-an-hour escort service, said defense attorney Alberto A. Ebanks.
Ebanks said Brener's psychological domination left Suwal incapable of making independent decisions. Her attorney said she even had a tattoo on her body reading "property of Mark Brener."
But Ebanks said Suwal has "permanently severed the umbilical cord from Brener," adding that she attended college last semester, did charity work, had steady appropriate employment and had volunteered for a forensic psychological evaluation.
The federal judge credited Suwal for going to "extraordinary lengths to put her life back on track" but said it could not erase the fact that she had played a central role in the escort service.
Brener, 63, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a prostitution offense and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces between 2 and 2 1/2 years in prison.
The judge said Suwal opened bank accounts for shell businesses created to hide the true nature of the operation, paid prostitutes and arranged meetings with clients.
It was one such meeting in a Washington hotel last February that snared Spitzer and led to his March resignation as governor.
Prosecutors announced in November they would not charge Spitzer after investigators found no evidence that he misused public or campaign funds for prostitution. The federal government typically does not prosecute clients of prostitution rings.
Booking agent Tanya Robin Hollander of Rhinebeck, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a prostitution conspiracy and was sentenced to a year of probation. Another booking agent, Temeka Lewis, who is enrolled at the University of Virginia, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering.
Cecil Suwal, 24, of New York, cried as she apologized and asked for mercy from U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones.
"It is my aim to prevent others, especially young girls, from making the kind of mistakes that I have made," Suwal said.
She pleaded guilty last year to money laundering, conspiracy and conspiring to promote prostitution.
The federal probation department had recommended that Suwal receive no prison time. Prosecutors had sought roughly two years.
Suwal was 18 when she got involved with a man nearly three times her age. She was Mark Brener's "paramour, his companion and ultimately his assistant" at the Emperors Club VIP, a $5,500-an-hour escort service, said defense attorney Alberto A. Ebanks.
Ebanks said Brener's psychological domination left Suwal incapable of making independent decisions. Her attorney said she even had a tattoo on her body reading "property of Mark Brener."
But Ebanks said Suwal has "permanently severed the umbilical cord from Brener," adding that she attended college last semester, did charity work, had steady appropriate employment and had volunteered for a forensic psychological evaluation.
The federal judge credited Suwal for going to "extraordinary lengths to put her life back on track" but said it could not erase the fact that she had played a central role in the escort service.
Brener, 63, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a prostitution offense and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He faces between 2 and 2 1/2 years in prison.
The judge said Suwal opened bank accounts for shell businesses created to hide the true nature of the operation, paid prostitutes and arranged meetings with clients.
It was one such meeting in a Washington hotel last February that snared Spitzer and led to his March resignation as governor.
Prosecutors announced in November they would not charge Spitzer after investigators found no evidence that he misused public or campaign funds for prostitution. The federal government typically does not prosecute clients of prostitution rings.
Booking agent Tanya Robin Hollander of Rhinebeck, N.Y., pleaded guilty to a prostitution conspiracy and was sentenced to a year of probation. Another booking agent, Temeka Lewis, who is enrolled at the University of Virginia, is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering.
Texas executes inmate for killing fellow prisoner
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A violent prison gang member was put to death Thursday for fatally injecting a fellow prisoner with an overdose of heroin more than 11 years ago.
Ricardo Ortiz, 46, thanked his family for their support although he had no personal witnesses in the death chamber.
He was pronounced dead nine minutes later, at 6:18 p.m.
Ortiz became the fifth condemned killer to receive lethal injection this year in the nation's most active death penalty state and the second killed this week in Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal to delay the execution about two hours before he was scheduled to die. Ortiz had sought to put off the execution on the grounds that he should get federal money to pay for legal representation to file a state clemency request.
The issue is still under review by the court. Similar appeals from other condemned inmates so far have failed.
State attorneys had opposed the request, contending that even if Ortiz presented a clemency petition to the governor, it likely would fail.
Ortiz was condemned for injecting a fatal amount of heroin into 22-year-old Gerardo Garcia at the El Paso County jail. Garcia was found dead in 1997 of an injection three times more potent than the amount that could kill him.
Jail inmates testified that Ortiz obtained the drug the previous day and injected Garcia, saying his bank robbery partner had to die for implicating him. The two were being interviewed by FBI agents investigating a series of unsolved bank robberies.
Ortiz declined to speak with reporters before his execution. He had a long criminal history that included robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary and possessing deadly weapons in prison, including a homemade spear used to stab a fellow inmate.
Prosecutors said he was a high-ranking member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang.
Defense attorneys had tried to show jurors Garcia had a death wish and was considering suicide.
Evidence showed Ortiz was arrested in 1990 but never tried for the execution-style slayings of two Houston-area parolees, Anthony Rosalio Acosta, 42, and Jimmy Lopez Rangel, 29, in a desert southeast of El Paso.
Ricardo Ortiz, 46, thanked his family for their support although he had no personal witnesses in the death chamber.
He was pronounced dead nine minutes later, at 6:18 p.m.
Ortiz became the fifth condemned killer to receive lethal injection this year in the nation's most active death penalty state and the second killed this week in Texas.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal to delay the execution about two hours before he was scheduled to die. Ortiz had sought to put off the execution on the grounds that he should get federal money to pay for legal representation to file a state clemency request.
The issue is still under review by the court. Similar appeals from other condemned inmates so far have failed.
State attorneys had opposed the request, contending that even if Ortiz presented a clemency petition to the governor, it likely would fail.
Ortiz was condemned for injecting a fatal amount of heroin into 22-year-old Gerardo Garcia at the El Paso County jail. Garcia was found dead in 1997 of an injection three times more potent than the amount that could kill him.
Jail inmates testified that Ortiz obtained the drug the previous day and injected Garcia, saying his bank robbery partner had to die for implicating him. The two were being interviewed by FBI agents investigating a series of unsolved bank robberies.
Ortiz declined to speak with reporters before his execution. He had a long criminal history that included robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary and possessing deadly weapons in prison, including a homemade spear used to stab a fellow inmate.
Prosecutors said he was a high-ranking member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang.
Defense attorneys had tried to show jurors Garcia had a death wish and was considering suicide.
Evidence showed Ortiz was arrested in 1990 but never tried for the execution-style slayings of two Houston-area parolees, Anthony Rosalio Acosta, 42, and Jimmy Lopez Rangel, 29, in a desert southeast of El Paso.
Iceland to appoint gay woman minister to PM post
REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Iceland's next leader will be an openly gay former flight attendant who parlayed her experience as a union organizer into a decades-long political career.
Both parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support the appointment of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, as Iceland's interim prime minister.
"Now we need a strong government that works with the people," Sigurdardottir told reporters Wednesday, adding that a new administration will likely be installed Saturday.
Sigurdardottir will lead until new elections are held, likely in May. But analysts say she's unlikely to remain in office — chiefly because her center-left Social Democratic Alliance isn't expected to rank among the major parties after the election.
In opinion polls, it trails the Left-Green movement, a junior partner in the new coalition.
Iceland's previous conservative-led government failed Monday after the country's banks collapsed last fall under the weight of huge debts amassed during years of rapid economic growth. The country's currency has since plummeted, while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
Former Prime Minister Geir Haarde won't lead his Independence Party into the new elections because he needs treatment for throat cancer.
While Haarde endured angry protests for months and had his limousine pelted with eggs, polling company Capacent Gallup said Sigurdardottir was Iceland's most popular politician in November, with an approval rating of 73 percent.
She was the only minister to see her rating improve on the previous year's score, Capacent Gallup said Wednesday. The poll of 2,000 people had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
"It's a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people," said Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland.
Sigurdardottir is seen by many as a salve to the bubbling tensions in Iceland. Thousands have joined anti-government protests recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.
"She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland," said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, a fellow Alliance party member.
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organizations tackling domestic violence.
But conservative critics say Sigurdardottir's leftist leanings and lack of business experience won't help her fix the economy. "Johanna is a very good woman — but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser," Haarde said.
Iceland has negotiated about $10 billion in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries. The loans are currently being held as foreign currency reserves.
Banks that were nationalized last year are once again open and trading — but Iceland still owes millions of dollars to foreign depositors.
After acting as a labor organizer when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines — now Icelandair — in the 1960s and 1970s, Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland's parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and from 2007.
"If there's anyone who can restore trust in the political system it's her," said Eyvindur Karlsson, a 27-year-old translator from Reykjavik. "People respect her because she's never been afraid of standing up to her own party. They see her as someone who isn't tainted by the economic crisis."
In 1995, Sigurdardottir quit the party and formed her own, which won four parliamentary seats in a national election. Several years later, she rejoined her old party when it merged with three other center-left groups.
While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.
She lives with journalist Jonina Leosdottir, who became her civil partner in 2002, and has two sons from a previous marriage.
Sigurdardottir is best known for her reaction to a failed bid to lead her party in 1994. "My time will come," she predicted in her concession speech.
Both parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support the appointment of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, as Iceland's interim prime minister.
"Now we need a strong government that works with the people," Sigurdardottir told reporters Wednesday, adding that a new administration will likely be installed Saturday.
Sigurdardottir will lead until new elections are held, likely in May. But analysts say she's unlikely to remain in office — chiefly because her center-left Social Democratic Alliance isn't expected to rank among the major parties after the election.
In opinion polls, it trails the Left-Green movement, a junior partner in the new coalition.
Iceland's previous conservative-led government failed Monday after the country's banks collapsed last fall under the weight of huge debts amassed during years of rapid economic growth. The country's currency has since plummeted, while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
Former Prime Minister Geir Haarde won't lead his Independence Party into the new elections because he needs treatment for throat cancer.
While Haarde endured angry protests for months and had his limousine pelted with eggs, polling company Capacent Gallup said Sigurdardottir was Iceland's most popular politician in November, with an approval rating of 73 percent.
She was the only minister to see her rating improve on the previous year's score, Capacent Gallup said Wednesday. The poll of 2,000 people had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.
"It's a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people," said Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland.
Sigurdardottir is seen by many as a salve to the bubbling tensions in Iceland. Thousands have joined anti-government protests recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.
"She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland," said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, a fellow Alliance party member.
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organizations tackling domestic violence.
But conservative critics say Sigurdardottir's leftist leanings and lack of business experience won't help her fix the economy. "Johanna is a very good woman — but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser," Haarde said.
Iceland has negotiated about $10 billion in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries. The loans are currently being held as foreign currency reserves.
Banks that were nationalized last year are once again open and trading — but Iceland still owes millions of dollars to foreign depositors.
After acting as a labor organizer when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines — now Icelandair — in the 1960s and 1970s, Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland's parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and from 2007.
"If there's anyone who can restore trust in the political system it's her," said Eyvindur Karlsson, a 27-year-old translator from Reykjavik. "People respect her because she's never been afraid of standing up to her own party. They see her as someone who isn't tainted by the economic crisis."
In 1995, Sigurdardottir quit the party and formed her own, which won four parliamentary seats in a national election. Several years later, she rejoined her old party when it merged with three other center-left groups.
While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.
She lives with journalist Jonina Leosdottir, who became her civil partner in 2002, and has two sons from a previous marriage.
Sigurdardottir is best known for her reaction to a failed bid to lead her party in 1994. "My time will come," she predicted in her concession speech.
Obama signs workforce anti-discrimination law
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law on Thursday, handing his labor and women's rights backers a victory by reversing a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it harder to sue for pay discrimination.
With the woman for whom the law was named at his side, Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act at a White House ceremony. The Democratic-led Congress passed the measure this week.
Pay equity was a sensitive issue during the presidential election campaign last year, especially among labor unions and women voters. On average, women in the United States are paid 23 percent less than men, while minority women receive even less.
"In signing this bill today, I intend to send a clear message -- that making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone, that there are no second class citizens in our workplaces," said the Democratic president, who is in his second week in office.
Ledbetter is an Alabama woman who discovered after 19 years on the job at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that she was the lowest-paid supervisor at her plant despite having more experience than several male co-workers.
A jury found she was the victim of discrimination. But during the Bush administration, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed what critics described as decades of legal precedent by declaring that discrimination claims must be filed within 180 days of the first offense.
The court rejected the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's contention that each new discriminatory paycheck triggers a new 180-day statute of limitations.
The law signed by Obama amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to put the old EEOC standard into law, and covers pay discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, religion, age and disabilities.
Some Republicans and business leaders have expressed concern the measure could trigger an explosion of lawsuits based on old claims, discourage employers from hiring women and undermine efforts to stem the recession.
With the woman for whom the law was named at his side, Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act at a White House ceremony. The Democratic-led Congress passed the measure this week.
Pay equity was a sensitive issue during the presidential election campaign last year, especially among labor unions and women voters. On average, women in the United States are paid 23 percent less than men, while minority women receive even less.
"In signing this bill today, I intend to send a clear message -- that making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone, that there are no second class citizens in our workplaces," said the Democratic president, who is in his second week in office.
Ledbetter is an Alabama woman who discovered after 19 years on the job at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. that she was the lowest-paid supervisor at her plant despite having more experience than several male co-workers.
A jury found she was the victim of discrimination. But during the Bush administration, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision reversed what critics described as decades of legal precedent by declaring that discrimination claims must be filed within 180 days of the first offense.
The court rejected the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's contention that each new discriminatory paycheck triggers a new 180-day statute of limitations.
The law signed by Obama amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to put the old EEOC standard into law, and covers pay discrimination based on gender, race, national origin, religion, age and disabilities.
Some Republicans and business leaders have expressed concern the measure could trigger an explosion of lawsuits based on old claims, discourage employers from hiring women and undermine efforts to stem the recession.
Analysis: GOP gambles in opposing Obama stimulus
WASHINGTON (AP — Eight days after Barack Obama took office as a "change" president, House Republicans have made a huge political gamble that could set the tone for the next election cycle.
In unanimously opposing the massive spending bill that Obama says is crucial to reviving the economy, they signaled they are not cowed by his November win or his calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Obama's popularity will slacken, they say, and even it doesn't voters will reward a party that makes principled stands for restrained spending and bigger tax cuts.
Democratic officials think Republicans are misreading Americans' hunger for action. And if they are right, the GOP could face a third round of election setbacks next year.
Eyebrows were raised on both sides by Wednesday night's 244-188 House vote, in which not a single Republican supported the stimulus package.
Passage was never in doubt, even when 11 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting nay. And the Democratic-controlled Congress is almost certain to enact some version of the measure soon, after senators make changes and work out the differences with the House.
Many congressional insiders, however, thought a dozen or more GOP House members would back the bill this week, especially after Obama met separately Tuesday with House and Senate Republicans in a rare presidential visit to the Capitol's two wings. The House vote makes it easier for Democrats to portray the entire Republican Party as a do-nothing, head-in-the-sand group, though GOP officials call that unfair.
"I think the Republicans have painted themselves into a box," said David DiMartino, a former Senate Democratic staffer now in public relations. "If the stimulus package works, they were wrong. For them to be right, the economy has to tank. They seem to be rooting for a bad economy."
Democratic strategists also think Republicans blundered by unanimously opposing Obama just after he made a high-profile show of bipartisanship. Not only was there his visit to the Capitol, but he agreed to drop two items from the bill that drew particular GOP fire: money to resod the National Mall in Washington and to expand family planning programs.
Republicans began pushing back Thursday. The two concessions were mighty small, they said, and Democrats ignored the GOP's alternative package that included more tax cuts and less spending, especially for programs with no obvious promise for stimulating the economy quickly.
Having Congress do nothing is not an option, "although sometimes our Democratic friends would like to present the false choice," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., told reporters.
If a Democratic measure fails to improve the economy, Kyl said, then in about six months Republicans will "be in the position to say, 'We didn't have the input into this that we needed, and that's why it hasn't worked.'"
For now, at least, White House aides see Obama's outreach to Republicans as a win-win for him, no matter where the House and Senate votes end up. They calculate that Americans will give him credit for trying to win Republicans over, even if he fails.
Liberal groups and labor unions turned up the heat Thursday. They announced a TV ad campaign meant to pressure moderate GOP senators to back the stimulus bill. The ad, by MoveOn.org and other groups, targets Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama will continue to meet with Republicans and make changes to the bill in response to their concerns. However, Gibbs suggested in an interview, GOP lawmakers will pay a political price if they ultimately stand in the bill's way.
"There will be people in districts all over the country who will wonder why, when there's a good bill to get the economy moving, why we still are playing gotcha," he said.
Both parties point to polls that they say show support for their respective viewpoints. White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told House Republican moderates this week that surveys find about 80 percent support for the stimulus legislation.
House GOP leaders, meanwhile, cited a poll Thursday in which most respondents said the stimulus bill is too expensive. It also found, they said, that 71 percent think it's unfair to give refund checks to people who do not pay federal income taxes.
Many low-income workers already receive some benefits through the Earned Income Tax Credit, but the stimulus bill would expand refunds to help offset payroll taxes that these workers pay.
Republicans' biggest complaint is that the package is loaded with items that they say seem more likely to promote liberal agendas than to stimulate the economy in the short run. They include $1 billion for the Census Bureau and money to combat Avian flu and help people stop smoking.
With such items being highlighted, "it's becoming an easier 'no' vote for all us," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview Thursday.
Many Republican lawmakers feel they were stampeded into voting last fall for a $700 billion financial bailout measure that proved unpopular with voters and of questionable benefit, Graham said. They worry that the stimulus bill might have a similar fate.
"Who wants to own an $850 billion increase in the national debt," Graham said, "not knowing whether it will work?"
___
EDITOR'S NOTE — Charles Babington and Liz Sidoti cover Washington for The Associated Press. AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.
In unanimously opposing the massive spending bill that Obama says is crucial to reviving the economy, they signaled they are not cowed by his November win or his calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Obama's popularity will slacken, they say, and even it doesn't voters will reward a party that makes principled stands for restrained spending and bigger tax cuts.
Democratic officials think Republicans are misreading Americans' hunger for action. And if they are right, the GOP could face a third round of election setbacks next year.
Eyebrows were raised on both sides by Wednesday night's 244-188 House vote, in which not a single Republican supported the stimulus package.
Passage was never in doubt, even when 11 Democrats joined the Republicans in voting nay. And the Democratic-controlled Congress is almost certain to enact some version of the measure soon, after senators make changes and work out the differences with the House.
Many congressional insiders, however, thought a dozen or more GOP House members would back the bill this week, especially after Obama met separately Tuesday with House and Senate Republicans in a rare presidential visit to the Capitol's two wings. The House vote makes it easier for Democrats to portray the entire Republican Party as a do-nothing, head-in-the-sand group, though GOP officials call that unfair.
"I think the Republicans have painted themselves into a box," said David DiMartino, a former Senate Democratic staffer now in public relations. "If the stimulus package works, they were wrong. For them to be right, the economy has to tank. They seem to be rooting for a bad economy."
Democratic strategists also think Republicans blundered by unanimously opposing Obama just after he made a high-profile show of bipartisanship. Not only was there his visit to the Capitol, but he agreed to drop two items from the bill that drew particular GOP fire: money to resod the National Mall in Washington and to expand family planning programs.
Republicans began pushing back Thursday. The two concessions were mighty small, they said, and Democrats ignored the GOP's alternative package that included more tax cuts and less spending, especially for programs with no obvious promise for stimulating the economy quickly.
Having Congress do nothing is not an option, "although sometimes our Democratic friends would like to present the false choice," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., told reporters.
If a Democratic measure fails to improve the economy, Kyl said, then in about six months Republicans will "be in the position to say, 'We didn't have the input into this that we needed, and that's why it hasn't worked.'"
For now, at least, White House aides see Obama's outreach to Republicans as a win-win for him, no matter where the House and Senate votes end up. They calculate that Americans will give him credit for trying to win Republicans over, even if he fails.
Liberal groups and labor unions turned up the heat Thursday. They announced a TV ad campaign meant to pressure moderate GOP senators to back the stimulus bill. The ad, by MoveOn.org and other groups, targets Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama will continue to meet with Republicans and make changes to the bill in response to their concerns. However, Gibbs suggested in an interview, GOP lawmakers will pay a political price if they ultimately stand in the bill's way.
"There will be people in districts all over the country who will wonder why, when there's a good bill to get the economy moving, why we still are playing gotcha," he said.
Both parties point to polls that they say show support for their respective viewpoints. White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told House Republican moderates this week that surveys find about 80 percent support for the stimulus legislation.
House GOP leaders, meanwhile, cited a poll Thursday in which most respondents said the stimulus bill is too expensive. It also found, they said, that 71 percent think it's unfair to give refund checks to people who do not pay federal income taxes.
Many low-income workers already receive some benefits through the Earned Income Tax Credit, but the stimulus bill would expand refunds to help offset payroll taxes that these workers pay.
Republicans' biggest complaint is that the package is loaded with items that they say seem more likely to promote liberal agendas than to stimulate the economy in the short run. They include $1 billion for the Census Bureau and money to combat Avian flu and help people stop smoking.
With such items being highlighted, "it's becoming an easier 'no' vote for all us," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in an interview Thursday.
Many Republican lawmakers feel they were stampeded into voting last fall for a $700 billion financial bailout measure that proved unpopular with voters and of questionable benefit, Graham said. They worry that the stimulus bill might have a similar fate.
"Who wants to own an $850 billion increase in the national debt," Graham said, "not knowing whether it will work?"
___
EDITOR'S NOTE — Charles Babington and Liz Sidoti cover Washington for The Associated Press. AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven contributed to this report.
Abramoff deputy takes responsibility for actions
WASHINGTON – A lobbyist accused of lavishing government officials with trips, event tickets and pricey meals in exchange for favors benefiting his clients says he is taking responsibility for his actions.
Todd Boulanger, a former deputy to imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, was charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington as part of a plea agreement.
Boulanger's attorney, Mark Flanagan, said his client wants to quickly resolve the case and is cooperating with the investigation into the corruption scandal that has already resulted in convictions of several Washington officials .
"Mr. Boulanger regrets this situation and is accepting responsibility for certain past conduct," his attorney, Mark Flanagan, said in a statement.
Boulanger was an aide to former Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., and then worked with Abramoff at two lobbying firms — Preston Gates & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig — representing clients including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Court documents say Boulanger, Abramoff and another lobbyist named Kevin Ring tried to get gifts for a legislative assistant in the Senate, described as "Staffer E," who was in a position to help with legislation benefiting the Mississippi tribe. An attorney with knowledge of the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said "Staffer E" is Ann Copland, a former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.
The documents say Ring forwarded an e-mail from "Staffer E" to Abramoff and Boulanger on March 11, 2002, suggesting he felt she was getting greedy in her requests from the lobbyists. Ring wrote, "Wow ... We already told her she was fine on McCartney, ice skating and Green Day — although we need to let her know how many tix she can have for each. Also, please review the other requests and let me know what we can do there."
Boulanger replied that the staffer "should get everything she wants." Abramoff added, "She'll get everything she wants."
Ring is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to corrupt government officials.
Abramoff is cooperating in a wide-ranging investigation of his corrupt relations with officials that has resulted in convictions against former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides.
Todd Boulanger, a former deputy to imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, was charged Wednesday with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington as part of a plea agreement.
Boulanger's attorney, Mark Flanagan, said his client wants to quickly resolve the case and is cooperating with the investigation into the corruption scandal that has already resulted in convictions of several Washington officials .
"Mr. Boulanger regrets this situation and is accepting responsibility for certain past conduct," his attorney, Mark Flanagan, said in a statement.
Boulanger was an aide to former Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., and then worked with Abramoff at two lobbying firms — Preston Gates & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig — representing clients including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Court documents say Boulanger, Abramoff and another lobbyist named Kevin Ring tried to get gifts for a legislative assistant in the Senate, described as "Staffer E," who was in a position to help with legislation benefiting the Mississippi tribe. An attorney with knowledge of the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said "Staffer E" is Ann Copland, a former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.
The documents say Ring forwarded an e-mail from "Staffer E" to Abramoff and Boulanger on March 11, 2002, suggesting he felt she was getting greedy in her requests from the lobbyists. Ring wrote, "Wow ... We already told her she was fine on McCartney, ice skating and Green Day — although we need to let her know how many tix she can have for each. Also, please review the other requests and let me know what we can do there."
Boulanger replied that the staffer "should get everything she wants." Abramoff added, "She'll get everything she wants."
Ring is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to corrupt government officials.
Abramoff is cooperating in a wide-ranging investigation of his corrupt relations with officials that has resulted in convictions against former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides.
Pope decries pessimism about marriage
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI decried what he called a spreading pessimism about marriage, saying Thursday it is not the impossible undertaking many make it out to be.
Benedict was addressing the Roman Rota, the Vatican tribunal that decides marriage annulments, the process by which the church effectively declares that a marriage never took place.
Circumstances for granting annulments include refusal by a husband or a wife to have children or the "psychological incapability" of one of the spouses to contract a valid marriage.
The pope says that granting too many annulments on the grounds of "psychological incapacity" risks giving people the pessimistic impression that marriage is almost impossible.
He said the judges and lawyers of the Rota should follow guidelines that say there must be a "specific mental anomaly" that seriously impairs the use of reason either when vows are exchanged or during the marriage.
The Vatican's concern largely is directed at the United States, where the annulment approach has been more common among Catholics and where annulments are considered to often be granted too easily.
According to Vatican statistics, the Holy See estimated that about 70 percent of all annulment requests worldwide came from the United States in 2002. In that year, of the 56,000 requests worldwide, 46,000 were granted.
Benedict said the Catholic church should stress everyone's ability in principle to enter into marriage.
"Reaffirming the inborn human capacity for marriage is, in fact, the starting point for helping couples discover the natural reality of marriage and the importance it has for salvation," he said.
Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, had expressed dismay over what he saw as annulments being sometimes too easily granted.
Catholics who receive annulments are then free to marry in the church.
Benedict was addressing the Roman Rota, the Vatican tribunal that decides marriage annulments, the process by which the church effectively declares that a marriage never took place.
Circumstances for granting annulments include refusal by a husband or a wife to have children or the "psychological incapability" of one of the spouses to contract a valid marriage.
The pope says that granting too many annulments on the grounds of "psychological incapacity" risks giving people the pessimistic impression that marriage is almost impossible.
He said the judges and lawyers of the Rota should follow guidelines that say there must be a "specific mental anomaly" that seriously impairs the use of reason either when vows are exchanged or during the marriage.
The Vatican's concern largely is directed at the United States, where the annulment approach has been more common among Catholics and where annulments are considered to often be granted too easily.
According to Vatican statistics, the Holy See estimated that about 70 percent of all annulment requests worldwide came from the United States in 2002. In that year, of the 56,000 requests worldwide, 46,000 were granted.
Benedict said the Catholic church should stress everyone's ability in principle to enter into marriage.
"Reaffirming the inborn human capacity for marriage is, in fact, the starting point for helping couples discover the natural reality of marriage and the importance it has for salvation," he said.
Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, had expressed dismay over what he saw as annulments being sometimes too easily granted.
Catholics who receive annulments are then free to marry in the church.
London's Saatchi Galley shows Middle Eastern Art
LONDON – Hirsute, paunchy men recline voluptuously against each other, dressed in flimsy scraps of pink. In another room, shimmering rows of veiled women modeled from twisted and scrunched aluminum foil kneel in anonymous submission.
The exhibition "Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East" opens Friday at London's often-controversial Saatchi Gallery, with a set of hard-hitting, graphic works.
"This new generation of artists are producing work that is totally different to what Arab and Persian artists did even three or four years ago," said Irene Momtaz, a London-based art collector and gallery owner. "They are much more political and daring than they used to be and there is so much anger there it is incredible."
Traditional Islamic art has focused on calligraphy and geometric patterns, but the works in the Saatchi show are more global in their outlook. Many focus on themes of sexual hypocrisy, the invisibility of women and violence.
One of the first pieces a visitor to the gallery sees is Iraqi artist Ahmed Alsoudani's "You No Longer Have Hands," a painting of a tangled black ball with an oversized nail leaning against a menacing-looking wall — a perfect metaphor of powerlessness and fury.
Syrian-American Diana Al-Hadid's "The Tower of Infinite Problems" shows two towers, lying toppled and splintered on their sides, evoking both New York's Twin Towers and the Tower of Babel, the biblical tower that was meant to reach the heavens. Iranian artist Shirin Fakhim's "Tehran Prostitutes" features puppets in ill-fitting cheap lingerie with comically spherical breasts and kitchen implements for heads.
Gallery owner Charles Saatchi, who made his fortune in advertising, has a history of mounting provocative shows. His 1997 "Sensations" show prompted a political firestorm in New York when it moved there in 1999. Then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani was so offended by a portrait of the Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung that he temporarily cut off funding to the Brooklyn Museum.
Cartoons of the prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper triggered violent protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and a British publisher Gibson Square delayed publication on "The Jewel of Medina," a novel about one Muhammad's wives, after its offices were fire-bombed last year.
In this context, staging an exhibition that includes Ramin Haerizadeh's "Men of Allah" series of paintings of overweight men in female clothes and suggestive poses seems brave — or foolish,
Saatchi Gallery chief executive Nigel Hurst said the exhibition was not designed to infuriate, and merely represents how the artists feel about their cultures.
"We don't have a curatorial agenda. We buy work we find interesting — the artists throw up their own trends," he said "Artists reflect the worlds they live in, whether they live in Iran or Baghdad or the diaspora in America, and this exhibition just reflects that."
Oreet Ashery, an artist and fellow at London University's Queen Mary college who has worked on representation of the Middle East in art, disagrees.
"A show like this can't really represent how all Iranians, say, feel about the Middle East," she said. "It can only represent the visions of a curator. So we have to ask why did the curator buy these images. They are all bleak, and artists in the Middle East are not more despondent than artists anywhere else."
Momtaz, who has followed the Middle Eastern art scene since the 1960s, sees it differently.
"The fact that some of these artists still live, in Iran, Lebanon and feel able to produce these works shows that a change is coming," she said.
The exhibition runs at the Saatchi Gallery from Jan. 30 to May 6.
The exhibition "Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East" opens Friday at London's often-controversial Saatchi Gallery, with a set of hard-hitting, graphic works.
"This new generation of artists are producing work that is totally different to what Arab and Persian artists did even three or four years ago," said Irene Momtaz, a London-based art collector and gallery owner. "They are much more political and daring than they used to be and there is so much anger there it is incredible."
Traditional Islamic art has focused on calligraphy and geometric patterns, but the works in the Saatchi show are more global in their outlook. Many focus on themes of sexual hypocrisy, the invisibility of women and violence.
One of the first pieces a visitor to the gallery sees is Iraqi artist Ahmed Alsoudani's "You No Longer Have Hands," a painting of a tangled black ball with an oversized nail leaning against a menacing-looking wall — a perfect metaphor of powerlessness and fury.
Syrian-American Diana Al-Hadid's "The Tower of Infinite Problems" shows two towers, lying toppled and splintered on their sides, evoking both New York's Twin Towers and the Tower of Babel, the biblical tower that was meant to reach the heavens. Iranian artist Shirin Fakhim's "Tehran Prostitutes" features puppets in ill-fitting cheap lingerie with comically spherical breasts and kitchen implements for heads.
Gallery owner Charles Saatchi, who made his fortune in advertising, has a history of mounting provocative shows. His 1997 "Sensations" show prompted a political firestorm in New York when it moved there in 1999. Then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani was so offended by a portrait of the Virgin Mary adorned with elephant dung that he temporarily cut off funding to the Brooklyn Museum.
Cartoons of the prophet Muhammad printed in a Danish newspaper triggered violent protests in Muslim countries in 2006, and a British publisher Gibson Square delayed publication on "The Jewel of Medina," a novel about one Muhammad's wives, after its offices were fire-bombed last year.
In this context, staging an exhibition that includes Ramin Haerizadeh's "Men of Allah" series of paintings of overweight men in female clothes and suggestive poses seems brave — or foolish,
Saatchi Gallery chief executive Nigel Hurst said the exhibition was not designed to infuriate, and merely represents how the artists feel about their cultures.
"We don't have a curatorial agenda. We buy work we find interesting — the artists throw up their own trends," he said "Artists reflect the worlds they live in, whether they live in Iran or Baghdad or the diaspora in America, and this exhibition just reflects that."
Oreet Ashery, an artist and fellow at London University's Queen Mary college who has worked on representation of the Middle East in art, disagrees.
"A show like this can't really represent how all Iranians, say, feel about the Middle East," she said. "It can only represent the visions of a curator. So we have to ask why did the curator buy these images. They are all bleak, and artists in the Middle East are not more despondent than artists anywhere else."
Momtaz, who has followed the Middle Eastern art scene since the 1960s, sees it differently.
"The fact that some of these artists still live, in Iran, Lebanon and feel able to produce these works shows that a change is coming," she said.
The exhibition runs at the Saatchi Gallery from Jan. 30 to May 6.
British songwriter John Martyn dead at 60
LONDON – British singer-songwriter John Martyn, whose soulful songs were covered by the likes of Eric Clapton, died Thursday. He was 60.
Martyn's official Web site said the musician, who lived in Ireland, died Thursday morning. It did not give a cause of death.
A skilled guitarist and earthy vocalist influenced by folk, blues and jazz, Martyn performed with — and was admired by — musicians including Clapton, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Phil Collins.
Collins said Thursday that Martyn had been "a great friend."
"He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we'll never see the likes of him again," Collins said.
Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy near London in 1948, but grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.
He took up the guitar in his teens, moved to London and released a series of enduring albums, including "The Road to Ruin" and "Solid Air," regarded by some critics as one of the best British albums of the 1970s.
Martyn never became a household name, but his songs were praised by critics and highly regarded by other musicians. One of the best known, "May You Never," was recorded by Clapton and a host of other artists.
Martyn had a reputation as a hell-raiser, and acknowledged that alcohol and drugs had sometimes led him into trouble.
"I've been mugged in New York and luckily I fought my way out of it," he told the Daily Mirror newspaper last year. "I've been shot a couple of times as well, but I just lay down and pretended to be dead.
"I guess I'm hard to kill."
Martyn had suffered health problems in recent years, and in 2003 had a leg amputated below the knee because of a burst cyst. He continued to perform, appearing at last year's Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.
Last month, Martyn was named an OBE — Officer of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to music.
Martyn's official Web site said the musician, who lived in Ireland, died Thursday morning. It did not give a cause of death.
A skilled guitarist and earthy vocalist influenced by folk, blues and jazz, Martyn performed with — and was admired by — musicians including Clapton, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Phil Collins.
Collins said Thursday that Martyn had been "a great friend."
"He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we'll never see the likes of him again," Collins said.
Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy near London in 1948, but grew up in Glasgow, Scotland.
He took up the guitar in his teens, moved to London and released a series of enduring albums, including "The Road to Ruin" and "Solid Air," regarded by some critics as one of the best British albums of the 1970s.
Martyn never became a household name, but his songs were praised by critics and highly regarded by other musicians. One of the best known, "May You Never," was recorded by Clapton and a host of other artists.
Martyn had a reputation as a hell-raiser, and acknowledged that alcohol and drugs had sometimes led him into trouble.
"I've been mugged in New York and luckily I fought my way out of it," he told the Daily Mirror newspaper last year. "I've been shot a couple of times as well, but I just lay down and pretended to be dead.
"I guess I'm hard to kill."
Martyn had suffered health problems in recent years, and in 2003 had a leg amputated below the knee because of a burst cyst. He continued to perform, appearing at last year's Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.
Last month, Martyn was named an OBE — Officer of the Order of the British Empire — by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to music.
Michelle Obama's brother working on a book (AP)
NEW YORK – Michelle Obama's brother is working on a book, part tribute to his family and part inspirational guide.
"I've been privileged to know some extraordinary people in my life," Craig Robinson, whose "A Game of Character" will be published next year by Gotham Books, said in a statement issued Thursday. "I've watched as my sister Michelle, a rock of a mother, became a leader in her own right. My brother-in law, President Barack Obama, who I knew from the first time I met him had something special, continues to inspire all of us."
Robinson, who coaches men's basketball at Oregon State University, introduced his sister last summer at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Gotham is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).
"I've been privileged to know some extraordinary people in my life," Craig Robinson, whose "A Game of Character" will be published next year by Gotham Books, said in a statement issued Thursday. "I've watched as my sister Michelle, a rock of a mother, became a leader in her own right. My brother-in law, President Barack Obama, who I knew from the first time I met him had something special, continues to inspire all of us."
Robinson, who coaches men's basketball at Oregon State University, introduced his sister last summer at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Gotham is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).
"Slumdog Millionaire," Eastwood and Hathaway Winners at National Board Awards (Fashion Wire Daily)
New York – As with the Golden Globe awards this past Sunday, at the 2008 National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Awards on Wednesday, Jan. 14, in New York, the big winner of the night was "Slumdog Millionaire," the story of a teenager who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Starring Dev Patel, who also took home an award for breakthrough performance by an actor, the film tied for best original screenplay with "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" as well.
Other award recipients included Anne Hathaway, winner of best actress for "Rachel Getting Married," who wore an elaborately embroidered black and white dress with feathery fringe from Chanel Haute Couture and Clint Eastwood, named best actor for his starring role in "Gran Torino," who looked almost professor-like with his suit and sweater combo. But on a freezing night in Manhattan, it was an intuitive choice.
Josh Brolin, winner of best supporting actor in "Milk" had wife Diane Lane by his side as he arrived, who wore an elegant eggplant halter-neck gown with soft, ruffled neckline. Salma Hayek opted for a more fitted look, wearing a strapless beige ombre dress with corseted bodice contrasted with a softly folded skirt by Yves Saint Laurent.
Like many of the dresses seen at awards ceremonies thus far in 2009, actresses are choosing more restrained looks. Heather Graham聮s fiery red gown may have made a strong color statement, but the gown itself was a simple bias-draped floor-length gown, which she casually accessorized with a silver cuff.
Other winners included Penelope Cruz for best supporting actress in "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Viola Davis for breakthrough performance by an actress in "Doubt," "Mongol" for best foreign language film, "Man on Wire" for best documentary, David Fincher, best director for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Nick Schenk, best original screenplay for "Gran Torino" and "Wall-E" for best animated feature.
Other award recipients included Anne Hathaway, winner of best actress for "Rachel Getting Married," who wore an elaborately embroidered black and white dress with feathery fringe from Chanel Haute Couture and Clint Eastwood, named best actor for his starring role in "Gran Torino," who looked almost professor-like with his suit and sweater combo. But on a freezing night in Manhattan, it was an intuitive choice.
Josh Brolin, winner of best supporting actor in "Milk" had wife Diane Lane by his side as he arrived, who wore an elegant eggplant halter-neck gown with soft, ruffled neckline. Salma Hayek opted for a more fitted look, wearing a strapless beige ombre dress with corseted bodice contrasted with a softly folded skirt by Yves Saint Laurent.
Like many of the dresses seen at awards ceremonies thus far in 2009, actresses are choosing more restrained looks. Heather Graham聮s fiery red gown may have made a strong color statement, but the gown itself was a simple bias-draped floor-length gown, which she casually accessorized with a silver cuff.
Other winners included Penelope Cruz for best supporting actress in "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Viola Davis for breakthrough performance by an actress in "Doubt," "Mongol" for best foreign language film, "Man on Wire" for best documentary, David Fincher, best director for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Nick Schenk, best original screenplay for "Gran Torino" and "Wall-E" for best animated feature.
Madonna resuming Sticky & Sweet tour (Reuters)
NASHVILLE (Billboard) – Madonna will crank up her Sticky & Sweet tour again this summer with about 25 more shows in the U.K. and Europe. The initial trek wrapped December 21 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The final leg of the tour -- already the top-grossing tour ever by a female or solo artist -- will start in London at the O2 Arena on July 4. Madonna also will play the Manchester (U.K.) Evening News Arena. The rest of the shows on the tour will be at stadiums in European markets that Madonna has never played or hasn't played in several years, according to tour producer Arthur Fogel, chairman of global music for Live Nation. The complete route and list of venues will be released Friday (January 30).
Adding another leg to a tour is a highly unusual move for Madonna. "It absolutely has not happened in the four tours I've been involved with," Fogel told Billboard.com. "There has been talk (of extending) during each one, but it has never come to be. But with this one, she loves the show, she's had a great time and she's excited about playing new markets."
The extension will take Sticky & Sweet to around 80 shows, and boost it well into the top five grossing tours of all time. Despite the more than six-month break, the tour will feature the same production and performers as in 2008.
The Sticky & Sweet tour was the first under a 10-year multi-rights agreement between Madonna and Live Nation, valued in some reports at about $120 million.
The final leg of the tour -- already the top-grossing tour ever by a female or solo artist -- will start in London at the O2 Arena on July 4. Madonna also will play the Manchester (U.K.) Evening News Arena. The rest of the shows on the tour will be at stadiums in European markets that Madonna has never played or hasn't played in several years, according to tour producer Arthur Fogel, chairman of global music for Live Nation. The complete route and list of venues will be released Friday (January 30).
Adding another leg to a tour is a highly unusual move for Madonna. "It absolutely has not happened in the four tours I've been involved with," Fogel told Billboard.com. "There has been talk (of extending) during each one, but it has never come to be. But with this one, she loves the show, she's had a great time and she's excited about playing new markets."
The extension will take Sticky & Sweet to around 80 shows, and boost it well into the top five grossing tours of all time. Despite the more than six-month break, the tour will feature the same production and performers as in 2008.
The Sticky & Sweet tour was the first under a 10-year multi-rights agreement between Madonna and Live Nation, valued in some reports at about $120 million.
Senate approves bill to delay digital TV (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed another bill on Thursday to delay the national transition to digital television.
Efforts to move the transition date to June 12 from February 17 are fueled by worries an estimated 20 million mostly poor, elderly and rural households are not technically ready for the congressionally mandated switch.
President Barack Obama supports a delay in the switch.
Earlier this week, the Senate passed another bill delaying the DTV transition, but the measure failed in the House of Representatives.
The bill is essentially the same that previously passed the Senate, but with a few minor modifications from the House.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, and Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison worked out the compromise bill.
Hutchison said the delay was voluntary and television stations could go ahead if they wished with digital transmission on February 17 as scheduled and drop analog transmission.
The measure now goes back to the House.
"The House will have a second chance next week to implement this delay. I am hopeful they will pass this bill so we can send it to President Obama," Rockefeller said.
Broadcasters are moving from analog to digital signals to give public safety officials more spectrum, especially useful for emergencies, and to improve viewing quality.
Only those who watch television on older sets that receive analog signals, and do not get cable, must act to prevent their screens from going black.
About 6.5 million households are not ready for the transition, according to the latest data from Nielsen Ratings.
Efforts to move the transition date to June 12 from February 17 are fueled by worries an estimated 20 million mostly poor, elderly and rural households are not technically ready for the congressionally mandated switch.
President Barack Obama supports a delay in the switch.
Earlier this week, the Senate passed another bill delaying the DTV transition, but the measure failed in the House of Representatives.
The bill is essentially the same that previously passed the Senate, but with a few minor modifications from the House.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, and Texas Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison worked out the compromise bill.
Hutchison said the delay was voluntary and television stations could go ahead if they wished with digital transmission on February 17 as scheduled and drop analog transmission.
The measure now goes back to the House.
"The House will have a second chance next week to implement this delay. I am hopeful they will pass this bill so we can send it to President Obama," Rockefeller said.
Broadcasters are moving from analog to digital signals to give public safety officials more spectrum, especially useful for emergencies, and to improve viewing quality.
Only those who watch television on older sets that receive analog signals, and do not get cable, must act to prevent their screens from going black.
About 6.5 million households are not ready for the transition, according to the latest data from Nielsen Ratings.
Hemingway's Cuba letters now at JFK Library (AP)
BOSTON – When Gaylord Johnson Jr. was struggling with a term paper at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., he figured he'd ask for help from someone who knew the material best: Ernest Hemingway.
"I've read a couple of the Nick Adams stories and have also read critical material on the same," Johnson wrote in a letter to Hemingway in 1956, referring to one of Hemingway's most famous characters. "I am, however, not quite satisfied with all I've read, and I wondered if you would write me and tell me just what you think of Nick Adams."
Johnson's letter, along with more than 3,000 other documents from Hemingway's time in Cuba, was previously tucked away in the basement of Hemingway's estate at Finca Vigia, unseen by scholars and researchers.
Now, thanks to an agreement between U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., and the Cuban government, copies of those writings are at the John F. Kennedy Library.
The archival replicas include corrected proofs of "The Old Man and the Sea," a movie script based on the novel, an alternate ending to "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and thousands of letters, with correspondence from authors Sinclair Lewis and John Dos Passos and actress Ingrid Bergman. The documents were previewed Thursday and will likely be available to researchers in late spring.
McGovern, museum officials and scholars hailed the agreement with Cuba as historic cooperation between the two countries.
"It's a turning point toward a more rational, mature relationship between our two countries," McGovern said. "I think Hemingway can be the bridge to help move both sides to a point where we can have a good, solid relationship."
McGovern, an advocate of normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba, said Cubans consider Hemingway one of their own because he lived there for 21 years, longer than any other place he resided in his life.
The Worcester congressman also credited the Cubans working at Finca Vigia for scanning and digitizing all the materials and working to preserve the originals and the house in Cuba, which was also part of the agreement.
The JFK Library already has an extensive collection of Hemingway material — 100,000 pages of writings and 10,000 photographs, paintings and personal objects such as Hemingway's passports, flasks and wallet — thanks to a connection between Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway, and the Kennedys.
Hemingway's wife returned to Cuba in 1961 after Hemingway's death that July, hoping to retrieve his belongings from his house at Finca Vigia. Because Fidel Castro had risen to power, she asked a friend who knew the Kennedys if President Kennedy could help her get to Cuba and take Hemingway's possessions back to the United States, since the Cuban government planned to turn the estate into a Hemingway museum. The president took care of logistics within days.
When Mary Hemingway decided to donate the collection to a library, Jacqueline Kennedy told her through a letter exchange that Hemingway's writings would always have a special place in the JFK Library.
The collection has been available for viewing by appointment on the fifth floor since 1972, and the library boasts the most comprehensive body of Hemingway material in one place.
Still, Sandra Spanier, professor of English and general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project at Pennsylvania State University, said that Mary Hemingway couldn't physically carry everything out of Cuba because of the large volume of works. Spanier was part of the group that saw what was left behind at the Hemingway Museum at Finca de Vigia in 2002, along with Jenny Phillips, a Concord psychotherapist whose grandfather, Maxwell Perkins, was Hemingway's editor.
Phillips arranged the trip through McGovern when she heard there were letters in the basement from her grandfather but couldn't gain access to them. She returned with her husband, Frank Spanier, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Perkins biographer A. Scott Berg to assess the collection and look into steps to preserve it.
Spanier said she got goosebumps when she saw Hemingway letters to Mary before their marriage and an original typescript of the short story "In Another Country."
The microfilm copies at the JFK Library provide scholars a window into the period that occupied half of Hemingway's writing life, which before left a "black hole" in Hemingway studies because the material was off-limits to biographers, Spanier said.
"The question has always been, what didn't Mary bring out?" Spanier said. "It's really a very intimate view of him that we've not had."
As library director Tom Putnam said, "This completes the story."
Jenny Phillips saw the story of her grandfather's relationship to Hemingway. In one typed letter in 1929, Perkins addressed Hemingway without a salutation and wrote in his own hand at the bottom: "For God's sake, un-Mister me anyhow."
"It started as an immodest little curiosity about letters from my grandfather that might still be in the basement at Finca Vigia," Phillips said. "The larger significance of the project became obvious very quickly."
"I've read a couple of the Nick Adams stories and have also read critical material on the same," Johnson wrote in a letter to Hemingway in 1956, referring to one of Hemingway's most famous characters. "I am, however, not quite satisfied with all I've read, and I wondered if you would write me and tell me just what you think of Nick Adams."
Johnson's letter, along with more than 3,000 other documents from Hemingway's time in Cuba, was previously tucked away in the basement of Hemingway's estate at Finca Vigia, unseen by scholars and researchers.
Now, thanks to an agreement between U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., and the Cuban government, copies of those writings are at the John F. Kennedy Library.
The archival replicas include corrected proofs of "The Old Man and the Sea," a movie script based on the novel, an alternate ending to "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and thousands of letters, with correspondence from authors Sinclair Lewis and John Dos Passos and actress Ingrid Bergman. The documents were previewed Thursday and will likely be available to researchers in late spring.
McGovern, museum officials and scholars hailed the agreement with Cuba as historic cooperation between the two countries.
"It's a turning point toward a more rational, mature relationship between our two countries," McGovern said. "I think Hemingway can be the bridge to help move both sides to a point where we can have a good, solid relationship."
McGovern, an advocate of normalizing relations between the U.S. and Cuba, said Cubans consider Hemingway one of their own because he lived there for 21 years, longer than any other place he resided in his life.
The Worcester congressman also credited the Cubans working at Finca Vigia for scanning and digitizing all the materials and working to preserve the originals and the house in Cuba, which was also part of the agreement.
The JFK Library already has an extensive collection of Hemingway material — 100,000 pages of writings and 10,000 photographs, paintings and personal objects such as Hemingway's passports, flasks and wallet — thanks to a connection between Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary Welsh Hemingway, and the Kennedys.
Hemingway's wife returned to Cuba in 1961 after Hemingway's death that July, hoping to retrieve his belongings from his house at Finca Vigia. Because Fidel Castro had risen to power, she asked a friend who knew the Kennedys if President Kennedy could help her get to Cuba and take Hemingway's possessions back to the United States, since the Cuban government planned to turn the estate into a Hemingway museum. The president took care of logistics within days.
When Mary Hemingway decided to donate the collection to a library, Jacqueline Kennedy told her through a letter exchange that Hemingway's writings would always have a special place in the JFK Library.
The collection has been available for viewing by appointment on the fifth floor since 1972, and the library boasts the most comprehensive body of Hemingway material in one place.
Still, Sandra Spanier, professor of English and general editor of the Hemingway Letters Project at Pennsylvania State University, said that Mary Hemingway couldn't physically carry everything out of Cuba because of the large volume of works. Spanier was part of the group that saw what was left behind at the Hemingway Museum at Finca de Vigia in 2002, along with Jenny Phillips, a Concord psychotherapist whose grandfather, Maxwell Perkins, was Hemingway's editor.
Phillips arranged the trip through McGovern when she heard there were letters in the basement from her grandfather but couldn't gain access to them. She returned with her husband, Frank Spanier, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Perkins biographer A. Scott Berg to assess the collection and look into steps to preserve it.
Spanier said she got goosebumps when she saw Hemingway letters to Mary before their marriage and an original typescript of the short story "In Another Country."
The microfilm copies at the JFK Library provide scholars a window into the period that occupied half of Hemingway's writing life, which before left a "black hole" in Hemingway studies because the material was off-limits to biographers, Spanier said.
"The question has always been, what didn't Mary bring out?" Spanier said. "It's really a very intimate view of him that we've not had."
As library director Tom Putnam said, "This completes the story."
Jenny Phillips saw the story of her grandfather's relationship to Hemingway. In one typed letter in 1929, Perkins addressed Hemingway without a salutation and wrote in his own hand at the bottom: "For God's sake, un-Mister me anyhow."
"It started as an immodest little curiosity about letters from my grandfather that might still be in the basement at Finca Vigia," Phillips said. "The larger significance of the project became obvious very quickly."
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