World News Post: May 17, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The rescue of Strauss-Kahn

The IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has spent his first hours in the largest U.S. prison, Rikers Island. This will remain in an isolation cell expected until next Friday when I return to be face to face with the law after being accused of seven charges following a complaint of sexual assault of an employee of the hotel where he stayed this weekend in New York.

On Monday, Judge Melissa Jackson denied the opportunity to release him on bail of one million dollars. But why? What was the reason for not being granted freedom on bail? The 'case Polanski' is an example of why Strauss-Kahn has ended in prison, the U.S. Justice will not give the possibility that a foreign citizen accused of a crime to leave the country, complicating his return to face a U.S.

HAITI - The party of former President Preval won the legislative

"Legislative: the blow to Preval / Init", as the information site. The party insider of the former president, Rene Preval, should "impose a cohabitation unprecedented president Michel Martelly," the newspaper said. According to final results, the party won 17 seats Initiated in the Senate (on 30) and 46 MPs in the Lower House (of 99).

The popular discontent that followed the proclamation was made at least one death and extensive damage to property. Martelly requested an independent investigation into the conduct of these elections.

New Zealand's remote Kermadec Islands marine reveal their secrets

Otoya dew. Sydney (Australia) .- The remote Kermadec Islands, New Zealand, considered one of the last wild frontiers of the planet, hiding a rich marine biodiversity through a mix of temperate and tropical waters also unique in the world. To the archipelago of thirteen volcanic islands, of nearly 7,500 square kilometers and located a thousand miles northeast of the mainland, recently moved a group of local and Australian scientists to find new fauna and flora.

TEPCO hopes to stabilize the reactor at Fukushima in January 2012

The power company has confirmed TEPCO hopes to stabilize the damaged reactor nuclear plant in Fukushima (northeastern Japan) in January 2012, which would end the nuclear crisis caused by the tsunami on 11 March. Tokyo Electric Power, operator of nuclear plant accidents, has today revised the 'roadmap' filed last month to carry Fukushima reactor to a cooling down and issue cease and radioactivity.

SYRIA - The state of emergency is lifted

"Syrian President Bashar Assad announced on April 21, lifting the state of emergency in force since 1963, the abolition of the Court of State Security, a special court, and a change in regulations regarding events, "reports the London-based pan-Arab daily. The announcement was made while demonstrations organized via Facebook, are scheduled this April 22 in cities across the country for a day called "Good Friday".

Burma population exasperated by the amnesty to prisoners

Bangkok .- The announcement of the government of Burma (Myanmar) to grant a general amnesty to reduce the sentences of all prisoners in the country was criticized today by Human Rights Watch believes that the action "pathetic" and calls for about 2,000 prisoners released politicians. President of Burma, Thein Sein, announced last night by state television signed a decree commuting the death sentences to life imprisonment and one year reduces the sentences of other prisoners.

The black boxes indicate a pilot error as the cause of the crash of Rio-Paris flight

The analysis of the black box flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris that crashed nearly two years ago in the Atlantic points to pilot error as the reason of the accident that killed the 228 occupants of the plane, reveals the issue digital daily 'Le Figaro'. Information, not confirmed by the researchers, was published a day after confirmation that the data collected in the black boxes were in good condition despite the harsh conditions under which they were in the seabed, nearly 4,000 meters deep .

ARGENTINA - Vargas Llosa claims the right to criticize

The Nobel Prize in literature Mario Vargas Llosa gave a lecture April 21 at the Book Fair of Buenos Aires. The invitation of the author had aroused strong controversy, many Argentine writers criticizing the liberal positions of Mario Vargas Llosa and his many criticisms of Argentina. Vargas Llosa thanked President Cristina Kirchner of having allowed his trip to the show, while denouncing the policies that led Argentina into a "permanent crisis".

Off a bomb hours before the visit of Elizabeth II to Dublin

Barcelona / Dublin (Writing and agencies) .- Irish Army Bomb defused on Tuesday a homemade explosive device near Dublin, hours before Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom to initiate a historic visit to the Republic of Ireland. As reported on Tuesday a spokesman for the Army, the engine was in the baggage compartment of a bus in the town of Maynooth, County Kildare, near Dublin.

The artifact was found last night by police and bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion early this morning. This event coincides with the strong security measures in the country for a visit that begins today British sovereign, the first by a monarch of the United Kingdom since the independence of the Republic of Ireland in 1921.

Salafi in prison riot in Salé Morocco

At six o'clock in the afternoon raged tear gas near the prison of Salé, a few miles from Rabat. Inside, more than 300 prisoners have staged this Monday Salafists a riot in the early hours of noon to avoid being scattered by other Moroccan prisons. Even some of them, according to Salafis, have come the echoes of the rebellion and would have joined the protests.

After a failed attempt at negotiations between mutineers and the National Council for Human Rights, the security forces have started the operation against the prisoners. A wee hours of the morning, were heard shooting tear gas around the center and could see plumes of smoke. This prison is the home Islamists in Morocco, whose prisons are about 900 inmates Salafists.

UNITED STATES - BP will pay $ 1 billion to clean the shores

BP is reached, on April 21 at an "unprecedented agreement" between five U.S. states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and two federal agencies that provides $ 1 billion to repair damage caused by the oil spill of the platform Deepwater Horizon platform, the newspaper reported. On April 20, 2010, this platform operated by BP had exploded and sank two days later, making eleven victims.

The oil spill has polluted more than 1,700 km of wetlands and beaches.

Mubarak will apologize to the Egyptians in a televised

Barcelona (Editorial) .- Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to apologize to the country "for any offense caused to people" in a televised address that issue in the coming days. So says the daily Al-Shorouk, quoted by AFP and Al Arabiya, an information also ensures that the letter read before the cameras former Egyptian leader also point to some of his former partners, currently under investigation for corruption.

The Japanese Government approved the outline of the reconstruction policy

The Government of Japan has approved the outline of the reconstruction plan for the next three years, after the earthquake and tsunami that struck on March 11 on the east coast. "When the Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, explaining to other countries, steps being taken by Japan, this document can serve as a basis for their comments," said Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano, speaking to the press.

These guidelines state, in general, some priority areas for Japan's economic recovery. Among the most important point to the stability of the currency markets, as well as appropriate monetary policy, led by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Secondly, mention the urgency of designing a responsible energy plan and in line with the country's consumption, which in turn is able to replace the supply provided by nuclear plants damaged by the tsunami.

BELGIUM - A year has passed and still no government

"And yet it moves" as a daily from Brussels, while the country is deprived for a year of government. In its editorial, the editor Beatrice Delvaux, denounced during the last twelve months, "a slow decay, underground and thus pervert the idea of the Belgian state." Since April 22, 2010, the day Prime Minister Yves Leterme submitted his resignation, "a new Belgium efficient, organized, peaceful might, should have been born from this chaos," wrote the editorialist.

Dozens injured in riots between "untouchables" in India

New Delhi .- At least twenty people were injured in clashes in southern India between two communities of "untouchables" or excluded from the Hindu social system, police said today. The riots began yesterday in the village of Pudupatti, located in the region of Tamil Nadu, in the course of about preparations to celebrate the results of recent regional elections, a police source said the agency PTI India.

The difficult decisions the day after

"It will be a morning after, if we overcome this night. We have an opportunity to find the sunshine. Let's keep looking together that light," Maureen McGovern sang in 1972 on 'The Morning After'. The issue had been composed for the film 'The Poseidon Adventure "and in 1972 won the Oscar for Best Original Song, coming to prove that a completely unknown vocalist, by profession a secretary, could well win the jackpot if the industry had chorus hook.

Estonia - The return home, no thank you

("Come back, come back! Glandouillé You have enough in this hot country!" Drawing of the campaign "Talent, come back!") The "Talent, come back!" aims to return in 2011 at least 25 Estonians about 200,000 who live abroad. This program, under the patronage of the Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and a budget of 125,000 euros, is it a triumph or a joke? The price for each "talent" is 5000 Euros, equivalent to six months' average wages in Estonia.

Rikers Island, one of the largest prisons in the United States

Barcelona (Editorial) .- Rikers Island is one of the largest prisons in the United States. Located between the Bronx and Queens, close to New York's La Guardia Airport, in its interior some 14,000 prisoners each day in a room with a capacity of 21,000. Of the famous people who have stayed-even for a time-between the bars of Rikers Island is Mark David Chapman, the murderer of John Lennon, the rapper Tupac Shakur, who entered by a sex scandal; Guy Valella, Republican Senator New York, the famous musician Sonny Rollins, or, recently, another rapper, Lil Wayne.

Yes, I like women so what?

Sent to prison like a common criminal, Dominique Strauss-Kahn (aka DSK) has seen in a few hours have dropped their aspirations for the French presidency. The sexual assault charge filed by a waitress at the hotel where he stayed has revived the darker side of the French socialist, one of the most talented politicians of his generation, but also a man with sulphurous reputation in their relationships with women .

UNITED STATES - It does not "poke" not President on Facebook!

Obama and Mark Zuckerberg have updated their Facebook status: they are "related". "Sorry, I'm a little nervous," confessed the founder of Facebook to the crowd came to witness the launching of the meeting that his company is organized with the White House. We have here the President of the United States! " As for Obama, took the stage to loud applause from facebookers, he was amazed to be greeted at the headquarters of Internet giant, in Palo Alto [California].

Strauss-Kahn spends his first night in jail on Rikers Island

Managing Director Moneterio Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested in New York accused of sexual assault has been taken tonight at Rikers Island prison. This prison is located on an island in East River. Here, Strauss-Kahn will remain at least until Friday, when its next scheduled appearance before the justice.

The Frenchman will stay at a single cell of about 3.5 meters by four meters, according to a spokesman has said the prison authorities to CNN. So far was in a police detention center in Harlem. The judge on Monday rejected his request for bail. French, 62, who allegedly sexually assaulted an employee of the service room Sofitel Hotel located in Times Square, will have no contact with other prisoners, because it is considered a celebrity, said prison spokesman.

Hosni Mubarak's wife agrees to deliver part of its assets to State

Suzanne Mubarak, wife of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has agreed to deliver a portion of their assets to the State Department after the Illicit Enrichment of Egyptian Ministry of Justice ordered his detention for 15 days while it investigates allegations of corruption against her. Specifically, Suzanne Mubarak will return a villa he owned in Cairo and around $ 3.4 million (2.4 million euros) that has two bank accounts.

DIPLOMACY - The Françafrique will always remain the "France-to-cash"

"Laurent Gbagbo was arrested by the troops pro-Ouattara" is that serine at will throughout the Elysee and which are proudly echoing the Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI, pro-Ouattara ) bloated. First attributed to the French soldiers of the [transaction] Unicorn [deployed in Ivory Coast under UN mandate], and then passed on to fighters loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the authorship of the final offensive on the presidential palace [April 11] never ceases to be a subject of controversy.

TEPCO said it could be a new leak of radioactive water into the sea in Fukushima 1

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the company that operates the nuclear power plant in Fukushima 1, the most affected by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami which met two months now, has indicated Wednesday it may have found a new water filtration radiation into the ocean from the plant, this time from the reactor 3.

TEPCO had previously reported similar leak in the reactor number 2, got sealed with various substances, including liquid crystal. A company spokesman told reporters that an employee has found water from a pool of reactor number 3 near the ocean. The spokesman said he still can not confirm if it really is producing a water leak into the sea and are conducting trials to investigate.

Berlusconi suffered a setback in the city of Milan, the city

Silvio Berlusconi municipal elections expected to give him a political boost to hold comfortably in front of the Government two years remaining of the legislature. Not so, according to the known results last night. Most painful for Il Cavaliere was the unexpected setback in his hometown, Milan, where he appeared, symbolically as a candidate.

In the Lombard capital, the current mayor, Letizia Moratti, was behind the candidate of the center, Giuliano Pisapia. By not reaching that 50 percent plus one vote, there will be a run off election, on 29 May. Can not be excluded that this second shift had a corner and could keep the mayor Moratti.

U.S. accuses Syria of instigating the clashes on the border with Israel

The U.S. has accused the Syrian government of inciting deadly border clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian demonstrators, saying that Damascus is trying to divert attention from its violent repression of domestic protest. The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, regretted the deaths on Sunday at Israel's borders with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, but said that Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossings along its borders." "We urge maximum restraint by all parties," the official said aboard Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to the state of Tennessee.

SOCIETY - In the midst of the forest grow supermarkets

Rio Branco (Brazil) The advance of civilization in the Amazon rainforest has so far followed a predictable pattern. The loggers are clearing the land for cattle, which, in turn, pave the way for crops ... And the next step is the introduction of shopping malls. A few years ago, many scientists thought that the Amazon was not habitable.

Today, at least five cities in the Brazilian has more than 300 000 inhabitants, a population sufficient to attract retail chains. By late 2011, four of the largest cities will be equipped with large American style shopping malls and developers have three others in their boxes. A modern consumer economy is taking place in a region which, in the minds of many, amounts to an impenetrable jungle and rivers infested with piranhas.

Abdel Halim Khaddam: Bashar al-Assad is overthrown in a month or a month and a half "

"Within a month, or month and a half, Bashar al-Assad is toppled," he told La Vanguardia in an exclusive interview Abdel Halim Khaddam, former Syrian president in office, Vice President for twenty years and Foreign responsible for fourteen. Khaddam was one of the strongmen of the Syrian Government, despite being Sunni and not belong to the Alawite minority that runs the country for nearly half a century.

Seven sentenced to death to gays and lesbians

Homosexuality is punishable by death in a total of seven countries as denounced on Monday the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGTB). To mark the International Day Against Homophobia, transphobia and biphobia held on Tuesday, the FELGTB denounced the attacks on activists in Africa and the Middle East.

As stated, maintaining relationships with a same sex is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Iran, Mauritania and Sudan. Of the 53 states of Africa 37 criminalizing homosexuality, he said, stressing that some would go beyond punishing the "promotion of practice." Such is the case of Uganda, whose bill "anti-gay" is currently on hold because of international pressure, and Malawi, where he has handled a hardening of the Penal Code for lesbians and bisexual women with sentences of up to five years prison.

IVORY COAST - Major challenges facing Ouattara

The arrival of Alassane Ouattara business opens a new page in the history of Côte d'Ivoire. It is far from being a definitive solution to the Ivorian crisis. Moreover, the president knows this. Thus there is reconciliation and pacification its two main priorities. Reconciliation looks complex. The post-election violence has left deep wounds that heal in no way effect the will of France or the UN.

Scandals and crimes

Only when the facts will clarify what really happened on that fateful room Sofitel Hotel 2806 Manhattan, we know if this is a big deal out of a powerful personage or talk about a crime to be tried by U.S. law. Be careful, in the United States are not jokes, Nicholas Sarkozy said Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director to propose the International Monetary Fund.

In continental Europe we tend to keep a fine line of responsibility between public and private acts, so that a celebrity or famous can get away with a scandal in the U.S. or England would be considered a crime. It is unthinkable that Berlusconi's misdeeds, published and supported by explicit videos, have not been finished years ago his political career in the U.S..

Initiated an oral and anal sexual conduct and attempted to initiate sexual intercourse

The judge just denied bail by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was arrested on Saturday for trying to rape a waitress at the hotel I was staying. The complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court detailing the crimes allegedly committed by the French socialist in room 2806, for which he could be sentenced to up to 74 years in prison.

Here are the positions of those accused, "Detective Steven Lane, plate 03295 of the special victims squad in Manhattan, states as follows: May 14, around 12:00 pm at 45 West 44th street in the county and state of New York, the defendant committed the following crimes: The defendant initiated an oral and anal sexual conduct with another person by coercion by force, the defendant attempted to initiate sexual intercourse with another person by coercion to force The accused subjected another person to sexual contact by coercion by force, the accused overpowered another person, the accused subjected another person to sexual contact without the consent of the latter, and for that the defendant touched the sexual and other intimate parts of another person by force and without legitimate purpose to degrade and abuse of this person, and in order to satisfy the sexual desire of the accused.