Obama marks end of Iraq war at Fort Bragg
US President Barack Obama has marked the end of the Iraq war by applauding the "extraordinary achievement" of US troops in a conflict he firmly opposed.
In a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, he paid tribute to the soldiers who served and died in the war, and their families.
The last US soldiers are expected to withdraw from Iraq within days.
Republicans have criticised the pullout citing concerns over Iraq's stability, but most Americans support the move.
In Wednesday's speech, President Obama - who owes his presidency in part to his opposition to the Iraq war - hailed the bravery of US troops during the nearly nine-year conflict.
"Tomorrow the colours of the United States Forces Iraq, the colours you fought under, will be formally cased in a ceremony in Baghdad," said Mr Obama, who was on his first visit to Fort Bragg. "Then they'll begin their journey across an ocean back home.
"As your commander in chief and on behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to finally say these two words - welcome home, welcome home, welcome home," he told thousands of cheering troops in an airplane hangar.
Mr Obama announced in October that all US troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, a date previously agreed by former President George W Bush in 2008.
'Heads held high'
The last combat troops departed in August last year.
Mr Obama - who was joined by his wife Michelle, an active veterans' advocate - told the troops the US was leaving Iraq with "heads held high".
Some 1.5 million Americans had served in Iraq, nearly 4,500 had died and 30,000 had been wounded, Mr Obama said, adding that "those numbers don't tell the whole story of Iraq".
Recalling the roadside bombs and sniper attacks of the insurgency, he said: "Everything that American troops have done in Iraq, all the fighting and dying, bleeding and building, training and partnering, has led us to this moment of success."
"The war in Iraq will soon belong to history, and your service belongs to the ages," he added.
US troop numbers in Iraq peaked at around 170,000 during the height of the so-called surge strategy in 2007, but as of this week only about 5,500 remain.
President Obama has framed the withdrawal as a promise kept from his 2008 election campaign. During his bid for the White House, he stood as the anti-war candidate and emphasised the need to bring troops home and rebuild a troubled economy.
The conflict, launched by the Bush administration in March 2003, became hugely unpopular as claims that President Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction and supporting al-Qaeda militants turned out to be untrue.
Mr Obama said the war had been "a source of great controversy here at home, with patriots on both sides of the debate".
He acknowledged it was not perfect, but said they were leaving behind "a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people".
A strong Iraq?
The US president also assured troops he was committed to ensuring veterans find the jobs and resources they need back home.
"You stood up for America; now America must stand up for you," he said.
The unemployment rate for former US servicemen and women over the past decade has been higher than the national average.
The speech was not without political significance. Mr Obama narrowly won North Carolina in the 2008 election.
On Tuesday, he was joined by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki in Washington as he said the US would continue to support Iraq.
However, there are concerns in Washington that Iraq lacks robust political structures or an ability to defend its borders.
There are also fears that Iraq could be plunged back into sectarian bloodletting, or be unduly influenced by Iran.
Nonetheless, a recent poll by the Pew Research Centre found that 75% of Americans backed the troop withdrawal.
Pakistan’s President Discharged from Hospital
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari was discharged from a Dubai hospital late Wednesday and is said to be resting at his residence in the United Arab Emirates.
The president's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said all medical tests showed results in the “normal range” and that doctors advised Mr. Zardari to remain in the Gulf emirate and continue taking heart medication.
Earlier, the office had said that President Zardari would be discharged Thursday.
The 56-year old Pakistani leader traveled to the United Arab Emirates last week for treatment after falling ill. Doctors said when Mr. Zardari was admitted, he suffered from numbness in the arm, twitching, and a loss of consciousness for a few seconds.
Sources said the president suffered a transient ischemic attack, which produces stroke-like symptoms.
President Zardari's hospitalization spurred rumors of his resignation. He is facing pressure from a memo scandal that led to the resignation last month of Pakistan's ambassador the United States.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has denied reports that Mr. Zardari suffered a stroke or offered to step down from his post.
In October, Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz publicly accused former Ambassador Hussain Haqqani of writing an unsigned memo requesting U.S. assistance to prevent a feared military coup in Pakistan. The letter was reportedly sent in May to Admiral Mike Mullen, the top U.S. military official at the time.
In return for U.S. help in preventing a military coup in Pakistan, the memo said a new national security team would conduct a full inquiry into allegations that Pakistan harbored al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The new team also would hand over top al-Qaida members and ensure that Pakistan's military spy agency cuts ties to the Taliban, the Haqqani terrorist network and other groups.
Haqqani has denied any connection with the memo, and was replaced by former Information Minister Sherry Rehman.
Russian Reporters Sign Open Letter Against Firing of Kommersant Journalists
At least 50 journalists from a Russian publisher have signed an open letter complaining they are being prevented from publishing critical statements about Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after two of their colleagues were fired.
An editor and senior manager of Kommersant Publishing were fired on Tuesday in connection with what the owner, Alisher Usmanov, has described as a breach of ethics for its coverage of the parliamentary elections in the Kommersant Vlast weekly magazine. The article alleged fraud and included a picture of a ballot with a personal message to Mr. Putin containing expletives.
In an open letter posted on the internet Wednesday, reporters for the publisher argued that the firing is an “act of intimidation aimed at preventing any critical statements about Vladimir Putin.”
Usmanov has defended his decision, adding that he has no intention of selling the publication despite an early buy-out offer from fellow tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, who launched a bid this week to challenge Mr. Putin for the presidency.
The December 4 parliamentary elections saw United Russia lose support with a reduced majority in the State Duma. Reports of widespread fraud led to anti-government demonstrations across the country.
Leaders of United Russia — which has dominated Russian politics for more than a decade — have denied cheating.
If Mr. Putin regains the presidency, the 59-year-old leader could serve two more six-year terms and remain in power until 2024. He was first elected president in 2000 and held that post until 2008, when he assumed the post of prime minister due to term limits.
Wednesday, a leading ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin resigned as speaker of the country's parliament. Boris Gryzlov was elected as speaker in 2003. He said he would renounce his mandate as a member of parliament, but will continue his post as chairman of United Russia.
Islamists Look to Extend Lead in Egypt Voting
Egyptians turned out in large numbers Wednesday for a second phase of parliamentary elections, with Islamist parties looking to extend their already overwhelming electoral gains.
Polls were held in nine areas, including Aswan, Beni Suef, Giza, Ismailia, Suez and Sohag. Nearly 19 million Egyptians were eligible to cast ballots in the second round of the three-phase legislative elections. A second day of voting will take place Thursday.
Voters are choosing seats in the 498-member lower house of parliament. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and the conservative al-Nour Salafi Islamist party, which want Egypt to adhere strictly to the principles of Islamic law, dominated the first round of voting in late November.
Some in the West are alarmed by the front-running status of Islamist parties. But some Islamists are raising alarms of their own, warning of Western-style freedoms, such as gay marriage, to bring voters to their side in the rural areas.
Egyptians working in the tourism industry worry that conservatives in the next parliament may have a negative impact on their business. For tourists this could mean a ban on alcohol and wearing bikinis on the beaches. A spokesman for the Salafi Nour party recently suggested that pharaonic monuments like the Sphinx are idolatrous and should be covered up.
But Salafis say they do not want to hurt tourism, just make it “sin-free.” They have put forth several suggestions, including gender-segregated beaches, and allowing tourists to drink alcohol only in their hotel rooms.
A third round of elections covering the remaining nine provinces will take place in early January.
The parliamentary elections are Egypt's first since a popular uprising ousted former President Hosni Mubarak.
Elections for parliament's less powerful upper house will begin in late January and finish in March, after which the assembly will write a new constitution.
Jerry Sandusky waives preliminary hearing, case moves toward trial
Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky stunned a packed courtroom and backed out of a preliminary hearing at the last minute Tuesday, avoiding a face-to-face confrontation with accusers who his lawyer said were just trying to cash in by making up stories of child sex abuse.
Sandusky, who came to court with alumni from the charity he's accused of using to lure victims, vowed to "stay the course, to fight for four quarters" and make his case on another day.
His lawyer, Joe Amendola, then spoke before dozens of news cameras on the courthouse steps for an hour, saying the of 10 young men who accuse Sandusky of molesting them as children were just out to profit from civil lawsuits against the coach and Penn State.
A prosecutor said 11 witnesses, most of them Sandusky's alleged victims, were ready to testify at the hearing.
An attorney for one called Sandusky a "coward" for not hearing his accusers' testimony and derided the arguments that they were out for money, saying many were too old to sue Sandusky under Pennsylvania's statute of limitations.
"It makes my blood boil," said Harrisburg lawyer Ben Andreozzi, who read a statement by his client, identified in a grand jury report as Victim 4, who was said to have become a fixture at one point in the Sandusky household.
"All the money in the world isn't going to bring them back to where they were before the sexual assaults."
Sandusky 67, faces 52 criminal counts for what a grand jury called a series of sexual assaults and abuse of 10 boys dating back to the 1990s, in hotel swimming pools, the basement of his home in State College and in the locker room showers at Penn State, where he coached football until his retirement in 1999.
The charges devastated the university and its storied football program and led to the departures of coach Joe Paterno, the university's president and two administrators charged with lying to a grand jury and failing to report the suspected abuse.
Amendola told reporters Tuesday that Sandusky is an emotional, physical man - "a loving guy, an affectionate guy" - who never did anything illegal. The lawyer likened Sandusky's behavior to his own Italian family in which "everybody hugged and kissed each other."
The lawyer accused the unidentified victims of seeking to cash in through false accusations and said the preliminary hearing would not have allowed him to delve into the witnesses' credibility.
Amendola said he decided to waive the preliminary hearing late Monday after concluding that the evidence would be one-sided, and after prosecutors agreed to give early warning if if Sandusky would face further charges and not to raise his $250,000 bail.
A prosecutor's spokesman said that Sandusky's bail conditions were adequate, but made no other promises.
"Sandusky waived his rights today. We waived nothing," said Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office.
Amendola and state prosecutors confirmed that no one had started plea bargain talks.
"This is a fight to the death," Amendola said.
Sandusky also waived a January arraignment, and indicated in court papers that he intended to plead not guilty. A pretrial conference was set for March.
"If he wants to change his mind at the last minute, that's his prerogative," senior deputy attorney general E. Marc Costanzo said.
Veteran Pittsburgh defense attorney Patrick Thomassey said waiving the hearing was not surprising - because the prosecution's burden of proof is much lower than at trial, and because the longer a witness waits to testify, the more cynical a jury might be.
"It's like, `Why didn't you tell anybody about that sooner?"' Thomassey said. "That's why I want them to answer my hard question for the first time in front of a jury."
Some lawyers for alleged victims said they were disappointed they didn't testify, after steeling themselves to face him.
"It would have been apparent from watching those boys and their demeanor that they were telling the truth," said Howard Janet, a lawyer for a boy whose mother contacted police in 1998 and said her son had showered with Sandusky.
Sandusky waived the preliminary hearing in front of his wife, Dottie, some of their adopted children and alumni of The Second Mile, an organization that Sandusky founded in 1977 to help struggling children. The grand jury alleged that he used the charity to meet and lure his alleged victims.
The first known abuse allegation was in 1998, when the mother told police Sandusky had showered with her son.
Accusations surfaced again in 2002, when then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary reported another alleged incident of abuse to Paterno and other university officials.
The grand jury probe began only in 2009, after a teen complained that Sandusky, then a volunteer coach at his high school, had abused him.
The teen told the grand jury that Sandusky first groomed him with gifts and trips in 2006 and 2007, then sexually assaulted him more than 20 times in 2008 through early 2009.
Amendola on Tuesday attacked McQueary by citing a Sunday report in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., that claimed he changed his story when speaking to a family friend.
The defense attorney said McQueary's conflicting account would derail the prosecution.
"McQueary was always the centerpiece of the prosecution's case," he said.
The newspaper report cited a source said to be familiar with the testimony of the family friend, Dr. Jonathan Dranov.
The Associated Press was unable to reach Dranov at his home and office for comment. No answered the door at McQueary's home and his father, John, declined comment to the AP.
Lawyers for Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and former vice president Gary Schultz issued a joint statement Tuesday about the newspaper report.
"If this information is true, and we believe it is, it would be powerful, exculpatory evidence and the charges against our clients should be dismissed," said the lawyers, Thomas Farrell and Caroline Roberto.
Curley and Schultz face preliminary hearings on Friday in Harrisburg. They have denied the allegations against them. Curley has been placed on leave and Schultz has returned to retirement in the wake of their arrests.
Meanwhile, officials at another Pennsylvania school said Tuesday that Sandusky insinuated himself into the school's football program last year, despite being denied an official position because he failed a background check.
Sandusky had sought a volunteer coaching position at Juniata College in May 2010, more than a year after a high school where he volunteered began investigating his contact with a student there.
Source: sportsillustrated
U20s head to Dominican Republic
For the Cayman Islands U20 women’s team the journey starts here.
Next month they head off to the Dominican Republic to compete in the final stages of the CFU World Cup qualifiers.
If successful they will face the best teams from the Caribbean and North America in March at the final stages of qualification.
Then – if all goes to plan – the girls will be heading to Uzbekistan to face the best footballers in the world.
“There’s nothing better than playing with the big boys, or should I say big girls.” said Andrew Zarcznski, from the Cayman Islands Football Association.
“It’s what we all aspire too, putting yourself up against stiff competition who really know what they are doing in the box. I’ve been there and done that, now it’s the chance of the Under 20s.
“They have a great opportunity to really progress in this competition and I know from the dedication they have shown they will be over the moon if that happens.”
Next month the team will face girls from the Dominican, Jamaica and Haiti with only one thing on their mind – victory.
Before heading to the competition, the team took part in a training session on Monday night at Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
“We smashed it in the last round,” said Zarcznski. “With a wonderful 4-0 drubbing against Suriname. If the team can show the same commitment and drive then they can really go all
the way.”
ANOTHER PROTEST AGAINST GOVERNOR HARRISON IN ANGUILLA
The tiny island of Anguilla saw another protest against the British appointed Governor of Anguilla.
The crowd began gathering before 10am and the protest culminated with a protest march on to the Governor's residence at 3pm where Governor William Alistair Harrison made the crowd wait. On hand were a number of journalist including OECS and CANA news correspondents Ras B and Keith Stonegreaves.
The large but civil crowd walked the entire length of the road to Government house where they were met by a number of officers from HM Police force and the closed iron gates of the Governor's compound. They sang "we shall overcome" and other folk songs as they wait for HE Governor Harrison who eventually emerged and allowed some members of the Hughes Government to enter the premises.
A statement was read to him and a cry by the large crowd on the outside for him to leave the island was made. Governor Harrison received the letter with a smiled and waved to the upset crowd.
The protesters eventually left and congregated on the main road where a rally was then held with key note speaker, the Chief Minister, Hon. Hubert Hughes spoke and express the difficulties with working with Governor Harrison including his interference with the judiciary, the House of Assembly (Parliament) his continued tampering with foreign investors, Ministerial portfolios and the transferring of key Permanent Secretaries against the wishes of the Government of Anguilla.
The Chief Minister appealed for the international community to come and see what is going on his this British Overseas Territory and the examine the abuses of power by the Governor who has been appointed by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office since 2009. While this appeal has been echoed by many on the island over the last two years, there are but few who believe anything will or can be done due to the fact that there have been three high level diplomats who have visited the island from the UK during that time and all of them has had a reoccurring theme to their addresses to the people of Anguilla, "whatever the Governor does and, whatever the Governor says, has the fullest support of Her Majesty's Government." Those pronouncements have left the people with little hope but they continue to call for Governor Harrison's removal.
UN poster campaign to fight racism launched
Each individual plays a role in either contributing to or breaking down racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes. This is the message of the Let’s Fight Racism poster campaign, which was launched by the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean Area (UNIC) during its Human Rights Day commemoration in Port-of-Spain on December 8. The campaign uses images of persons of different ethnicities to challenge the viewer’s perceptions and assumptions about other people, based on their appearance. The viewer is asked to consider what they actually see in each image and that the person being looked at might represent “more than meets the eye.”
These images can be viewed at the “Let’s Fight Racism” campaign site. The aim of the campaign is to promote understanding about how stereotypes, which often underlie perceptions and initial judgements of others, can perpetuate racial prejudice and intolerance. Further, the campaign seeks to encourage each person to take responsibility for confronting such personal prejudices, to take action for ending their own prejudicial behaviour and to encourage tolerance in others. The National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) is the UNIC’s collaborator in the campaign, which will continue until December 2012.
NALIS will distribute campaign posters to libraries throughout Trinidad and Tobago and also will host talks and discussion sessions led by UNIC staff at some branches. At the Launch, acting executive director of NALIS, Lucia Phillip, confirmed the authority’s commitment to ensuring the widest possible reach of the campaign through NALIS’s extensive network of libraries. Also at the launch, UNIC officer-in-charge and United Nations security adviser in Port of Spain, Catherine Gilbert, addressed the theme of this year’s Human Rights Day commemoration, which is the recognition and celebration of all human rights defenders.
This year, these included the peaceful protesters in cities throughout the world who, she said, “reminded us that no progress has any value without human progress.” Many of these people lived in countries that were performing well economically but in which “human rights monitors were pointing to inequality, discrimination, lack of participation, political repression and the denial of many economic and social rights.” she said. Gilbert lauded the work of those and lesser known activists and called for a renewed commitment to the personal action necessary to uphold and protect human rights.
OAS partners with Haitian government and Teachers Without Borders
The Organization of American States (OAS), with the support of the Haitian government, has presented certificates to the first group of teachers that successfully completed the certificate program in Building Capacity for Teaching and Learning.
The program, done in collaboration with Teachers Without Borders, was tailored to meet the needs of new teachers in Haiti. The program also contained a “train the trainer” component which enabled participants to train other teachers in schools and communities.
“We thank the OAS and TWB for giving us the opportunity to pursue this program,” said Agella Ternela, a Haitian teacher from the coastal city of Jacmel. “It helps us to identify our weaknesses. It also allows us to set new objectives, to improve our classroom management and to come up with new evaluation methods. We are already seeing the results,” she added.
Dr Frantz Casseus, chief of staff of the Education Minister, commended the OAS for this initiative and reiterated continued support from his ministry.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Haitian Ministries of Education and Planning, OAS member and observer states, the private sector, and the media.
Over the next three years, the OAS will facilitate training for more than 260 teachers. The next three cohorts will take place in March, July, and November 2012.
Caribbean News Now
UK CEO encourages youth to grasp opportunities for self-employment
Recessionary periods often create opportunities for self-employment and young people in particular, who have long been holding on to a business idea, should seek to grasp all opportunities available to branch out on their own and start their own businesses.
Sarah Crawley, Chief Executive Officer of iSE – the Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs based in Birmingham England, shared the above with The Barbados Advocate recently.
Crawley shared a number of her views about entrepreneurship, while she was here in Barbados conducting training sessions for staff of the Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT), to enable them to better assist young entrepreneurs in coming up with new ideas to succeed in the business world. The Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT) is presently benefiting from a partnership with the UK based non-governmental organisation (NGO), in an effort to ensure long term sustainability of entrepreneurial endeavours.
Meanwhile, Crawley had some advice for those desirous of stepping out into the exciting, but challenging world of entrepreneurship.
“I would suggest that they seek the right kind of support, so they can go to organisations like BYBT, who are experts in supporting young people. They can take advantage of all of the opportunities that are created in schools around enterprising activities, programmes and projects that they have in schools, so that they get the experience” she remarked.
Crawley also suggested that such persons should not be fazed if they fail on the first try.
“They say that every entrepreneur has at least four or five failed businesses and you can learn. So even if you don’t get it right first of all, you will get it right, because you will learn every time it doesn’t work. You will learn about how to market, how to sell, you will learn about how to produce, how to project manage, all these things. And so it is a learning process.”
“So take advantage of the learning opportunities, get specialist support and don’t be put off if it goes wrong because you will get there in the end” she reiterated.
The CEO of the UK based NGO, also suggested that young entrepreneurs consider those services which people are willing to pay for, even in a recession.
“The recession actually creates opportunities for young entrepreneurs, because there are things that people need” she indicated, while noting that business built around the beauty industry, food and technology are all good areas in which to start.
“In a recession, there will be less people perhaps buying luxury goods such as jewellery, but they will want to look good and they will need to eat also” Crawley concluded.