Egypt's new government seeks to achieve people's aspirations: PM
Egypt's Prime Minister Kamal el- Ganzouri stressed on Friday that the new government seeks to achieve people's aspirations in the coming period, official news agency MENA reported.
At Friday's conference of the new government, Ganzouri urged all Egyptians to stand together and support him for the sake of the homeland.
He announced that four ministerial committees will be established this month consisting specialists in all fields to discuss issues of high priority and provide solutions as soon as possible.
The first committee will be charged with providing care for the injured as well as families of those who died in the unrest in January.
The second will be entrusted with discussing the issue of national security.
The third committee, which includes economists, will be responsible for reviewing mechanisms to improve the economic performance on all fronts.
The fourth one will explore means to carry on large projects which has been postponed.
The Egyptian prime minister called on protesters in the People' s Assembly Street and outside the Cabinet headquarters to end their sit-in and put the country's interests at their heart.
Meanwhile, Ganzouri said that Egypt had started its transformation process through holding the People's Assembly elections which will be followed by Shura Council polls, and then the draft of a new Constitution and presidential elections.
China Joins Joint Patrols of Mekong River
Chinese officials say more than 200 armed police began joint Mekong River security patrols Saturday, with forces from Burma, Laos and Thailand.
The patrols are a response to the deaths of 13 Chinese sailors who were attacked on two cargo ships in early October along the Thai section of the river near the border with Burma. Sailors have long complained of armed gangs that loot their boats or demand cash.
Chinese media did not give details on the scale of the operations or how far south Chinese forces would go. The Mekong River flows through China's southwestern province of Yunnan into several Southeast Asian countries.
Al Qaida Groups Claims Responsibility for Kidnappings
The North African branch of al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for two kidnappings in Mali last month but denied being involved in a recent abduction of foreigners in Algeria.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb said it was behind the kidnapping of two French tourists from their hotel room in eastern Mali on November 24.
It also said it was responsible for a kidnapping the following day when gunmen abducted three foreigners — Dutch, Swedish, and South African nationals — from a restaurant in Timbuktu. The gunmen killed a German who tried to resist.
The militant group's statement was reported by the Mauritania news agency ANI on Thursday, but it could not be independently verified. The news agency released photos on Friday purportedly showing the two groups of hostages.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb said it was not responsible for the kidnapping of three European aid workers taken in October from a refugee camp in Algeria.
The militant group operates across the Sahel, a strip of semi-arid land that separates the Sahara Desert from the rest of Africa. It has claimed responsibility for several kidnappings in the region in recent years.
Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria are working together against the group that began in Algeria in 1998 as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat. The name was changed following the September 2001 attacks
in the United States to more closely ally themselves with the broader al-Qaida movement.
Syrian Forces Kill 15 as Protests Spread
Syrian activists say security forces have killed at least 24 people, including several children, as anti-government protests spread nationwide.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told VOA three boys, ages 10, 12, 14, were shot and killed Friday in and around the restive city of Homs. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl was shot in the southern part of the country.
Despite a surge in violence this week, Syrians took the streets following Friday prayers in support of a “dignity strike.” Activists said large demonstrations and much of the violence was concentrated in the epicenter of the bloody crackdown, Homs. The opposition Syrian National Council also issued a statement warning of a looming “massacre” as government security forces surrounded Homs.
Protests were also being held in the southern city of Daraa, the northwestern city of Idlib, near the Turkey-Syria border, and in Deir el-Zour, in the eastern part of the country.
The United Nations reports that at least 4,000 people have been killed since the unrest erupted in March, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stood by that number on Friday, saying the U.N. death toll is based on “very credible sources.”
His comments came in response to a rare interview an American journalist conducted with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In the interview, aired on Wednesday, Mr. Assad denied that he ordered the killing of thousands of anti-government protesters. Mr. Assad told ABC News he does not control the forces implementing his country's brutal crackdown.
Separately, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay acknowledged that almost 1,000 security forces may have been killed in Syria. But, she said “it is not good enough for the president of Syria to simply brush all this aside with the unsupported assertion that the United Nations is not credible.”
Pillay once again, pressed Damascus to allow U.N. observers into Syria.
On Friday, Turkey also responded to Mr. Assad's remarks in the interview. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged the Syrian leader to punish the “murders” and to accept the proposal of the Arab League.
Davutoglu said his country does not want to intervene in Syria's internal affairs, but he says Turkey can not stand by when Syria's violence is affecting its neighboring countries. Turkey shares a southern border with Syria and is providing a safe haven to members of the opposition group, the Syrian National Council.
Meanwhile, Syrian activists are calling for a nationwide strike, beginning Sunday, in an attempt to bring down the regime through civil disobedience. The Local Coordination Committee, which is behind the country's peaceful protests, is urging citizens to hold sit-ins; to close shops, universities and public transportation; and to refuse to work in the public sector.
This has been one of the most violent weeks in Syria since the pro-democracy uprising began nine months ago, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reporting more than 70 people killed since last Sunday.
Sandusky arrested on new charges, jailed after failing to post bail
Ex-Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was jailed Wednesday after new child sex abuse charges were filed against him based on the claims of new two accusers, one of whom says he screamed in vain for help while Sandusky attacked him in a basement bedroom.
The latest accusers are the ninth and 10th described as victims in grand jury reports that claim Sandusky befriended and then molested boys he met through his charity for troubled youths, The Second Mile. A grand jury document released Wednesday echoed an earlier report, saying Sandusky gave the boys gifts while making advances on them.
One of the new accusers said Sandusky kept him in a basement bedroom during overnight visits to Sandusky's home, forced him to perform oral sex and attempted on at least 16 occasions to anally penetrate him, sometimes successfully.
"The victim testified that on at least one occasion he screamed for help, knowing that Sandusky's wife was upstairs, but no one ever came to help him," the grand jury report said.
Sandusky now faces criminal accusations from 10 young men and more than 50 charges stemming from what authorities say were assaults over 15 years on boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere. The scandal has provoked strong criticism that Penn State officials didn't do enough to stop Sandusky. The scandal prompted the ouster of Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno and the school's longtime president, Graham Spanier.
Sandusky, 67, has said repeatedly that he is innocent and has vowed to fight the case. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them. His lawyer, Joseph Amendola, said Wednesday that he had not read the latest grand jury report but had no reason to doubt Sandusky's claims of innocence.
Sandusky was wide-eyed and quiet during the arraignment in a cramped district magistrate's office outside the small town of Bellefonte. He could not immediately pay $250,000 cash bail and was driven to Centre County jail by agents from the state attorney general's office.
He had been arrested at his home, handcuffed behind his back and driven to court wearing a blue and white Penn State wrestling jacket and matching sweat pants.
After the hearing, Sandusky avoided eye contact and did not speak to about two dozen reporters and photographers waiting before authorities placed him in the back of a sedan that would shuttle him to jail.
The new accusers, who contacted officials after Sandusky's initial arrest on Nov. 5, told the grand jury they met him through the charity he founded in 1977.
"I took it at first he was just a nice guy, like he went to church every weekend, his kids would come over every once in a while and stuff. And after a while, like, he got used to me and stuff and started getting further and further, wanting - to touchy feely," the ninth accuser, who is now 18 years old, told the grand jury.
He said he was 11 or 12 when he first met Sandusky in 2004 and Sandusky took him to Penn State football games, gave him gifts and money and sexually assaulted him for years, according to the grand jury report.
The 10th accuser told the grand jury he was referred by a counselor to The Second Mile in 1997, when he was 10 and experiencing problems at home.
He also attended Penn State games with Sandusky, spent time at Sandusky's house and was subjected in the basement to "wrestling sessions" that led to Sandusky performing oral sex on him, the report said. The accuser also detailed being molested in a pool on the Penn State campus and a time when he said Sandusky exposed himself in a car while driving and requested oral sex from him.
The boy refused, and after Sandusky expressed his displeasure, the boy told his foster mother he didn't want to see Sandusky any more, the report said.
The grand jury report did not say whether the boys told anyone else about the assaults before testifying.
Amendola, asked what he told Sandusky during the arraignment, said he warned his client to be prepared for things to get worse.
"Jerry's scratching his head saying, `What's next?"' Amendola said. "I said, `Don't ask that question. Don't ask, "Can it get worse?" because it can.' We just have to be prepared for whatever else comes down the road. And we will be."
Asked how Sandusky is dealing with the accusations, Amendola said, "How would you take it if you were facing the kind of charges he was facing and your life's work was helping kids? You would be devastated."
Sandusky, who thought he would succeed Paterno as Penn State's head coach, retired from the team after the 1999 season.
Lawyers Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici, who say they have been representing and advising accusers, said the additional charges were to be expected.
"Through our investigation, we have found that Jerry Sandusky is a serial predator who has victimized many people over the course of decades," Shubin said in a statement. "Victims, many of whom have kept silent about Jerry Sandusky's abuse for years, are now gaining the strength to come forward and speak about what has happened to them."
Amendola said he believes that Sandusky will be able to post bail. If he does, he will have to wear an electronic monitor, which Amendola said would be the equivalent to house arrest.
Sandusky also was to have no contact with accusers or witnesses in the case and have no unsupervised contact with minors.
Prosecutors had sought $1 million in bail.
The bail and conditions ordered Wednesday by Senior Magisterial District Judge Robert E. Scott were in contrast to the $100,000 unsecured bail Sandusky was granted last month.
Source:AP/ sportsillustrated
Alec Baldwin leaves Twitter after American Airlines row
The Twitter account of the Hollywood and TV actor, Alec Baldwin, has been deactivated.
Mr Baldwin had been a prolific tweeter and made headlines this week after writing that he had been kicked off an American Airlines plane for playing a game on his mobile phone.
The airline responded on Facebook that a passenger had been removed after declining "to turn off his cell phone".
Mr Baldwin later posted an apology to passengers on the Huffington Post.
"It was never my intention to inconvenience anyone with my 'issue' with a certain flight attendant," Mr Baldwin wrote.
Lessons
However, his apology did not extend to the airline itself.
Mr Baldwin claimed he had been "singled out" by an airline employee for using his phone to complete messages after the late-running plane had closed its doors but was still waiting for take-off.
"The lesson I've learned is to keep my phone off when the 1950's gym teacher is on duty," he added.
American Airlines' statement said that an unnamed passenger had taken his mobile phone to the lavatory and had slammed the door when asked to turn it off.
It said the man had been "extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language".
#massunfollow
The 30 Rock star later tweeted: "Let's play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM, NY time, unfollow me."
Later that evening he tweeted: "I leave you with this.... The great Bernard Haitnk and the Concertgebouw, performing the Mahler 9th, fourth movement."
Mr Baldwin then linked to a YouTube video of the concert, and appears to have closed his account.
The tweets can still be seen in a Google cache, however visitors to his account are now simply told that it has been "deactivated".
Members of the social network have given a mixed reaction to the news.
Some members described him as a "bully" and commented "good riddance". However, others wrote "Alec Baldwin is my hero!" and "I thought he was good value".
Marketing experts say the saga highlights the growing importance of social media.
"What's interesting about this is not that he was forced to leave a flight - he's not the first celebrity that's happened to," said Simon Myers, from the Figtree consultancy.
"But his withdrawal from Twitter is the bigger story. I think that shows just how important Twitter has become in the whole celebrity ecosystem."
Mash star Harry Morgan dies aged 96
Actor Harry Morgan, best known for playing Colonel Sherman Potter in US TV show Mash, has died aged 96.
The star died at his Los Angeles home after suffering from pneumonia, his family confirmed.
Mike Farrell, who played BJ Hunnicutt in the military series, said of Morgan: "There was not an unadorable bone in the man's body."
Morgan also appeared as Officer Bill Gannon opposite Jack Webb in TV crime serial Dragnet from 1967 to 1970.
He appeared in more than 100 movies in mostly supporting roles from the early 1940s, playing opposite stars including Henry Fonda, John Wayne, James Garner, Elvis Presley and Dan Aykroyd.
Morgan began his TV career in the 1950s when the medium was in its infancy in the US, which he said allowed him "to kick the Hollywood habit of typing an actor in certain roles".
But it was his role as fatherly Col Potter in Mash, which he played from 1975 to 1983, that remains his best-remembered performance.
In 1980 he won an Emmy award for his portrayal, which was set during the Korean War.
During a news conference in 1983, after taping the final episode of Mash, the actor broke down in front of reporters.
"I'm feeling very sad and sentimental. I don't know if Mash made me a better actor but I know it made me a better human being," he said.
His co-star Mike Farrell added that Morgan was "an imp".
"He was full of fun and he was smart as a whip," added the actor.
Morgan's daughter-in-law, Beth Morgan, said he was "side-splittingly funny" and "very humble about having such a successful career".
He is survived by three sons, eight grandchildren and his second wife, Barbara Bushman.
European Central Bank cuts interest rates back to 1%
The European Central Bank has cut interest rates back to their historic low of 1%, as expected by markets.
The quarter-point cut comes as crisis and recession threaten the eurozone.
The decision comes just ahead of a "do-or-die" Brussels summit of EU heads to hammer out a plan to save the euro.
All eyes will now be on the ECB President, Mario Draghi, at a post-meeting press conference. The ECB is also thought to be preparing a bailout for the Italian government.
It is the second such rate cut since Mr Draghi took over the ECB presidency last month.
The first cut, the day he took over, reversed the central bank's policy direction. Under his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB had begun raising rates over the summer to ward off higher inflation.
The second cut has returned rates to the 1% level that prevailed from the summer of 2009 to the end of 2010, in response to the global financial crisis and recession.
There is speculation that Mr Draghi may be planning to push interest rates down to almost zero by next year, and then embark on a programme of "quantitative easing" - buying up government debts - similar to that already implemented by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
Italy plan
The two-day EU summit ending on Friday is expected to agree tough new rules and automatic fines to ensure that eurozone governments cut their borrowing to below 3% of their GDPs.
It will also seek to boost the eurozone governments' own bailout capacity.
Leaders still hope to find a way to double or triple the size of the eurozone governments' bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) - from its current 440bn euros (£375bn; $590bn).
However, in recent weeks, financial markets have signalled that they do not view the EFSF as a credible solution to the crisis, because Italy and its debts are seen as simply too big for other eurozone governments to rescue.
Attention has instead turned to the ECB and its potentially unlimited ability to create the euros needed to rescue Italy.
Last week, Mr Draghi hinted at "robust action" in a speech to the European Parliament, but highlighted the need for governments to take the lead, saying that "sequencing matters".
This has been widely interpreted as a demand for an agreement on government borrowing limits in Brussels on Friday as a precondition for the ECB rescuing Italy.
Italy's 10-year cost of borrowing - which had risen above the 7% level widely deemed to be unsustainably expensive - has fallen back to 6.125% in expectation of an ECB bailout.
Analysts expect think this rescue may take the form of a loan from the central bank to the International Monetary Fund.
The IMF would then in turn provide the loans - with tough conditions attached - needed by Rome.
The ECB is banned from lending directly to eurozone governments, although this has not stopped it from buying up existing Italian and Spanish debts in the financial markets.
Bank collapse
The ECB is also expected to announce further measures to support the eurozone's banks.
Some banks have increasingly been relying on existing emergency loans from the ECB, as they find it harder to borrow money from markets.
Meanwhile, other, stronger, banks have been depositing more cash with the central bank - a sign that they do not trust lending the money to their peers.
Last week, the ECB joined with the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and three other major central banks in announcing an agreement that would ensure that their banks had access to foreign currency emergency loans.
The surprise move sparked speculation that one or more major European banks could be on the point of collapse, because of their inability to borrow in US dollars.
Meanwhile, banks in Greece are facing an accelerating withdrawal of deposits by ordinary citizens worried that the country may soon exit the eurozone.
Greece's central bank governor, Georgios Provolopoulos, told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine on Tuesday that the bank run was making it harder for the Greek banks to support the country's economy.
The ECB has been providing the cash needed by Greek banks to pay out to their fleeing depositors.
But this has, in turn, put strains on the system of eurozone central banks and has increased the ECB's exposure to potential losses if Greece does ultimately stop paying its debts or leave the eurozone.
BBC
Corzine: 'I don't know where the money is'
Jon Corzine, the former chief executive officer of the bankrupt broker MF Global, apologized for his firm's failure Thursday and told a House committee that he doesn't know where the missing money went.
"I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have not been reconciled to date," said Corzine, in prepared testimony to the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday.
He also apologized "to all those affected."
"My sadness, of course, pales in comparison to the losses and hardships that customers, employees and investors suffered as a result of MF Global's bankruptcy," he said.
The lengthy testimony is the first full response from Corzine since MF Global's failure in October. He will appear in person before the committee later Thursday.
Corzine, a Democrat who served as a U.S. senator and governor of New Jersey, was called to Capitol Hill to participate in the committee's investigation of the firm, which went bankrupt after disclosing bets on risky European debt that sparked a panic among investors.
In his prepared remarks, he did not mention a specific amount of money. But since the bankruptcy filing, investigators have been trying to find $1.2 billion missing from MF Global's books, according to the trustee overseeing the brokerage firm's liquidation.
"No matter the exact size of the shortfall, however, its probable size is significant and will substantially affect the trustee's ability to make a 100% distribution to former MF Global Inc. customers," said James Kobak, counsel for the bankruptcy trustee, in prepared testimony.
Corzine resigns from MF Global
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal authorities are probing the company, which is also being investigated by the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Jill Sommers, commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said in prepared testimony that her agency is "expending an enormous amount of effort to locate the missing customer funds and pursuing the enforcement investigation."
MF Global, a trader in commodities and derivatives, started to implode after it disclosed $6.3 billion in exposure to troubled sovereign debt from weak European countries.
Corzine testified that the company was already carrying "over $9 billion in foreign government securities" when he joined the company in March, 2010. He said that during the following months he "became an advocate of purchasing European sovereign debt" using a financial instrument called "repurchase transactions to maturity."
He defined the so-called RTM as "a particular kind of repurchase transaction in which the purchaser (MF Global) agrees to buy back the underlying debt security on its maturity date."
Corzine said that purchasing European sovereign debt using RTMs was "attractive" because of "the reduction of finance risk and market risk -- and the spread on the European sovereign debt securities appeared to favorable."
Nonetheless, the company eventually unraveled. He testified that he was "stunned" on Oct. 30, when he was told "that MF Global could not account for many hundreds of millions of dollars of client money."
Corzine failed to broker a last-ditch deal to sell the company to Interactive Brokers (IBKR) after accounting "deficiencies" were found. MF Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 31, in the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Both the House and Senate agriculture committees as well as a subcommittee of House Financial Services have voted to subpoena him. The Senate Agriculture and House Financial Services hearings are scheduled for next week.
Corzine, who is also a former CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500), tried to get the hearings postponed to January, but his requests were denied.
He said in his prepared remarks that many people in his situation would invoke their constitutional right to remain silent, a guarantee under the Fifth Amendment.
But while Corzine says he might not be able all questions posed by the committee, "as a former United States Senator who recognizes the importance of congressional oversight, and recognizing my position as former chief executive officer in these terrible circumstances, I believe it is appropriate that I attempt to respond to your inquiries."
LIAT passengers still stranded
Passengers using LIAT flight service were left stranded for a second day as pilots called in sick again.
As of Tuesday, pilots have been calling in sick as they protest the dismissal of one of their colleagues on Monday.
In a release issued yesterday via its website, LIAT stated that pilots who were scheduled for duty yesterday, had called in sick.
It added, “As a result of the industrial action, all of the company’s morning services have been disrupted and this is also likely to affect the rest of today’s flights.”
When Newsday spoke to some of the stranded passengers, they all expressed their frustration at the situation. One passenger, Susan Reviere said she was unaware of the sickout by pilots and it was only when she got to the airport yesterday morning did she realise something was amiss, as there were cancellation signs at the LIAT counters. As of 2 pm yesterday when Newsday spoke to Reviere, she said no one from LIAT had contacted or given them any update on the situation.
“The communication is atrocious. There are people who were here from since Tuesday and no one is telling us anything,” said Reviere.
She added that none of the passengers were taking the chance to leave the airport in the event a flight is ready, and no meals have been provided since.
LIAT further stated, “We wish to advise that passengers who decide to travel but are unable to complete their journey due to the disruption, will not be provided with meals, transportation and hotel accommodation.”
However, LIAT added passengers affected by the disruption who wish to re-book their flight will be allowed to do so without charge for a period of one week from the date of their original scheduled travel.
Following the one-week grace period, passengers will be required to pay the applicable fare and fees for the changes when re-booking. Passengers who are unable to travel as planned due to the industrial action, at their request, will be issued with a full credit for future travel.
LIAT has apologised for the in- convenience caused as a result of the sickout action by the pilots and has advised passengers to contact their call centre at the following toll free numbers; 1-888-844-5428 and from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – 1-866-549-5428.