French Hostages in New Al-Qaida Video
A video released on jihadist websites shows four French hostages kidnapped by a North African al-Qaida group last September.
The U.S.-based SITE intelligence group says the video was posted on Tuesday. It shows photos of the hostages with armed militants standing behind them.
In an audio message accompanying the pictures, the hostages call on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to respond to al-Qaida's demands that he withdraw French troops from Afghanistan. French forces are part of the international coalition battling the Taliban.
The Associated Press reports French officials say they are working to verify the authenticity and date of the video.
The four hostages were among seven people, including two Africans, kidnapped in northern Niger last September. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
The group has since released three of the hostages, including the Africans.
Aid Ship Reaches Libyan Rebel-Held Port
An international aid ship has docked in Libya's rebel-held port of Misrata after NATO airstrikes helped stop a bombardment of the area by pro-government forces.
The International Organization for Migration says relief workers began rescuing refugees from the besieged western port and unloading humanitarian aid after the ship pulled into Misrata on Wednesday.
Intense shelling by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi delayed the ship's docking on Tuesday. At least three migrant workers were reported killed and up to 20 wounded in the assault.
Meanwhile, the French News Agency says chiefs or representatives from 61 Libyan tribes have called for an end to Mr. Gadhafi's rule as fighting continued around the country.
The agency said on Wednesday that French writer Bernard-Henri Levi released a joint statement from the leaders who say the “Libya of tomorrow, once the dictator has gone” will be united.
Diplomatic efforts to end the crisis also took place in Ethiopia on Tuesday.
Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi urged the African Union to hold an emergency summit to discuss how to deal with western airstrikes.
Obeidi and rebel representatives have been meeting separately with AU officials in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to discuss an end to the unrest.
Protests, Civil Disobedience Campaign Keep Pressure on Yemen Government
Yemen's security forces again confronted protesters across the nation on Wednesday even as a deal loomed to end a political stalemate by ousting the long-serving president.
Two Yemeni soldiers and a protester were killed in a gunfight Wednesday as security forces tried to break up a demonstration in southern Yemen.
Doctors say three other protesters were wounded during the clashes in the city of Aden. Local officials say the soldiers who were killed had also been shot.
Security forces were confronting protesters who had set up a roadblock in a bid to enforce a general strike as part of demonstrations against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The Associated Press reported that residents in more than 18 localities have launched a civil disobedience campaign, closing schools, shops and government offices.
Demonstrations against Mr. Saleh continued this week despite an agreement brokered by neighboring Gulf Arab states for him to step down from power.
Yemen's main opposition coalition has agreed to the proposal, which would have Mr. Saleh leave within 30 days of signing the agreement and would establish a unity government that would include opposition members.
The deal would also grant the president and his family immunity from prosecution after he leaves office.
Many opposition activists, who have been demonstrating in the streets for two months, object to the deal, and want Mr. Saleh to resign immediately.
In another development, two Yemeni soldiers were shot dead in the southern province of Abyan Wednesday, in an attack blamed on al-Qaida militants. Officials say at least three other soldiers were wounded when gunmen opened fire on them in the city of Zinjibar.
Libya tribes' Misrata 'ultimatum'
Tribes loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have said that if the army cannot drive rebels from the besieged port city of Misrata, they will, a senior official says.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the army had tried to keep civilian casualties low but the tribes would not show the same restraint.
Col Gaddafi's forces have been pounding Misrata for weeks.
Meanwhile, Nato forces carried out more air strikes on the capital, Tripoli.
The Libyan government says three people were killed by the strikes.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen has seen a concrete bunker near Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia compound which received two hits early on Saturday.
Ultimatum
Aid organisations say Misrata - the main rebel-held area in western Libya - faces a humanitarian crisis after weeks of fighting. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people there have died.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Tripoli says the government has previously used the prospect of tribal civil war in Libya as a threat against rebel leaders and Nato intervention.
He says the regime is feeling increasingly isolated and is hoping for some kind of a diplomatic solution.
The ultimatum came in a meeting between tribal leaders and the military in the area of Misrata still controlled by the government, Mr Kaim said.
He said the tribes were angry that people's lives had been disrupted by weeks of fighting that had cut the main coastal road and stopped trade in the city.
Tribal leaders say the seaport is for all Libyans and not just the rebels, Mr Kaim said.
'Surgical' tactics
In normal times Misrata is a major commercial centre and its port is second only to Tripoli.
"Now there is an ultimatum before the Libyan army. If they can't resolve the problem in Misrata then the people from the region... will move in," he told reporters.
He said the tribes would first try to persuade the rebels to lay down their arms, but if that failed they would move in. The army would stay where it was, he added.
"The tactic of the army is to have a surgical solution but with the (Nato) air strikes it doesn't work," Mr Kaim said.
A fourth evacuation ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is on its way to rescue stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from the besieged city.
Earlier, the most senior US soldier, Adm Mike Mullen, said the war in Libya was "moving towards stalemate", even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40% of Libya's ground forces.
The US has authorised the use of armed, unmanned Predator drones over Libya to give "precision capabilities".
A popular revolt against Col Gaddafi - inspired by similar uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia - began in February and a UN mandate later sanctioned air strikes against Libyan state forces to protect civilians.
Nato took control of the operation on 31 March.
Syria crisis: Obama condemns 'outrageous' use of force
US President Barack Obama has accused Syria of using "outrageous" force against protesters and of seeking Iranian help to quell weeks of unrest.
He condemned "in the strongest possible terms" Friday's violence in which more than 70 protesters were killed.
He said President Bashar al-Assad refused to respect the rights of protesters, and had instead used the same tactics as his Iranian allies.
Friday's reported death toll was the highest in five weeks of unrest.
Large crowds were due to attend funerals on Saturday for many of those killed, raising fears of further bloody confrontations.
Syria's state news agency said security forces had used only tear gas and water cannon to prevent clashes.
"This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now," Mr Obama said in a statement.
"Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria's citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies."
Tougher line
Syria is widely believed to be a key part of an alliance that includes Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and other more radical Palestinian groups opposed to peace with Israel.
The US designates Syria a state sponsor of terrorism and already has sanctions in place.
But some in Washington are now demanding a tougher line, the BBC's Steve Kingstone says. They believe the US could benefit if President Assad were to fall - in part because he is seen as a vital ally of Tehran.
Friday's bloodshed - which came a day after President Assad scrapped decades of emergency rule - brought strong international condemnation.
France said it was "extremely concerned" and condemned the violence.
"Light should be shed on these crimes and those responsible must be identified, arrested and brought to justice," foreign ministry deputy spokeswoman Christine Fages said.
Syrian authorities should "renounce the use of violence against their citizens", she added.
Human rights groups and witnesses said many deaths occurred in a village near Deraa in the south, and in a suburb of the capital, Damascus.
Video footage showed protesters scattering as they apparently came under fire.
In their first joint statement since anti-government protests broke out, activists co-ordinating the mass demonstrations demanded the establishment of a democratic political system.
Correspondents say President Assad's concessions may have been too late and too symbolic to appease protesters.
Lindsay Lohan ordered jailed for 120 days
Lindsay Lohan has been sentenced to 120 days in jail for violating probation on a 2007 drink-driving conviction.
In addition to the jail stint - her fourth - the 24-year-old Mean Girls starlet will be required to carry out 480 hours of community service.
Lohan's lawyer vowed to appeal against the sentence, and she was expected to be freed on $75,000 (£45,413) bail.
The violation stems from an accusation Lohan stole a $2,500 necklace from a California jewellery store in January.
On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner reduced the initial felony grand theft charge to a misdemeanour.
The judge sentenced her to jail after ruling prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence of the jewellery theft to show Lohan had violated terms of her probation.
Judge Sautner said Lohan had only returned the necklace after learning police had obtained a search warrant to find it.
Lohan will perform community service at a women's centre and at the Los Angeles morgue, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In September, Lohan was briefly jailed after failing a drugs test ordered after her 2007 conviction for drink-driving. In October, a judge ordered her to spend two-and-a-half months in rehab.
Soon after she was released from rehab in January, she was accused of walking out of a jewellery store in Venice, California, with the necklace. The actress has said the store lent her the jewellery.
Destra brings new songs, surprise guest for Smirnoff Beach J'ouvert
Super sexy Soca diva Destra is promising a little bit of everything plus a big surprise act for her performance at Smirnoff Beach Jouvert tomorrow 23 at James Bond Beach.
The singer who has been performing here over the years and has a large fan base, says Jamaicans know that she always tries to keep things interesting whenever she makes an appearance here.
"I always try to be a little bit different but yet the same. I know people look forward to very energetic, amazing performances from me. So it always a lot of pressure to kind of do better than the last time," she said. "But with real vibes and real love for what I do and the energy that I naturally bring, it never really that hard to please Jamaica because Jamaica and me are always on the same page, I kind of read them well and they bring out the best in me."
That being said, she says the plan is to perform songs from her new album and some of the old classics for which she has become well known.
Destra recently released her latest album called Welcome Back. She said she named the album Welcome Back because she took a year off from the Trinidad Carnival. She describes it as a 'hit-studded album'. "We have a lot of new songs, Cool It Down, Working, Proper, and Welcome Back, the title track," she said.
She also brings more than just the new album and the new songs. "I am also bringing, a surprise guest, Supa Jigga TC. He has songs like Speaker Box and we did a collaboration together and we performed together at Trini carnival so I brought him to Jamaica for the first time. He has never performed here before. I can guarantee that everybody is going to be happy, sweating and feeling like they did suppen."
Bajans greeted by smiles in Jamaica for Carifta
Nothing but welcoming smiles!
That’s how the Jamaicans on the planes, at the airports, on the road and at the track have greeted the Barbadians here at the 40th LIME CARIFTA Games in Montego Bay.
Despite international tensions between the two countries, this sports-loving island seems to be totally focussed on welcoming their Southern Caribbean neighbours while sharing licks on the track.
“You are carrying a team to the mecca of track and field?” one man with a strong Jamaican accent asked coach Wendy Barrow-Smith while the place was still on the tarmac at Grantley Adams International Airport on Thursday morning.
“We’ve done it before and dominated,” Barrow-Smith said.
Looking in disbelief, the man told her Jamaica was going to win the CARIFTA Games again.
More warm smiles and offers of food and drink were made as the team was briefly hosted by LIME at the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston.
“What is the reason for your visit?” one customs officer asked this journalist at the Donald Sangster Airport later that evening?
“I’m here for the CARIFTA Games,” I replied.
“Enjoy,” she said with a smile, “’Cause we are going to beat you.”
At the track Friday morning, one Jamaican male asked for a Barbados tee-shirt.
“I’m supporting both Barbados and Jamaica. I am a Jamaican, but he is Barbadian. He was born in Barbados,” he said, pointing to a little boy who was nearby.
“And I live in Barbados. I am supporting both countries.”
A woman with them extended her hand in welcome, smiled and said: “You need to travel with your Barbados tee-shirts.”
Michael Worrell, head coach of the Barbados team said they had received a warm welcome from their hosts.
“Everything is great,” he said with a smile.
“We had a lot of fun at the Kingston airport with the customs officers. They were funny about certain things and they asked a lot of different questions. Some of them thought certain things were being blown out of proportion.
“Everything is ready right now and I feel sports will win over any disagreement between the islands.”
Relations between Barbados and Jamaica have been strained following allegations of finger rape by Jamaican national Shanique Myrie against Barbadian customs officials when she visited the island last month.
However, it remains to be seen how the crowd will react when the children start to compete and win medals.
Boston ruthlessly Knicked-up New York to take commanding lead
The first Madison Square Garden playoff game in seven years was supposed to be a celebration of revival, and that's what it became. The Celtics made the revival theirs. They stole the night away from the Knicks, just as the big so do to the little. They threw the first punch, they taunted and humiliated, and then they finished the 113-96 win in ruthless fashion.
"You know that this is going to happen,'' said coach Mike D'Antoni on Friday after his Knicks fell 3-0 in this opening series. "They are going to explode. Their great players played great tonight.''
The Knicks had viewed Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo as crucial to their long shot hopes. They'd almost won the two games in Boston by forcing him to score more than he created for others, but that dream was buried when Rondo began the fourth quarter already with a triple-double in hand. When he produces numbers akin to the 15 points, 11 rebounds and 20 assists he created in Game 3, the Celtics look like the NBA Final-ists they've been for two of the last three years. For the first time in weeks they looked capable of beating anybody.
Boston doesn't need to make statements, but the rest of the league -- including Miami, which will hold home court advantage into their likely second-round meeting against the C's -- had better pay attention to the 38 points (14-of-19 from the floor, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range) from Paul Pierce and the 32 (8-of-11 threes) by Ray Allen. Boston made 58.3 percent of its 24 triples and outrebounded the Knicks 43 to 33 after failing miserably on the boards in Game 2.
The Celtics' season-ending 10-11record looks like the consequences of boredom, but they won't be bored against Miami just as they were inspired by the setting of this game. Their coach, in turn, was happy to find their inspiration so very narrowly focused. "I usually don't talk about where we're playing,'' said Doc Rivers, who made a point of discussing the setting before this game. "My concern was this was not entertainment. This was a competition. I thought we came with that mentality, because this is the one thing this place can do to you -- you come in here to put on a show and then you get your tail kicked. I thought we came in here to play team basketball, and everyone did that.''
The Knicks' collapse provided a revealing context for their previous two losses. Instead of dwelling on their inability to convert those road games into victories, they should instead be lauded for earning any kind of chance to win either one of them. With Chauncey Billups suffering a strained knee at the end of Game 1 that is likely to sideline him until next season, and with back spasms preventing Amar'e Stoudemire from playing the second half of Game 2 and limiting him to seven points and three rebounds in 33 painful minutes of Game 3, it now looks more amazing than ever to think the Knicks ever could have stayed within range of the Celtics.
The biggest stage belongs to the biggest stars, and by that count Boston entered this game with four stars compared to the one and a half of New York. Stoudemire, having been unable to pull on his socks or tie his shoes without sharp pain over the previous two days, warmed up before the game to chants of "M-V-P" from the early crowd gathered courtside. He responded with two thumbs-up as he shuffled off the court, but he was stiff then and stiffer while failing to get the ball to the rim on the Knicks' first two possessions.
Injured Willis Reed didn't win Game 7 so much as he inspired his teammates to win the 1970 Finals. In this unfortunate reprisal. Stoudemire would quickly realize there was no one left to inspire, not with the Celtics loading up on Carmelo Anthony (4-of-16 for 15 points), Landry Fields going 1-for-5 and Jared Jeffries unable to catch or convert several layups. This has been a terrific year for the Knicks, who established Stoudemire's leadership while raising the value of enough role players to leverage a midseason trade for Anthony. To expect anything more of this fatigued roster is to insist on too much.
The Celtics, on the other hand, require more improvement from their bench, as their entire second unit was in the red in terms of plus-minus (with Glen Davis and Delonte West each at minus-16 points in this rout, and Jeff Green at minus-12). But the starting five was exquisite, as Rondo pushed the tempo and moved the ball to create the kind of open shots that make Pierce and Allen look five to 10 years younger.
Pierce's 14-point opening quarter propelled Boston to a 9-0 lead, and anytime the Knicks pulled within five, somebody in green was converting a smoothly uncontested jumper from either side of the arc. New York was down by a manageable 58-50 soon after halftime before the Celtics pulled away with excruciatingly consistent aim, outscoring the Knicks 28-13 over the quarter's concluding 9:07 to turn the Knicks' fans against them as they returned to their bench for the hopeless fourth.
An evening like this one demands a kind of musculature that the Knicks lack and that the Celtics don't bother to flex until they really care. But it's not so much that they decide to try; it's more that they need to be turned on, and this moment did that for them. Now that they've finished off any doubt of losing this series, they can do themselves another favor by clinching in Game 4 Sunday, the better to prepare themselves for the far more inspiring challenge of Miami.
Source: sportsillustrated
Lakers take 2-1 series lead with win over Hornets
Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol snapped out of his playoff funk with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers took control of their first-round playoff series with a 100-86 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.
Andrew Bynum added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Lamar Odom had 13 points for the two-time defending champs, who took the lead for good when Ron Artest made a layup as he was fouled to make it 13-10.
The victory gave the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with Game 4 in New Orleans on Sunday.
Chris Paul had 22 points and eight assist for the Hornets, who managed to stay within single digits for long stretches of the game but never truly threatened to take the lead.
Bryant's intensity was evident from the opening minutes when he violently rejected Carl Landry's attempted close-range shot out of bounds and soon after he cut into the lane for a vicious one-handed jam.
Hornets fans' attempts at booing or heckling him only seemed to help him focus. Hitting on his typical array of demoralizing 3s and off balance jumpers off the glass, he had 15 points in the first half. He didn't need to take the game over in the second because of Gasol's emergence, which the Lakers thought was long overdue after he averaged only eight points, about 11 below his average, during the first two games of the series.
Although Gasol still didn't seem quite himself in the first half, when he had four points, he became a factor when it mattered, hitting a momentum-changing 3 from the corner that made it 78-70 early in the fourth quarter. The basket ignited a 10-1 run during which Gasol scored seven points, adding a putback and a soft jumper from the baseline to give Los Angeles an 85-71 lead with 8:36 left, the Lakers' largest lead to that point.
Paul meanwhile, faded a bit in the second half, when he scored only four points.
The Lakers wound up cruising with a double-digit lead for much of the fourth quarter in the most convincing performance of the series by either team. If the Hornets are unable to bounce back in Game 4, the Lakers could close out the series at home in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Certainly, the Hornets will need better production from their bench, which was a major factor in their surprising Game 1 triumph but accounted for only nine points on 4-of-17 shooting in Game 3.
Landry scored 23 points for New Orleans, while Trevor Ariza had 12 points and 12 rebounds and Emeka Okafor had 15 points.
Derek Fisher had 10 points for Los Angeles.
The Lakers' size advantage translated to a 48-42 edge in points in the paint and a 43-38 advantage in rebounding. That included 14 offensive rebounds that helped produce 17 second-chance points.
The Hornets kept the crowd in the game by outscoring the Lakers by a point in the third quarter, marking the first time in six quarter since their Game 1 win that they had done so.
Still, Los Angeles led 75-68 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Hornets would only get as close as 75-70 before Gasol's scoring spurt put the Lakers firmly in command.
Bynum helped the Lakers dictate the pace of the game early, tormenting New Orleans in the paint with four offensive rebounds and all 14 of his points by halftime. The Lakers took their largest lead of the first half when Bryant's 3, followed by Bynum's overpowering low-post move on Okafor, made it 43-32.
It might have been worse if not for Paul, who had 18 points in the first half, including seven late in the second quarter to trim New Orleans' deficit to 51-42 at halftime.
Source: sportsillustrated