KINGS PALACE & EVENTS

The force behind a 'bad year for bad guys'

2012-01-24T09:19:00.001-08:00

The force behind a 'bad year for bad guys'

By Srdja Popovic, Special to CNN

January 23, 2012 -- Updated 1458 GMT (2258 HKT)

An Egyptian man protesting against former president Hosni Mubarak in January. Mubarak's three decade rule ended in 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Srdja Popovic says people power was the driving force behind the falls of dictator regimes
He says policymakers often overlook the strategic value of supporting non-violent movements
Popovic says the world should commit resources away from violent campaigns into non-violent pro-democracy movements

Editor's note: Srdja Popvic is executive director of the Center for applied nonviolent action and strategies (CANVAS) and a visiting scholar at Columbia University. He has written for CNN as part of its coverage of Davos, the theme of which is "The Great Transformation."

(CNN) -- It's been a bad year for bad guys. Twelve months ago, no one could have guessed that Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, North Korea's Kim Jong Il and al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden would be dead; Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali prosecuted and former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic in jail.
Further, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh and Syria's president Bashar al-Assad are under intense pressure both internationally and within their own countries.
Top aide: Gadhafi's 'suicidal' flight to birthplace
The Arab Spring, that led to the fall of so many of the region's leaders, sent shockwaves around the world, leaving major powers struggling to make sense of the changing landscape -- and ensure their interests are preserved.

Srdja Popovic, executive director of CANVAS

The dramatic events, followed by unrest in societies considered "dormant" in terms of traditional activism -- including Spain and Russia -- leave one curious to discover the "common denominator." The obvious but unexpected answer is: People power, in all of these cases carried largely by non-partisan youth movements.
Much has been written on the revolutions driven by people power youth movements in Tunisia and Egypt. Their unity, planning and nonviolent discipline has inspired the world and given more than 100 million people a chance to change from dictatorship to democracy.
The revolutions inspired similar movements. Now leaders of Morocco, Jordan, and even Myanmar are promising reforms. The government of Algeria has emerged from its state of emergency after 19 years. Syrians have risked, and sacrificed, their lives in peaceful demonstrations for freedom and democracy.
Let me also note my own country -- Serbia. People power and nonviolent struggle driven by OTPOR, the resistance movement, brought an end to the rule of Slobodan Milosevic on October 5, 2000.
OTPOR -- which grew from 11 founders to 70,000 supporters over its two-year struggle -- is credited for stripping away the fear and passivity that keep a dictator's subjects under oppression.
During the presidential campaign of September 2000, OTPOR launched its "gotov je" (he's finished) and the "vreme je" (it's time) campaigns, which galvanized national discontent with Milosevic and eventually resulted in his defeat.
OTPOR became one of the defining symbols of the anti-Milosevic struggle and his subsequent overthrow. Milosevic was delivered to Hague in 2001, followed by former Serbian leader Radovan Karadzic, then Mladic. This has enabled Serbia to lift the burdens from the past and push towards European Union membership.
Srebrenica: Worst European atrocity since WWII
People power has been a phenomenon throughout history. It is credited with successes including India's independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi, the battles against racism led by Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, and the agitations of Polish activist Lech Walesa during the early stages of the Soviet Union's downfall.

Consider what would happen if 1% of the billions of dollars spent on foreign military interventions went to nonviolent pro-democracy movements.
Srdja Popovic, activist

Policymakers often overlook the strategic value of supporting non-violent movements. Fifty out of 67 transitions from dictatorships to democracies in the last 35 years came from non-violent struggle. Armed intervention was not the driving force.
The new book "Why Civil Resistance Works: The strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict," written by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, studies 323 violent and non-violent campaigns from 1900 to 2006. It finds nonviolent campaigns are more than twice as likely to succeed as violent campaigns. They also found non-violent uprisings are 10 times more likely to end in stable and durable democracies.
The last year taught us an important lesson: What used to be called "realpolitik" is not actually "real" any more. There is a force more powerful at work shaping the new reality: Strategic nonviolent struggle.
Consider what would happen if 1% of the billions of dollars spent on foreign military interventions in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq and, more recently, Libya, went to nonviolent pro-democracy movements. This could be done through education, the translation of books, movies and video clips, developing innovative uses for new media like Facebook or Twitter, and training in nonviolent, civic mobilization.
Rebuilding the ruins of Gadhafi
My organization, CANVAS, has worked with activists from more than 40 different countries -- and we have seen the power of such education at work in places including Georgia, Ukraine, the Maldives, Tunisia, Egypt and Myanmar.
Brave, young and oppressed people around the world are realizing there is immense power in nonviolent struggle. I know this, because they are calling me every day for help.
We must recognize the power of nonviolent struggle in promoting what some call the "fourth wave of democratization." We should commit these kinds of resources to show we have learnt the most important lesson from these revolutionary months.
That would mark 2011 as more than the "worst year for bad guys," but encourage and remind millions of oppressed in places like North Korea, Myanmar, Zimbabwe and Iran that power ultimately belongs to the people.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Srdja Popovic

Jesse Jackson: Occupy in memory of Martin Luther King

2012-01-24T09:17:00.001-08:00

Jesse Jackson: Occupy in memory of Martin Luther King

By Rev. Jesse Jackson, Special to CNN

January 24, 2012 -- Updated 1136 GMT (1936 HKT)

Rev. Jesse Jackson addresses the crowd at the Occupy camp, St Paul's Cathedral, London on December 15, 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Rev. Jesse Jackson supports the non-violent protests that took place on Wall Street.
He thinks the Occupy movements have spotted the widening gap between rich and poor.
Many spiritual and oppositional leaders from history carried an occupier spirit, finds Jackson.
Jackson calls for further movements to commemorate Dr. King's birthday this month.

Editor's note: Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is a leading civil rights activist and president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

(CNN) -- People are turning. The misery is too widespread. The privileged are too brazen. The injustice too apparent.
On Wall Street, young students have created a free democratic space in a place they call Liberty Square. They protest that Wall Street has been rescued, but there is no help for most Americans. In a moving statement, they presented their view: "We are the 99%. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we are working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99%."
Their demonstrators were scorned in the beginning. They had no clear demands. They were organized with no formal structure. They were squatting out in the rain, not allowed tents or bedding.
But they understood the value of nonviolence. In the face of pepper spray and police provocation, they stayed disciplined. As they were being dragged away to be arrested, they said to the police: "We are the 99%. We are fighting for your pensions. You should stand with us."

The year in iReport: 2011 in review

Occupy protester gets job on Wall Street

They made no demands but their analysis was dead on. The wealthiest few are capturing all the rewards of growth in this society, while the large majority falls behind. Wall Street got bailed out, rescued without being reorganized, while homeowners were left to fend for themselves.
Inequality has reached levels not seen since before the Great Depression. With this kind of inequality -- with the top 1% having as much income as the bottom 60%, according to the Campaign for America's Future -- the economy doesn't work well. The rich turn to speculation. The middle class sinks. And the country suffers.
Now conservatives are talking about sending the bill for Wall Street's excesses to the most vulnerable -- cutting Medicare and Social Security, slashing spending on public education.
Many of the kids in Occupy Wall Street are graduating from college with thousands in college debt and no jobs are to be found. They are the 99%.
The discipline of their demonstrations, the clarity of their moral voice, has touched a chord. Now groups are organizing to occupy financial districts all over the world. I've been to many of the occupy sites: in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Phoenix, Atlanta, just last month in London. I've seen the faces and places of the Occupy movement.

"Occupy is a spirit whose time has come, capturing the people and the world's imagination with a keen focus on the gaps of inequality, unfairness and corruption."
Rev. Jesse Jackson

But Occupy is more than places. Occupy is a spirit whose time has come, capturing the people and the world's imagination with a keen focus on the gaps of inequality, unfairness and corruption. The Occupiers' cause is a just cause, a moral cause. It cannot and will not be dismissed, but heard. Listen to the message:
They are the canary in the mine warning us of the dangers...
Too few have too much; too many have too little; too much poverty, too much wanting in the land of plenty; too many costly wars.
Biblically, Jesus was an occupier. Born under occupation, facing a death warrant on his life, He fled to Egypt -- an immigrant, a political refugee. He represented hope for the oppressed; his mission was to serve the poor. He challenged the prevailing ethos and power of Rome.
Gandhi was an occupier. He marched to the sea protesting colonialism and British occupation. He prevailed.
Mandela was an occupier, his country occupied by the ruthlessness of apartheid. But Mandela occupied his jail cell on Robben Island, turning it into a library, a center for peaceful, non-violent revolution. He prevailed.
Dr. King was an occupier, our country occupied by the vicious and divisive legal segregation. His last great campaign was the Poor People's Campaign, aimed at occupying the Mall in the nation's Capitol to address abounding poverty, the demands for a job or an income for all, health care for all.
When Dr. King was shot down on April 4, the campaign moved on to Washington DC, setting up Resurrection City and occupying the nation's Capitol in tents. It was the precursor to today's Occupy movement. We prevailed.
Deep into a recession that nearly drove the world economy over the brink in 2008, the eurozone crisis and the recent downgrades of European countries remind us ever to starkly that the dangers of economic collapse remain with us today.
Banks got bailed out; people got left out. Banks are making record profits and issuing billions in executive compensation bonuses again. But protestors are criminalized -- homeowners are still being foreclosed on while others find themselves "underwater" with debt exceeding the value of their homes. Student loan debt now exceeds credit card debt, and our youth are finding it increasingly difficult to enter, and stay in, college. Big banks are still not lending to small businesses.

Dr. King was an occupier, our country occupied by the vicious and divisive legal segregation.
Reverend Jesse Jackson, acitvist

Yet for all of the excess and scandalous trading practices and policies, not a single top executive from a U.S. bank has gone to jail for their crimes of corruption and greed that drove the global economy to the brink of disaster.
In this mirror, a movement for change is building across the country.
It was reported that the Wall Street traders drank champagne in their offices as they looked down on the drenched and straggly demonstrators in Liberty Square. They should hold their scorn. This is how change takes place. The courageous stand up -- and more and more people come to their side. The movement for jobs and justice has started up again.
As we commemorate Dr. King's birthday this month, we occupy. We are not just dreaming, we are occupying. Occupying until justice rolls down like mighty water. Occupying until a new day of justice appears. Occupying until the bright morning appears. Occupying until peace and love, hope and justice prevails in our land.
Keep hope alive.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Reverend Jesse Jackson.

'Metal Gear Rising' game to emerge from ashes

2012-01-24T09:14:00.001-08:00

'Metal Gear Rising' game to emerge from ashes

By Mark Milian, CNN

January 24, 2012 -- Updated 1602 GMT (0002 HKT) | Filed under: Gaming and Gadgets

"Metal Gear" protagonist Solid Snake will be replaced in the new game by a swordsman named Raiden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The "Metal Gear Solid: Rising" game was initially canceled
The project was revived with the help of a third-party developer
"Rising" involves action and sword fighting instead of the usual sneaking around

(CNN) -- The name he chose for the next installment in his "Metal Gear" video game series makes Hideo Kojima seem prescient.
As the famed shepherd of the spy franchise he created 25 years ago, Kojima remains deeply involved in the game development process. Yet, Kojima hadn't foreseen that his project would undergo a death and rebirth, like the phoenix bird from Greek mythology.
As it turns out, the irony of the name "Metal Gear Rising" is unintentional.
"I canceled it," Kojima said of the game, in a recent phone interview with CNN. "I made the decision. I just thought that nothing good would come out of this."
Instead, "Rising" is back on track. The new chapter is meant to be a sort of departure for the series, emphasizing action and swordplay over the stealth movements that "Metal Gear" games are renowned for. In June, a fresh take on the game that was once killed will be ready for gamers to play for the first time at the E3 industry trade show, reports Japan's Famitsu magazine.
Developers at Konami and Kojima Productions had initially spearheaded the project, then called "Metal Gear Solid: Rising," as they've done for most games in the franchise. A version for Xbox 360 was announced in the summer of 2009.
Kojima had placed "Rising" in the hands of some young developers within his company, but they didn't have the expertise to deliver the action game he wanted, he said.
"It was almost lost when they were making it," Kojima said. "It's not that we do not have any good game designers in our development team. However, the concept for 'Rising' was completely new."
With "Rising" shelved, Kojima and his teams continued to work on their various other "Metal Gear" projects, including a high-definition remaster of older games that hit stores in November and a mysterious open-ended game that Kojima is reluctant to talk much about.
Rumors had begun to surface that the game would not get made, and that piqued the interest of a little-known Osaka, Japan, developer named Platinum Games. When Kojima spoke with executives there about reviving the project, they were enthusiastic, he said. Platinum delivered a thorough proposal, which won Kojima over, he said.
The game and its story have changed considerably from the original concept, said Kojima, who is an executive producer on the project. Even the name is different. It will be called "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance" when it debuts this year.
"If this game becomes hugely successful and popular, then we might make it into a franchise," Kojima said.
In a game about sword fighting, support for the latest motion-control gaming systems -- Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move -- would seem to be a natural fit, but Konami has not described how it will be controlled. In a previous interview, Konami President Shinji Hirano declined to comment on the game's control scheme.
After "Rising," Kojima expects more "Metal Gear Solid" games to be made, but he hasn't decided whether he will design them, he said. Gamers recognize Kojima's meticulousness, which is why he has such a dedicated following. (He has about 136,000 people following his Japanese Twitter account, and another 89,000 following an official English-translation page.)
Evidence of his perfectionism can be found in the development of "Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D," a remake of an 8-year-old game to be released on Nintendo's 3DS hand-held system. The 3DS has two screens, one of which can display games in three dimensions without requiring the player to wear special glasses.
"We are trying to make it as easy to use as possible," Kojima said. "We're taking a lot of care in the very small details, like when you lay down, using the screen below to change your weapons."

'Hugo,' 'The Artist' lead Oscar nominations

2012-01-24T09:12:00.001-08:00

'Hugo,' 'The Artist' lead Oscar nominations

By Alan Duke, CNN

January 24, 2012 -- Updated 1705 GMT (0105 HKT)

And the Oscar nominees are...

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Brad Pitt and George Clooney among nominees for best actor
Golden Globe winners Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams are up for the best actress Oscar
Best picture contenders include Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" and "The Descendants"
The 84th Academy Awards will be presented February 26 in Hollywood

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Martin Scorsese's "Hugo," with 11 Academy Award nominations, and Golden Globe winner "The Artist," with 10, lead the list of best picture Oscar contenders announced Tuesday.
Brad Pitt and George Clooney will face off in the best actor category at the Oscars next month, with Pitt's "Moneyball" contending for six awards and Clooney's "The Descendants" up for five. Both films were also nominated for best picture.
Other best picture nominees include Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," nominated in six categories; Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," up for four Oscars; "The Help," with four nominations; "The Tree of Life" with three; and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," competing in two categories.
Meryl Streep's performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady" earned her a best actress nomination, as did Michelle Williams' role as movie legend Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn."
Both women won Golden Globe acting honors last week, but Streep was competing in the drama film category, while Williams was in the comedy competition.
"I am honored to be in company with such beautiful artists, and touched deeply by my fellow actors for their generosity in giving me this acknowledgment," Streep said Tuesday.

Michelle Williams on playing Marilyn

Life lessons from baseball

'The Iron Lady' ruffles feathers

Branagh on 'My Week with Marilyn'

Gary Oldman's Bowie-singing past

The academy also nominated Viola Davis for best actress for her portrayal of a civil rights-era maid in "The Help" as well as Glenn Close, who played a woman passing as a 19th-century man in "Albert Nobbs," and Rooney Mara for her title role in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
Competing against Pitt and Clooney for best actor are "The Artist" star Jean Dujardin, Demián Bichir in "A Better Life" and Gary Oldman for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."
Christopher Plummer, who won the best supporting actor Golden Globe last week for "Beginners," picked up a supporting actor Oscar nod for that film.
Other best supporting actor nominees include "Moneyball" co-star Jonah Hill, Nick Nolte in "Warrior," Kenneth Branagh in "My Week With Marilyn" and Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."
Golden Globe supporting actress winner Octavia Spencer from "The Help" is nominated for the best supporting actress Oscar, along with co-star Jessica Chastain. "The Artist" actress Berenice Bejo, Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids" and Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs" are also nominated.
"I'm overjoyed and filled with happiness," Bejo said. "I can't believe that a year ago I was learning how to tap dance and today I am nominated for an Academy Award."
While "Hugo" is not up for any acting honors, Scorsese's 3-D film dominates elsewhere with nominations for best art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing, original music score, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects and adapted screenplay. Scorsese is also nominated for best director, an honor he won at the Golden Globes.
Along with the best actor and supporting actress nominations, "The Artist" earned a best director and original screenplay bids for Michel Hazanavicius.
"Filming 'The Artist' in Los Angeles was a dream come true, and to receive this recognition today is far beyond what I ever imagined," Hazanavicius said.
His movie competes with "Hugo" for best art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing and original music score. Unlike "Hugo," "The Artist" was not nominated for best sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects, which is not surprising considering it is a black-and-white silent movie. It won the Golden Globe for best comedy or musical last week.
Allen is up for best director and original screenplay Oscars for his film about a time-traveling American writer, "Midnight in Paris." He won the Golden Globe for best screenplay. His best picture contender is also nominated for best art direction.
Other best director contenders include Alexander Payne for "The Descendants," which carried home the best drama film at the Golden Globes, and Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life."
The animated feature film category is proof that Golden Globe wins don't make you an automatic Oscar nominee. Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" won at the Globes last week, but it was not among the five films nominated for an Academy Award.
The Oscar nominees in that category include "A Cat in Paris," "Chico & Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango." Only the latter two were nominated for Golden Globes.
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be televised live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 26.

Nigerians arrest Islamist militant suspects, sources say

2012-01-24T09:10:00.001-08:00

Nigerians arrest Islamist militant suspects, sources say

By Nima Elbagir, CNN

January 24, 2012 -- Updated 1548 GMT (2348 HKT)

A paramedic helps a man who was injured during one of the attacks in the Nigerian city of Kano

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: "This is a time for all Nigerians to stand united," the U.S. State Department says
A military task force arrests 158 suspected Boko Haram members, sources say
Police report seizing hundreds of explosives hidden in soft drink cans
Boko Haram, an Islamist group, says it carried out recent attacks, a newspaper says

Lagos, Nigeria (CNN) -- A joint military task force in Nigeria arrested 158 suspected members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, security sources told CNN Tuesday, three days after a spate of bombings and shootings left more than 200 people dead in Nigeria's second-largest city.
Some suspects resisted arrest and exchanged gunfire with the task force in the city of Kano, said security sources who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
No casualties have been reported so far, they said.
The arrests come as community leaders said the number of dead from the Kano bombing and gun attacks has risen to at least 211.
Community leaders have been keeping their own count of the number of dead from Friday's attacks, they told CNN Tuesday, including victims who never made it to hospitals. They declined to be quoted by name for security reasons.
Government officials declined to confirm the number of victims. They previously put the death toll at 157.
Police in Kano announced Tuesday that they had seized 10 cars laden with explosives and about 300 improvised explosive devices hidden in soft drink cans and bottles at a number of locations in the city.
The state police commissioner, Ibrahim Idris, said a mass search turned up the explosives after police found undetonated devices at a police barracks in Kano.
President Goodluck Jonathan toured the city Sunday after the attacks there left the police headquarters and other government buildings in charred ruins Friday night.
"The message I had for the people of Kano is the same message I have for all Nigerians: A terrorist attack on one person is an attack on all of us," Jonathan said in a post on his official Facebook page after the visit.
Boko Haram -- whose name means "western education is sacrilege" -- claimed responsibility for the blast in a phone call to the Daily Trust, according to journalists at the newspaper.

Death toll climbs after Nigeria attacks

Have militants found Nigeria's flaw?

Atmosphere tense after Kano attacks

The group has been blamed for months of widespread bloodshed, with churches and police stations among the targets.
The United States Tuesday strongly condemned the "terrorist attacks" carried out in Kano on Friday and in the neighboring state of Bauchi on Sunday, State Department representative Victoria Nuland said.
"This is a time for all Nigerians to stand united against the enemies of civility and peace," she said in a written statement.
"Nigeria's ethnic and religious diversity is a source of strength for the country and those who seek to undermine that strength with divisive tactics cannot succeed," she insisted.
The bombings hit eight government sites Friday.
Shell-shocked residents wandered the streets, looking for loved ones. Others hid behind barricaded doors, too scared to leave for fear of more attacks.
"That's the scary part, not knowing," said Faruk Mohammed, 27, who lives near one of the bombed police stations. "We don't know what's going to happen next. No one thought this would ever happen here. There's a general sense of despair."
The attacks paired bomb blasts with shootings at various sites including police stations, the passport office, state security headquarters and the immigration office.
During the attack, assailants entered a police station, freed detainees and bombed it, authorities said.
They later canvassed the area in a car led by motorcycles, spraying targets with gunfire.
"I counted at least 25 explosions," Mohammed said. "... Then it went deathly quiet. Kano is a bustling city. ... I've lived here for years and it has never been quiet, even at night. But after the bombings stopped, the only noise you could hear were dogs barking."
On Sunday, two churches and a security checkpoint were attacked in Bauchi state, the state police commissioner said in a written release. At least 11 people, including police and army personnel, were killed in the checkpoint attack, the commissioner said. There were no casualties reported from the church attacks.
Police said they suspect Boko Haram was involved in the checkpoint attack.
In December, Jonathan declared a state of emergency in four northern states after a series of Christmas Day attacks on churches blamed on Boko Haram.
The man suspected of orchestrating those attacks was briefly captured before escaping police custody while being transferred to another prison.
Depending on the faction, Boko Haram's ambitions range from the stricter enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law to the total destruction of the government.
Its grievances remain local, but it has attacked international institutions --- such as the United Nations -- on Nigerian soil.
An August 26 attack -- during which a Boko Haram suicide bomber drove a Jeep laden with explosives into the U.N. headquarters in Abuja -- was one of the deadliest in the world body's history. Twenty-four people were killed, including 12 U.N. staff members.
The group was formed in 2002 by Islamic preacher Mohammad Yusuf as an outgrowth of ethnic tensions in the country in the 1990s.
Nigeria's population is split between mostly Muslims living in the north and predominantly Christians in the south. Yusuf advocated the institution of Sharia law throughout the northern states and opposed democracy.
The group operated openly out of northeastern Nigeria and staged small-scale attacks against government targets.
In 2009, Nigerian police forces moved to crack down on Boko Haram. Harsh police tactics led to an armed uprising and the arrest of Yusuf, who later died in police custody.
The death spurred the group to begin its attacks on police stations. Ensuing clashes between group members and the police killed hundreds.
The following year, Boko Haram re-emerged as a more radicalized, insurgent-style group, staging assassinations and attacks against not only government targets, but also churches and even a beer garden.
"We're dealing with a movement of inchoate rage," said John Campbell, a U.S. ambassador to Nigeria who left his post in 2007.
"It's highly decentralized, but what it has in common is a strongly Islamic character, and hatred for the secular, political economy of Nigeria, particularly the federal and state governments," he said.

CNN's Faith Karimi and journalist Hassan John contributed to this story.

Costa Concordia: Bodies found as fuel pumping to start

2012-01-23T08:47:00.001-08:00

Costa Concordia: Bodies found as fuel pumping to start

Fuel spill experts have been examining the wreck, which is carrying about 1.9m litres of fuel

Cruise disaster

Searchers have found the bodies of two women on the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, bringing the confirmed death toll to 15.

Italian authorities say the pumping of fuel from the stricken vessel can proceed in tandem with the search of the wreck.
The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan coast on 13 January with 4,200 people on board.
It is carrying about 1.9m litres of fuel in 13 tanks.
An Italian naval vessel is on standby in case of oil leaks.
'Green light'

List of dead and missing

Confirmed dead: Sandor Feher, Hungary, crew; French nationals Pierre Gregoire, Jeanne Gannard, Jean-Pierre Micheaud, Francis Servil, passengers; Italian Giovanni Masia, passenger; Spaniard Guillermo Gual, passenger; Peruvian Thomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, crew.
Missing: 18 people plus seven unidentified bodies. Nationalities include German, Italian, French, American, Peruvian and Indian nationals

The BBC's Luisa Baldini, on the Tuscan island of Giglio, says the bodies of the two women were found near the internet cafe, on the fourth deck.

There is no decision yet on when fuel pumping will begin but the civil protection agency has said it is likely to start within the next 24 hours.
Civil protection official Franco Gabrielli told reporters on Giglio there was no risk the Costa Concordia would drop down to a lower seabed.
"We are ready to go," an official from the Dutch salvage company Smit told the BBC. "As soon as we get the green light, we start the work".
But our correspondent says the salvagers must first attach steel moorings to the front of the ship. They will not want to start pumping in the dark, she says, so work is likely to begin on Tuesday.
Although there has been no leak so far, the civil protection agency says there is pollution in the water from solvents and disinfectants which were on board the vessel.
Search and rescue work has been suspended several times owing to poor weather.
Coastguard and navy divers have been blasting their way into submerged areas of the vessel using explosives in an effort to find those unaccounted for.
Emergency officials said on Saturday they would not end the search until the whole ship had been examined.
The captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest in his home town of Meta di Sorrento, near Naples, while his actions are investigated.
He is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated. He denies the allegations.
Capt Schettino tested negative for drugs, his lawyer said on Monday.

EU Iran sanctions: Ministers adopt Iran oil imports ban

2012-01-23T08:46:00.001-08:00

EU Iran sanctions: Ministers adopt Iran oil imports ban

Comments (91)

Tensions over Iran's nuclear programme are raising fears of a confrontation over oil supplies.

Iran nuclear crisis

European Union foreign ministers have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The sanctions involve an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran, while existing contracts will be honoured until 1 July.
Tehran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons and says talks and not sanctions are the only way to resolve the dispute.
The EU currently buys about 20% of Iran's oil exports.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog has confirmed it is sending a team to Iran between 29 and 31 January "to resolve all outstanding substantive issues".
Last November the IAEA said in a report that it had information suggesting Iran had carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device" - sparking the decision by the US and EU to issue tougher sanctions.
Earlier on Monday, the Pentagon said the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, as well as a British Royal Navy frigate and a French warship, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf without incident in the wake of Iranian threats to block the trade route.
'Substantial impact'
Under the new deal, EU governments are expected to stop signing new contracts with Iran when the ban comes into place - which could be as soon as this week, Reuters news agency reports.
All existing contracts will have to be phased out by 1 July.

Additional restrictions on Iran's central bank are also expected to be agreed by EU ministers, although no further details have been given.
BBC Europe Editor Gavin Hewitt says it is one of the toughest steps the EU has ever taken.

Analysis

Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

So once the new measures are in place how successful will they be? Even western diplomats are uncertain.
There is no doubting that the Iranian economy will suffer. But the nuclear programme is a matter of national pride and ultimately national security.
Iran has seen the demise of regimes in Iraq and Libya and noted the survival of that in North Korea - the one so-called "rogue state" that has nuclear weapons.
Iran's rulers may well believe that having at least the potential for a nuclear bomb is something that could secure the country against outside threat.
Seen in this light one can imagine the Iranian authorities being willing to absorb considerable economic pain to pursue their nuclear research effort.

Impact of EU ban on Iranian oil

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the embargo showed "the resolve of the European Union on this issue".

"It is absolutely right to do this when Iran is continuing to breach United Nations resolutions and refusing to come to meaningful negotiations on its nuclear programme," he added.
In response to the EU announcement, one senior Iranian politician said Tehran should halt all oil sales to European countries immediately.
Ali Fallahian was quoted by the semi-official Fars news agency as saying that Iran should stop the export of oil before the 1 July deadline "so that the price of oil soars and the Europeans... have trouble".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacted to the embargo by saying that such "unilateral sanctions do not help matters" and called for a resumption of talks between Iran and the international community.
Earlier, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the aim of the sanctions was to "make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table".
She said world powers had yet to receive a reply to an offer made to Iran in October to hold new talks.
Rising tensions
BBC Iran correspondent James Reynolds says oil is the country's most valuable asset and sales help to keep the Iranian government in money and power.
A decision by the EU to stop buying from Iran may damage the Iranian economy - but in itself it won't destroy it, our correspondent says.

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The BBC's James Reynolds visits Dubai where many people export goods to Iran

Iran sells most of its oil to countries in Asia. The EU and the United States are now working to persuade Asian countries to reduce their purchases from Iran as well.
Iran has already threatened to retaliate over the sanctions by blocking the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, through which 20% of the world's oil exports pass.
The US has said it will keep the trade route open, raising the possibility of a confrontation.
Late last year Iran conducted 10 days of military exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, test-firing several missiles.
Oil prices have risen already because of the increasing tension and the expected impact of an EU ban on oil supplies to Europe.

A French warship also accompanied US and UK naval vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday

Kenyatta and Ruto to face ICC trial over Kenya violence

2012-01-23T08:45:00.001-08:00

Kenyatta and Ruto to face ICC trial over Kenya violence

Some 1,200 people were killed in violence after the 2007 elections

Two presidential candidates in Kenya are to stand trial over crimes against humanity following post-poll violence in 2007, the International Criminal Court has ruled.

Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former minister William Ruto will both face charges.
They are among four prominent Kenyans - all of whom deny the accusations - who will stand trial.
Kenya's president has appealed for people to stay calm after the news.
"Our great nation has had its share of challenging times," Mwai Kibaki said in a statement.
Mr Kenyatta - the son of the country's founding president and a man who has been ranked as one of its richest men - is to stand trial with cabinet secretary Francis Mutaura.
The pair, both allies of the president, are accused of crimes against humanity, including murder and persecution.
Former Education Minister William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua arap Sang will stand trial in a separate case, as they opposed Mr Kibaki during the 2007 election. Charges against a further two officials were not confirmed by the Hague court.
More than 1,200 people were killed in weeks of unrest and some 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes. Many still remain homeless.
'Break with impunity'

Analysis

Will Ross East Africa correspondent

This decision will have a great bearing on the future of Kenyan politics.
Among the four now set to stand trial are two men who want to stand for president in the next elections: A suspended minister William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta - the son of the country's first president and the current deputy prime minister.
Last week Mr Kenyatta told the BBC that he intended to pursue his political ambitions irrespective of whether the International Criminal Court trial went ahead.
The pressure may grow on Mr Kenyatta to change his mind and put his political ambitions on hold - to clear his name in court and then, if successful, come back in another five years.
With appeals possible it may be months before the trials begin.
Kenya has had a history of violent elections. But no-one has ever been punished. Many Kenyans hope the ICC trials will help to end the culture of impunity and ensure future elections are more peaceful.

The violence began as clashes between supporters of the two rival presidential candidates - Raila Odinga and Mr Kibaki - but it snowballed into a bloody round of score-settling and communal violence.

"It is our utmost desire that the decisions issued by this chamber today bring peace to the people of the Republic of Kenya and prevent any sort of hostilities," ICC presiding judge Ekaterina Trendafilova said.
Kenyans are due to head to the polls in fresh elections early next year.
Ms Trendafilova stressed that the decisions do not mean guilty verdicts against the suspects, only that there is sufficient evidence to send them to trial.
"We are not passing judgment on the guilt or innocence of the individuals," she said before a public hearing held in The Hague.
No date has been set for the trials.
The news of the trials was welcomed by international campaign group Human Rights Watch.
"The ICC trials will break with decades of impunity in Kenya for political violence," the group said in a statement.
"But Kenya should act to widen accountability by carrying out prosecutions at home."

“Start Quote

I am firmly still in the presidential race, the charges confirmed against me will not affect it”

End Quote William Ruto

In Kenya itself there was a mixed reaction to the announcement, according to the BBC's Muliro Telewa, in the Rift Valley town of Burnt Forest, the scene of one of the worst atrocities during the violence.

He said people in the town - where dozens died when a church where people had fled was set on fire - had gathered around radios in public places to listen to the ICC announcement.
Some, he said, saw the process at the Hague as political, while others were glad that justice was being done.
'Big disappointment'
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had asked to bring two separate cases, reflecting the political and ethnic divisions behind Kenya's post-election violence.
Mr Kenyatta is accused of organising a campaign of violence including murder and rape members of ethnic groups seen as supporters of Mr Odinga.

Kenya's troubled politics

December 2007: Violence explodes after disputed poll. 1,200 people killed, thousands displaced by fighting.
April 2008: Power-sharing deal is signed
November 2009: ICC chief prosecutor says will seek to investigate post-poll violence
August 2010: New Kenyan constitution agreed
December 2010: ICC names suspects
May 2011: ICC rejects Kenya's bid to halt election probe
January 2012: ICC confirms charges against four suspects

Prosecutors say he met members of a secretive criminal organisation known as Mungiki at a shopping centre in Nairobi before the election in 2007 to plan some of the attacks.

He denied the accusation at a preliminary hearing at the ICC last September.
Mr Kenyatta is hoping to stand in next year's presidential poll, with analysts suggesting that he has a realistic chance of winning.
Mr Ruto, a former education minister, described the charges against him as "strange" and emphasised that he still intends to put himself forward for the presidency.
"I am firmly still in the presidential race, the charges confirmed against me will not affect it," Mr Ruto said from Nairobi.
He and Mr Sang backed Mr Odinga in 2007 and are accused of organising attacks on members of ethnic groups seen as Kibaki supporters.
Mr Sang said the news of the trial had come as a "big disappointment" but said he would contest the charges.
Kenya's government has been lobbying for the cases to be dropped - a position endorsed last year by the African Union.
Mr Kibaki was eventually declared the winner of the 2007 election, and is serving his second and final term as president.
Mr Odinga was installed as prime minister under a power-sharing deal brokered by Kofi Annan to end the violence.
Mr Ruto and Mr Odinga have since fallen out and are expected to face each in the elections.

A daunting agenda for Davos

2012-01-19T06:39:00.001-08:00

A daunting agenda for Davos

By Mohamed A. El-Erian, Special to CNN

January 18, 2012 -- Updated 1345 GMT (2145 HKT)

The eurozone countries continue to struggle with a debt crisis as the rest of the world fears economic repurcussions

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

PIMCO coined the phrase the 'New Normal' to describe the world's new economic reality
It forecast advanced economies would face sluggish economic growth, among other problems
PIMCO said policymaking needed to be pro-active in its response, but this did not happen
The 'New Normal' is now morphing into a more uncertain and unstable phenomenon

Editor's note: Mohamed A. El-Erian is the CEO and co-CIO of Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) and author of "When Markets Collide."

(CNN) -- Once again, high-level government officials, thought leaders and CEOs from virtually every corner of the globe will gather in the Swiss Alps for the annual Davos meetings. Once again, the agenda is wide-ranging and interesting. And, once again, those of us witnessing the festivities from afar will hope that this impressive mix of brainpower and personalities can contribute to a better understanding of what ails the world and, importantly, what needs to be done to improve global welfare.
The unifying theme for this year's Davos gathering -- "The Great Transformation" -- is a good one, albeit overdue. It speaks to the set of multi-year global re-alignments which is impacting both advanced and emerging countries. It directs participants to analyze why the world seems so ill-equipped to handle the related changes in the economic, political, social and institutional domains. And, going forward, it holds the promise for implementing better collaborative solutions.
World's top economies in 2050 will be...

Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO

Here at PIMCO we have been thinking about these realignments for awhile. Back in 2009, we came up with a simple term -- the "New Normal" -- to convey the notion that, after the shock of the financial crisis, the global economy would not reset either smoothly or quickly. Instead, the world would witness material transformations that would create strains, challenge conventional wisdom and, critically, require both intellectual and operational agility -- both in the public and private sectors.
Based on our analysis of the underlying drivers, we argued that advanced economies would face an unfortunate mix of unusually sluggish economic growth, persistently high unemployment, and recurrent debt and deficit concerns. Meanwhile, systemically important emerging economies (led by Brazil, China and India) would accelerate their developmental breakout phase. The impact of this would go well beyond the critical objective of lifting millions of citizens out of poverty, and would have implications for the functioning of the global economy.
In light of all this, we stressed the importance of preemptive and proactive changes in policymaking at the national, regional and multilateral levels -- as a means of ensuring orderly and welfare-enhancing transitions. And we noted that this would require a material evolution in both the what and how of policymaking.
Unfortunately, such changes have not been sufficiently forthcoming, especially in advanced economies. Indeed, rather than respond boldly to the new normal, policymakers fell deeper into the trap of "active inertia" -- namely, appearing active yet essentially remaining hostage to outdated mindsets and old (and increasingly ineffective) approaches. Also, matters were made worse by a combination of initial denial, inadequate recognition, and recurrent bickering among key decision makers in both Europe and the U.S.

The wider impact of the Eurozone crisis

Davos: What to expect

As a result, the new normal is now morphing into a more uncertain, unstable and challenging phenomenon. And part of the related distribution of potential outcomes is far from reassuring.
Rather than a traditional bell-shaped distribution curve for advanced economies, the world is now increasingly facing what can be best characterized as a bimodal distribution -- one can think of it as like the back of a two-humped camel.
Within the next few years, a tipping to one of the two extremes of the distribution is more likely -- either into the good equilibrium involving the restoration of conditions for sustainable growth, meaningful job creation, and orderly financial rebalancing; or into a nasty one characterized by higher unemployment, debt deflation, financial instability, and even greater income and wealth inequalities.
This morphing, from a bell-shaped curve to a bimodal world, is most apparent in Europe. Its 2011 muddle-through is likely to give way to one of two outcomes -- a very messy fragmentation of the eurozone or its evolution into a smaller, less imperfect and more robust zone of countries with similar initial conditions.
How the euro became a broken dream

Rather than respond boldly to the new normal, policymakers fell deeper into the trap of "active inertia".
Mohamed El-Erian, PIMCO CEO

Against this background of a changing distribution of potential global economic and financial outcomes, let us hope that Davos will discuss the world's "great transformation" in the context of what needs to be done to restore the global economy on the path of sustainable growth, job creation and financial stability. It would be particularly important for the impressive list of participants to reach a consensus on six key issues:
• How Europe can transition to an institutional and policy framework that provides for the combination of economic growth, jobs, sovereign debt containment, and a robust financial services sector?
• How the U.S. can overcome paralyzing political dysfunctionality in order to strike the appropriate balance in key areas: Between immediate stimulus and medium-term fiscal improvements, between tax and spending reform, between business incentives and stronger social safety nets, and between the welfare of baby boomers and other generations?
• How the systemically-important emerging economies -- including Brazil, China and India -- can effectively assume their greater global responsibilities while continuing to meet the legitimate aspirations of their citizens?
• How to accelerate the glacial pace of reform of multilateral institutions so that they better reflect the global realities of today, rather than continue in their attempts to legitimize outdated feudal entitlements?
• How all this can be combined with environmental realities, as well as the restoration in the eyes of the majority of people of faith in the fairness and effectiveness of market-based systems?
• How transition countries, including those in the Arab world, can pivot from dismantling discredited systems to building a better future?
This is quite a long and daunting list; and the history of Davos does not provide much reassurance that it will be addressed properly. Yet we must all continue to hope and urge that things will be different this time around. The welfare of billions around the world is at stake.

Smiling nanny recovering from Gadhafi family's burns

2011-12-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

Smiling nanny recovering from Gadhafi family's burns

By Dan Rivers, CNN

November 24, 2011 -- Updated 1918 GMT (0318 HKT)

Gadhafi family's nanny recovering

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

A nanny left disfigured by the Gadhafi family has left hospital in Malta
Shweyga Mullah still faces almost daily hospital appointments
She was burned with boiling water by Colonel Gadhafi's daughter-in-law because she was unable to stop a child crying
Shweyga gave thanks to the people who helped pay for her treatment and get her out of Libya

St Julians, Malta (CNN) -- Shweyga Mullah's face lights up with a smile that spreads like a sunrise across her face.
She's just arrived at a party, organized by the small Ethiopian community on Malta. It's the first time she's seen many of her new friends since being discharged from hospital last week.
They raise paper cups of soda in a toast and Shweyga bashfully takes the salute and laughs and jokes with her fellow Ethiopians.
It's heart-warming to see her finally enjoying herself. All her Ethiopian friends here had been lured to Libya by promises of lucrative work. But no one we know of has suffered quite like Shweyga.
One friend Emanuel Tsegay tells me that on hearing Shweyga's story he burst into tears.
Shweyga's unbelievably awful story of torture at the hands of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's daughter-in-law Aline has touched people around the world and resulted in some $40,000 being donated to a special fund for her recovery.
We found Shweyga abandoned in a Gadhafi family compound in August.

Shweyga Mullah is recovering but still faces almost daily hospital appointments.

Encouraging news for Gadhafi nanny

Lying alone on a mattress on the floor, she told me how Aline Gadhafi and one of her staff poured boiling water over her head and body, simply because she'd been unable to stop one of the Gadhafi children from crying.
Offers of help poured into CNN Center and resulted in her evacuation to the tiny Mediterranean nation of Malta.
She arrived here in September and has undergone surgery and skin grafts since then.
Now though, surgeons are satisfied enough with her progress to allow her to become an outpatient.
She's staying at a small apartment on the island and is receiving some financial help from the Qatari government, which has helped bankroll the Libyan revolution and arm its fighters.
Shweyga's life here is not ideal though. She yearns to see her family, but red-tape has slowed down efforts to bring her relatives to Malta.
Shweyga says she doesn't feel ready physically or emotionally to return to Ethiopia and be subjected to the scrutiny of people in her hometown. She remains profoundly self-conscious of her appearance.
But the doctors and nurses treating her at the Mater Dei hospital are pleased with her recovery.
Nurse Mary Rose Bonnici has been treating her since she arrived. We watched as she delicately trimmed the growing crown of hair on her scalp. It's growing back fast but for now it must be kept short, in order to prevent infection.
Nurse Bonnici says: "She is making very good progress. It was discharging before now it's getting drier and drier. But now it's good, very good, she feels it's good anyway."
The consultant in charge of her case, Francis Xavier Dermanin, says: "Ms. Mullah had regular physiotherapy for mobilization of her limbs especially the right shoulder which showed signs of early contractures due to immobility from the burns that she had sustained.
"She also had the support of our psychologists in helping her to get over the horrific trauma that she had sustained. In both aspects she did very well.
"In general, Ms. Mullah is more confident and communicating well with the medical and nursing staff."
It's encouraging that her hair is growing back in places on her head. But the hair follicles towards the front, where the skin graft was performed, seem to have been permanently killed off.
The doctors hope there are enough towards the back to enable her to grow her hair out and disguise the scars.
I ask Shweyga about Aline Gadhafi and she speaks rapidly and with conviction.
She hopes the former dictator's daughter-in-law will one day be caught and prosecuted. But like her husband Hannibal Gadhafi, Aline's whereabouts remains unknown. Victims like Shweyga are still waiting for justice.

Suicide bomber strikes fortified Iraqi compound

2011-12-26T11:48:00.001-08:00

Suicide bomber strikes fortified Iraqi compound

From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

December 26, 2011 -- Updated 1417 GMT (2217 HKT)

Bloodshed in Baghdad

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: The suicide bomber got through six checkpoints
The bombing kills five and wounds 39 others, police say
A string of explosions killed dozens of people last week
Violence and political turmoil erupted just days after U.S. troops withdrew

Baghdad (CNN) -- A suicide car bomber passed through six security checkpoints before detonating at the main entrance to Iraq's heavily fortified Interior Ministry compound in central Baghdad Monday.
The bombing killed at least five people and wounded 39 others, police said.
The attack follows a weekend meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and senior security officials to review last week's string of deadly bombings that killed almost 70 people and wounded more than 200.
Al-Maliki said at that session that security and stability must be the country's top priorities.
The seemingly coordinated explosions Thursday struck during the height of morning rush hour, hitting a number of Baghdad's primarily mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods. Nine car bombs, six roadside bombs and a mortar round all went off in a two-hour period, targeting residential, commercial and government districts in the Iraqi capital, two police officials told CNN.

Iraq's future hinges on political crisis

Iraq after the withdrawal

Violence in Iraq has declined in recent years but last week's attacks were among the worst since August when a series of coordinated bombings killed at least 75 people in 17 Iraqi cities.
A recent political crisis has raised fears of a return of the sectarian bloodshed in Iraq that ripped the country apart at the height of the war a few years back.
Last Monday, al-Maliki, a Shiite, ordered the arrest of the Sunni vice president, a move that escalated sectarian tensions and threatened to collapse Iraq's fragile power-sharing government.
The political turmoil as well as the recent spate of violence erupted just days after the final U.S. troops withdrew.

'Blue bra girl' rallies Egypt's women vs. oppression

2011-12-26T11:45:00.001-08:00

'Blue bra girl' rallies Egypt's women vs. oppression

By Isobel Coleman, Special to CNN

December 22, 2011 -- Updated 1844 GMT (0244 HKT)

A newspaper photo shows Egyptian security forces beating a female demonstrator during clashes in Cairo on Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Isobel Coleman: Videos of vicious beating of Egyptian woman have prompted protests
Women have been active in revolution but largely excluded from political process, she says
Coleman says the battle for women's rights in Egypt is a vital but difficult struggle

Editor's note: Isobel Coleman is the author of "Paradise Beneath Her Feet" and a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

(CNN) -- The Egyptian revolution has a new, and shocking, image: It's the Egyptian flag, but the eagle in the middle has been replaced by a simple blue bra. The image refers to the recent, savage beating of an abaya-clad female protester by Egyptian military forces.
Graphic videos of the beating, captured on phones and uploaded to YouTube and Facebook, have quickly proliferated. They show a limp woman being dragged by her arms along the street. Her abaya is ripped open, exposing her naked torso and blue bra. Security forces surround her, many wielding batons. As the beating progresses, the guards hit her and one even stomps on her. Photos of the man bringing his heavy boot down on her bare stomach made the front page of newspapers around the world.
In response, thousands of women -- and men -- marched Tuesday in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Observers say it was the largest demonstration of women in Egypt in decades. Not since 1919, when women mobilized under the leadership of feminist Hoda Sha'rawi in anti-colonial demonstrations against the British have so many Egyptian women taken to the streets. (After representing Egyptian women at the International Women Suffrage Alliance in Rome in 1923, Sha'rawi returned to Cairo and very publicly removed her veil.)

Isobel Coleman

Women have played an important role in Egypt's modern revolution but have struggled to translate their activism into a political role in the new, emerging system. They have been excluded from important decision-making bodies, and the military leadership declined to continue a Mubarak-era quota for women that ensured them at least 64 seats in parliament. Based on early election results, it appears that few women will win a place in the new government.
Nevertheless, one intrepid woman, Bothaina Kamel, is breaking ground with her candidacy for president. The campaign of Kamel, a well-known television presenter, at first was shocking, and certainly quixotic, with polls indicating her support is less than 1%. But her persistence has gained her credibility. While she has little chance of winning, she is helping to normalize the idea of women in politics -- an idea that is deeply contested in Egyptian society. Leaders of Salafi parties, which gained a surprising 20% of the vote in the first rounds of elections, have spoken out against women running for office.

Woman recounts violent attack in Egypt

Female demonstrators attacked

The recent women's protest may breathe life into a movement that desperately needs new energy. In the early weeks of the revolution, women activists tried to bring attention to women's issues but never succeeded in getting the masses behind them.
A women's march in Tahrir Square to mark International Women's Day on March 8 ended badly. Only a few hundred women showed up, and they were soon harassed by a mob of angry men who shouted at them to go home and warned that their demands for rights were against Islam.
Around the same time, the Egyptian military rounded up scores of women demonstrators, and in a show of raw intimidation, subjected many of them to "virginity tests." Military leaders at first denied the accusations, and later defended their abuse by claiming the women "were not like your daughter or mine."
In a remarkable show of courage, one of the victims, Samira Ibrahim, is pursuing a criminal case against the military for her ordeal. The only one of the 17 victims willing to take her case to court, Ibrahim is challenging not only the heavy-handed tactics of the military but also the social stigma associated with her issue.
The woman attacked by the military in the recent protests has declined to come forward, so for now she is only known as "blue bra girl." But her mistreatment seems to be a galvanizing force. Thousands of people joined the march through Cairo on Tuesday, many of them taking to the streets for the first time in outrage. Organizers of the march used the hashtag #BlueBra on Twitter to encourage people to join them.
Some of the protesters held giant posters of the blue bra/flag icon. Others carried photographs of the beating. Men formed a cordon around the women, chanting "The women of Egypt are the red line." Still, many Egyptians were not supportive.
Bloggers and tweeters offered negative comments on the blue bra girl -- criticizing her for being out in public protesting in the first place and accusing her of being provocative for not wearing more clothes under her abaya.
It remains to be seen whether these new humiliations for Egyptian women will lead to significant changes. But given the country's deep-seated patriarchy, women in Egypt should not take their rights for granted.

Somali women defy danger to write basketball history

2011-12-26T11:43:00.001-08:00

Somali women defy danger to write basketball history

By Teo Kermeliotis, for CNN

December 22, 2011 -- Updated 1201 GMT (2001 HKT)

Coach Mohamed Sheekh gives instructions to his players during Somalia's game against Jordan on Monday, December 19.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Somalia's national women's basketball team played at this year's Arab Games in Qatar
The team had to prepare in the Mogadishu police HQ for extra security
Somali religious militants see sport as "un-Islamic"
In 2006, Somalia's Islamic Courts Union banned women from playing sport

(CNN) -- It's just a few minutes after the final whistle has blown and the shiny basketball court of the Al Gharafa Sports Hall in Doha is filled with shouts and cheers.
The sky blue-clad national women's basketball team from war-ravaged Somalia has just beaten Qatar, the host nation, at the 2011 Arab Games, in a hotly-contested match that ended 67-57 to the East African country.
"Words can't describe how I felt," says Canadian-born Somali team member Khatra Mahdi about last week's triumph. "We were all jumping up and down, there were tears in the girls' eyes -- history was made right there," she adds.
The victory marked a remarkable feat for the Somali players as it came against a backdrop fraught with difficulties and danger.
Notwithstanding Somalia's prolonged civil war and shattered sports infrastructure, the team says it had to prepare for the Games in the bullet-ridden police headquarters in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. There, the women would train for two to three hours a day under the watchful eye of security officers, tasked to safeguard them against religious militants targeting women playing the sport.
Fertile territory for Al Shabaab in chaos of Somalia

The threat is always there -- there are people who will see girls playing sport as a devil's thing and they will not allow it.
Duran Ahmed Farah, Somali National Olympic Committee

"We try to protect them outside and inside," says Said Duale, the secretary general of the Somali Basketball Federation, adding that the safety of the women is "taken very seriously."
In recent years, many Somali athletes have been threatened by members of the militant Islamist group Al Shabaab who see sport as an "un-Islamic" activity, according to Duran Ahmed Farah, the Somali National Olympic Committee (NOC) senior vice president for international relations.
In summer 2006, the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which then controlled Mogadishu, labelled sport as a "satanic act" and issued an order prohibiting women from playing sport, including basketball.
A few months later, the ICU was deposed but Al Shabaab, which has connections to al Qaeda, is still fighting to impose its own interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, on the country.
"The threat is always there -- there are people who will see girls playing sport as a devil's thing and they will not allow it," Farah says.
Women have been stoned to death for adultery; amputations and beheadings are common while in some areas Al Shabaab has banned listening to the radio.
Inside Kenya's war with Al Shabaab
"These girls are brave: in that kind of environment they're still playing their sport, the sport they like," says Farah.
Basketball is one of the most popular sports amongst women in Somalia. Duale says that the country's first national female basketball team was created in the early 1970s but hadn't performed at an international tournament since 1987.
The Islamist ban, coupled with the challenges presented by the lack of sponsorship and destroyed facilities, have all hindered the development of the sport in recent years.
Yet, despite the threats and all the setbacks, Somalia's national women's basketball team concluded its participation at the Games on Monday with the very respectable tally of three losses and two victories -- Kuwait also lost to Somalia.

We want to use sport as a peace-building tool to bring the Somali people together.
Aden Hagi Yeberow, NOC president

Like some other teams representing Muslim countries, the national team plays in relatively modest uniforms: track pants and shirts with elbow-length sleeves; players also wear scarves that cover their hair.
Coach Mohamed Sheekh put together an ambitious team comprised of women based in Somalia and the diaspora -- the United States, Canada, UK and Germany. Many of the players hadn't even seen their teammates before, let alone played a basketball game with them.
"I'm very happy and proud of them," says Sheekh of his players. "They were excellent and everyone was talking about them."
NOC president Aden Hagi Yeberow says the team's success in Doha can act as a unifying factor in a country that's been plagued by insecurity, political instability, lack of unity and scarcity of resources.
"We want to use sport as a peace-building tool to bring the Somali people together," he says. "What these young girls are doing in this tournament has laid the foundations, hopefully, of a good future of our people.
"We would like to capitalize on this and also to move forward and, hopefully, this will be the beginning and the start of the unity of our people."

Out of Egypt: Live ammo, beatings, stripping

2011-12-26T11:40:00.001-08:00

Out of Egypt: Live ammo, beatings, stripping

By Mohammed Jamjoom and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN

December 23, 2011 -- Updated 1531 GMT (2331 HKT)

Egyptian woman speaks of injustice

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

A video showed police beating a woman and others trying to help her
The violence occurred in Cairo's Tahrir Square Saturday during a stretch of unrest
Twitter hashtags emerged -- #Tahrirwoman and #Bluebra
A relative says of Suleiman's beating, "I'm glad her father didn't see this day"

Cairo (CNN) -- When Azza Hilal Suleiman saw Egyptian military pummel the veiled woman, she stepped in to help and got kicked and clubbed by security forces, a beating that was captured in a video that went viral around the world and also showed live gunfire and the violent removal of a Muslim woman's clothing.
"A veiled woman was injured and the army stripped her," she told CNN in an exclusive interview from her hospital bed in Cairo, suffering from painful skull fractures and facial cuts.
She couldn't stand to see the repeated blows to the woman, who was dragged, kicked, partially stripped and then stomped. "So I ran and tried to cover her body and pull her out," Suleiman said.
"We tried to cover her and pull her away but they beat us. I didn't feel anything after this."
Suleiman was seen in a red coat in the same video that showed the veiled woman's beating. Security forces rushed toward Suleiman and pushed her to the ground as she ran to the veiled woman's side.
"I was just trying to help her up after they exposed her body," she said.
Suleiman is one of three people in the video interviewed by CNN, with one of them saying he was shot. A CNN crew also witnessed the security force beatings and shootings and saw other women stripped of some of their clothing.

Beaten activist still in lot of pain

The beatings took place last Saturday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, amid a five-day stretch of assaults by police and defiant protests by demonstrators demanding that Egypt's ruling military cede power to a civilian government.
A Health Ministry spokesman said 16 people died, including 14 by gunshots, according to Dr. Hisham Sheeha. The military has denied the use of live ammunition.
Photos of the unidentified veiled woman were plastered on the front pages of global and local newspapers and appeared on Facebook. Twitter hashtags #TahrirWoman and #Bluebra emerged. The images stirred worldwide outrage because of the beating and because she was partially stripped in a Muslim society where women cover themselves for modesty.
The woman has not been identified. An activist and student, she chooses not to talk to reporters at present, two people who know her told CNN.
She had been dressed in a traditional robe and headscarf, but as police clubbed her and dragged her down the street, those articles of clothing were pulled away, exposing her midriff and blue bra. The video showed one of the police officers aiming a foot at her upper abdomen and stamping squarely on it.
The beatings and the use of live ammunition against protesters, particularly women, have outraged Egyptians. More than a thousand people gathered in Tahrir Square for a "Million Woman" march Tuesday.
Women and men holding placards showing pictures of the veiled woman's beating marched through the surrounding streets to denounce the escalating violence by security forces.
The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has since expressed "great regret" over the mistreatment of women protesters, but it has not apologized for the assaults, a fact that enrages demonstrators. But SCAF reiterated "its respect and appreciation for Egyptian women and their right in protesting and their active positive participation in the political life."
Age 48, divorced and unemployed, Suleiman is the daughter of a deceased army general. She wanted to speak to CNN despite her agony.
In an earlier visit to the hospital, she indicated how much she was suffering, saying, "My head is going to explode."
Others came to Suleiman's aid, such as businessman Ehab Hanna, who was also beaten up and shot after he tried to help the woman with the veil.
"Azza covered her naked body. Then we tried to pull her up to take her to the field clinic. But I was shocked with a sting in my leg, thought it was a rock. I tried to walk but fell to the ground, so they started beating me and Azza relentlessly," he told CNN.
Hanna said security forces left him alone when they thought he was dead. But when he moved, he was beaten. He said he and other injured people were on the ground for about 30 minutes because ambulances weren't allowed into the area.
"I only found out I was shot in the leg when I arrived to the hospital. They told me the bullet penetrated my knee and ended up in my calf. I saw the Army officer firing his gun, but I thought it was blanks. I did not imagine they would fire live ammo at their people."
Journalist Hassan Shaheen Mahmoud also is in the video. He told CNN that he is filing a complaint against military leaders because they "dragged, stripped and beat" women and journalists. He too said he tried to come to the aid of the veiled woman, who suffered serious cuts and bruises.
"I started to run, but she froze and fell to the ground when another protester bumped into her," Mahmoud said. "I tried to help her get up, but the soldiers were brutal even when I told them I was a journalist. They even continued to beat her after her body was exposed."
"I will not remain quiet," Mahmoud vowed.
One military official showed no sense of remorse.
"What was a woman like her doing in a conflict zone?" asked the military spokesman, Maj. Mohamed Askar. "She must have participated in the attacks on the military and the Cabinet."
Askar questioned why the woman has not come forward to identify herself.
"Our troops do not just attack people for no reason," he said. "If she had nothing to hide then she would have presented herself. Where is she?"
The Egyptian military said it isn't aware of Suleiman's case but will look into it.
"If she comes from a military family then she reserved the right to be transferred to a military hospital even if her father is deceased," said Col. Islam Jaffar of the military's morals department.
As Wafa Ahmed, Suleiman's sister-in-law, listened to her wailing in pain, she thought of Suleiman's father and other family members, who have served Egypt in the military and government. "I'm glad her father didn't see this day," Ahmed said.

Al Qaeda-linked group finds fertile territory in Nigeria as killings escalate

2011-12-26T11:36:00.001-08:00

Al Qaeda-linked group finds fertile territory in Nigeria as killings escalate

By By Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, CNN

December 26, 2011 -- Updated 1814 GMT (0214 HKT)

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a wave attacks on Christmas Day 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Many of those targeted are Christians
Police stations and mosques deemed 'insufficiently Islamic' are also attacked
Assailants belong to the group Boko Haram, which translates to "Western education is outlawed"

(CNN) -- In November, dozens of armed men descended on a town in northern Nigeria and killed more than 100 people in a coordinated series of bombings and gun attacks.
Many of those targeted were Christians, but police stations and mosques deemed "insufficiently Islamic" were also attacked.
The town was Damataru, capital of the Nigerian state of Yobe, and the assailants belonged to the group Boko Haram, which translates from the local Hausa as "Western education is outlawed."
In two years, Boko Haram has morphed from a radical Muslim sect into an insurgency responsible for dozens of attacks in Nigeria and beyond. Western intelligence analysts believe it is also developing links with al Qaeda affiliates in Africa.
Boko Haram's targets include police outposts and churches, as well as places associated with 'western influence.' Its signature attack is a Karachi-style drive-by shooting from a motorbike, but this year it has begun a campaign of suicide vehicle attacks.
In Maiduguri, the epicenter of the insurgency, there is a heavy military presence, with security checkpoints, sandbagged military positions and the scars left by bomb attacks.
House-to-house searches are common. A senior military officer admitted last week that Maiduguri was a dangerous place, with "miscreants" slipping across the nearby borders with Chad and Niger. The Nigerian authorities seem unable to overcome Boko Haram -- and its growing footprint worries neighboring states and the U.S. Africa Command.
Many Christians in northeastern Nigeria have fled their homes as the violence has worsened this year.
A government offer of amnesty has had little effect; the deployment of 20,000 Nigerian troops to deal with ethnic and religious violence has failed to subdue the group.
President Goodluck Jonathan has warned of "swift and certain justice for criminal elements" -- but analysts say that the inefficiency of the Nigerian state, rampant corruption and a heavy-handed military response may play into Boko Haram's hands.
Until 2009, Boko Haram was a fundamentalist sect that espoused a Taliban-like interpretation of Islam. It did not advocate violence but it was hostile to Nigeria's Muslim leadership for its compromises with the 'infidel.'
One day in July that year, police stopped some of its members on motorbikes -- and told them to wear helmets. Tempers flared. When the bikers resisted, police opened fire -- killing nine members of the group, according to witness reports collected by Shehu Sani, the President of the Civil Rights Congress.
The Congress is an independent human rights group based in northern Nigeria, and Sani has had extensive contacts with figures in Boko Haram.
In the days after that confrontation, hundreds of Boko Haram members were killed in clashes with security services. Among them, the group's charismatic leader Mohammed Yusuf, who died while in the custody of police, according to Sani.
A secondary school dropout, Yusuf preached a strict application of Sharia law in northern Nigeria, arguing that the rich and connected had evaded Sharia despite its formal adoption by several Muslim-majority states in Nigeria. His message resonated with thousands of marginalized Muslims. Boko Haram can also draw on the deepening inequalities and religious divide between north and south Nigeria to help recruitment.
After the crackdown, security services accused the group of planning an armed jihad in Nigeria by stockpiling weapons, including guns, explosives, and grenades, and purchasing land for paramilitary training. A significant number of members fled to neighboring Niger and Chad. But far from this being a victory for the security services, it brought Boko Haram members into contact with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
According to U.S. officials, the groups have since forged a partnership -- with AQIM sharing its evolving expertise in suicide bombing.
"We know that there are increasingly frequent contacts, and indeed, training of members of Boko Haram by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and that's of great concern," Ambassador Anthony Holmes, U.S. Africa Command's civilian deputy said earlier this month. Algerian officials, long concerned at the growth of AQIM, have voiced the same concerns. And last week a senior Nigerian military officer told Reuters: "Boko Haram is al Qaeda."
In a global poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2009, a higher percentage of Nigerian Muslims (54%) stated they had confidence in Osama bin Laden than in any other Muslim-majority country.
Boko Haram's muscle was enhanced a year ago when the group freed at least a hundred of its members from a prison in Bauchi in northeastern Nigeria. This year, Boko Haram has begun looking to new horizons, including the capital, Abuja. In June, the group carried out its first suicide bombing -- attacking the National Police headquarters. Two months later -- in a dramatic escalation of its campaign -- it launched a suicide car bombing against the U.N. headquarters in Abuja, killing 23.
Boko Haram released a video featuring a martyrdom recording by the suicide bomber in the attack -- a-27-year-old from Maiduguri -- who praised Osama bin Laden and referred to the U.N. headquarters as a "forum of all the global evil."
The U.N. attack, Sani says, was likely an attempt by Boko Haram to embarrass the Nigerian government. He believes the group's Shura Council decided that attacking the U.N. would create less of a backlash against the group than directly targeting American interests.
"When they attacked the U.N. headquarters, they had to pass the American Embassy to Nigeria just a few meters away, but they knew the implications of targeting American interests: that things would get worse for them," Sani said.
U.S. officials believe some of those involved in that plot may have also trained with the al Qaeda linked militant group Al Shabaab in Somalia. In September, U.S. military officials warned that Boko Haram, AQIM, and al Shabaab might make common cause in targeting American interests in the region.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria warned that Boko Haram may be plotting to target three luxury hotels in Abuja.
Al Qaeda in West & Central Africa?
According to Shehu Sani, the group's agenda is still primarily local. "The origin of their fight is with the government of Nigeria and the security agencies," Sani said. "They want an end to the government's campaign against them and for them to pull troops out of northeastern Nigeria."
Analysts believe some Boko Haram members might be tempted by payouts made by the government to militants in the Niger Delta in recent years in exchange for their laying down arms. But one attempt at mediation has already ended in disaster. In September, a leading figure in Maiduguri connected to the group who sat down for talks with a former president of Nigeria was assassinated within 48 hours. Sani helped set up the meeting; he says he has since received death threats himself.
Security analysts are concerned the group may try to target Nigeria's oil industry in the Niger Delta, destabilizing supplies from the world's eighth largest oil exporter. Over the past decade, pipelines and rigs in the area have been repeatedly targeted by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The area is predominantly Christian and western intelligence sources say it would be difficult for Boko Haram to establish a presence there.
Human rights activists say for now, the authorities' crackdown in northern Nigeria may have the effect of radicalizing more Muslims. According to Sani and others tracking the group, Boko Haram has drawn its membership mainly from disaffected youngsters and unemployed graduates. But it has also gathered support among the professions.
Human Rights Watch says it has documented serious abuses by Nigerian police, including extrajudicial executions against suspected members of Boko Haram.
"The security forces are punishing people who they believe provide shelter to Boko Haram, but if you reveal the identity of Boko Haram fighters, then they'll kill you. You can see the dilemma," Sani said.
"If Nigerian government can't solve the problem, and the violence continues, then this virus will spread across the countries of west Africa and central Africa, emboldening the group and boosting its membership, making it a well-established part of al Qaeda," he said.
Today the Nigerian media, like its politicians, are full of advice to the government on how to tackle Boko Haram -- from an even tougher military response to renewed attempts at dialogue, another amnesty and a more comprehensive effort to address the root causes of the violence.
Neither carrot nor stick has worked so far.

Hong Kong orders chicken cull as bird flu alert raised

2011-12-22T02:57:00.001-08:00

Hong Kong orders chicken cull as bird flu alert raised

Hong Kong is quick to take action against infectious diseases

Hong Kong is culling 17,000 chickens after three birds were confirmed to have died from the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain in the past week.

The government has banned imports and the sale of live chickens for three weeks after an infected chicken carcass was found at a wholesale market on Tuesday.

It has also raised the city's flu alert system to "serious".

Two wild birds were also found to have died of the the virus.

The government said it was tracing the source of the chicken carcass, but it was not clear whether the chicken came from a local farm or was imported.

"I understand that it will cause inconvenience to the public, and the poultry trade will also encounter losses," said Hong Kong's secretary for food and health, York Chow.

"However, to safeguard public health, we need to adopt decisive and effective measures to prevent and control the spread of the virus."

On Tuesday, a dead Oriental magpie found at a secondary school tested positive for bird flu.

Another secondary school closed for a day for disinfection last Friday after a dead black-headed gull was found with the virus.

Hong Kong is quick to take action against infectious diseases after an outbreak of the deadly respiratory disease SARS in 2003 killed 300 people in the city and a further 500 worldwide.

In 2009, 300 people were placed under quarantine at a Hong Kong hotel after a guest contracted swine flu.

Breast implants 'have no cancer link' says UK watchdog

2011-12-22T02:54:00.001-08:00

Breast implants 'have no cancer link' says UK watchdog

Dr Susanne Ludgate: "We would really advise women in this country not to panic"

Women with silicone breast implants made by a French company should not have them removed, UK officials say.

French authorities will decide shortly whether women should have implants supplied by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) removed, amid fears of health risks.

But the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says none of the evidence into possible links with cancer supports removal.

It is thought up to 40,000 British women have the PIP silicone implants.

Women with implants who are concerned have been told to contact the surgeon or clinic that fitted them. According to the MHRA, the vast majority (95%) of the implants were fitted privately, with less than 5% used within the NHS.

In the UK, more than 250 British women are to start legal action, said a lawyer. Over half had suffered ruptured implants, Esylllt Hughes told the news agency AFP.

PIP used non-medical grade silicone believed to be made for mattresses, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS). This meant the low-cost devices were more likely to split.

'Seek advice'

Eight cases of cancer, mainly breast cancer, had so far been reported in patients with PIP implants, France's Director General for Health, Jean-Yves Grall, told the Liberation newspaper. A ninth patient in Gers died of cancer last year.

Implant fears: timeline

March 2010: French authorities suspend use, marketing, distribution and export of the implants
March 2010: The UK government agency which regulates the safety of medicines, the MHRA, advises UK doctors not to use the implants. They tell women with concerns to consult the surgeon who fitted the implants
October 2010: MHRA says early test results show no evidence that the filler has potential to cause cancer but further testing is to be carried out by French regulators
April 2011: MHRA says French regulators have found no evidence of genotoxicity (potential for cancer) or chemical toxicity of the filler material inside the devices

PIP breast implants: Your stories

But the head of France's National Cancer Institute, Dominique Maraninchi, said last week the cases were not necessarily linked to faulty implants.

The MHRA said there was "insufficient evidence to indicate any association with cancer" after reviewing the available evidence with the relevant UK professional bodies.

It said it had worked in consultation with the cancer registry as well as professional bodies for breast surgery and surgical oncology.

"The MHRA's current advice to women with any type of breast implant continues to be that women who are concerned about their breasts or think that their implants may have ruptured, should seek clinical advice from their implanting surgeon," the agency said.

A statement from the British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) said: "BAPRAS has not yet seen the evidence demonstrating that health problems may have been caused by PIP breast implants and will fully assess any that becomes available.

“Start Quote

These implants have a higher failure rate so there will be women who might choose to have their implants removed before that happens, whereas others will be happy to be monitored”

Douglas McGeorgeBAAPS

"We currently believe that the expected announcement from French medical authorities will be a precautionary measure.

"Surgeons will be in contact with any patient who has received this type of implant if any action is required."

Douglas McGeorge, consultant plastic surgeon and former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), said patients with breast implants should check whether they have had one from PIP.

"The message here is not to panic," he said.

"The advice is unchanged. Women with PIP implants should be checked by the clinic where they had their surgery and can then be monitored afterwards.

"These implants have a higher failure rate so there will be women who might choose to have their implants removed before that happens, whereas others will be happy to be monitored."

Administration

More than 300,000 implants are believed to have been sold globally by PIP over the last 12 years.

About 30,000 have been fitted in France, out of which more than 1,000 have ruptured.

PIP went into administration last year and the use of its implants was banned.

French authorities say they will decide on Friday whether to ask the women given that type of breast implant to have them removed.

The French government has formed a special committee to look at the issue.

Morning flu jabs 'work better for men'

2011-12-22T02:53:00.001-08:00

Morning flu jabs 'work better for men'

By Michelle RobertsHealth reporter, BBC News

Men fare better if they are vaccinated in the morning, say the researchers

Flu jabs can be made more effective by changing the time of day they are given - mornings for men and afternoons for women are best - scientists believe.

Synchronising the jab with the body's natural daily cyclical rhythm makes it more likely to offer good immunity, says the Medical Research Council team.

The immune system gets sluggish as we age which explains why only a third of elderly people vaccinated get full protection from their winter flu vaccine.

Rescheduling appointments may help.

To test their theory, the researchers are using GP patients in Birmingham as guinea pigs.

300 of them will be given morning or afternoon vaccination appointments, determined by their gender.

“Start Quote

We're not sure why, but we think it is down to hormones”

Prof Janet LordMRC

Professor Janet Lord, who is leading the research, said: "It's a major health issue trying to find ways to improve the vaccination response.

"We know that immunity goes down with ageing. But we may have found a way to counter that."

She said it was a chance finding in about 150 patients that led them to the idea in the first place.

"A colleague discovered that vaccine response varies with the time of day.

"Men tend to have a better response in the morning, and women in the afternoon.

"We're not sure why, but we think it is down to hormones."

Hormone levels in the body change throughout the day in a predictable, cyclical pattern. And the effect of this differs between men and women, the scientists suspect.

Prof Lord and her team hope to get a definitive answer by studying at least 300 elderly patients attending for their routine flu vaccinations this winter and next.

"We've already made a start and hope to get enough patients on board to be able to see if such a simple, cheap measure of changing appointment times can make all the difference."

Zimbabwe chief fines Morgan Tsvangirai over 'wedding'

2011-12-22T02:40:00.001-08:00

Zimbabwe chief fines Morgan Tsvangirai over 'wedding'

Morgan Tsvangirai accuses security agents of interfering in his private life

Zimbabwe - New Era?

A traditional court in Zimbabwe has fined Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for breaking a cultural taboo by paying a bride price in November.

He was ordered to pay two cows, two sheep and 10 metres of cotton cloth.

The prime minister refused to attend the hearing because it was "manifestly illegal", his lawyer said.

Mr Tsvangirai paid a bride price to marry a businesswoman before calling off their relationship, saying it had been "hijacked" for political reasons.

He was ordered to appear before a court headed by chief Negomo in Mashonaland Central province.

"Our hearing went on well, despite the prime minister's decision to disrespect the court by absconding," chief Negomo's assessor, Maj Cairo Mhandu, is quoted by Zimbabwe's privately owned The Standard newspaper as saying.

'Sacred month'

"We gave him 30 days to pay and if he doesn't, we will send debt collectors after him and attach whatever we can."

“Start Quote

It appears to us that you have not read and/ or that you do not understand the law, province and your limits as a traditional chief”

Selby HwachaMr Tsvangirai's lawyer

Maj Mhandu said the family of his former fiancee, Locadia Tembo, was also fined.

"His in-laws were ordered to pay two cattle, two sheep and a goat because they agreed to receive his money during a sacred month," he said, The Standard reports.

Mr Tsvangirai and Ms Tembo belong to the Shona ethnic group, which believes that marriage proceedings in November bring bad luck.

Mr Tsvangirai's lawyer Selby Hwacha said the court had no power to hear the case.

"From a legal point, Tsvangirai will not appear before your court because the entire process is manifestly illegal and void," Mr Hwacha said in response to the chief's summons, The Standard reports.

"It appears to us that you have not read and/or that you do not understand the law, province and your limits as a traditional chief."

The traditional ceremony, where the bride price of several thousand dollars was paid on 18 November, took place in Christon Bank, about 25km (15 miles) north of Harare.

The area falls under the jurisdiction of chief Negomo.

On 30 November, Mr Tsvangirai said he had called off his relationship with Ms Tembo - a commodity trader and sister of an MP in President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

He accused the security services of interfering in his private life and said that his relationship with Ms Tembo had been "irretrievable damaged".

Mr Tsvangirai's first wife, Susan, died in a car crash soon after he became prime minister.

Tension between Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and Zanu-PF has been growing ahead of elections, expected next year.

The two parties have been in a coalition government since 2009, following elections marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging.

Mr Tsvangirai boycotted a run-off vote, claiming he had been cheated out of victory in the first round.

He and Mr Mugabe agreed to form a power-sharing government following mediation by regional leaders.

Horn of Africa famine: UK sends 9,000 tonnes of food aid

2011-12-22T02:39:00.001-08:00

Horn of Africa famine: UK sends 9,000 tonnes of food aid

Millions have been affected by drought conditions in the Horn of Africa

Millions remain in danger as a result of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa, UK International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has said.

More than 9,000 tonnes of UK-funded aid is due to arrive in the region over Christmas, which is expected to feed some 800,000 people.

The minister said millions will "face a fight for life in the new year".

He defended spending on aid saying it protected British security by helping to prevent terrorism and disorder.

Mr Mitchell said the latest estimate is that up to 100,000 people may have died between April and August.

He said: "Across Britain there is a very strong feeling that it is right to spend a very small amount of money, something like 1% of all the public expenditure that takes place in Britain, on helping people who are in a wretched and desperate condition.

"But of course it also, particularly in a place like Somalia, contributes very directly to our own security here at home.

“Start Quote

"Somalia is a place from which emanate piracy, disorder, disease , drug running. The dangers from conflict and terrorism are very great. ”

Andrew MitchellInternational Development Secretary

"Our security is not only determined by guns and military preparations it is also determined by tackling the extraordinary dis-functionality and disorder which exists in Somalia but which affects a much wider area including Britain."

'Fight for life'

As well as food, the UK's aid will also fund vaccines and other medical supplies to treat more than 75,000 refugees.

Britain is also providing clean water for more than half a million people in the Horn of Africa as the area struggles to recover from the effects of its worst drought in 60 years.

Based on data collected by the UN, latest UK estimates show that of the 50,000 to 100,000 people who may have died due to drought-related causes, more than half were children aged under five.

The full extent of deaths caused by the drought may never be known, the Department for International Development said.

Mr Mitchell said there were some signs that the situation was improving, but that the situation remained desperate for people who remained malnourished and stuck in camps.

Famine status has been lifted in three of the six areas of Somalia but many families remain without sufficient food.

'Dangers'

Mr Mitchell said: "Britain can be proud that we have got emergency aid to millions of people during the last six months.

"In many cases, this has been the difference between life and death.

"Millions across the region remain in danger and will face a fight for life in the New Year as they struggle to recover from the drought.

"But British aid is arriving as we speak so that families have enough to eat today and in the weeks ahead, providing hope that there can be a better future."

Mr Mitchell also praised the generosity of the British public, who have donated more than £72m to the Disasters Emergency Committee's East Africa appeal.

In February the prime minister is hosting a conference in London to examine what the international community can do to help Somalia.

Mr Mitchell said the country needed more assistance than aid.

"Somalia is a place from which emanate piracy, disorder, disease, drug running.

"The dangers from conflict and terrorism are very great from Somalia.

"And the aim of the prime minister's conference is to bring together very large numbers of different nations who want to help and assist in Somalia and see whether we can make some progress.

"Of course humanitarian aid is part of that and the conference will go wider than that".

Rwanda genocide: Ngirumpatse and Karemera given life

2011-12-22T02:38:00.001-08:00

Rwanda genocide: Ngirumpatse and Karemera given life

Some 800,000 people were killed in the genocide

Rwanda: Haunted Nation

A UN war crimes court has given life sentences to two key organisers of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.

The sentences were imposed on Matthieu Ngirumpatse and Edouard Karemera, two senior members of Rwanda's former ruling party.

They were convicted of genocide by the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

In 1994 around 800,000 people - ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus - were killed in just 100 days.

The ICTR ruled that Ngirumpatse and Karemera were part of a "joint criminal enterprise" to exterminate Tutsis.

"The court unanimously condemns Ngirumpatse to life in jail," said presiding Judge Dennis Byron, before pronouncing the same sentence for Karemera.

'Girls raped'

Ngirumpatse was the chairman of Rwanda's then-ruling National Revolutionary Movement for Development (NRMD) party and Karemera was his deputy when the genocide took place.

The indictment accused them of bearing "superior responsibility" for the genocide, the Reuters news agency reports.

The ICTR ruled that Ngirumpatse approved the delivery of arms to the Interahamwe militia group at a hotel in the capital, Kigali, in April 1994, the AFP news agency reports.

"At that point in the genocide it could be assumed the weapons were going to be used to kill Tutsis," the panel of three judges wrote in their ruling, according to AFP.

"The court concludes that the rapes and the sexual crimes carried out on Tutsi girls and women by soldiers and militia, including the Interahamwe, are a natural and predictable consequence of the joint criminal enterprise seeking to destroy the Tutsi ethnic group."

The ICTR was set up in the Tanzanian town of Arusha to put on trial those accused of being the ringleaders of the genocide.

Last week, ICTR appeal judges overturned the life sentence given to the defence ministry's then-chief of staff Theoneste Bagosora, said to be a mastermind of the genocide.

The judges, instead, sentenced him to 35 years in prison - a decision which angered some Rwandans.

Frankincense tree facing uncertain future

2011-12-22T02:37:00.001-08:00

Frankincense tree facing uncertain future

By Mark Kinver and Victoria GillScience reporters, BBC News and Nature

Boswellia are weakened if too much resin is drained from the trees' stems, leaving them vulnerable

Frankincense - a traditional staple of the Christmas story - faces an uncertain future, according to researchers.

Ecologists have warned that the production of the fragrant resin could decline by half over the next 15 years.

The festive fragrance is produced by tapping the gum of trees in the Boswellia genus.

The findings, based on a study carried out in Ethiopia, have been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

It is used extensively in religious rituals and in the perfume industry. It has also been investigated for its medicinal properties.

"There are several reasons why [the tree species Boswellia papyifera] it is under threat," explained co-author Frans Bongers, an ecologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

"The forests that remain are declining because the old individuals are dying continuously, and there there no new individuals coming into the system. That means that the forests are running out of trees."

"In places like Oman and Yemen, it is being cut down systematically. Now, in Ethiopia, it is being cut down as land is being turned over to agriculture."

The small trees, which generally reach a height of no more than 5m (16ft), grow in steep, rocky habitats, providing cover for other plant species.

A sense of frankincense

Frankincense is an oily gum resin from 16 different species of tree of the Boswellia genus
Incense extracted from the resin is used in religious rituals, but has also been investigated for its medicinal properties. It is believed to be an anti-inflammatory
The name frankincense is derived from the old French "franc encens", meaning pure incense

Each year, up to about 3kg of resin can be tapped from an individual tree. After about five years of tapping, management techniques suggest that the tree should be rested for a similar period in order to maximise future yields.

The genus Boswellia, overall, is generally classified as Vulnerable as a result of habitat fragmentation and poor levels of rejuvenation, explained Prof Bongers.

"If the tree germinates, then there is a small plant coming out of the ground, but then in the next dry season it goes down again because it is too dry," he told BBC News.

Rachel WebsterCurator of botany, Manchester Museum

Frankincense is tapped extensively wherever theBoswellia trees grow. Its high value comes mainly from the fact that it is used extensively in religious rituals, particularly in the Islamic and Christian religions [and, historically, in Hebrew rituals].

The species focused on in this study, Boswellia papyrifera, grows in African drylands. It grows in arid areas so any small, deleterious change could have quite devastating effects on the regeneration of the trees.

In this case, it appears to be either fire or over-grazing, but with the general pressures of people and trees depending on the same land, trees tend to lose.

If these trees did disappear, it would be a great loss to the local people who tap the trees to sell the resin and to the ecosystem it grows in.

"Then in the wet season it comes up again. Yet in the next dry season it goes down again. That happens for a number of years, and we don't know how many years this happens - we know that it is at least six years.

"But it may be 10 years and we do not know what triggers what makes it come up above ground forever - maybe it is some sort of reserve, some sort of starch in the soil or root system.

"We are measuring this but we do not have real data, so it is complicated to manage the seedlings."

Prof Bongers added that the encroachment of more opportunistic tree species was also affecting the long-term survival of the frankincense forests.

"In the landscape, this tree has been the dominant species. That is why we can call it a frankincense forest, just like we can refer to beech woodlands in the UK," he said.

"In these woodlands, 80% of the individuals are frankincense trees. Yet some areas at the verges of the distribution of the species, there are other species coming in.

"What we are seeing at the verges of the populations we are following is that that the frankincense trees are phasing out and other species are coming in.

"All the young individuals in the forests are from other species, such asAcacia. We just see the forests running out of frankincense - other species are taking over."

'Alarming' decline

The study examined 13 two-hectare plots, which involve monitoring more than 6,000 trees and collecting more than 20,000 measurements.

Using this data, the team modelled the fate of the species, and found the current levels of frankincense production is set to halve in the next 15 years.

"Current management of Boswellia populations is clearly unsustainable," Prof Bongers warned.

"Our models show that within 50 years, populations of Boswellia will be decimated, and the declining populations mean frankincense production is doomed. This is a rather alarming message for the incense industry and conservation organisations."

He added that tapping the trees for the valued resin was unlikely to be the main cause of the decline. Instead, there were a number of other things affecting the long-term future of the trees.

"Frankincense extraction is unlikely to be the main cause of population decline, which is likely to be caused by burning, grazing and attack by the long-horn beetle, which lays its eggs under the bark of the tree.

In the areas they studied, the team found that older trees in the population were not being replaced because few Boswellia seedlings survived to become saplings.

"The number of fires and intensity of grazing in our study area has increased over recent decades as a result of a large increase in the number of cattle, and this could be why seedlings fail to grow into saplings. At the same time, a large proportion of trees we studied died after being attacked by the long-horn beetle," Prof Bongers observed.

In order to ensure future rejuvenation, he suggested that areas should be set aside for up to a decade so young Boswellia trees could become established.

DR Congo police 'killed 24 civilians' after elections

2011-12-22T02:36:00.000-08:00

DR Congo police 'killed 24 civilians' after elections

HRW says both protesters and bystanders have been caught up in police violence

DR Congo Seeks Democracy

At least 24 people have been killed by police in the Democratic Republic of Congo since last month's disputed elections, a US rights group has said.

President Joseph Kabila was sworn in for a second term this week, but his rival, Etienne Tshisekedi says he won.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said most of the deaths occurred in the capital, Kinshasa, where Mr Tshisekedi has strong support.

It said it had evidence security forces had tried to cover up the deaths.

The elections were the first to be organised locally since the end of a devastating civil war in 2003, which left some four million people dead.

The results were announced on 9 December, but were immediately rejected by Mr Tshisekedi and his supporters, leading to clashes in the capital.

International observers said the electoral process had been too flawed to be credible.

HRW said that the deaths and the "arbitrary" arrest of dozens of people appeared to be an attempt by the authorities to stifle protest against the results.

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These bloody tactics ... leave the impression that the government will do whatever it takes to stay in power”

Anneke Van WoudenbergSenior Africa researcher, HRW

Based on eyewitness accounts by HRW staff and Congolese activists, the group said it had evidence that 20 people had died in Kinshasa, two in North Kivu, and two in Kasai Occidental province.

Among the alleged victims were opposition supporters attempting to protest or simply bystanders, including a 13-year-old boy shot as he was standing outside his home and a woman killed while she was looking for her children.

"These bloody tactics further undermine the electoral process and leave the impression that the government will do whatever it takes to stay in power," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior Africa researcher at HRW.

HRW said security forces appeared to be covering up the scale of the killings by removing bodies and telling medical personnel not to give out information about such deaths.

In addition, it accused the Republican Guard - the military unit which is meant to protect the president - of acting outside its authority by arresting civilians and holding them at "illegal places of detention".

"The government should order the immediate release of all detainees in their custody, and undertake an impartial investigation into responsibility for these unlawful arrests and the mistreatment of detainees," said Ms Van Woudenberg.

Mr Kabila dismissed similar accusations made against the security forces at the end of the electoral campaign as unproven.

He has congratulated the police and the army on their patriotism and professionalism in maintaining order before, during and after the election.

Inside DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo covers 2,344,858 square km of land in the centre of Africa, making it the 12th largest country in the world.

South Sudanese 'press-ganged' by rebels in Khartoum

2011-12-22T02:34:00.001-08:00

South Sudanese 'press-ganged' by rebels in Khartoum

By James CopnallBBC News, Khartoum

The SSLA, which operates in South Sudan's Unity state, denies forcing people to fight

Sudan: Coping with divorce

Young South Sudanese men living in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, are being forcibly conscripted by militia groups, numerous sources have told the BBC.

It is alleged they are forced to fight for rebels in South Sudan, which split from the north in July.

South Sudan's information minister believes Khartoum is directing the rebel groups and the kidnappings.

A senior official in Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's party told the BBC the accusation was "nonsense".

It is feared the alleged abductions will worsen the already fragile relationship between the two countries.

'Training camps'

According to South Sudanese community leaders, church workers in Khartoum and politicians in South Sudan, men have been snatched from universities, the streets and even their homes by armed gangs.

"The attitude of recruiting South Sudanese university students into the military by the Khartoum regime is an irresponsible exercise," South Sudan's Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin has said.

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We have heard that there is a possibility of paying a ransom, so that those who pay a ransom are released.”

Philippa CandlerUNHCR

Rabbie Abdelattie, a senior official in Sudan's ruling National Congress Party, denied the charges.

He told the BBC that the Sudanese government was providing lots of humanitarian assistance to South Sudanese.

But numerous South Sudanese living in Khartoum told me they believed the authorities in the city are at the very least condoning forced conscription.

One man said his uncle had been snatched: "He is not a soldier, and he has no military experience, so I am worried he won't know how to fight or protect himself."

He assumes his uncle has been sent to a training camp, before he is sent into battle, perhaps never to be seen again.

Like almost everyone else, he was too scared to allow his name to be used.

Others spoke of a priest, his assistant and a driver who had gone missing. Some men are now too scared to seek the casual work they need to pay their bills.

'Lies'

Rebels active in some part of the south have laid land mines

The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, has good contacts with the South Sudanese communities in Sudan and believes there are 700,000 South Sudanese still living in the north, nearly six months after the southern region seceded.

It has no independent confirmation of the abductions, but is worried by what its sources are reporting.

"They describe that there have been house-to-house searches in some areas," says Philippa Candler, UNHCR Sudan's head of protection.

"We have heard that there is a possibility of paying a ransom, so that those who pay a ransom are released."

UNHCR says it has raised the matter with the Sudanese government.

All the South Sudanese sources - official and unofficial - accuse rebel groups of carrying out the kidnappings.

The name that comes up most often is the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), which mainly operates in oil-rich Unity state.

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Why would we forcibly recruit the citizens? Everyone supports me”

General Bapiny MonytuilA SSLA commander

General Bapiny Monytuil, the SSLA's deputy commander, called the accusations "lies".

He says bus loads of South Sudanese men going to the border are his fighters returning from Khartoum where they had been for rest or to have injuries treated.

"We have wounded men who come for treatment in Khartoum, then we send a mission to come to send them back to the border," he told the BBC.

"Why would we forcibly recruit the citizens? Everyone supports me."

Other South Sudanese rebel groups fight in Upper Nile and Jonglei states. Anger in Upper Nile against the rebels runs deep.

"Their objective is survival, and self-interest. They are fighting for nothing, and they are killing innocent civilians," Simon Kun Pouch, the governor of Upper Nile state told the BBC.

"They go and collect people by force, and send them to the front line by force. I don't know what God will do for these people."

In Khartoum, fear has gripped many South Sudanese.

But one old woman was determined to talk - though she, too, did not want her name to be used.

"We heard that some of the people who were taken have already been killed in the war there," she said, in a soft voice.

"We got a message from other people. The names of the dead have already reached here. So we are warning all the South Sudanese people here in Khartoum."

Sudan: A country divided

Show regions

The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

2011 - The technology year

2011-12-22T02:32:00.001-08:00

2011 - The technology year

COMMENTS (7)

Tahrir Square: protestors used technology to tell the outside world what was happening

It has been a momentous year, with riots, revolutions, natural disasters and economic crises.

And looking back month by month, technology has played a big part in many of those stories, while making plenty of its own headlines.

So here's this blog's review of 2011.

January: Twitter proves its worth

This was the year that social networking proved that it was about more than trivia, with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry playing vital - if disputed - roles in organising everything from the Arab Spring to the London riots.

In January, as news broke of the shooting of an American congresswoman, Twitter proved its worth as a rolling new service. It also came under pressure from the US Department of Justice to name users connected with Wikileaks - this was also a year when social networks had to circle the wagons as governments questioned their motives.

February: Nokia's burning platform

In the battle for the fast-growing and very lucrative smartphone market,there has been one clear loser - Nokia. The Finnish giant dominated the mobile phone industry for years, but by this February was watching Apple and Android race away with the profits and market share. In what became known as the burning platform memo, Nokia's new boss Stephen Elop told his staff just how bad a pickle they were in.

March: Broadband - still not delivering

Throughout the year, the question of broadband quality and availability in the UK has been a very hot topic for readers of this blog.

In March an Ofcom report showed that most broadband packages were delivering less than half the speed promised in the advertising. As the copper telephone network struggled to deliver faster internet connections, the demand for a fibre-based network grew.

April: PlayStation goes offline

All kinds of data and services are now moving off personal computers and into the cloud - banks of servers in huge data centres. But in April there was a warning of what could go wrong.

After a hacker attack that could have put user details at risk, Sony took its PlayStation Network offline, leaving 75 million gamers bereft.

As a few giant companies ask us to trust them with all of our data, the rewards for hackers and the concerns for consumers keep getting more serious.

May: The £15 computer

How can Britain produce a new computer literate generation which will go out and build the Google of the future? A question asked by, among others, Google's Eric Schmidt, games industry executives, and even the prime minister. In May, David Braben, came to show me his solution, a £15 computer designed to inspire school children to learn the basics of computer coding.

June: Another dotcom bubble

While much of the global economy stuttered, technology companies still managed to attract plenty of excitement amongst investors. Groupon, LinkedIn, and Zynga were among the businesses enjoying an IPO - a stock market launch - at valuations that many considered outlandish.

Back in June, though, I wondered whether I wondered whether the air was already coming out of the latest tech bubble, as shares in the professional network LinkedIn and the internet radio service Pandora fell back after the initial euphoria.

As the year ends, shares in both companies are around the same level as they were back in June. The bubble hasn't quite burst but it looks as though investors are saving any euphoria they might have about technology shares for the Facebook IPO in 2012.

July: Spotify heads West

The music streaming service Spotify is one of the very few European businesses to show Silicon Valley a thing or two about disruptive technology.

But for all its success in Europe countries, its long-term survival was in doubt until it cracked the American market. In July after years of painstaking negotiations with the big labels, Spotify finally arrived in the United States.

With a huge boost from its alliance with Facebook, the service now has more than 2.5 million paying customers. But the music industry still has its doubts about this and other digital services - artists are unhappy about the few pennies they get for every play on Spotify, and the labels continue to play hardball over licensing agreements.

August: Mapping mobile Britain

It is not just the state of broadband which gets people fired up - mobile phone coverage is becoming a really big issue, as more of us depend on smartphones for our connected lives.

In the summer more than 44,000 people helped us build a crowdsourced map of 3G coverage in the UK.

The results , even in big cities. And with large parts of rural Britain still unable to get a reliable 3G signal, there are signs that the digital divide between town and country is getting ever wider.

September: Google gets social

Google remains the most successful new technology business of the last decade, churning out ever bigger profits from its domination of search-based advertising. But its attempts to be big in social networking - the biggest phenomenon of recent years - have stuttered.

Google+ was its latest attempt - a direct challenge to Facebook, offering users more refined privacy settings and innovations like live video "hangouts".

It received rave reviews from what I described as "the geek community", and was then thrown open to allcomers. Since then, there has been little information on how much interest it has attracted from a wider public. Whenever I check out Google+, I find plenty of lively activity from the technology crowd - but I still can't spot any of my less geeky friends hanging out.

October: Steve Jobs 1955-2011

The death of Steve Jobs was undoubtedly the technology story that attracted most interest this year. It was an opportunity to assess the life of a man whose determination to force his company, his industry, the whole world, to come round to his way of thinking had both positive and negative consequences.

Jobs' death was announced a couple of days after the rather lacklustre launch of the iPhone 4S, where many felt his successor Tim Cook had failed to shine. Having been rather harsh in my own assessment of his performance, I then realised that I had been unfair to a man who must have been under enormous strain. Hence the apology.

But after reading Walter Isaacson's warts'n'all biography of Jobs, it is clearer than ever that Tim Cook will struggle to be as ruthless, as obsessive, as borderline insane as his predecessor in driving Apple forward.

November: Shoreditch v Silicon Valley

A year after announcing a plan to turn East London into a hi-tech hotspot to rival Silicon Valley, the prime minister returned to Shoreditch to celebrate what had been achieved so far.

Boosters of Tech City, as the areas has been dubbed, say it's now Europe's fastest growing technology cluster. But sceptics ask whether a clutch of small-scale webdesign and new media firms around Silicon Roundabout will ever produce a Google or a Facebook.

And other hi-tech clusters - from Cambridge to Dundee - wonder why they are not getting the same amount of loving attention from the government.

December: DIY fibre broadband

And as we arrive at the end of 2011, my month by month formula means I've left out a number of interesting stories - from the patent wars, to the various disasters that have befallen the Blackberry firm RIM.

But let's end on a positive note, with a group of people who have decided that, when it comes to getting better broadband connections, it is time to stop whingeing and start doing something.

Last week saw the launch of the B4RN project, which sees local communities in Lancashire, Cumbria and North Yorkshire clubbing together to try to give themselves fast fibre broadband.

Good luck to them - and to everybody else hoping that 2012 will see more advances in the way we use technology.

KINGS PALACE & EVENTS

The force behind a 'bad year for bad guys'

The force behind a 'bad year for bad guys'

Jesse Jackson: Occupy in memory of Martin Luther King

Jesse Jackson: Occupy in memory of Martin Luther King

'Metal Gear Rising' game to emerge from ashes

'Metal Gear Rising' game to emerge from ashes

'Hugo,' 'The Artist' lead Oscar nominations

'Hugo,' 'The Artist' lead Oscar nominations

Nigerians arrest Islamist militant suspects, sources say

Nigerians arrest Islamist militant suspects, sources say

Costa Concordia: Bodies found as fuel pumping to start

Costa Concordia: Bodies found as fuel pumping to start

Cruise disaster

List of dead and missing

EU Iran sanctions: Ministers adopt Iran oil imports ban

EU Iran sanctions: Ministers adopt Iran oil imports ban

Iran nuclear crisis

Analysis

Kenyatta and Ruto to face ICC trial over Kenya violence

Kenyatta and Ruto to face ICC trial over Kenya violence

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Analysis

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Kenya's troubled politics

A daunting agenda for Davos

A daunting agenda for Davos

Smiling nanny recovering from Gadhafi family's burns

Smiling nanny recovering from Gadhafi family's burns

Suicide bomber strikes fortified Iraqi compound

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'Blue bra girl' rallies Egypt's women vs. oppression

'Blue bra girl' rallies Egypt's women vs. oppression

Somali women defy danger to write basketball history

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Out of Egypt: Live ammo, beatings, stripping

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Al Qaeda-linked group finds fertile territory in Nigeria as killings escalate

Al Qaeda-linked group finds fertile territory in Nigeria as killings escalate

Hong Kong orders chicken cull as bird flu alert raised

Hong Kong orders chicken cull as bird flu alert raised

Breast implants 'have no cancer link' says UK watchdog

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Morning flu jabs 'work better for men'

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Zimbabwe chief fines Morgan Tsvangirai over 'wedding'

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Zimbabwe - New Era?

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Horn of Africa famine: UK sends 9,000 tonnes of food aid

Horn of Africa famine: UK sends 9,000 tonnes of food aid

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“Start Quote

Rwanda genocide: Ngirumpatse and Karemera given life

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Rwanda: Haunted Nation

Frankincense tree facing uncertain future

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A sense of frankincense

DR Congo police 'killed 24 civilians' after elections

DR Congo police 'killed 24 civilians' after elections

DR Congo Seeks Democracy

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South Sudanese 'press-ganged' by rebels in Khartoum

South Sudanese 'press-ganged' by rebels in Khartoum

Sudan: Coping with divorce

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“Start Quote

2011 - The technology year

2011 - The technology year

January: Twitter proves its worth

February: Nokia's burning platform

March: Broadband - still not delivering

April: PlayStation goes offline