Monthly Archives: October 2012

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🪖 Bani Walid ‘under seige’ one year after the death of Colonel Gaddafi 🇱🇾

20 Saturday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE REPORT

Bani Walid, a former Gaddafi stronghold, remains to be ‘liberated’, one year after the capture and murder of the Libyan dictator, the new regime has admitted.

Speaking on Libyan television late on Friday,  Libyan leader Mohammed Magarief said the new regime had struggled to impose their authority on a country awash with weapons.

The national congress leader claimed the town of Bani Walid, some 160 kms (100 miles) south of Tripoli, had become a ‘safehaven’ for those who were ‘outside the law.’

He blamed“delays” in the formation of the army and police and the failure to disarm and integrate former rebels for the chaos in Libya.

“The campaign to liberate the country has not been fully completed.

“…the spread of chaos that has lured the old regime to infiltrate the country’s institutions inside and to conspire with the regime loyalists on the outside.

“And the chaos has lured others to kidnappings, stealing, and to create non-legitimate prisons. What has happened in Bani Walid in the last few days falls under this … it has become a safe haven for a large number of those who are outside of the law.”

Militias, aligned with the Defence Ministry, have shelled the hilltop town of 70,000 for several days. Many of those in the militias were from the rival town of Misrata, that are angry at the death of rebel fighter Omran Shaban (pictured above) after two months in detention in Bani Walid.

Shaban, from Misrata, was the man who found Colonel Muammar Gaddafi hiding in a drain pipe in Sirte on October 20, 2011.

Libya’s congress ordered the Defence and Interior Ministries to find those responsible for abducting Shaban and suspected of torturing him to death.

It gave Bani Walid a deadline to hand them over.

Click here for Template report on Gaddafi’s death

Posted by | Filed under Africa 🗺, Analysis 🙌, Arab World 🌎, Europe 🇪🇺, France, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Terrorism, UK, USA 🇺🇸

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🇨🇳 China’s growth affected by problems in Europe and US 🇪🇺 – 🇺🇸

18 Thursday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE REPORT

China’s economy has slowed for a seventh quarter as problems in Europe and the US hurt demand for its goods. The annual rate of growth was 7.4% in the third quarter, down from 7.6% in the previous three months.

China’s growth over the past few years has been led by the success of its export and manufacturing sector, as well as by a credit-fuelled investment boom directed by the government. However, China also released other key economic indicators alongside its gross domestic product (GDP) data, which indicate that things may be starting to pick up again.

China’s industrial production rose by a more-than-expected 9.2% in September from a year earlier. That was up from 8.9% growth in August.

Retail sales, meanwhile, during the same month were 14.2% higher than a year earlier, signalling that domestic consumption was growing.

China has announced various stimulus measures in recent months aimed at boosting domestic consumption and sustaining growth.

The central bank has lowered the amount of money that banks need to keep in reserve three times in the past few months in order to increase bank lending.

It has cut interest rates twice since June to reduce the burden on businesses and other borrowers.

Beijing has also approved infrastructure projects worth more than $150bn (£94bn), aimed at spurring a fresh wave of economic development.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, Comment, Financial 💷 💲 🏦, International News

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The Pakistani girl shot for going to school 🇵🇰

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE ANALYSIS

Malala Yousafzai the fourteen-year-old schoolgirl shot by Tareeqi-Taliban gunmen in northwest Pakistan is making good progress in a Birmingham hospital, and is according to the medical director of that hospital “every bit as strong was we were led to believe. “

The teenager, from the once serene and peaceful Swat Valley has become something of a celebrity for her simple stand – namely that girls should be allowed to go to school.

Trouble with that is of course, too many people have an interest in making political capital out of this simple request – the President of Pakistan who like every leader of this country has done little in terms of investing in the education of all children, never mind girls, and outside powers like the US and UK who have made education for girls and women rights an ideological part of their brutal war in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.

Then, there is of course the gun men who shot this little girl.

The Prophet of Islam championed women’s rights at a time when female babies were being buried alive.

It was he who also once said you can always judge the character of a man from the health of his wife.

Aisha, the Prophet’s last wife, who no doubt is a bit of heroine to Malala, was a strong, independent woman, who was also the source for the Quran and Hadith.

And she also famously led an army into battle.

Malala Yousafza will not need to that, however she will achieve her dream  – in spite of her friends and enemies.

Posted by | Filed under International News

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US Embassy Security officer shot dead in Yemen

11 Thursday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE REPORT

Gunmen have shot and killed a local employee of the US embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, it has been confirmed by the US State Department.

Qassem Aqlan, a security officer, was going to work when he was attacked by masked men on a motorbike.

He had worked at the embassy for at least 10 years and was responsible for co-ordinating security information between the embassy and Yemeni authorities.

He was involved in an investigation into an attack on the embassy last month.

During protests against an anti-Islam film made in the US, demonstrators briefly stormed the embassy grounds and burnt the US flag.

They were driven back by security forces.

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Children injured after second Israeli airstrike on Gaza

08 Monday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE REPORT

Several children have been injured after Israeli forces shelled areas east of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it had targeted two members of “global jihadist” groups which were suspected of involvement in a cross-border attack from Egypt in June that left one Israeli dead.

Medical sources in Gaza said an Israeli shell had landed east of Khan Younis, injuring five people, among them several children.

Earlier today, rockets launched from Gaza landed in Israel’s Eshkol region and near Kerem Shalom, although  no-one was hurt.

Shrapnel from the mortars and rockets fired into southern Israel on Monday caused some damage to at least one building in Eshkol.

Afterwards, the local authorities asked residents to stay close to shelters.

The military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said the attack was a response to an Israeli air strike on Sunday.

Eight civilians, including two children, were injured in that strike, when a missile hit a motorbike ridden by two militants as it travelled through the southern town of Rafah.

One of the militants, Abdullah Maqawi, died of his wounds on Monday, while the other is seriously hurt.

Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, and that of Islamic Jihad, the al-Quds Brigades, announced that the rocket fire was a response to “Zionist crimes”.

“In response to the injury of civilians in the most recent strike on Rafah, the Qassam Brigades and the al-Quds Brigades fired a number of rockets at enemy military positions,” a Hamas statement said.

In a statement, the Israeli military said: “In response to this morning’s rocket barrage at southern Israeli communities, the [Israel Defence Forces] targeted Hamas terror activity sites and terrorist squads responsible for the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel. The Hamas terror organisation is solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip.”

More than 470 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel this year, not including those launched on Monday, the statement added.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, Arab World 🌎, Breaking News 📺 🎙🗞, Children, Comment, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖, Race Relations, Religion, Terrorism, USA 🇺🇸

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Please, please, help find our missing daughter..

03 Wednesday Oct 2012

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April Jones in the purple coat she was believed to be wearing

The mother of missing April Jones (picture above) broke down into tears as she appealed for information.

“It’s been 36 hours since April was taken from us and there must be someone out there who knows where she is and can help the police find her,”  said Coral Jones (pictured below) during a police appeal.

“We are desperate for any news. April is only five years old – please, please help find her.”

April went missing from near her home in Machynlleth, Mid Wales, at 19:00 BST on Monday. She is believed to have accepted a lift from a man in a van whilst playing with friends.  Detectives said they are focusing on over 20 scenes from houses, river banks, outbuildings and open areas.Police are continuing to interview Mark Bridger (pictured below) arrested on Tuesday afternoon.

Det Supt Reg Bevan, who is leading the inquiry, said they had received over 400 calls from member of public since his earlier appeal for information on the whereabouts of Mark Bridger between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon.

“We are actively working through that information,” he said.

He went on to say: “We are focusing on over 20 scenes. We have searched several of them in the Machynlleth area. These searches are continuing.”

Mark Bridger and his blue Land Rover Discovery - registration L503MEP

Posted by | Filed under Children, Crime 🔪 🔫, Social Affairs

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Eric Hobsbawm – and what it means to be Great

01 Monday Oct 2012

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TEMPLATE COMMENTARY

Today, it is so fashionable to use the word ‘great’, that you often forget what it means and what makes someone truly deserve such an accolade.

Great people don’t think like everyone else, indeed they are often called radicals, eccentrics and troublemakers, for they are true contrarians.

So, it is with great sadness that the Template receives the news of Eric Hobsbawm’s death.

He like that other hell raiser – yes, you don’t have to wear a leather jacket to earn that reputation –  namely Gore Vidal were originals, one-off’s, people who dared to say things that challenged established patterns of thought.

For that they will always be missed and the world is just never going to be the same without them.

Somewhere up there, there’s a world where all these great people are debating and arguing with each other about why human beings find so hard to accept the simplest truths.

The trouble is, we all really need them to here.

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Eric Hobsbawm dies, age 95

01 Monday Oct 2012

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Farewell Great Man..

Eric Hobsbawm, the great historian who inspired thousands, probably more, died during the early hours of Monday morning at the Royal Free Hospital, his daughter Julia confirmed today. He had been suffering from pneumonia.

In a statement his family said: “He will be greatly missed not only by his wife of 50 years, Marlene, and his three children, seven grandchildren and great grandchild, but also by his many thousands of readers and students around the world.”

Born to Jewish parents in Egypt in 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, Prof Hobsbawm’s life and works were shaped by his commitment to radical socialism.

His British father and Austrian mother moved to Vienna when he was two, then to Berlin.

He joined the Communist Party aged 14, after he had been orphaned and was living with his uncle.

In 1933, with Hitler’s grip on power tightening, he came to London. After gaining a PhD from Cambridge, he published his first book in 1948.

Hobsbawm was appointed a lecturer at Birkbeck College in London in 1947, spending his entire career on the faculty and eventually being appointed president.

His best-known works were the three-volume history of the 19th Century and his book the Age of Extremes which covered the eight decades from WWI to the collapse of communism in Europe.

He published his final book, How to Change the World, in 2011.

Posted by | Filed under Analysis 🙌, Comment, International News, Politics 💼 🗳 🪖

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