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French Foreign Minister Alliot-Marie quits over Tunisia


BBC News Europe
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 12:33 UTC
Image
© AFP
Ms Alliot-Marie said she had committed no wrongdoing
Embattled French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has announced her resignation after weeks of criticism over her contacts with the former Tunisian regime.

But she said she had done no wrong, and launched a strong attack on the media.

A veteran conservative politician and cabinet minister, she had been in her new job for just three months.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced she will be replaced by Defence Minister Alain Juppe.

Ms Alliot-Marie was heavily criticised for initially offering French help to quell the uprising in Tunisia.

Subsequent revelations about her and her family's links to the regime of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, and the fact that she had taken a Christmas holiday in Tunisia during the uprising made her position increasingly untenable.

"While I do not feel that I have committed any wrongdoing, I have... decided to leave my job as foreign minister," Ms Alliot-Marie wrote in her resignation letter to President Nicolas Sarkozy, a copy of which was seen by the AFP news agency.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

UK: Shop to Make Breast Milk Ice Cream


Reuters
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:56 UTC
Image
© Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images
A notice informing customers that 'Baby Gaga breast milk ice cream' has sold out is pictured in the window of the Icecreamists cafe in central London, on February 25, 2011. Ice cream made with breast milk has proved a big hit in a London restaurant, with the first batch sold out within days of it going on sale, its makers said Friday. The ice cream, called Baby Gaga, is made with milk expressed by 15 women who replied to an advertisement posted on an online mothers' forum.
A specialist ice cream parlor plans to serve up breast milk ice cream and says people should think of it as an organic, free-range treat.

The breast milk concoction, called the "Baby Gaga," will be available from Friday at the Icecreamists restaurant in London's Covent Garden.

Icecreamists founder Matt O'Connor was confident his take on the "miracle of motherhood" and priced at a hefty 14 pounds ($23) a serving will go down a treat with the paying public.

The breast milk was provided by mothers who answered an advertisement on online mothers' forum Mumsnet.

Victoria Hiley, 35, from London was one of 15 women who donated milk to the restaurant after seeing the advert.

Hiley works with women who have problems breast-feeding their babies. She said she believes that if adults realized how tasty breast milk actually is, then new mothers would be more willing to breast-feed their own newborns.

"What could be more natural than fresh, free-range mother's milk in an ice cream? And for me it's a recession beater too -- what's the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash," Hiley said in a statement.

"I tried the product for the first time today -- it's very nice, it really melts in the mouth."
      Read More...
Stormtrooper

Canada Police Brutality: Video Shows Ottawa Officer Throwing Punch


CBC News
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:29 UTC
WARNING: Video contains coarse language.


Ottawa police have launched an internal investigation after a video was posted online showing an officer throwing several punches during an arrest.

The video shows a Jan. 29 altercation near Dalhousie and George streets in Ottawa's Byward Market.

In the video, police are seen arresting one person, who is pinned on the ground. Someone from the nearby crowd then gets involved and is quickly tackled by two officers. The video clearly shows one officer trying to punch the person at least twice.

The Ottawa Police Service's professional standards division found out about the video last week, police said, and launched an internal investigation.

Staff Sgt. Michel Marin, who is heading the investigation, told CBC News the division is trying to determine if any offences were committed.

"Like any other investigation, we go with open book, open mind and see what has occurred and see if any actions there would result in us having to address any issues with the officers or to see if any offences have been committed," Marin said in an interview over the phone.

On YouTube, the person who claims to have shot the video goes by the name Mazin and describes himself as a 21-year-old Algonquin College student.
      Read More...
Heart - Black

US: Park Slope Bakery Worker's Sexual Assault on Job Sparks Fears Among Residents

Sarah Armaghan and Tina Moore
New York Daily News
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 07:33 UTC
A 22-year-old woman was sexually assaulted at the Park Slope bakery where she works on Friday - and the sick culprit was still on the lose Saturday, cops said.


Cops said an armed man wearing a black ski mask entered the bakery at about 9 a.m. He forced her into a back office and demanded money, cops said. When he learned there wasn't any money, he pushed her to the floor and sexually assaulted her.

The fiend was caught on video fleeing the shop. The woman was treated at Kings County Hospital and later released.

Chrissi Wagner, a manager at Ladybird bakery on Eighth Ave. in Park Slope, said the attack made her nervous.

"You think you're safe here in Park Slope, but I guess nowhere is safe," Wagner, 30, said. "It makes me feel better that we always have more than one person here working at all times."

Lashelle Wilkes, a server at The Chocolate Room on Fifth Ave. near Prospect Place, was surprised to hear about the crime. "That's really scary," said Wilkes, who lives in Harlem. "It's crazy that it happened at 9 a.m. in broad daylight."
      Read More...
Arrow Up

Domestic Violence Rages in New Zealand Quake Aftermath

Amy Coopes
Agence France-Presse
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:06 UTC
Image
© AFP/Torsten Blackwood
A home is exposed in cross-section following the total collapse of a side wall after a 6.3 earthquake devastated Christchurch and surrounding towns. Police said domestic violence surged by 50 percent after a major tremor rocked New Zealand's second city last September, the prelude to Tuesday's quake that left at least 123 dead and destroyed parts of the city centre.
With nerves frayed by months of tremors that peaked in a horrifying earthquake this week, Christchurch residents are lashing out against those they need the most.

Police said domestic violence surged by 50 percent after a major tremor rocked New Zealand's second city last September, the prelude to Tuesday's quake that left at least 123 dead and destroyed parts of the city centre.

Just a day into the latest disaster, police commander Dave Cliff said authorities had seen another surge in family assaults, with many homeless or without power and water, and as some turned to alcohol to cope.

"The stress and trauma of Tuesday's earthquake is understandably taking its toll, and the continual aftershocks are exacerbating the tiredness and emotional fatigue," said Cliff.

"However family violence is not okay under any circumstances and it is important that situations are not allowed to escalate."

Many in Christchurch have been on edge since the September 4 quake which caused massive damage but no loss of life, with more than 5,000 aftershocks ravaging the city of 390,000 -- New Zealand's second largest.
      Read More...
Light Sabers

Ireland's new government on a collision course with EU

Bruno Waterfield
Telegraph.co.UK
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:30 UTC
Ireland's new government is headed for confrontation with Brussels after the country's ruling party was wiped out on Saturday by voters in a huge popular backlash against a European-IMF austerity program.

Exit polls and early tallies from Ireland's general election heralded political annihilation for Fianna Fail (FF), the party which has ruled Ireland for more than 60 years of the Irish Republic's eight decades of independence.

The unprecedented and historic defeat, Fianna Fail's worst result in 85 years, makes the Irish government the first eurozone administration to be punished by voters in the aftermath of the EU's debt crisis. Voter turn-out was exceptionally high at more than 70 per cent, indicating public anger at the government and the EU.

Late last year, Ireland was forced to accept a £72 billion EU-IMF bailout to cover huge public debts that were ran up to save failed Irish banks.

The bail-out was designed to prevent financial contagion that threatened the existence of the euro, but according to economic forecasts, the cost of servicing Irish bank debt and the EU-IMF bank loans will consume 85 per cent of Ireland's income tax revenue by 2012, a burden that a majority of voters find intolerable.

Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime Minister and Fianna Fail leader, who stood down last month rather than face furious voters, was also pressured into implementing a savage £13billion austerity programme of tax rises and spending cuts drawn up by the EU.

      Read More...
Handcuffs

Quebec Tourist Arrested After Giving Nazi Salute Before German Parliament


CTV News
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 04:16 UTC
police guard germany
© The Associated Press / Michael Sohn
An armed police officer stands guard at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 7, 2011.
European media reports say a Quebec tourist has been arrested in Berlin after making a Nazi salute in front of Germany's parliament.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reports a 30-year-old man from Quebec was standing on the steps of the Reichstag with his right arm raised in Hitler's infamous salute as his girlfriend photographed him.

The newspaper says police arrived within seconds, handcuffed the man and took the memory card of the camera.
      Read More...
Attention

Canada: Cult Leader Roch Theriault Killed in New Brunswick Prison


CTV News
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:47 UTC
Roch Theriault
© The Canadian Press
Roch Theriault is shown in this 1981 file photo.

Warning: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some readers

A notorious cult leader and convicted killer has been found dead inside Westmorland correctional centre in Dorchester, New Brunswick.

Roch Theriault, 63, was involved in an altercation early Saturday morning, according to police.

According to investigators the death was a homicide.

Although a 59-year-old inmate, arrested in connection with the incident, was later released back into the prisoner population, RCMP say they expect that he will face charges shortly.

"The investigation is ongoing and to date no charges have been laid," said RCMP Sgt. Greg Lupson.

Theriault founded and led a notorious sect in the 1980s and was sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for the murder of Solange Boilard.

The charismatic cult leader had 22 children with women he held under his sway. Between 1977 and 1989 he was the head of a tiny religious group near Burnt River, Ont. During that time Theriault chopped off the hand of one of his concubines and killed another woman by disembowelling her during a cult ritual.
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Eye 1

DNA "Genetic Patdown" Introduced to Airports by DHS

Nicholas West
Activist Post
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:49 UTC
DNA Helix
© Unknown
NetBio -- Rapid DNA Analysis Solutions

A new level of invasive screening is scheduled for airports this summer: a portable DNA scanner to conduct on-site, real-time genetic testing.

This technology is being implemented under the cover of combating human trafficking, illegal immigration, and finding missing persons, but Richard Seldon of NetBio, creator of the scanners, clearly states that "DNA information has the potential to become part of the fabric of day-to-day life." In an interview with Katie Drummond who broke this story for The Daily, Seldon envisions additional applications in emergency rooms, food safety tests, and law enforcement.

DNA collection is actually nothing new, as the Pentagon has admitted that it currently has a DNA database with 80,000 suspected foreign terrorists on it, and growing daily. However, this collection apparatus has been secretly in place for Americans as well. Lawsuits are pending from families who uncovered a secret program to collect DNA from babies and store it in a military database. However, that was a secret that had to be uncovered. The fact that DNA screening is being rolled out openly marks a new level of blatant tyranny in America.
      Read More...
Che Guevara

Middle Eastern Uprising Spreads: Buildings on fire amid Oman clashes


Press TV
Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:06 UTC
Image

Anti-government protests in the Omani capital of Muscat
Following clashes between Omani security forces and anti-government protesters, a police station and a government building have been set on fire.

The confrontation erupted on Sunday in the northern industrial city of Sohar, where more than 2,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets, Reuters reported.

Two people have been killed and around five others injured. Omani forces say rubber bullets caused the deaths.

The protest came one day after Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos changed six ministers in his cabinet and raised stipends for university students in an attempt to prevent further protests in the tiny Persian Gulf country.

On Saturday, hundreds of protesters also held a rally in Oman's largest industrial city Sohar, demanding democracy and better living condition.
      Read More...
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