A detailed study of xenophobic attitudes in Germany shows encouraging trends. Fewer Germans overall think foreigners need to go. But in some German states racism has risen, and a measure of anti-Semitism remains.
Overall it's good news. Since 2002 the German population has grown more resistant to the nationalist far right. Furthermore, xenophobia as well as anti-democratic tendencies have weakened.
That's the conclusion of a new study presented on Thursday by researchers from Leipzig University, who have conducted a long-term study with support from the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung. On the occasion of their fourth interim report since 2002, the researchers feel confident in saying that German "far-right tendencies have declined overall."
They've conducted polls every two years to test "chauvinism," "xenophobia," "anti-Semitism" and general consent for authoritarian government in each of Germany's states (except the city of Bremen, which was judged too small for useful results). "Chauvinism" includes German nationalism, but also pride in one federal state against the others.
WASHINGTON — It’s the capital’s newest parlor game, literally: How much is your parlor worth? More precisely, how much is it worth to someone who is coming to town for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration in January and needs a place to stay?
One three-bedroom house in suburban Virginia is said to have gone for $57,000 for inauguration week. A week at a four-bedroom in suburban Maryland was listed at $60,000, though that, like other offerings, may be wishful thinking.
As Washington gears up for the historic inauguration of the first African-American president, more than one million people are expected to descend on the capital.
The five-county metro area has 95,000 hotel rooms.
You do the math.
The demand for hotels outstripped the supply more than two months before the Jan. 20 inauguration, not just in Washington and environs but as far away as Pennsylvania and West Virginia; even campsites are filling up. Some people are renting RVs; others are offering apartment swaps.
At this relatively late date, the chance of finding a warm place to spend a cold January night (or two) within range of the swearing-in may be largely a matter of luck — and the ability and willingness to pay. But despair for would-be visitors has become an entrepreneurial opportunity for locals.
Two British and one Irish security guard were plucked from the sea by a military helicopter yesterday after they jumped from a tanker seized by pirates off Somalia, leaving behind more than two dozen crew members.
Their decision to abandon the vessel that their company was paid handsomely to protect attracted some criticism. One Western aid official in the region told The Times that after calls for commercial vessels to hire security guards, it was “somewhat ironic that they jump overboard to save themselves”.
Their British employer, however, insisted that the three former soldiers were heroes who had resisted a sustained attack by heavily armed pirates with great courage and would have been killed if they had stayed any longer. “They were unarmed. They had no other option. As far as I’m concerned they deserve a medal,” said Nick Davis, a former British Army pilot who runs AntiPiracy Maritime Security Solutions (APMSS) out of Poole, Dorset. Mr Davis said his guards were unarmed because it was almost impossible to carry firearms through Customs and on to vessels in most countries, and because ships with cargoes of chemicals or gas seldom allowed weapons on board. The ship concerned, the Liberian-flagged tanker the Biscaglia, was carrying a cargo of palm oil.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos after Christians and Muslims clashed over the result of a local election, witnesses say.
Umaru Yar Adua, the Nigerian president, on Saturday ordered the deployment of troops on the streets to contain the violence.
Stella Din, a journalist based in the Nigerian capital of Lagos, told Al Jazeera: "Figures range from 20 to 200 for the number of people who have died, but no one knows exactly how many people have been killed."
Sheikh Khalid Abubakar, the imam at the city's main mosque, however, said more than 300 dead bodies were brought to the mosque.
CAIRO, Egypt — OPEC ended a hastily convened meeting in Cairo Saturday without announcing new output cuts, despite the steep drop in crude prices and the threat it poses to member governments' national budgets.
The oil producing group's president, Chakib Khelil, said OPEC is concerned about the weakening world economy and its impact on oil prices. The group, however, will likely wait until a meeting in Algeria on Dec. 17 to decide whether to cut additional crude supplies from the market.
Khelil said oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries "agreed to take any additional action on 17th of December to balance oil supply and demand and achieve market stability."
His comments came after the group convened what it called a consultative meeting in Cairo to take stock of market situations and to asses whether members were complying with a 1.5 million barrel per day output cut announced Oct. 24 in Vienna, Austria.
Khelil said preliminary market data indicated members were complying with the earlier cuts.
Saudi Arabia's king said in an interview published Saturday in a Kuwaiti newspaper that the price of oil should be $75 a barrel, much higher than it is now, but the conclusion of the Cairo meeting with no announcement on output indicated no measures would likely be taken until OPEC meets again next month.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi went into Saturday's meeting saying OPEC would "do what needs to be done" to shore up falling oil prices when the group meets in Algeria, but for now it was "too early."
Naimi, whose country is the world's largest oil producer, said the bloc needs to wait until the Algeria meeting to assess the impact of earlier production cuts.
A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long IslandWal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.
The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.
Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.
"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) _ Somali pirates hijacked a chemical tanker with dozens of Indian crew members Friday and a helicopter rescued three security guards who had jumped into the sea, officials said.
Greek authorities, meanwhile, said a Greek-owned cargo ship seized by Somali pirates more than two months ago was released Thursday and that all 25 crew members are unharmed. No details were immediately released.
A warship on patrol near Friday's attack on the chemical tanker sent helicopters to intervene, but they arrived after pirates had taken control of the Liberian-flagged ship, according to Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Malaysia.
The international naval patrols were set up to fight increasingly brazen pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's coast, a major international shipping lane through which about 20 tankers sail daily. Friday's was the 97th ship hijacking this year.
The ship master had sent a distress call to the piracy reporting center, which relayed the alert to international forces policing Somali waters, Choong said. No details about how the pirates attacked or the condition of the crew were available immediately.
Choong said the ship was being operated out of Singapore. The British Foreign Office said two of the three security guards who jumped into the sea were British and one was Irish. Earlier reports had said all three were British.
Still on board were 25 Indian and two Bangladeshi crew members, said diplomats who could not be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. The security guards escaped by jumping into the water, said a news release issued by their company, Anti-Piracy Maritime Security Solutions.
The company said it was aware of the incident on the chemical tanker it identified as M/V BISCAGLIA.
"We have been informed by coalition military authorities that three of our unarmed security staff were rescued from the water by a coalition helicopter and are currently on board a coalition warship in the Gulf of Aden," the company statement said.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe confirmed that a naval helicopter lifted three people out of the water in the Gulf of Aden at about 4 a.m. Friday morning and deposited them on a French ship.
Germany and France have ships in the area as part of a NATO fleet which, along with warships from Denmark, India, Malaysia, Russia and the U.S., have started patrolling the vast maritime corridor. They escort some merchant ships and respond to distress calls.
Choong said ships "must continue to maintain a 24-hour vigil and radar watch so they can take early measures to escape pirates. Even though there are patrols, the warships cannot be everywhere at the same time."
The Greek Merchant Marine Ministry said Friday that Malta-flagged Centauri, which the pirates have now released, was seized on Sept. 18 carrying salt was sailing from Ethiopia to a Kenyan port.
Forty ships have been hijacked this year, including a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil Nov. 15.
Pirates demanding multimillion-dollar ransoms hold 15 ships and nearly 300 crew, Choong said.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was quoted Friday as saying the U.N. might take tougher action in the fight against piracy.
"I cannot exclude the possibility that in the near future a new resolution will be passed (at the U.N.), tightening the response of the world community in its fight against piracy on the Somalia coast," Churkin said, according to Russian news agency ITAR-Tass.
Somalia, an impoverished nation in the Horn of Africa, has not had a functioning government since 1991.
Reports have been confirmed that the host of Harball and the Chris Matthews Show will run for the Pennsylvania senate seat held by Arlen Specter.
Matthews, 62, will run as a Democrat. Arlen Specter, the aging Republican incumbent, will be 80 if he chooses to run for re-election.
If Specter does choose to run again, polls are suggesting he will not have much competition when it comes to Matthews.
In an early look at the 2010 U.S. Senate race, Republican incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter leads TV commentator Chris Matthews, a possible Democratic challenger, 45 - 33 percent. Sen. Specter leads 72 - 9 percent among Republicans and 45 - 27 percent among independent voters, while Matthews leads 55 - 25 percent among Democrats.
UPDATE:5:00 PM--Matthews had denied reports that he's hiring staff for a Senate campain in a statement posted on FiveThirtyEight.com, the site that originally reported the news.
"It is absolutely not true," said Matthews, in a statement.
For all the excitement this election year brought us, it will be nice to sit down with both liberal and conservative thinkers to enjoy a nice meal.
There were times this year where a lot of us have lost our tempers at the candidates and media personalities alike, but for one day let's enjoy Thanksgiving and not talk politics no matter how much we would love to fight.
Happy Thanksgiving to all........ Liberal & Conservative.
After hearing all the conservative and some liberal media criticize his choice to staff his cabinet with a lot Clintonites, Barack Obama answered his critics during his press conference today.
By NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON
Obama referred to his team of advisers as "fresh thinking," adding that the “vision for change comes first and foremost…from me.”
President-elect Barack Obama pushed back at a press conference in Chicago today when asked how he would respond to supporters "who were looking for change," given how many of his announced and rumored appointments thus far are Clinton administration veterans.
CHICAGO (AP) _ President-elect Barack Obama and the soon-to-be first family handed out food to the needy at a Chicago church on the day before Thanksgiving.
Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters shook hands and gave holiday wishes as they handed wrapped chickens to people who had been lined up for hours at the food bank.
The president-elect, dressed casually in a leather jacket, black scarf and khaki pants, was in a jovial mood, calling out "happy thanksgiving" and telling people "you can call me Barack."
His wife and daughters wore stocking hats, winter coats and gloves as the family worked the food bank in the outdoor church courtyard.
(AFP)The mayor of a Russian city near the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia was killed Wednesday when an assassin fired a bullet into his chest near his home, officials said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev immediately demanded that Russian police "take all possible measures" to find the killer of Vitaly Karayev, the mayor of Vladikavkaz, capital of Russia's North Ossetia region.
Karayev died in hospital after a bullet ripped through his heart and lungs, said Boris Digurov, the head doctor at the main hospital in Vladikavkaz, where the mayor was brought after being shot near his home.
"He was nearly a corpse when he was brought in and he died on the operating table," Digurov told AFP.
The shooting "happened around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) in the courtyard of his home as he was going out. He received several bullet wounds as he stepped outside. Evidently it was a sniper," a regional interior ministry source told AFP.
North Ossetian President Taimuraz Mamsurov accused unnamed forces of carrying out the killing in order to destabilise the region.
"I view the death of the mayor of Vladikavkaz, Vitaly Sergeyevich Karayev, one of my colleagues, as a challenge issued by forces seeking to destabilise the situation in North Ossetia," Mamsurov told reporters.
Speaking after an emergency meeting with security officials, Mamsurov said all the major crimes in North Ossetia over the past year remained unsolved, calling it "nothing but a breakdown in the work of law enforcement agencies."
Medvedev ordered law enforcement agencies "to take all possible measures" to solve the crime, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Karayev had only served as the mayor of Vladikavkaz since February.
North Ossetia shares a border and close ethnic ties to South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian region at the heart of August's brief war between Russia and Georgia.
It was from North Ossetia that Russia poured troops into Georgia on August 8 to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, whose separatist administration has received extensive backing from Moscow.
North Ossetia also has a history of attacks carried out by Chechen rebels, including the 2004 school hostage crisis in the town of Beslan, which led to the deaths of more than 330 hostages, many of them children.
Earlier this month, Vladikavkaz was hit with a deadly suicide bombing when a woman strapped with explosives and shrapnel detonated them in the city centre, killing 11 people as well as herself and wounding dozens of others.
Officials have so far not identified the woman or the motive behind the November 6 attack.
Wednesday's assassination in North Ossetia came less than 24 hours after three alleged rebel fighters were killed in incidents throughout Russia's volatile North Caucaus, according to the Interfax news agency.
In war-ravaged Chechnya, a police source said on Wednesday that two alleged rebels had been killed in a shoot-out in the regional capital Grozny the previous evening, Interfax said.
Separately, one alleged rebel was killed in a clash with authorities in the neighbouring Ingushetia region, in which three soldiers were also wounded, Interfax quoted a military official as saying.
Sustained fighting between the Russian army and Chechen separatists ended years ago, but attacks on local officials and security forces still occur frequently in Chechnya, Ingushetia and other parts of the North Caucasus.
The associated press is reporting that they have optained a memo from the FBI that al-Qaeda is possibly planning an attack on the NY subway system.
The information was obtained by the FBI by a source within the Islamic extremist world. They at this time, do not know how serious the threat is. The Bureau believes that talks of the attacks are only in the beginning stages and that there is no immediate threat at this time.
New York officials will not be taking any chances. There will likely be increase security and restrictions trough the holidays.
HARTFORD, Conn. – Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman took another step Tuesday toward mending his relationship with Democrats, saying that Barack Obama's actions since winning the presidency have been "just about perfect."
"Everything that President-electObama has done since election night has been just about perfect, both in terms of a tone and also in terms of the strength of the names that have either been announced or are being discussed to fill his administration," Lieberman said during a visit to Hartford.
Lieberman, the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, was re-elected to the Senate in 2006 as an independent but continues to caucus with Democrats. He supported Republican John McCain's presidential campaign, going as far as to criticize Obama and make a speech at the Republican National Convention.
Democrats threatened to strip him of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee but instead removed him as head of a smaller environmental committee.
Connecticut Democrats meet Dec. 17 and are still considering a possible censure of Lieberman for his actions during the presidential campaign.
"I will ask them to judge me by my record," Lieberman said. "Generally speaking, I've had a record, a voting record, which is really ultimately what it's about, not unlike most Democrats."
Lieberman said he believes the rift between himself and the party stemmed mainly from his support of President Bush's policy in Iraq and will close as that becomes less of an issue.
"It appears to me that the war in Iraq is coming to a successful — I don't want to say conclusion yet, but it's moving in a way that it will not be a divisive issue either in the Democratic Party or between Democrats and Republicans in the time ahead," Lieberman said. "And therefore, I think we'll return to more normal times, which I welcome."
Politico Reporting: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to stay on under President-elect Barack Obama, according to officials in both parties. Obama plans to announce a national-security team early next week that includes Gates at the Pentagon and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as secretary of state, officials said.
Retired Marine Gen. James Jones, former Marine commandant and commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, will be named national security adviser, the officials said.
The national security adviser heads the National Security Council, which is the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy, and varies in influence from presidency to presidency. Jones insisted on – and got – a commanding role, the sources said.
He just wanted to go to work and be left alone. Now that evil media just won't leave him alone. First forcing him to join Mccain on the campaign trail, then at gunpoint to do interviews. Then those bastards forced him to write a book.
On top of all that, now some evil corporation (velocitystore.com) is forcing him to do a commercial for them.
For the next few weeks, fans of Ann Coulter--anyone?--will have to rely on Lindsay Lohan to provide insensitive, backward-thinking sound bites.
Because of a nasty fall last month, says the New York Post's Page Six, the 46-year-old will have her jaw wired shut.
News is scant at the moment, but Page Six writes, "WE HEAR...THAT although we didn't think it would be possible to silence Ann Coulter, the leggy reaction- ary broke her jaw and the mouth that roared has been wired shut..."
Enjoy the silence while you can. She'll be back in a few weeks to record the audio for her latest book, The New Ann Coulter.
Senior Senate Republicans who battled former President Clinton on budget and tax issues are applauding the return of his economic team to President-elect Barack Obama’s White House.
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), a leading congressional Republican on economic issues, lauded Obama’s appointment of Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Lawrence Summers as head of the National Economic Council.
Summers served as Treasury Secretary and Geithner also worked at Treasury during the Clinton administration, when the nation saw booming economic growth. Geithner served under Summers as undersecretary for international development.
“I think the choices he’s made so far are extraordinarily strong,” Gregg told The Hill in an interview. He said the picks would soothe anxious financial markets.
“Summers and Geithner, I’ve described them as putting Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in the lineup,” said Gregg, drawing an analogy to two sluggers who played together on his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.
What if the McCain campaign had run ads using footage of Barack Obama dancing with Ellen DeGeneres to show his coziness with celebrity? Or followed up on its Paris Hilton ad with others featuring Donald Trump and Jessica Simpson? All of that was on the drawing board of Fred Davis III, the advertising whiz that John McCain's used for almost all of his campaign media, and one of the most talented conservative political operatives in America. Oh yes, he also had an internet ad up his sleeve that would attack Obama's celebrity by associating him with Oprah. But in the end, he scotched that one. "We decided you don't really fight Santa Claus or Oprah, so we removed her."
In an extended interview with TIME, David detailed what-might-have-been in the campaign ad war — and what self-censorship the McCain staff imposed on itself regarding the issue of race. For most of the campaign, Davis functioned as McCain's silent partner. While journalists hounded McCain's senior campaign aides, people like Steve Schmidt, Mark Salter and Rick Davis (no relation), Fred Davis worked away in the shadows. He designed and often wrote the scripts for the most stinging of McCain's spots — the web ad that depicted Barack Obama as a messiah, the kindergarten ad that suggested Obama wanted to teach young kids about sex or the many others that questioned Obama's qualifications for the White House. (See the best Obama pictures from the presidential campaign.)
An Israeli policeman wearing a hard helmet is shown headbutting a Palestinian woman in a video released by a human rights group today.
The short film was recorded by the Israeli group B'Tselem during a protest against the demolition of Palestinian homes.
The Jerusalem municipality destroyed two houses because, it said, they had been built without permission.
The pictures, taken on November 5 but not released until today, show the actions of one policeman whose reinforced visor is pushed back above his helmet.
At one point he grasps the hands of a Palestinian woman and slams against the top of her head with his protective headgear. She reels back, clutching her head. Other residents object, and the policeman is seen grabbing the wrists of a Palestinian man and headbutting him as well.
According to an Israeli police spokesperson, the family living in the house that was destroyed refused to leave the building, and local residents threw stones and firebombs at officers.
"[On] the day, severe riots took place in Silwan," Micky Rosenfeld, a police spokesman, told Reuters.
"As a result five policemen were wounded and evacuated to hospital, 11 locals were arrested for assaulting policemen and throwing firebombs and six police vehicles were damaged. This event was exceptional and is now being examined by an external police investigation unit."
Police were said by B'Tselem to have used stun grenades to break up the crowds. Witnesses later claimed police fired live ammunition in the air.
Silwan is in Arab East Jerusalem, an area annexed by Israel in 1967. Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
B'Tselem monitors human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem.
In July, B'Tselem activists filmed two Israeli soldiers shooting a bound Palestinian with a rubber bullet. They were later charged by the army.
B'Tselem in Hebrew literally means "in the image of", but the group says it is also used as a term meaning human dignity.
With Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s choice of Joe Biden's aide Ted Kaufman to his former senate seat proves that favoritism will never die. The government in cases like these, should always appoint the most qualified person in the state to handle the job, and that clearly was not kaufman.
Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s (D) decision to appoint Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s longtime aide Ted Kaufman to the Senate has upset local Democrats who believe the move was a ham-handed attempt to engineer the election of Biden’s son, Beau, to the Senate in 2010.
By selecting Kaufman, who has said he would serve only two years before a special election is held in 2010, Minner bypassed other interested Delaware pols and ensured that Beau Biden would have a clearer opportunity to succeed his father in the Senate.
Beau Biden, the state’s attorney general, is currently serving in Iraq as part of the Delaware National Guard. Coninue....
Chambliss must be extremely worried about losing his seat, he is pulling out all the stops.
(AP) ATLANTA -- Sen. Saxby Chambliss confirmed Tuesday that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will campaign in Georgia with him on Monday, Dec. 1.
"I was thrilled when I got the call that Governor Palin would be able to make the trip to Georgia to campaign with me the day before the runoff election," Chambliss said in a news release. "Julianne and I are honored that she would take the time to travel to Georgia to tell everyone how important this election is and I know that she will receive an enthusiastic welcome everywhere we go."
Chambliss is locked in a nationally watched Dec. 2 runoff against Democrat Jim Martin. The contest will help determine whether Democrats win a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate.
Palin will join Chambliss for four public rallies across the state on Monday: 8:30 a.m. in Augusta; 11:00 a.m. in Savannah; 1:30 p.m. in Perry; and 4:00 p.m. in Atlanta.
Following Palin's visit, Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will swing through Georgia on Tuesday to campaign with Chambliss.
The one-time presidential candidate will hold a news conference with Chambliss honoring first responders Tuesday.
Giuliani is the latest in a string of GOP presidential wannabes to pass through Georgia in recent weeks. Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and ex Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have already paid visits.
On the Democratic side, former President Bill Clinton and his Vice President Al Gore have appeared for Martin.
Fox News Headline : "Despite Bells and Whistles, 'Office of President-Elect' Holds No Authority The props that decorate the stage for the Office of the President-elect serve as just that, since Barack Obama will hold no actual authority in the Executive Branch until Jan. 20. "
At a time when the economy is at the worst point in our generation, does Fox News even bother with petty things like this? Elizabeth Hasselbeck made reference to this sign this morning on the View. She said it was like he was still campaigning. "Enough already!" she said.
Rush Limbaugh also talked about it after Obama held his first conference a few days after the election.
For some reason, conservative media keeps trying to find something, anything that they can bring him down on. The man has yet to get into office, and they are already criticizing him for every little thing he does.
I understand during a campaign, we do what we can do to win....plain and simple. What I can't understand is, why are we as Americans trying to tear down our new leader before he even officially takes office.
Who care what sign he has, who cares if he has been to church since the election, who cares if the current limo he rides in is a gas guzzler, the only thing I care about is if America can bounce back and not end up with a third world economy.
HAVANA (AP) - Russian oil companies could soon begin searching for oil in deep Gulf of Mexico waters off Cuba, a top diplomat said just days before Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visits the island.
Russian oil companies have "concrete projects" for drilling in Cuba’s part of the gulf, said Mijail Kamynin, Russia’s ambassador to Cuba, to the state-run business magazine Opciones.
Kamynin also said Russian companies would like to help build storage tanks for crude oil and to modernize Cuban pipelines, as well as play a role in Venezuelan efforts to refurbish a Soviet-era refinery in the port city of Cienfuegos, according the article published this weekend.
Medvedev comes to former Cold War ally Cuba on Thursday, part of a tour of Latin America to strengthen his country’s economic and political ties in the region.
Washington’s nearly 50-year-old trade embargo prohibits U.S. companies from investing on the island. But Cuba’s state-run oil concern has signed joint operating agreements with companies from several countries to explore waters that Cuban scientists claim could contain reserves of up to 20 billion barrels of oil.
Now here's a good way for the GOP to make the case that it hasn't been reduced to a southern regional rump party that's held hostage by intolerant crackpots: Elect as the new chairman of the Republican National Committee a southerner who just resigned a longtime membership in a whites-only country club.
Katon Dawson, the South Carolina GOP chairman, announced his candidacy for RNC chair yesterday.
And guess what: Back in September, when Dawson was first quietly laying the groundwork for his RNC run, The State newspaper reported that he resigned his membership in the nearly 80-year-old Forest Lake Club. Members told the newspaper at the time that the club's deed has a whites-only restriction and has no black members.
(AFP)Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's party scored a string of victories in key local polls, but in a blow to his socialist revolution the opposition won some major power centres, results showed Monday.
The results shake up the political landscape of the OPEC nation, reducing the massive dominance of the fiercely anti-liberal Chavez and his party.
"The symbols won by the opposition are more than expected: they won the capital and states representing the economic and political heart of the country," said Luis Vicente Leon from Datanalisis.
Some 45 percent of the population will now be governed by policitians from the opposition, who won in states representing around 70 percent of national economic activity.
Opposition gains include the oil-rich western region of Zulia and populous and rich Miranda state, which comprises part of Caracas.
A record of more than 65 percent of 17 million eligible voters turned out to vote for governors, mayors and heads of regional councils in Sunday's polls.
The elections had been seen as a test for Chavez and his drive for nationalization and social projects after his aggressive campaign drive, and amid growing discontent over escalating crime, corruption and inflation.
Candidates from Chavez's socialist party won 17 states out of 22 in the vote which came almost 10 years after he was first elected. They also won back three states previously held by dissidents from his party.
"A new stage is beginning. For me, as the leader of the Venezuelan socialist project, the people are telling me: 'Chavez, keep on the same path,'" the anti-US leader said after the results were announced.
But Chavez, a friend to Iran, Russia and Cuba's Fidel Castro, lost ground in his expected plan to abolish term limits to try to win a third six-year term in 2012.
And he faces new challenges in dealing with the opposition.
Chavez "will have to negotiate with them. He can't turn his back on them and that's excellent for democratization in Venezuela," Leon said.
Chavez criss-crossed the oil-rich South American country campaigning for his party's candidates, one year after his defeat in a referendum on extending his authority.
Opposition groups meanwhile joined together to increase their chances for victory, running single candidates in a majority of states and municipalities to block Chavez's bid to extend his "21st century socialism."
Fireworks popped in the early hours in the capital Caracas, where opposition candidate Antonio Ledezma won a surprise victory over the socialist party candidate, Aristobulo Isturiz.
"I dedicate this victory to the most humble," Ledezma said, inviting Chavez to work with him to "rescue" Caracas, one of the continent's most dangerous, traffic-choked cities.
Famous for his fiery language, 54-year-old Chavez had threatened to imprison opponents, or even send tanks onto the streets if his party lost in Carabobo.
But few incidents were reported in a calm election here.
About 300 candidates, mainly from the opposition, were prevented from running due to corruption allegations.
Polls have closed in Venezuela's state and municipal elections, seen as a test for Hugo Chavez, the president, against an energised opposition.
With long queues witnessed in front of many polling stations on Sunday, initial estimates suggested that about 50 per cent of Venezuelans - with about 17 million eligible to vote - could have cast their ballots.
Tibisay Lucena, the president of the National Electoral Council, said polling stations closed at 4.25 pm (2055 GMT).
Centres where voters were still in line would stay open until voting was over, following electoral law, Lucena said.
Maria Teresa Padron, 80, from the vast Petare slum in Caracas, voted for a candidate from Chavez's party to show her support for the president.
"God sent us Chavez. No one will give us the well-being this president offers us. No one took us into account before, but thanks to him, I live well now," she said.
(AFP) Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi brushed aside international outrage from earlier this month on Sunday to make reference once again to US president-elect Barack Obama's "suntan."
He told ANSA news agency his initial remark was intended as a "compliment," adding that he is equally "envious" of black supermodel Naomi Campbell.
"My compliment to Barack is a little envious," said Berlusconi, who had what he described as a "long, cordial" telephone conversation with the new occupant of the White House -- instigated by Obama -- on November 7.
"We would all like to be tanned like Naomi Campbell and Obama," said the self-made billionaire, who sports a permanent tan, during a press conference in Pescara, Italy.
Italian-born French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was so outraged at Berlusconi's initial comment about Obama being "young, handsome and even tanned," she said she was "happy" to have "become French."
Pirates armed with guns and grenades grabbed headlines around the world last week by hijacking the 320,000 ton Saudi Arabian tanker Sirius Star 450 miles off the coast of Somalia in East Africa and holding hostage the crew of 25. The piracy was bold as the captured ship was the largest ever taken and was seized the farthest from land.
In striking contrast, five pirates armed with long knives recently boarded a tug towing a barge in the Straits of Singapore off the coast of Malaysia as she headed from Singapore to Thailand. The pirates stole personal belongings of the crew of seven, then put them ashore unharmed.
While piracy near Somalia has soared in number and audacity, that in the South China Sea in Southeast Asia has been on a steady decline, largely due to the concentrated anti-piracy operations of Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia. Thailand has just joined the campaign while the US and Japan have supported the Southeast Asians in the background.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which tracks piracy worldwide, reported 49 incidents in Southeast Asia during the first nine months of 2008, down from 133 in the same period of 2004. Piracy around the Indonesian archipelago was third in the world, behind Somalia and Nigeria, on Africa's west coast, but had dropped to 23 incidents from 70 in 2004.
Israel is concerned with reports that the US plans to sell dozens of M60 main battle tanks to the Lebanese army, senior defense officials said over the weekend.
"There is a possibility these tanks will fall into Hizbullah's hands," one official warned. "At the moment, Hizbullah does not yet have heavy armor in its arsenal."
On Friday, the An-Nahar daily reported the US was planning to deliver dozens of M60 tanks to Lebanon in several batches starting early next year. A specific number was not reported.
The M60 tank is an all-purpose tank made in the US with advanced firepower and mobility. Though superseded by the M1 Abrams, the M60 series remains in service throughout the world. Egypt has the most, with 1,700, Turkey is second with more than 900 and Israel is third with over 700.
A judge has sentenced a 19-year-old white South African to four life terms in jail for killing four black people in a shooting spree in January.
Those shot dead by Johan Nel included a three-month-old baby and a boy of 10. Witnesses told the court he shouted racist abuse while shooting.
The killings led to angry protests by thousands of people.
Correspondents say Nel showed no emotion as he was sentenced. The judge said racism could not be tolerated.
Police spokesman Lesego Metsi said Judge Ronald Hendricks and the prosecuting lawyer were under police protection after receiving 50 death threats on their mobile phones, the South Africa Press Association reports.
On Meet the Press this morning Bill Daley, one of Obama advisers said that it is unlikely now that president elect Barack Obama will repeal the Bush tax cuts, and will likely let them expire in 2011.
That would mean no tax increases on the rich until then. He would be doing this in an effort not to increase any burden on an already struggling economy.
Now, all you average Joe's who were not going to be effected by the increase anyway can feel at ease and stop screaming socialism and everything else like a parrot from the Mccain campaign.
MOGADISHU (AFP) — Tension mounted Sunday between pirates holding a Saudi tanker and Islamist fighters threatening to attack them, with a week remaining for the ship's owners to meet a 25-million-dollar ransom demand.
"If the pirates want peace, they had better release the tanker," Sheikh Ahmed, a spokesman for the Shebab group in the coastal region of Harardhere, told AFP by phone.
The Sirius Star, a huge tanker carrying around 100 million dollars worth of crude oil and owned by Saudi Aramco, was hijacked in the space of 16 minutes by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean on November 15.
Pirates have since anchored it off their base in Harardhere, north of Mogadishu, and demanded the ransom be paid by November 30.
The Shebab (youth) armed group, which controls much of southern and central Somalia and rejects an internationally-backed peace process, has positioned fighters in and around Harardhere in recent days.
Islamist leaders have stressed that piracy is a capital offence under Islam and officially condemned the surge in acts of piracy in Somalia's waters, which has begun to disrupt international trade.
A member of the pirate group holding the Sirius Star retorted that his own men were not afraid of the Shebab's threats.
"We are the Shebab of the sea and we can't be scared by the Shebab of the land," Mohamed Said told AFP. "If anybody attempts to attack, that would be suicide."
Said announced to AFP on Thursday that his group was demanding 25 million dollars to release the vessel, which is carrying the equivalent of almost a quarter of top producer Saudi Arabia's daily output.
"I am not on the tanker at the moment because I am coordinating what is happening on the ground," he said. "There is a small Shebab vanguard on the ground but we also have a strong presence.
"Every Somali has great respect for the holy kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We have nothing against them but unfortunately what happened was just business for us and I hope the Saudis will understand," the pirate said.
Some residents in Harardhere have argued however that the Shebab are divided over the issue of piracy and that some of the Islamist fighters have moved into the region only to claim a share of the ransom.
Members of the pirate group told AFP on Saturday that talks were underway with Saudi Aramco's shipping arm and assured that the crew would not be harmed but added that no breakthrough had yet been achieved.
Yet he warned against any plan by Saudi Arabia or foreign navies patrolling the region to free the ship by force.
"I hope the owner of the tanker is wise enough and won't allow any military option because that would be disastrous for everybody. We are here to defend the tanker if attacked," Abdiyare Moalim said.
The capture of the Sirius Star, the biggest ship ever hijacked, and its oil cargo, has sowed panic in the shipping world, with companies now re-routing deliveries via the Cape of Good Hope, adding substantial time and transit costs.
Over the past week, two major shipping industry players, Odfjell of Norway and A.P. Moeller-Maersk of Denmark, have announced that part or all of their fleets will from now on sail around South Africa's southern tip instead of bottle-necking into the Red Sea through Somalia's pirate-infested waters.
With close to 100 attacks on ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean this year, the pirates are threatening to choke one of the world's busiest maritime trade routes.
World leaders have condemned the surge in piracy and rushed extra navy ships to Somalia's waters in a bid to curb the attacks.
But the international community and the shipping industry alike have acknowledged that the problem could never be completely resolved without an improvement of the situation inside Somalia.
The transitional government in Somalia is on its last legs and is incapable of reining in the pirates and offering alternative sources of income to the communities supporting the coastal ransom-hunters.
Pirates operating from Somalia have reinvested significant amounts from their ransoms into improving their equipment.
They currently hold at least 17 ships, including a Ukrainian cargo carrying 33 combat tanks destined for South Sudan.
A woman who had just scored a precious high-paying job in the midst of a disastrous economy was willing to fly in from out of town to take it.
Her new boss, Susan Austin, had spared no expense and the woman was quickly whisked into a waiting limo at the Reno, Nev., airport.
For the sake of privacy, we're calling the woman "Kimberly," and the coveted job she got was as a prostitute at one of the few places in America where it's legal -- the self-proclaimed "world famous" Mustang Ranch.
"I'm nervous, you know," said Kimberly, who would be working as a prostitute for the first time. "I've got a little shake. I'm more nervous than I think I've ever been in my life."
Kimberly's explanation for getting into the business is simple. Times are tough, so tough she says she couldn't find any other way to make a living.
"I filled out 20 or 30 applications," said Kimberly. "No call backs, no interviews, no nothing, so you know, I've decided to come down here to make money to live on my own and survive because the economy is bad."
Kimberly went from applying to work at a day care facility or behind the counter at a department store, to getting on a plane and taking a job at a brothel.
The Mustang Ranch is more like a small compound, tucked away off the highway and surrounded by mountains.
As Kimberly headed inside, "Madam Susan" Austin, Mustang's manager, explained that these are unique times and the world's oldest profession is not immune.
"I have more ladies coming in now than I ever did before because of the economic times," she said. "They're all coming in. [It's] the only way to make some decent money in this time and age. Jobs are not that many available because of the economic times and they can make more money doing this than they can flipping burgers at McDonald's."
The first stop for Kimberly was the doctor's office, where she confirmed that she'd never worked in a brothel before.
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Today around noon, we’re going to take the site down for some serious
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A registered democrat who has no loyalty to a party but to his country. I will criticize both whenever I don't agree. I debate with liberals and conservatives. Voted for Obama, before him Kerry and before him Bush.
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A detailed study of xenophobic attitudes in Germany shows encouraging trends. Fewer Germans overall think foreigners need to go. But in some German states racism has risen, and a measure of anti-Semitism remains. 
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