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George W Bush hot box office in UK theatre LONDON, Oct 6: In a country enraged by Tony Blair’s decision to join America in invading Iraq, nothing fills a theatre faster than a play about .....more Blair presses Sudan President over Darfur KHARTOUM, Oct 6: Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair pressed Sudanese President Omar-Hassan-al-Bashir today to end violence in Darfur on the .....more Oregon
convict sues LOS ANGELES, Oct 6: An Oregon woman who shot and killed her husband during a camping trip has sued crime writer Ann rule for libel, claiming that a ....more US vetoes UN measure denouncing israel in Gaza UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6: The United States vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate end to Israeli military operations ......more |
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Canada top court seen leaning towards gay marriage OTTAWA, Oct 6: Even before the Supreme Court begins weighing whether same-sex marriage must be allowed across Canada, advocates on .....more Sudanese cargo plane crashes, killing four Russians KHARTOUM, Oct 6: A Sudanese cargo plane crashed, killing four crew members, .....more CIA
report finds no conclusive Zarqawi: WASHINGTON, Oct 6: A CIA report has found no conclusive evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein harbored....more Thai PM fires bird flu, Muslim unrest ministers BANGKOK, Oct 6: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fired ministers responsible for dealing with a bird flu ...more |
George W Bush hot box office in UK theatre LONDON, Oct 6: In a country enraged by Tony Blair’s decision to join America in invading Iraq, nothing fills a theatre faster than a play about George W Bush. Combine the two leaders and you have a surefire hit in Britain, which is currently enjoying a renaissance in political theatre. Trust in Blair has plunged, disdain for politicians has soared and theatre offers disillusioned voters a sense of engagement. The political palette offers many hues — from the satire of "The Madness Of George Dubya" and "embedded" through to David Hare’s complex polemic "stuff happens." "The Bush administration’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are proving to be as good to the theatre as they have been to America’s major arms dealers," said the independent newspaper. There is, of course, nothing new about political theatre —nearly 2,500 years ago, Aeschylus was writing about war between the Greeks and the Persians. Shakespeare turned it into a sublime art form the angry young men of the 1960s gave Britain’s working classes a voice with "kitchen sink drama" and now the war in Iraq is the latest catalyst. "It has been the biggest political issue since the falklands war (in 1982) which produced some rather bad plays. People want to find out why Iraq happened," said daily telegraph theatre critic Charles Spencer. "For me the theatre has become a place where I think about politics," he told . The British, it seems, are keener than the Americans on political theatre. "On broadway, they don’t have an appetite for this. The play of ideas just doesn’t exist over there," Spencer said. Matt Wolf, theatre critic for the Hollywood magazine variety, told : "Theatre is one of the ways by which society takes its own temperature. In America there is a such a fear of direct engagement." He felt the revival of political theatre in Britain reflected voter disenchantment. "Buying a ticket is one way audiences feel good about themselves. If theatre is good and juicy, it answers questions," he said. A wide variety is on offer in London just now. In satires all too often preaching to the converted, Bush is mocked as a trigger-happy global cowboy. Justin Butcher’s "Madness Of George Dubya" — which won standing ovations in the lead-up to the war on Iraq — portrayed bush as a pyjama-wearing buffoon cuddling a teddy bear. In tim robbins’ "embedded," the leaders of America are lampooned in caricature masks. Reviews were distinctly mixed. The tricycle theatre in north London wins acclaim from critics for creating "verbatim theatre" — taking testimony from public inquiries and turning it into compelling drama. Their latest success — "Guantanamo" — was hailed by spencer for its portrayal of prisoners in the US naval base. "This is no tendentious piece of agit-prop but a clear-eyed assessment of a grave abuse of human rights," he concluded. At Britain’s national theatre, David hare has crafted a box office hit in "stuff happens," lauded by critics because the characters of Bush and Blair are given depth and breadth. "As a man of the left, hare is a bit like George Bernard Shaw —he gives good argument," Spencer said of hare, chronicler of modern Britain from its Bishops to its railways. For variety’s wolf, the play’s subtlety was seductive as it chronicled the lead-up to war in Iraq. "For the first time I understood how Bush became President. Embedded is a high-profile cartoon. Stuff happens is way above the rest," he said. Political theatre, according to tricyle theatre Director Nicolas Kent, offers depth. "People want to hear the truth, not a journalist’s cut," he said. "in the theatre, you sit down and wrestle with an issue." (AGENCIES) |
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Blair presses Sudan President over Darfur KHARTOUM, Oct 6: Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair pressed Sudanese President Omar-Hassan-al-Bashir today to end violence in Darfur on the highest-level visit from a western Government official since the crisis erupted. Blair - on his first major outing since Friday’s operation for heart palpitations — slept briefly on an overnight flight from London before going into talks with Bashir at his presidential palace beside the river Nile in Khartoum. "There is a lot of human suffering which could and should be prevented," Blair’s spokesman said of Darfur. The first British leader to visit Sudan since Independence from London in 1956, Blair was taking a tough approach with Bashir and other officials while avoiding Washington’s description of the Darfur crisis as "genocide", aides said. The US line has infuriated Khartoum. Darfur has been torn by violence since rebels took up arms against the Government in February 2003, saying it had neglected and marginalised the arid Darfur region about the size of France. The rebels accuse the Government of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Khartoum denies that. Calling Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, the United Nations has threatened Sudan with oil sanctions. It estimates 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes and up to 50,000 killed. Blair was urging the Sudanese Government to show more progress in reining back Arab militia, improving access for relief workers, negotiating with rebel groups, and allowing an expanded role for African union peacekeepers, his aides said. "We are here to underline the clear message to Sudan from the UN," Blair’s spokesman told travelling UK reporters. Aid agencies urged Blair not to mince his words. "The situation in Darfur is not improving...There are daily reports of violence," Oxfam said. "The Prime Minister can help thousands by shifting British policy up a gear." While Bashir and others were sure to put up a robust counter-argument to Blair, legislators from Darfur added that the former colonial ruler must bear some blame for the crisis. "The United Kingdom is responsible for what is happening now in Darfur because it was the country which found Darfur as a separate state and invaded it and annexed it to the rest of Sudan without preserving any of its constitutional rights," said Idriss Youssef Ahmed, who represents south Darfur. Unlike previous visitors this year, including US Secretary of State Colin Powell, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and various European Foreign Ministers, Blair will not visit Darfur. "We know what the situation in Darfur is. The important thing is that something is done about it," his spokesman said. "Rather than concentrate on threats and sanctions, we would like to focus on trying to get progress." In a stinging UN assessment earlier this week, Annan said Sudan made no progress last month in stopping attacks on civilians, punishing culprits or nailing down a cease-fire. Khartoum accuses rebels of increasing attacks in an attempt to destabilise the region and ratchet up international pressure. Britain is one of the largest donors for Darfur — with (62.5 million pounds) 111 million dollar committed this year. Blair was due to fly to Ethiopia later today for a meeting with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in the evening and the UK-sponsored commission for Africa meeting starting tomorrow. (AGENCIES) |
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Oregon convict sues crime writer for libel LOS ANGELES, Oct 6: An Oregon woman who shot and killed her husband during a camping trip has sued crime writer Ann rule for libel, claiming that a 2003 book on the case depicts her as "evil, delusional and a sociopath." Rule, a former Seattle police officer and best-selling true crime author, chronicled the trial of Liysa Northon, a writer charged with murdering her airline pilot husband during a 2000 camping trip, in "heart full of lies: a true story." Northon pleaded guilty to intentional manslaughter in a 2001 trial and now is serving a 12-year sentence in an Oregon prison. In her lawsuit, she complains that rule paints her as "Amoral and a Sociopath," instead of a battered woman who shot her third husband in the head in self defense. Chris Northon was found dead inside his sleeping bag at a campground in northeastern Oregon where the couple and their young son had been vacationing, authorities said. The lawsuit also names rule’s publisher, Simon Schuster, a unit of Viacom inc., and prosecutor Daniel Ousley. Neither rule nor her publicist could immediately be reached for comment. Ousley had no comment on the lawsuit. (AGENCIES) |
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US vetoes UN measure denouncing israel in Gaza UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6: The United States vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate end to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip that have cost some 68 Palestinian lives. A total of 11 nations voted in favor of the measure in the 15-member council. Britain, Germany and Romania abstained and US Ambassador John Danforth exercised his veto power by voting "no." The veto yesterday was the 80th by the United States in 59 years. Some 29 vetoes concerned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The last was on March 25 against Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin. The draft resolution would have demanded "the immediate cessation of all military operations in the area of northern Gaza" and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel launched the offensive after a Palestinian rocket strike killed two children in the southern town of Sderot last Wednesday. Some 2,000 troops as well as tanks and attack helicopters were used. Britain, Germany and Russia attempted to get a last minute compromise by adding some amendments but the effort failed. Voting in favor of the resolution were Russia, France, China, Spain, Angola, Chile, Pakistan, Algeria, Benin, Brazil and the Philippines. Danforth told the council the resolution was "lopsided and unbalanced," lacked credibility and deserved a "no" vote. "The United States has no problem with tough words, but only when they are accurate and there is balance," he said. The resolution "does not mention two hundred rockets launched this year alone. It does not mention the two Israeli children who were outside playing last week when a rocket suddenly crashed into their young bodies," he said. (AGENCIES) |
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Canada top court seen leaning towards gay marriage OTTAWA, Oct 6: Even before the Supreme Court begins weighing whether same-sex marriage must be allowed across Canada, advocates on opposite sides of the argument agreed that the judges would most likely say yes. The country’s highest court will begin two days of hearings today on the marriage question, which has divided the Canadian Parliament and caused an electoral headache for liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. But both sides thought momentum was in favor of upholding lower court rulings in five provinces and one territory — representing 82 percent of Canada’s population — that a heterosexual-only definition of marriage was unconstitutional. "We certainly feel like underdogs in this issue," said Janet Epp-Buckingham of the evangelical fellowship of Canada, which is teaming up with Roman Catholic and Muslim groups before the court to argue against gay marriage. "We are concerned that there may not be balance across the court at this time." A coalition of groups on the other side noted that the liberal Government was now arguing in favor of gay marriage, a switch from positions as recently as 1-1/2 years ago. "We are very confident that the Supreme Court will confirm what courts across the country have said many times," said Alex Munter of Canadians for equal marriage. Their side has potentially been buttressed by the swearing in on Monday of two justices, Rosalie Abella and Louise Charron, who had written key decisions on the Ontario court of appeal expanding gay rights. Currently Canada faces a patchwork of rules because of different court rulings which apply only in those provinces or territories. (AGENCIES) |
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Sudanese cargo plane crashes, killing four Russians KHARTOUM, Oct 6: A Sudanese cargo plane crashed, killing four crew members, a Sudanese news agency said. The Russian-built Saria-operated plane had taken off from El-Obeid airport in south Kordofan state on Tuesday when it lost radio contact and three planes were sent to search for it, the Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) yesterday said. The plane was on its way to the southern town of Juba. Sudanese state radio said all four of those killed on board the Antonov 12 plane were Russian. Saria is a private, Khartoum-based airline. In November a Saria-operated plane caught fire and exploded in southern Sudan, killing 13 people on board. (AGENCIES) |
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CIA report finds no conclusive Zarqawi:Saddam link WASHINGTON, Oct 6: A CIA report has found no conclusive evidence that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein harbored Abu Musab-al-Zarqawi, which the Bush administration asserted before the invasion of Iraq. "There’s no conclusive evidence the Saddam Hussein regime had harbored Zarqawi," a US official said yesterday about the CIA findings. But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the report, which was a mix of new information and a look at some older information, did not make any final judgments or come to any definitive conclusions. "To suggest the case is closed on this would not be correct," the official said in confirming an ABC news story about the CIA report that the network said was delivered to the White House last week. ABC quoted an unnamed senior US official as saying that the CIA document raises "serious questions" about Bush administration assertions that Zarqawi found sanctuary in pre-war Baghdad. "The official says there is no clear cut evidence that Saddam Hussein even knew Zarqawi was in Baghdad," ABC reported. The CIA report concludes Zarqawi was in and out of Baghdad, but cast doubt on reports that Zarqawi had been given official approval for medical treatment there as President George W Bush said this summer, ABC said. Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Scott Mcclellan reasserted that there was a relationship between Saddam and Zarqawi. "He was in contact from Baghdad with Ansar-al-Islam in the northeastern part of Iraq. He had a cell operating from Baghdad during that period, as well. So there are clearly ties between Iraq and — between the regime, Saddam Hussein’s regime and Al-Qaeda," Mcclellan told reporters. Before last year’s invasion to topple Saddam, the Bush administration portrayed Zarqawi as Al-Qaeda’s link to Baghdad. Following Saddam’s capture in December and waves of suicide attacks on US and Iraqi security forces which followed, Zarqawi quickly became America’s top enemy in Iraq. The United States placed a 25 million dollars bounty on his head. The Jordanian-born Zarqawi and his militant Tawhid and Jihad group have claimed responsibility for a string of suicide bombings, kidnappings and hostage beheadings. (AGENCIES) |
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Thai PM fires bird flu, Muslim unrest ministers BANGKOK, Oct 6: Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fired ministers responsible for dealing with a bird flu crisis and violence in the largely Muslim south today, just months ahead of a general election. Thaksin gave no immediate explanations for moves that saw Agriculture Minister Somsak Thepsuthin kicked upstairs and Defence Minister Chetta Thanajaro become the second man to lose the job since violence erupted in the south in January. Somsak switched places with Muslim southerner wan Muhamad Noor Matha, who had become one of seven deputy Prime Ministers after losing the interior ministry in March. Chetta, appointed only in March, left the Government and was replaced by his deputy, General Samphan Boonyanan, the royal palace announced. Thaksin, who must hold a general election by March, has given his Government only until the end of October to wipe out the H5N1 bird flu virus that has killed 11 thais since January and has vowed that heads would roll if it failed. The Government has gone into a frenzy of action since last week, when Thailand announced its first probable case of human-to-human transmission of the virus, a mother believed to have caught it from her dying daughter. Health Ministry volunteers have been deputed to search every house in the country for possible human bird flu victims and ensure any sick poultry are reported. Thaksin has tried a variety of tactics and personnel in an attempt to quell unrest in the southern provinces, where most people are Muslim and speak Malay. Nothing appears to have worked, with more than 320 people killed in the region since gunmen raided an army camp on January 4, killed four soldiers and escaping with almost 300 M-16 guns. Most of those killed in the region, where separatists fought low key insurgencies in 1970s and 1980s, have been civil servants and security officers from both Muslim and Buddhist faiths. (AGENCIES) Indonesia’s Megawati unlikely to file poll complaint JAKARTA, Oct 6: Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri is unlikely to contest her defeat in last month’s historic Presidential election race in the constitutional court, a senior party official said today. "The mood within the party is not to," said Roy Janis, deputy chairman of Megawati’s Indonesia Democratic Party-struggle (PDI-P), when asked if a complaint over alleged vote fraud would be lodged by the tomorrow deadline. "I mean, Mrs Megawati has already said not to dwell on possible conflict and just move on. So among us, we have no intention of doing that." (AGENCIES) Blair flies to Sudan to press for Darfur peace LONDON, Oct 6: Britain’s Tony Blair flew to Khartoum today as the most senior yet in a parade of western Government figures seeking to pressure Sudanese officials over violence in Darfur province. "There is a lot of human suffering which could and should be prevented," the Prime Minister’s spokesman said as he set off. The first British leader to visit Sudan since Independence from London in 1956, Blair will, however, draw short of Washington’s description of the Darfur crisis as "genocide". Rather, he will urge Khartoum for more progress in improving security and opening access to relief workers, and point to UN demands for more action under threat of sanctions. Darfur has been torn by violence since rebels took up arms against the Government in February 2003, saying it had neglected and marginalised the impoverished region. The rebels accuse the Government of arming mounted Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages in a campaign of ethnic cleansing. The United Nations calls Darfur the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. It estimates 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes and up to 50,000 killed. Aid agencies urged Blair to take a tough line in Sudan. "The situation in Darfur is not improving. Nearly six months after the ceasefire, there are daily reports of violence and insecurity," British-based Oxfam said in a statement. "The Prime Minister can help thousands by shifting British policy up a gear." As Blair begins his visit, MPs from the Darfur region said the country’s former colonial power must bear some blame for the province’s troubles. (AGENCIES) Head Lice provide clue to prehistoric lives, loves WASHINGTON, Oct 6: A study of an ancient human pest — head Lice — suggests that the ancestors of today’s American Indians may have met and fought with pre-humans long extinct elsewhere, scientists said. Or maybe they made love with their primitive new friends. The researchers said people carry two distinct families of head Lice, and the easiest explanation is that one species of Lice evolved on a different species of pre-human. "Kids today have head Lice that evolved on two species of cavemen," said Dale Clayton, a professor of Biology at the university of Utah who led the study. "One species led to us. The other species went extinct." The reason he knows this is that Lice are fussy about where they live. Head Lice live only in human hair and can only live for a day without sipping blood from their human hosts. Clayton’s team discovered that modern humans have two types of head Lice. One is found worldwide and thus must have evolved on the ancestors of our species, Homo Sapiens. A second family of Louse is found so far only in the Americas. "They are genetically distinct, so much so that they have to have evolved in isolation from one another," Clayton said in a telephone interview. (AGENCIES) India, Pak preparing to deploy peacekeeping troops in Congo UNITED NATIONS, Oct 6: India and Pakistan are preparing to deploy some 1,700 soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the Security Council’s decision to bolster the UN peacekeeping operation, the world body said today. Since the resolution’s unanimous adoption, the UN said arrangements have been made for an emergency deployment of two battalions of some 850 soldiers each, one each from India and Pakistan. India will also provide four attack helicopters. The Council had decided to increase the number of peacekeepers by 5,900 to take the total strength to 16,700. The remaining troop increases are still, under discussion, but India and Pakistan are also expected to provide one brigade - around 2,500 troops each, the world body said. Developed countries were solicited for troop contributions, but there has been no response as yet, the UN officials said. The council also expanded the mandate of its mission in Congo and troops would now conduct a range of new tasks, including protecting civilians from violence and enforcing an arms embargo in the east. Speaking to the UN news service from the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, a spokesperson for the UN organisation mission in the DRC (Monuc) echoed the comments of Secretary General Kofi Annan, who welcomed the council action last Friday but warned that the new authorised troop level of 16,700 fell "well below" his recommendation to deploy 23,900 peacekeepers and 507 civilian police. (PTI) |
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