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Sunday, February 12, 2012

The G show (Day 16)


Malaysia deports Saudi journalist accused of blasphemy


Malaysia has deported a young Saudi journalist who is wanted in his home country over Twitter posts about the Prophet Mohammad that sparked calls for his execution, an official told the AFP news agency. Hamza Kashgari, who was detained in Malaysia on Thursday after fleeing Saudi Arabia, left the country in the custody of Saudi officials on Sunday, according to a Malaysian government official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. Kashgari, a 23-year-old newspaper columnist, fled to Muslim-majority Malaysia after making comments on the microblogging site deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed, which fuelled a surge of outrage in the kingdom. Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and is a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. Malaysia s government would not immediately confirm Hamza s deportation, but a Home Ministry statement on Sunday said Kashgari would be sent back to Saudi Arabia. "Malaysia has a long-standing arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other, and [Kashgari] will be repatriated under this arrangement," the statement said. "The nature of the charges against the individual in this case are a matter for the Saudi Arabian authorities." Clerics and locals in the kingdom have called for Kashgari s death for three comments he made on Twitter on the occasion of the Prophet Muhammad s birthday. "On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more," read one tweet posted on Saturday. All three tweets were later deleted by Kashgari, who received over 30,000 responses within a day of the postings. Kashgari, who had originally apologised for his comments, said in an interview he was being made a "scapegoat for a larger conflict" over his comments.

Al-Qaeda leader voices support for Syria uprising


Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has voiced his support for the Syrian uprising in a new video message released on jihadist forums, US website monitors said Sunday. In the video titled "Onwards, Lions of Syria", Zawahiri criticised the Syrian regime for crimes against its citizens, and praised those rising up against the government, the SITE Intelligence Group said. Zawahiri, shown in front of a green curtain in the video released Saturday which runs for over eight minutes, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments, whom he said would impose a new regime subservient to the West. He called on Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon to support the uprising and remove the current regime which he condemned as anti-Islam. Since March last year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government has carried out a bloody crackdown on an uprising in which more than 6,000 people have been killed. Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Sunday in Cairo to discuss their next move over the crisis. Long Al-Qaeda s number two, Zawahiri took over the helm of the group after Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 during a US special forces night raid deep in Pakistan. The video is the latest of a number in which the militant chief has attempted to seize on the "Arab Spring" revolutions. Al-Qaeda has been absent from the popular protests that swept the Arab world last year, leading to the fall of leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and provoking major unrest elsewhere. Analysts argue that the phenomenon has left the global terror outfit weakened and increasingly irrelevant. The United States said last year that it believed Zawahiri, who has been in hiding since the United States declared a "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was still in Pakistan.

Whitney Houston found dead in hotel, age 48


Whitney Houston, whose soaring voice lifted her to the top of the pop music world but whose personal decline was fueled by decades of drug use, died on Saturday in a Beverly Hills hotel room. She was 48. Her death came on the eve of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles and at the same hotel where her mentor, record mogul Clive Davis, was holding an annual pre-event party at which she was scheduled to perform. A dramatic scene unfolded at the Beverly Hilton Hotel as music celebrities arriving for the party expressed shock at her death, while reporters swarmed the hotel and fans gathered to pay their respects. A Beverly Hills police officer told reporters they were called to the Beverly Hilton at around 3:20 p.m. PST and that emergency personnel found Houston’s body in a fourth-floor room, and she was pronounced dead at 3:55 pm The cause of death is under investigation. “She has been positively identified by friends and family (who) were with her at the hotel, and next of kin have already been notified,” Lieutenant Mark Rosen told reporters. Police said there were no obvious signs of criminal intent. Tributes poured in from around the world for a singer whose remarkable vocal range produced some of the most memorable music of her generation, including her signature hit, “I Will Always Love You.” “Whitney Houston was not only an amazing artist but also a beautiful person. She was so smart and her knowledge and appreciation for the musical art form was remarkable,” Motown founder and R&B legend Berry Gordy said in a statement. Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, said event producers were working on ways to honor the singer in front of her many friends in the audience. Standing on the red carpet outside the hotel, Portnow told Reuters they would “try to celebrate her life,” and called Houston a “one of a kind singer” whose body of work was “staggering.” Throughout her decades in music, Houston won six Grammys, 30 Billboard awards and 22 American Music Awards. She released seven studio albums, sold some 170 million CDs, singles and videos that included smash hits “Saving All my Love for You.” She also appeared in the movies “Bodyguard” (1992), “Waiting to Exhale” (1995) and “The Preacher’s Wife” (1996). Houston was inspired to sing as a child by soul singers in her New Jersey family, including mother Cissy Houston and cousins Dionne Warwick and the late Dee Dee Warwick. Her godmother was Aretha Franklin. “I just can’t talk about it now,” Franklin said in a statement. “It’s so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn’t believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen. My heart goes out to Cissy, her daughter Bobbi Kris, her family and Bobby (Brown).”

STELLAR CAREER, PERSONAL TROUBLES    
By the early 1990s, Houston reigned as the queen of pop, but her critical and commercial success on stage was accompanied by an increasingly troubled personal life. In 1992 she married singer Bobby Brown, who had a bad-boy reputation, and their tumultuous 14 years together were marred by drug abuse and domestic violence. In 2000, she and Brown were stopped at an airport in Hawaii and security guards discovered marijuana in their luggage. In a 2002 TV interview, she admitted using marijuana, cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs. The pair also starred in a reality TV series, “Being Bobby Brown,” which painted an often unflattering portrait of the couple. The last 10 years of Houston’s life were dominated by drug use, rumors of relapses and trips to rehab. She launched a comeback tour in 2009, and in April 2010 she called media reports she was using drugs again “ridiculous.” In May 2011, Houston enrolled in a drug and alcohol rehab program. Despite her personal troubles she commanded great affection among her music industry colleagues, and emotional tributes flooded the media in the hours after news broke of her death. “I am absolutely heartbroken at the news of Whitney’s passing,” legendary music producer Quincy Jones said in a statement. “… I always regretted not having had the opportunity to work with her. She was a true original and a talent beyond compare. I will miss her terribly.” Pop star Rihanna posted on Twitter “No words, just tears,” and rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted “Jesus Christ, not Whitney Houston. Greatest of all time.”

Iranian president vows to reveal nuclear achievement soon


Iran is “to inaugurate important nuclear projects in the next few days,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday, adding that his nation “will never yield” to Western coercion aimed at stopping its atomic activities. Ahmadinejad, giving an anniversary speech in Tehran marking the 33rd year of Iran s Islamic revolution, gave no details of the nuclear projects. But he railed against Western economic sanctions imposed to force Iran to give up its controversial nuclear programme, and at threats of possible Israeli and US military action against Iranian nuclear facilities. “If the language of bullying and insult is used, the Iranian nation will never yield,” he said. “The only path is to adhere to justice and the respect of Iran s (nuclear) rights and to return to the negotiating table,” he said. Otherwise, the West will continue to face “defeat” on the issue, he said. Tens of thousands of Iranians joined state-organised rallies across the country to mark the occasion. Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”. “In the coming days the world will witness Iran’s announcement of its very important and very major nuclear achievements,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Square in a speech relayed live on state television. He gave no details. Tension with the West over Iran’s disputed nuclear work has risen in recent weeks. The United States and its European allies have imposed new sanctions to try to force Tehran back to talks before it produces enough nuclear material for an atomic bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme has only peaceful purposes.  

UK cops arrest 8 in bribery probe at Murdoch's Sun


The Scotland Yard arrested five staff at The Sun tabloid, a member of the armed forces, a defence official and a policeman. The arrests cast a shadow over the future of Britain s biggest selling daily, following the phone hacking scandal which led to the closure of its weekly sister paper the News of the World in July. The arrested Sun staff were deputy editor Geoff Webster, picture editor John Edwards, chief reporter John Kay, chief foreign correspondent Nick Parker and reporter John Sturgis, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. "I m as shocked as anyone by today s arrests but am determined to lead The Sun through these difficult times," said Sun editor Dominic Mohan. "I have a brilliant staff and we have a duty to serve our readers and will continue to do that. Our focus is on putting out Monday s newspaper." News International -- the British newspaper arm of Murdoch s global media operation -- would not confirm reports that Murdoch was flying to London to reassure Sun staff that he would not close the paper down. Scotland Yard said it had now broadened its investigation into alleged payments by journalists for information, which had previously focused on bribes paid to the police. "The remit of Operation Elveden has widened to include the investigation of evidence uncovered in relation to suspected corruption involving public officials who are not police officers," it said in a statement. It said five men aged 45, 47, 50, 52 and 68 were arrested in dawn raids at their homes in London and nearby areas on suspicion of corruption and of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office. In the first cases of their kind, a Ministry of Defence employee aged 39 was arrested at her home in Wiltshire, southwest England, and a 36-year-old man serving in the armed forces was arrested in the same area. Both were held on suspicion of corruption, misconduct in a public office and conspiracy in relation to both offences. All eight were still in police custody hours after their arrest. Sky News said they were an army officer and his wife. The Ministry of Defence said it would not comment on ongoing police investigations. A police officer in the county of Surrey, which borders London, was also arrested on suspicion of corruption and misconduct in a public office. Surrey police were responsible for investigating the 2002 murder of teenager Milly Dowler, whose phone was hacked by the News of the World after she went missing. Police said they had completed a search of the offices of News International in Wapping, East London. They were also searching the homes of the arrested people. The arrests were made following information provided to police by the Management and Standards Committee set up by Murdoch s US-based News Corporation, Scotland Yard said. News Corp. confirmed that the five men arrested were employees of The Sun and that it had provided the information. "News Corporation remains committed to ensuring that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past will not be repeated and last summer authorised the MSC to co-operate with the relevant authorities," it said. Police have now made 21 arrests under Operation Elveden, including four current and former Sun journalists who were detained and bailed over alleged corruption in January. Previous arrests in the bribery probe include Rebekah Brooks, the former News International chief executive, and Andy Coulson, the former spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Police have also made 17 arrests in the separate investigation into phone hacking. Murdoch shut down the News of the World amid public outrage and British media said there were fears among employees at The Sun that he could do the same thing to it. The Australian-born tycoon bought The Sun in 1969 and it is the flagship of his UK newspaper operation, selling around 2.5 million copies a day with its diet of sex and scandal. The editor of The Times newspaper, which is also owned by Murdoch, apologised on Tuesday to a blog-writing detective unmasked by a former reporter of the newspaper who allegedly hacked his email.