 French voters who supported defeated centrist candidate Francois Bayrou are facing a tough choice over who to back in the presidential poll second round. Mr Bayrou's refusal to back either Nicolas Sarkozy or Segolene Royal has left both scrambling for his votes. But Ms Royal's zealous wooing of Mr Bayrou's backers has drawn criticism from her left-wing allies. Mr Sarkozy, who took 31.2% of the vote, and Segolene Royal - on 25.9% - won through to the second round on 6 May. The 6.8 million people - 18.6% of all voters - who backed Mr Bayrou must now decide who will claim their vote in his place. "I find it impossible to make a decision," said 60-year-old Parisian Jacques Lauvergeat. "How do you decide between cholera and the plague?" Many of those who voted for Mr Bayrou are unhappy with the idea of Mr Sarkozy leading France and yet dissatisfied with Ms Royal as an alternative. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
censor News |
Editor - 08:05:00 04-26-07
|
 Escaped kidney donor dad arrested |
A father who was released from prison in the US to donate a kidney to his ailing son, but instead fled to Mexico, has been arrested in Puerto Vallarta. Byron Keith Perkins, 38, failed to return to custody after being released in January 2006 for tests to see if he was a suitable donor for the teenager. Perkins is considered a violent career criminal and was awaiting sentencing for drugs and weapons convictions. He is being flown from Mexico to Los Angeles for a court hearing. He was arrested on Wednesday in the Mexican resort town with his girlfriend Lea Ann Howard who was also wanted in the US on robbery and drugs charges. "I've dealt with many unsavoury characters during my career, but this one is particularly vile," said US Marshal Ronald McCubbin after Perkins' escape. "His own son's life is at stake here." ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6595067.stm
full News |
Editor - 08:02:00 04-26-07
|
| Anger over Church abuse cover-up |
Campaigners have called the Church of England's failure to tell police about an ex-choirmaster who sexually abused children "totally irresponsible". Peter Halliday, 61, from Farnborough, Hants, was jailed for 30 months after admitting sex offences from the 1980s. BBC News has learned he admitted the abuse 17 years ago, but left the Church quietly on condition he had no further contact with children. Church officials say they now have "robust" child protection policies. Halliday, who is married, was ordered to pay all three victims £2,000 each, after admitting to 10 counts of abuse at an earlier hearing at Winchester Crown Court. He abused the boys who were in his church choir between 1985 and 1990. Judge Ian Pearson banned Halliday from working with children and said he would be put on the Sex Offenders Register, both for life....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6594439.stm
full News |
Editor - 08:00:00 04-26-07
|
| I will not seek third term, says Putin |
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, today said he would not seek a third term in power. In his state of the nation address, Mr Putin did not say who his preferred successor would be and did nothing to quell speculation that he intended to remain in power behind the scenes. He also claimed western nations were increasingly interfering in Russia's affairs. Mr Putin's second - and constitutionally final - term in office ends next year, and some observers have suggested he could attempt to amend the constitution to remain in office. Last month, the head of the upper house of parliament proposed making such a change. However, Mr Putin has consistently dismissed the idea, and today said the next state of the nation address "will be given by another head of state". ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2066188,00.html
full News |
Editor - 07:49:00 04-26-07
|
| Killers and censors bring fledgling media under fire from all sides US and Kabul officials get tough with journalists amid growing insurgent violence |
A day after being freed from captivity by the Taliban, the Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo stepped off a plane in Rome, beaming with relief and raising his arms in a victory salute. But back in Afghanistan his translator, Ajmal Nakshbandi, remained in Taliban hands.The omens were bad: Mastrogiacomo's driver, Sayed Agha, had already been beheaded, and a week later 25-year-old Nakshbandi was also dead, his throat slit and his body dumped in the desert.The brutal slaying last month shook Afghanistan's fledgling media, sparked recriminations and highlighted how young local reporters were becoming caught in the crossfire of an increasingly vicious conflict.All sides consider news as a weapon of war, even those professing to defend press freedom. On March 4 American soldiers ripped cameras from local reporters in Nangarhar and deleted their pictures after a convoy of marines shot at least 10 people and wounded 33 in the aftermath of a suicide attack....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2065443,00.html
full News |
Editor - 07:46:00 04-26-07
|
| Premier claims Somali 'victory' |
Ethiopian and government troops are in control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after nine days of battles, the prime minister says. Ali Mohamed Ghedi said the worst of the fighting against Islamists and clan gunmen was now over. Columns of tanks were deployed and reinforcements sent to Mogadishu from other parts of Somalia. Earlier, a BBC correspondent in the city said the battles were the heaviest in recent days, spreading to new areas. United Nations humanitarian relief co-ordinator John Holmes has described the situation in Somalia as critical. He said up to 400,000 people had fled Mogadishu but aid was reaching just 60,000. A doctor who runs one of Mogadishu's hospitals estimates that two-thirds of the city's one million residents had left. Some 300 people have been killed in the recent clashes, after 1,000 deaths last month, local human rights group say. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6594603.stm
full News |
Editor - 07:43:00 04-26-07
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
