Why does it rain and never say good-day to the new-born
On the big screen they showed us a sun
But not as bright in life as the real one
It’s never quite the same as the real one
Some crack convicts forced to seek lighter sentences without lawyers
WASHINGTON – As the federal courts begin the unprecedented task of deciding whether thousands of prisoners should receive lower crack cocaine sentences, some judges are telling poor convicts that they won’t get lawyers to help them argue for leniency.As a result, some prisoners are being left to argue on their own behalf against skilled prosecutors, raising questions about fairness in cases that already have been widely perceived as unjust.
The recalculations come after a 20-year debate over racial disparities in cocaine sentences. A majority of crack cocaine defendants are African-American, while most powder cocaine defendants are white and received much less severe sentences.
In what’s seen as a first step toward addressing the disparity, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued new recommendations last year for lighter penalties.
USA
Few Clear Wins in U.S. Anti-Terror Cases
Moving Early on Domestic Suspects Often Does Not Bring Convictions
When seven ragtag men in a Miami religious sect were indicted in 2006 for their role in a bizarre plot to blow up the FBI Miami office and Chicago’s Sears Tower, then- Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said the case represented “a new brand of terrorism” among homegrown gangs that “may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al-Qaeda.”Justice Department officials used similar rhetoric in a 2003 case against a Tampa-area man and his associates who allegedly supported a reign of terror by a violent Palestinian group. The officials did so again in a 2004 case involving a Dallas charity known as the Holy Land Foundation, which they said provided “blood money” to finance overseas suicide bombings.
Ford, Lucas, Spielberg on risky quest for treasure
Unless sales are big, ‘Indiana Jones’ giants won’t be paid
The Indiana Jones series is known for its cliffhangers. But the real cliffhanger in the long-awaited upcoming sequel is when — and perhaps even if — the famous filmmakers and the star will make money.That’s because before executive producer George Lucas, director Steven Spielberg and leading man Harrison Ford get their hands on any treasure, Paramount Pictures will need to collect $400 million in revenue to recover all its costs and make a sizable fee to distribute “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
Africa
Mugabe minister accused of gun threats
Zimbabwe’s health minister armed himself with a Kalashnikov and threatened to kill opposition supporters forced to attend a political meeting unless they voted for President Robert Mugabe in a second round of the presidential election, according to witnesses.
The accounts of the incident involving Dr David Parirenyatwa, and witness reports of other forced meetings at which Zanu-PF members of parliament and senior military officers oversaw the beating of people who voted against Mugabe in last month’s elections, establish a direct link between the highest levels of the ruling party and what the opposition Movement for Democratic Change described yesterday as a “war” against the people.An affidavit made before a commissioner of oaths by an opposition activist names Parirenyatwa, along with a deputy minister and other senior ruling party officials, as threatening to kill MDC supporters. “[They] came to Musama business centre in Murewa and threatened MDC supporters with death if they ‘revote’ MDC in the anticipated election rerun,” the affidavit says. “Shops were forced to close down, people were forced to attend the Zanu-PF rally.”
Banks meet over £40bn plan to harness power of Congo river and double Africa’s electricity
· Hydroelectric dam is largest one conceived
· Activists fear output will not help local people
Seven African governments and the world’s largest banks and construction firms meet in London today to plan the most powerful dam ever conceived – an $80bn (£40bn) hydro power project on the Congo river which, its supporters say, could double the amount of electricity available on the continent.G8 and some African governments hope that the Grand Inga dam in the Democratic Republic of Congo will generate twice as much electricity as the world’s current largest dam, the Three Gorges in China, and jump start industrial development on the continent, bringing electricity to hundreds of million of people.
Asia
Malaysian police detain Japanese family protesting Olympic torch run
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Runners carried the Olympic torch through Malaysia’s capital Monday after police detained a Japanese family carrying a pro-Tibet banner and took a Buddhist monk into custody as a “preventive” measure.There was no immediate information that the monk, whose nationality was not known, had done anything wrong, said Kuala Lampur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman. The monk was detained on the route as a “preventive” measure, the police chief said, without elaborating.
The Japanese family of three unfurled a pro-Tibet banner about an hour before the president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, Imran Jaafar, set off with the torch. Jaafar was the first of 80 runners who planned carry it through the capital.
China’s cheerleaders take to the streets
By Clifford Coonan, China Correspondent
Monday, 21 April 2008From Manchester to Qingdao, Paris to Xi’an, the world is witnessing an extraordinary display of Chinese nationalism, as expatriates and students take to the streets to express their anger about growing anti-Olympic sentiment and attack what they see as biased Western coverage of last month’s crackdown in Tibet.
Anti-Chinese protests on the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s threat to boycott the Beijing Games’ opening cere-mony have led to demonstrations outside the French-owned Carrefour supermarkets, of which there are 112 in China. In Paris, there were displays of support for the Olympics by expatriates saying, “Love Our China”.
Middle East
Saudi women appeal for legal freedoms
In Riyadh, the college day begins for female students behind a locked door that will remain that way until male guardians come to collect them.
Later, in a female-run business, everyone must vacate the premises so a delivery man can drop off a package. In Jeddah, a 40-year-old divorced woman cannot board a plane without the written permission of her 23-year-old son. Elsewhere, a female doctor cannot leave the house at all as her male driver fails to turn up for work. These scenes make up the daily reality for half of the Saudi Kingdom, the only country where women legally belong to men.After more than a decade of lobbying, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has finally been granted access to Saudi Arabia, where it has uncovered a disturbing picture of women forced to live as children, denied basic rights and confined to a suffocating dependency on men.
Carter: Hamas is willing to accept Israel as its neighbor
JERUSALEM – Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace,” former President Jimmy Carter said Monday.Carter said the group promised it wouldn’t undermine Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to reach a peace deal with Israel, as long as the Palestinian people approved it in a referendum. In such a scenario, he said Hamas would not oppose a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.
Hamas, a militant Islamic group that both the U.S. and Israel consider a terrorist organization, calls in its charter for Israel’s destruction. It has also traditionally opposed peace negotiations with the Jewish state.
Europe
Dancer’s attack on Spanish culture
Tamara Rojo, the Spanish ballerina who has taken the British dance world by storm, yesterday delivered a stinging attack on her country’s attitude to culture. The prima ballerina blamed the Spanish government for failing to make the best of its home-born talent.“I have no plans to return to Spain,” she said. “In London, I am OK. The British make the best of each person. They don’t have the same fears or complexes as here [in Spain].”
In an interview with the Spanish daily El Mundo, Rojo, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London, said good ballet had not been seen in Spain since Russian dance troupes toured it in the 1940s.
Bank details £50bn lending boost
The Bank of England has announced details of a plan to help prevent the credit crisis causing more damage to the UK banking system and economy.
Banks will be able to swap potentially risky mortgage debts for £50bn of secure government bonds to enable them to operate during the credit squeeze.The Bank’s governor, Mervyn King, said the scheme aimed to improve liquidity in the banking system.
It should also increase confidence in financial markets, he added.
Under the scheme, banks will be allowed to swap their “high quality” mortgage debts for government securities.
Latin America
Opposition victorious in Paraguay
Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo has won Paraguay’s presidential election, ending more than six decades of rule by the Colorado Party.
With results declared in most polling stations, Mr Lugo has 41% of the vote.His main rival, Blanca Ovelar of the Colorado Party, has 31% and former army chief Lino Oviedo 22%.
The BBC’s Gary Duffy in the capital, Asuncion, says many wanted a leadership change to help confront the poverty and unemployment rife in the country.
Mr Lugo brought together leftist unions, indigenous people and poor farmers into a coalition to form the centre-left Patriotic Alliance for Change.
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