9th Circuit judges explore narrow routes to reinstate gay marriage
U.S. appeals court appears to be seeking a way to restore same-sex marriage in California while avoiding a decision that would send Prop. 8 to the U.S Supreme Court.
By Maura Dolan and Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2010, 12:18 a.m.
Federal appeals court judges Monday seemed headed toward a decision that could reinstate same-sex marriages in California while avoiding a ruling of national sweep that would invite U.S. Supreme Court action.The judges explored at least two routes that could achieve that goal. One would be a ruling that California, having granted marriage rights to same-sex couples, could not take them away by popular vote.
Cancún summit: Rich countries accused over £30bn climate aid promise
India’s environment minister says delays in payments could wreck the prospects for advancing a global deal
Suzanne Goldenberg in Cancún
The Guardian, Tuesday 7 December 2010
A fresh fault line opened up at the Cancún climate summit today after rich countries were accused of failing to deliver on their promise of $30 billion in aid to countries that will experience the worst ravages of climate change.The commitment to $30 billion in climate aid between 2011-2012 was the single biggest concrete outcome of last year’s Copenhagen summit, and US officials used the promise of cash to get poorer countries to support the accord. But America and other richer countries had been too slow in awarding the so-called ‘fast-start’ finance, and those delays could wreck the already slim prospects of advancing a global climate deal, Jairam Ramesh, India’s environment minister, , said.
USA
FBI plant banned by mosque – because he was too extreme
By Guy Adams in Los Angeles Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The spying gamee wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for Craig Monteilh, a convicted criminal recruited by the FBI to investigate the march of radical Islam into Southern California. His endless talk of violent “jihad” so alarmed worshippers at the local mosque, that they took out a restraining order against him.Monteilh spent 15 months pretending to be Farouk al-Aziz, a French Syrian in search of his religious roots. He prayed five times a day at the Islamic Centre in Irvine, Orange County, wearing white robes with a camera hidden in one of its buttons, and carried a set of car keys that contained a secret listening device.
Tax Deal Suggests New Path for Obama
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and JACKIE CALMES
Published: December 6, 2010
WASHINGTON – President Obama announced a tentative deal with Congressional Republicans on Monday to extend the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for two years as part of a package that would also keep benefits flowing to the long-term unemployed, cut payroll taxes for all workers for a year and take other steps to bolster the economy.
The deal appeared to resolve the first major standoff since the midterm elections between the White House and newly empowered Republicans on Capitol Hill. But it also highlighted the strains Mr. Obama faces in his own party as he navigates between a desire to get things done and a retreat from his own positions and the principles of many liberals.
Europe
MP’s numerous Russian restaurant partners aroused suspicions
Luke Harding December 7, 2010
MOSCOW: Its name means ”arousal of the senses”. And with its fine food and excellent wine, the restaurant L’Eveil des Sens in Strasbourg was the perfect place for a political meeting.Four times a year members of the Council of Europe’s liberal group gathered here on a Sunday evening to relax and to discuss private business.
Among their number was Mike Hancock, the flamboyant British rebel Liberal Democrat MP. Typically he appeared with a young Russian woman. Sometimes he even brought two.
Euro collapse ‘possible’ amid deepening divisions over bail-out
There is a slim chance that the euro will not survive the current sovereign debt crisis sweeping Europe, one of the Treasury’s leading independent forecasters has said.
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
Under questioning from MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, Stephen Nickell, a member of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and a former Bank of England rate-setter, said a collapse of the single currency was “a possibility”.
Asked more broadly about the sustainability of currency unions, he added: “The general consensus is that sooner or later they fail for one reason or another – but that doesn’t mean to say it always happens.”
His comments came as deep divisions in the eurozone threatened to drive Spain, Portugal and Ireland into more difficulty.
Middle East
US aided stifling of Iranian arms flow to Hamas
The Irish Times – Tuesday, December 7, 2010
IAN BLACK
THE US has worked discreetly to block the supply of Iranian and Syrian weapons to the Palestinian movement Hamas and Lebanon’s Hizbullah, pressuring Arab governments not to co-operate – in many cases its requests based on secret intelligence provided by Israel.State department cables show that Sudan was warned by the US in January 2009 not to allow the delivery of unspecified Iranian arms that were expected to be passed to Hamas in the Gaza Strip around the time of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead offensive, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.
US diplomats were instructed to express “exceptional concern” to the Khartoum authorities. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Chad were informed of the alleged Iranian plans and warned that any weapons deliveries would be in breach of UN resolutions banning Iranian arms exports.
Ruling party sweeps Egypt’s vote
Results indicate ruling party takes 80 per cent of parliament seats, which the opposition parties denounce as rigged.
Last Modified: 07 Dec
The Egyptian rulingg party has swept to a predictably huge win in a parliamentary election that the opposition denounced as rigged, Egypt’s high elections commission has said.Monday’s result has shown that Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) secured about 80 per cent of seats, based on final figures released by the elections commission, compared with about 70 per cent in the last parliament.
“The 2010 parliament is certainly the most illegitimate in recent Egyptian history and no one can take it seriously,” said analyst Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Doha Centre.
Of 508 seats being contested, the NDP won 420, while 70 went to independent candidates and 14 to other political parties.
Asia
It’s a war zone out there
In Afghanistan you can’t be too fussy about who you’re dealing with, says the commander of Australian troops.
THE commander of Australiantroops in the Middle East has defended Australia’s ties to a controversial Afghan warlord, accusing critics of being elitist and unrealistic.Major-General John Cantwell told the Herald the ”northern suburbs of Sydney view” that Australia should insist on the absolute purity of its allies in Afghanistan ignored the violent and turbulent history of the country.
General Cantwell spoke in the context of revelations in the Herald that six militiamen loyal to Matiullah Khan, a dominant figure in the province of Oruzgan, had been brought to Australia for training by the Australian Defence Force.
Al-Qaeda backs massive push in Swat
By Syed Saleem ShahzadMALAKAND – Al-Qaeda’s leaders have allocated 2 billion rupees (US$23.25 million) and a new training program for 400 militants in Khyber Agency to start a full-blown insurgency in the Swat area of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province and Malakand Division next summer, Asia Times Online has learned.
At a time United States President Barack Obama was making a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Friday and telling US troops at Bagram air base outside Kabul that they should be prepared for tough times, militants who spoke to ATol said al-Qaeda had masterminded a plan for militants that would see them engage the Pakistan military in Swat.
Africa
Ivory Coast’s Ouattara offers jobs to Gbagbo cabinet
Gbagbo’s former PM says other ministers may follow
By Loucoumane Coulibaly and David Lewis, Reuters
It was thelatest manoeuvre in a power struggle that has enveloped the West African state since an election that yielded two winners – Ouattara with international backing, and Gbagbo with the support of the nation’s top legal body and military.The Nov. 28 poll was meant to reunite the former regional economic star after a 2002-03 civil war, but analysts warned the dispute could now pit the army against pro-Ouattara rebels, who told Reuters they would defend themselves from any attack.
African diplomats fearful of US-China relationships
ILHAM RAWOOT | JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
The cable, released by WikiLeaks on Sunday, is one of the latest in the organisation’s streaming release of over 250 000 leaked diplomatic cables. It was created on February 4 2010, and was classified as “confidential”.“During a February 8 lunch, Kenyan ambassador to China Julius Ole Sunkuli said he and other Africans were wary of the US-China dialogue on Africa and felt Africa had nothing to gain from China cooperating with the international donor community,” reads the cable. “Sunkuli claimed that Africa was better off thanks to China’s practical, bilateral approach to development assistance and was concerned that this would be changed by ‘Western’ interference. He said he saw no concrete benefit for Africa in even minimal cooperation.”