Saudi Arabia women drive cars in protest at ban

Women in Saudi Arabia have been openly driving cars in defiance of an official ban on female drivers in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The direct action has been organised on social network sites, where women have been posting images and videos of themselves behind the wheel.

The Women2Drive Facebook page said the direct action would continue until a royal decree reversed the ban.

Last month, a woman was arrested after uploading a video of herself driving.

Manal al-Sherif was accused of "besmirching the kingdom's reputation abroad and stirring up public opinion", but was released after 10 days having promised not to drive again.

Campaigners have not called for a mass protest - which would be illegal - but have asked women who have foreign driving licences to drive themselves as they go about their daily life.

"All that we need is to run our errands without depending on drivers," said one woman in the first film posted in the early hours of Friday morning.

The film showed the unnamed woman talking as she drove to a supermarket and parking.

"It is not out of love for driving or traffic or the experience. All this is about is that if I wanted to go to work, I can go. If I needed something I can go and get it.

"I think that society is ready to welcome us."

Another protester said she drove around the streets of Riyadh for 45 minutes "to make a point".

"I took it directly to the streets of the capital," said Maha al-Qahtani, a computer specialist at the Ministry of Education.

Religious fatwa

On Twitter, Mrs Qahtani described the route she had taken around the city with her husband, saying: "I decided that the car for today is mine."

Her husband said she was carrying her essential belongings with her and was "ready to go to prison without fear", AFP news agency reported.

One woman who asked not to be named told the BBC driving was often considered to be "something really minor".

"It's not one of your major rights. But we tell them that even if you give us all the basic and big rights, that you are claiming are more important than driving, we can't enjoy practising those rights because the mobility is not there.

"We can't move around without a male."

The motoring ban is not enforced by law, but is a religious fatwa imposed by conservative Muslim clerics. It is one of a number of severe restrictions on women in the country.

Supporters of the ban say it protects women and relieves them of the obligation to driver, while also preventing them from leaving home unescorted or travelling with an unrelated male.

But the men and women behind the campaign - emboldened by uprisings across the Middle East and Arab world - say they hope the ban will be lifted and that other reforms will follow.

Amnesty International has said the Saudi authorities "must stop treating women as second-class citizens", describing the ban as "an immense barrier to their freedom of movement".

The last mass protest against the ban took place in 1980, when a group of 47 women were arrested for driving and severely punished - many subsequently lost their jobs.

The women were angered that female US soldiers based in the kingdom after the war with Kuwait could drive freely while they could not.

Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed as al-Qaeda leader

The long-serving second-in-command of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has been appointed its head following the death of Osama Bin Laden, the militant organisation said in a statement.

Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Pakistan in early May.

Al-Qaeda warned it would continue to fight a holy war against the US and Israel under Zawahiri's direction.

Analysts say Egyptian-born Zawahiri, 59, is intelligent but lacks the charisma of his predecessor.

He is claimed by some experts to have been the "operational brains" behind the 9/11 attacks on the US.

For years Bin Laden's deputy, with a $25m (£15m) bounty on his head, he had been widely anticipated to replace Bin Laden at the helm.

The statement announcing his appointment was posted on a militant website and attributed to al-Qaeda's General Command.

"Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him, assumed responsibility as the group's amir [leader]", it said.

It vowed that under Zawahiri, it would pursue jihad or holy war against the US and Israel "until all invading armies leave the land of Islam".

'Jihadist renaissance'

Zawahiri, whose 60th birthday is believed to be this Sunday, warned just over a week ago that Bin Laden would continue to "terrify" the US from beyond the grave.

In a video message posted on the internet on 8 June, Zawahiri said al-Qaeda would continue to fight.

"The sheikh has departed, may God have mercy on him, to his God as a martyr and we must continue on his path of jihad to expel the invaders from the land of Muslims and to purify it from injustice," Zawahiri said.

"Today, and thanks be to God, America is not facing an individual or a group, but a rebelling nation, which has awoken from its sleep in a jihadist renaissance."

The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jon Leyne, says priorities for al-Qaeda's new leader may include attempting to to mount a big attack to show the organisation is still in business.

In addition, he says, Zawahiri will want to turn the wave of unrest in the Middle East to al-Qaeda's advantage - perhaps building more of a power base in Yemen and working to intensify the instability there.

Divisions?

In his message last week, Zawahiri applauded the Arab uprisings against "corrupt and tyrant leaders" and urged those involved to continue their "struggle until the fall of all corrupt regimes that the West has forced onto our countries".

But our correspondent adds that the delay in announcing Zawahiri as al-Qaeda chief - coming as it does more than six weeks after Bin Laden's death, despite his being the obvious choice - may point to divisions within the leadership.

Zawahiri has for years had a bounty on his head and security analysts have suggested he is most likely to be hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border region.

However, Bin Laden and other key militant leaders who were also believed to be concealed there have instead been discovered in Pakistani towns and cities.

Bin Laden's killing by US special forces in a covert operation in the garrison town of Abbottabad on 2 May strained Washington's relations with Islamabad.

US President Barack Obama said "someone" was protecting Bin Laden, but Pakistan has denied any knowledge of Bin Laden's whereabouts and has arrested alleged CIA informants.

Jennifer Lopez Biography

Birth Name

Jennifer Lynn Lopez

Nickname

J. Lo
La Lopez
Lola
Jenny From The Block

Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Mini Biography

Jennifer was born on July 24, 1969, in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. Her father, David, was a computer technician. Her mother, Guadalupe, taught kindergarten. Jennifer is the middle of three daughters. Her elder sister, Leslie, is a housewife who sings opera. Her younger sister, Lynda, is a DJ on New York's WKTU, a VH1 VJ, and a morning news show correspondent on New York's Channel 11. Jennifer's parents were born in Puerto Rico, but did not meet until both came to America. Her mother's parents were Europeans who settled in Puerto Rico. She says that it was her parents' work ethic that made a difference in her life. Jennifer took singing and dancing lessons from age 5. She attended 12 years of Catholic school, including an all-girl high school. She played softball and tennis in high school and was a gymnast.

After high school, she briefly worked in a law office. During this time, she continued dance classes at night. At 18, she left home because her mother was scared by her decision to pursue show business. With casting on "In Living Color" (1990) in 1990, she moved to L.A., but initially hated it. Finally her boy friend, David Cruz, moved to be with her there and she learned to accept her new environment. Her career took off from her "Living Color" stint and reached new peaks with her portrayal of slain Latino singer Selena (1997).

When the Saints Go Marching In

As corruption runs amok in India, a colorful cast of activists takes on the politicians.

Back in the 1950s, the British scholar W. H. Morris-Jones identified three idioms of Indian politics. These were the modern, the traditional, and the saintly. Thus, he wrote, “the modern language of politics is the language of the Indian Constitution and the Courts; of parliamentary debate; of the higher administration … ” On the other hand, the traditional idiom was local and sectarian. It “knows little or nothing of the problems of anything as big as India.” Here, “caste (or subcaste or ‘community’) is the core of traditional politics.” Finally, there was the saintly idiom, illustrated at the time Morris-Jones was writing, by the land-donation movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, “the ‘Saint on the March,’ who toured India on foot preaching the path of self-sacrifice and love and polity without power.”

To understand Indian politics today, Morris-Jones’s framework is still valuable, so long as we add a fourth idiom that has become increasingly common in recent years. This may be termed the instrumental, a euphemism for political behavior that advances the personal financial interests of an individual, his family, his caste, and his party.

For the first decade of independence, Indian politics was dominated by associates of Mahatma Gandhi who shared his integrity if not his courage. In the 1960s, the first signs of corruption entered the system. The economy was then strictly regulated. Entrepreneurs needed licenses to open or expand businesses, for which some politicians now expected bribes.

When the license-permit-quota raj was dismantled in the 1990s, it was expected that corruption would diminish. In fact, it has increased spectacularly. The state still retains control over land and natural resources and over infrastructure projects. With the surge in the Indian economy, control of these resources is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, encouraging sweetheart deals between politicians and entrepreneurs. The proceeds from these deals are then distributed among the elected members of the legislature and to favored bureaucrats. According to a recent study by the Association for Democratic Reforms, as many as 300 out of the 540 members of Parliament are millionaires. The majority were born in modest middle-class homes; their wealth ballooned after they entered politics.

In the past year, India has been racked by a series of corruption scandals. A housing complex in Mumbai meant for war veterans had its units allocated to politicians and bureaucrats and their cronies. Politicians associated with the ruling Congress Party skimmed off large sums of money from funds allocated to the Commonwealth Games, held in New Delhi in late 2010. Politicians of the major opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were involved in a mining scandal in the state of Karnataka, where millions of tons of iron ore were shipped to China untaxed and in violation of labor and environmental standards. Then, in the biggest scam of all, a minister of the Union Government was found to have massively undersold licenses to mobile-telephone companies, thus giving them cheap, privileged access to airwaves.

A Roadmap for the Planet

How we live today is clearly unsustainable. Why history proves that is completely irrelevant.

From the 18th through the mid-19th century, whale oil provided light to much of the Western world. At its peak, whaling employed 70,000 people and was the United States’ fifth-largest industry. The U.S. stood as the world’s foremost whale slayer. Producing millions of gallons of oil each year, the industry was widely seen as unassailable, with advocates scoffing at would-be illumination substitutes like lard oil and camphene. Without whale oil, so the thinking went, the world would slide backward toward darkness.

Climate alarmists and campaigning environmentalists argue that the industrialized countries of the world have made sizable withdrawals on nature’s fixed allowance, and unless we change our ways, and soon, we are doomed to an abrupt end. Take the recent proclamation from the United Nations Environment Program, which argued that governments should dramatically cut back on the use of resources. The mantra has become commonplace: our current way of living is selfish and unsustainable. We are wrecking the world. We are gobbling up the last resources. We are cutting down the rainforest. We are polluting the water. We are polluting the air. We are killing plants and animals, destroying the ozone layer, burning the world through our addiction to fossil fuels, and leaving a devastated planet for future generations.

In other words, humanity is doomed.

It is a compelling story, no doubt. It is also fundamentally wrong, and the consequences are severe. Tragically, exaggerated environmental worries—and the willingness of so many to believe them—could ultimately prevent us from finding smarter ways to actually help our planet and ensure the health of the environment for future generations.

Hunkered-down America

It’s a cliche — but true — that a huge obstacle to a stronger economic recovery is the lack of confidence in a strong recovery. If consumers and businesses were more confident, they would be spending, hiring and lending more freely. Even a slight relaxation might do wonders for the subpar nature of the expansion, highlighted by May’s meager 54,000 increase in payroll jobs. Instead, we’re deluged with reports suggesting that, because the recession was so deep, it will take many years to regain anything like the pre-crisis prosperity.

Just last week, for example, the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the consulting firm, released a study estimating that the country needs 21 million additional jobs by 2020 to reduce the unemployment rate to 5 percent. The study was skeptical that this would happen. Ugh. Pessimism and slow growth become a vicious cycle.

Battered confidence most obviously reflects the ferocity and shock of the financial collapse and the ensuing recession, including the devastating housing collapse. But there’s another, less appreciated cause: disillusion with modern economics.

Probably without realizing it, most Americans had accepted the fundamental promises of contemporary economics. These were: First, we know enough to prevent another Great Depression; second, although we can’t prevent every recession, we know enough to ensure sustained and, for the most part, strong recoveries. These propositions, endorsed by most economists, had worked themselves into society’s belief structure.

Embracing them does not preclude economic disappointments, setbacks, worries or risks. But for most people most of the time, it does preclude economic calamity. People felt protected. If you stop believing them, then you act differently. You begin shielding yourself, as best you can, against circumstances and dangers that you can’t foresee but that you fear are there.

You become more cautious. You hesitate more before making a big commitment — buying a home or car, if you’re a consumer; hiring workers, if you’re an employer; starting a new business, if you’re an entrepreneur; or making loans, if you’re a banker. Almost everyone is hunkered down in some way.

Economic models, based on past relationships and assumptions, don’t capture the shift, which embodies new assumptions and beliefs. Of course, most Americans have not consciously rejected the promises of modern economics. Neither did they consciously embrace them before. Judgments were seat-of-the-pants. People simply compared the promises against the evidence. Since the 1980s, recessions had been brief and mild; modern economics had ensured crude stability. Now, that no longer applies.

Attitudes and behavior change. One disturbing fact from the McKinsey report is this: The number of new businesses, a traditional source of jobs, was down 23 percent in 2010 from 2007; the level was the lowest since 1983, when America had about 75 million fewer people. Large corporations are standoffish. They have about $2 trillion of cash and securities on their balance sheets, which could be used for hiring and investing in new products. Meanwhile, the latest University of Michigan Survey of Consumers reports that “record numbers . . . thought that their incomes would lag inflation over the next five years.” Note: They didn’t expect high inflation so much as low income growth.

Rise of the Superbacteria

When Philip Tarr heard the first reports of a massive outbreak of E. coli in Europe recently, they had a sickeningly familiar ring. Tarr, a microbiologist at Washington University, is an expert on the strains of E. coli that have periodically wreaked havoc in the United States. In 2006, for example, E. coli on contaminated spinach infected 199 people in the United States, causing kidney failure in a number of cases. The European outbreak seemed to fit the pattern: people were infected with E. coli apparently after eating contaminated vegetables.

But then Tarr got a rude shock. German hospitals sent samples of the E. coli to the Beijing Genome Center to have their DNA sequenced. On June 2, the Chinese researchers reported that the strain was not the same E. coli that contaminated the spinach, known as O157:H7. In fact, it was an entirely different strain, called O104:H4, that had never been associated with epidemics before. Tarr searched the medical literature for reports of the European strain. He could find only a handful of people who had carried it, and none of them got sick. But somehow this obscure microbe had turned vicious, triggering one of the biggest—if not the biggest—E. coli epidemics in history, with at least 1,730 infections and 18 deaths (at time of writing).

“We didn’t know this bug was out there,” says Tarr. “This outbreak is taking us all by surprise.”

The fact that someone like Tarr has been taken by surprise should be of concern to everyone. The new epidemic raises grave questions about how prepared the United States and other countries are for a similar outbreak.

What makes these outbreaks particularly confusing is that E. coli is, for the most part, a harmless creature. We are each home to billions of harmless E. coli that dwell in our gut. They live peacefully in every other mammal, too. E. coli is so harmless, in fact, that microbiologists began to rear E. coli in laboratory flasks a century ago, and it became the best-studied species on earth.

But in the mid-1900s, scientists began uncovering strains of E. coli that could cause life-threatening diarrhea. Unlike ordinary E. coli, they carried genes for a poison known as Shiga toxin, named for Japanese bacteriologist Kiyoshi Shiga. Over time, microbiologists identified a number of strains of disease-causing bacteria, classifying them by the proteins on their surface. In 1982, E. coli O157:H7 burst on the scene with particularly grisly flair. It struck 25 people in Medford, Ore., and then three months later the same strain caused an outbreak in Traverse City, Mich. Scientists were able to trace the bacteria back to undercooked hamburgers.

Since then, scientists have found a half dozen other strains that cause similar illnesses, but E. coli O157:H7 has been responsible for the lion’s share of E. coli food poisoning. It struck again in 1993 in contaminated hamburgers in Washington state, for example, sickening 732 people and killing four of them. But it has not used just hamburger to infect its victims. Along with the spinach outbreak of 2006, E. coli O157:H7 has turned up in lettuce, bean sprouts, and even cookie dough.

The mystery of Amina Arraf

Questions have been raised about the identity of the Syrian blogger since news broke of her abduction earlier this week.

At first, it seemed like a straightforward -- if disheartening -- case of yet another internet activist paying the price for speaking out against the regime under who's watch they have the misfortune to live. On Monday evening Amina Arraf, a young gay woman living and blogging in Damascus, was reportedly kidnapped by armed men -- assumed to be members of Syria's notorious secret services -- and taken to an unknown location.

"We do not know who has taken her, so we do not know who to ask for her back," wrote her cousin, Rania Ismail on the homepage of Amina's blog, A Gay Girl in Damascus.

Major news organisations and social media sites around the world quickly picked up on this harrowing tale of a young woman punished for her outspoken beliefs and commitment to her sexual identity -- the "Free Amina" Facebook page amassed over 15,000 followers in the days since her disappearance.

But the story has quickly unravelled.

Doubts about Amina's identity surfaced after it emerged that the photographs purportedly of her were in fact taken from the Facebook page of Jelena Lecic, a Croatian woman living in London who has no connection to any lesbian woman in Damascus. Journalists and investigators have been unable to find any traces of a Damascene woman whose personal life corresponds to that of Amina, and the US embassy in Damascus also has no record of her existence, which is highly suspicious considering her claims to have dual American citizenship .

So, who is Amina Arraf? It is perfectly possible that "Amina" is merely the pen name of a Syrian activist who has been careful in concealing their identity from the authorities -- although perhaps not careful enough. Equally, there is a possibility that the blogger is entirely a work of cynical online fiction (cases of which have been reported before, as in the instance of Plain Layne, a young bisexual female blogger who transpired to exist purely in the imagination of Odin Soli, a middle-aged man who had previously blogged as Acanit, a young Muslim lesbian with a Jewish girlfriend).

Amina's story raises myriad questions about the elusiveness of online identity and the problematic nature of trying to verify information purely through the internet. But however mysterious or suspicious this particular case may be, it should not make us forget the plight of thousands of other bloggers and activists in the Middle East and across the world who have been forcibly detained for expressing their views.

And if the writer of A Gay Girl in Damascus does exist, and is currently being held by the Syrian security services, we can only hope that the media flurry surrounding this story will in some way aid his or her circustances by raising awareness of the situation in the country.

Emanuelle Degli Esposti is a freelance journalist currently living and working in London. She has written for the Sunday Express, the Daily Telegraph and the Economist online.

Syria Gay Girl in Damascus blog a hoax by US man

A blog purportedly written by a gay woman in Syria, which described life in Damascas amid the current political unrest, has been revealed to be a hoax.

A Girl Gay in Damascus gained a worldwide readership and was closely followed by news organisations.

But the true author has now come forward - Tom MacMaster, an American man studying in Scotland.

Many Syrian activists have reacted angrily, accusing him of trivialising or even harming their cause.

"One day if I'm kidnapped by my government, many readers won't care because I could turn out to be another Amina," wrote one Lebanese blogger.

The Gay Girl in Damascus blog, dating back to February this year, claimed to document the life of 25-year-old Amina Abdallah Arraf al-Omari, a half-Syrian, half American lesbian living in Damascus.

Entries covered her social life and relationships, but "Amina" also criticised President Bashar al-Assad and spoke about her role in the growing anti-government protests.

"What a time to be in Syria! What a time to be an Arab! What a time to be alive!" read an entry on 24 March.

"I want to rush out in the street and celebrate (and will as soon as I finish writing this)."

'Not harmed anyone'

Blogs and social media have been a key source of information during the Middle East and North African uprisings, and the blog was soon being followed by journalists and activists around the world.

"Amina" even gave interviews to news organisations - an Associated Press reporter who corresponded at length with the blogger said her e-mails sounded very much like those of a woman in the middle of a violent uprising.

Then in a post last Monday, an entry said to be written by Amina's cousin was posted, saying she had been seized by armed men believed to be members of President Assad's Baath party.

"We are hoping she is simply in jail and nothing worse has happened to her," said the cousin, calling for help in finding out what had happened.

The news was widely reported, including by the BBC, and bloggers and activists launched an online campaign to secure her release.

But when the first photograph of the blogger was posted, it turned out to be that of a woman living in London who said she had no connection with the blog. Later, the US embassy said they had no record of a citizen with dual nationality matching Amina's identity and it emerged no-one had spoken to Amina in person.

On Sunday, an "apology to readers" appeared on the blog signed by Tom MacMaster - a 40-year-old American Middle East activist studying at Edinburgh University who said he was "the sole author of all posts on this blog".

"While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground," he writes.

"I do not believe that I have harmed anyone - I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about."

Mr MacMaster said he had just tried to show some of the struggles of people living amid political upheaval in the Middle East and to "illuminate them for a western audience".

But political and gay activists have reacted furiously to the revelation.

"Because of you, Mr MacMaster, a lot of the real activists in the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender] community became under the spotlight of the authorities in Syria," wrote Daniel Nassar, an editor of the Gay Middle East blog.

"You took away my voice, Mr MacMaster, and the voices of many people who I know."

BangPound, one blogger who investigated the story, wrote on Twitter: "There is no positive side effect of the Amina hoax. It did not bring attention to Syria. It brought attention to a white fantasy."

Families of missing people to call for more support

The government is being urged to improve support for the "heartbroken" families of people who go missing.

The UK's first parliamentary inquiry into the issue will look at what campaigners say is a "complete gap" in help for those affected.

Among those giving evidence later will be three mothers of missing children, including Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared abroad in 2007.

The inquiry will make recommendations to the coalition government.

As well as Mrs McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, the inquiry will hear from mothers Sarah Godwin, whose son Quentin was 18 when he went missing in New Zealand while on his way to an after-school job in 1992, and Nicki Durbin.

Mrs Godwin said her son could be anywhere, but has strong roots with England because she is from England and he was very close to her English parents, who have since died.

'Living nightmare'

She told the BBC: "I think it's the connectivity that's really important for the families, or people who are struggling with a missing relative, not to have to search around and work out who to talk to."

She said Quentin had left behind a letter which could be read as a suicide note, and the police stepped in and did "as much as they could".

"It just takes over your life, it becomes an all-absorbing and all-engrossing area of your life," she said.

"You're driving down the road and you're looking at people walking up the street to see if you can see their faces, but it's the long-term that's really the hard road."

She said that, when she meets other parents as the inquiry later on Monday, it will be her first face-to-face encounter with someone in the same situation.

Mrs McCann, whose daughter Madeleine was three went she went missing during a family holiday in Portugal, will tell the inquiry: "When someone you love goes missing, you are left with unimaginable, unending heartbreak, confusion, guilt, and worry.

"In addition to the reassurance that everything possible is being done to find their missing loved one, families need support. And they should be spared the additional pain of financial and legal bureaucracy."

Ms Durbin, whose son Luke disappeared after a night out in Ipswich five years ago, said: "It sounds like such a cliche, but it is a living nightmare. Personally, there isn't an hour of a day that goes by without me thinking about Luke.

"If my house was burgled, I would have got support. And that would have obviously been emotional support, legal support. When I reported Luke missing, there was nothing. And there still isn't anything."

She has been backed by the charity Missing People, which says that after 48 hours relatives should be given support similar to that given to the victims of serious crime.

Registering deaths

Peter Lawrence, father of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence, will give evidence later in the week along with Rachel Elias, the sister of missing Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards.

The inquiry will also consider calls to make it easier to register the death of a missing person whose body has not been found. This is in order to sort out their financial and legal affairs.

Courts can be asked to declare someone dead after seven years, although in England and Wales it is not statutory.

Ms Elias, whose brother Richey Edwards went missing in a high-profile case in 1995, says getting a missing person declared dead is too complicated.

NI sex offenders management 'role model for others'

The way sex offenders are managed in Northern Ireland is so effective that the Republic of Ireland is considering adopting it as a model, an inspection report suggests.

There are more than 1,100 registered sex offenders living in the NI community.

The Criminal Justice Inspection said a new system introduced three years ago was working well.

That verdict has been welcomed by the agencies involved, including police.

The report made 13 points aimed at consolidating progress to date.

The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice, Dr Michael Maguire, said it was imperative that victims' issues remained a priority for all involved with public protection arrangements.

He said staff must ensure they did not become focused solely on the process of risk management.

'Pleased at progress'

This included recommending that the Northern Ireland Prison Service should improve its contribution to the public protection arrangements process "through greater engagement" with training and by "strengthening its offender behaviour programme delivery".

"The management of serious offenders including sex offenders in the community is a high profile and critically important aspect of the criminal justice system and we are pleased to report progress within each of the agencies involved in delivering the public protection arrangements," Dr Maguire added.

"The supervision of offenders is not prison in the community and there will always be the possibility of serious crime being committed.

"While no set of arrangements can mitigate all risks completely, it is imperative the arrangements in place to protect the public operate effectively."

Dr Maguire said the introduction of legislation which placed public protection arrangements on a statutory footing had been "beneficial and underpinned important improvements in the management of sex offenders".

At the time of the inspection for the report in September 2010, there were 1,356 offenders subject to management by the Northern Ireland agencies involved in public protection arrangements.

A total of 1,207 offenders were managed in the community and 149 were in custody.

The report said inspectors had found clear evidence that previous Criminal Justice Inspection recommendations had been implemented.

Sailor Stripes: Gotta Have It or Make It Stop?Sailor Stripes: Gotta Have It or Make It Stop?

Ahoy, Hollywood!

Stars are embracing the nautical trend this summer, wearing sailor stripes in red, white and navy, with brass buttons, crisp white shorts and fishermen's hats.

But what does our Fashion Police panel think of this maritime-inspired style?

"It screams summer," says Giuliana Rancic. And despite Eva's almost exposed poop deck and Rihanna's love for seamen, the verdict's unanimous.

"I say gotta have it," says Joan Rivers. "Whenever you want to go on the good ship Lollyslut you just put that on and go."

Bitch-Back! Blind Vice Games and Blabber Mouths!

Dear Ted:
After the horrific homophobic rant from Tracy Morgan, I would like to know: Is the guy's behind-the-scenes attitude as awful as his acting? I love 30 Rock but I always tend to fast-forward when the guy is on-screen. Also, I have a quickie. Let's play Ditch, Do or Marry: Youngsters Edition! Who would you do, ditch or marry from the following: Wilby Whiskers, Parrish Maguire and Nevis Divine? Thanks!
—Nicholas

Dear Rock 'n' A-Hole:
Tracy hasn't made his less-than-PC opinions a secret in the past so I wasn't too surprised when I heard about the latest crap he was spewing. Not funny, obviously, and just cause he issued some generic apology doesn't mean he's off the hook. Tina Fey has done a pretty good job keeping his 'tude out of the public eye, but one woman can only do so much. As for the BVs, well, I'd marry Nev, do Parr, and ditch Wilby. But that's an interesting selection for "youngsters," age-wise I mean.

Dear Ted:
I don't think I have seen Leonardo DiCaprio photographed this much before with his previous girlfriends. I am beginning to wonder if Blake Lively leaks more than just pictures, like say her location at all times to the media?

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/the_awful_truth/b246726_bitch-back_blind_vice_games_blabber.html#ixzz1P3lMsYvM

Lily Allen Is Married...And Pregnant!

Even the fact that people knew about it beforehand couldn't stop Lily Allen from smiling on her big day.

The 26-year-old songbird swapped vows with Sam Cooper at St. James the Great Church in Gloucestershire, England, on Saturday, according to People. Dad Keith Allen walked her down the aisle. But that wasn't the only big news for the couple...

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/#ixzz1P3kBIGGr

Is no makeup better?

make is usually is better, but bad makeup is not good. because natural is natural and so beautiful in looking in natural. like in these images of celebrities.

Big pants: Our guide to the year's most unlikely trend

Do away with diets, and you can forget exercise: the fastest way to a flat tummy is a pair of Big Pants. Don't take my word for it though, there's a growing celebrity appreciation society embracing large lingerie.

It all started with Hugh Grant's close encounter with Bridget Jones's Big Pants in the film version of her eponymous diary.

Those who suspect Big Pants can't be sexy should note that it hardly stopped him in his tracks.

More recent members of the club include Sienna Miller, whose bold Big Pants sans skirt look at the Factory Girl premiere brought them to the attention of the fashionista crowd.

Then there's Beyonce, who blinged up her pair by covering them in sequins on her latest U.S. tour. And earlier this week, skinny Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud was pictured sporting a pair of Spanx body-squeezers under her dress after a night out.

I'm not surprised that the stars are turning against thongs in favour of the comfy pleasures of Big Pants - not least because you'll never lose your dignity in front of the paparazzi in a pair of sturdy smalls that would make your granny proud.

Five months into my pregnancy with my son, I was initiated into the Big Pants club. My knickers had morphed from flimsy slips of sexy silk into something large enough to keep all the fans dry at rain-soaked Wimbledon.

As I pulled up bloomers that were bigger than my pre-baby blouses, I admit I mourned the loss of those prenatal itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny panties.

But I was soon won over by the fact that I wouldn't have to endure the all-day wedgie effect of wearing a thong, or have to dig around in an unladylike fashion to rescue my G-string from parts it should never have reached.

What I lost in sex appeal, I gained in comfort. So even once the baby was born, the Big Pants stayed.

They proved their worth all over again as the perfect way to hide the fact that far from snapping back into shape after giving birth, I was still sporting a belly that once had strangers asking me when I was due.

This magical ability to hide a multitude of sins (and that box of chocs you know you shouldn't have eaten) lies at the heart of our love affair with Big Pants.

Even when you haven't been able to stick to your diet and your dress is a size too small, you can rely on your trusty pair of superfirm control pants.

The power of Lycra will suck you in from knees to chest, sculpting a waist that didn't seem to be there when you got up this morning.

Behind many a slinky siren there lurks a pair of polyester passion killers with a bulletproof tummy panel and industrial strength, butt-sculpting seams. Even Gwyneth Paltrow is known to have worn control pants after having her son.

But be warned, there are a couple of drawbacks to these drawers.

First, look out for the ugly cousin of VPL (visible panty line). VFL is the visible line of fat that oozes out above the waistline of your control pants, creating an unsightly set of love handles.

But you could always pull up your pants an inch or two more and move your dispossessed fat to boost your cleavage.

Second, remember that if you seduce a bloke thanks to your Big Pants' power to give you a sexy shape under a dress, when you get him home, always undress in the dark.

Even if your man shares Hugh Grant's fictional fetish for granny pants, there is nothing that will kill his passion quicker than watching his date shoehorning herself out of skin-tight pants to reveal a belly three times larger than advertised.

Stick to those rules, though, and Big Pants are definitely a girl's best friend. Now that celebrities have discovered this ticket to an instantly taut tummy, there's no reason you can't, too.

Ballet star Carlos Acosta admits O2 Arena challenges

Ballet star Carlos Acosta has admitted there will be challenges staging Romeo and Juliet at the O2.

Acosta bellieves the huge London arena is "not ideal", saying: "You lose the intimacy that Romeo and Juliet needs, you have to rely on cameras."

But the Cuban dancer, who plays Romeo, said it was something The Royal Ballet "needs to do".

"There is a new audience that we need to educate as to what ballet is, how wonderful it is," said the dancer.

"The company is looking good, casting is strong and the excitement is going to be there," Acosta told BBC Arts editor Will Gompertz.

The 38-year-old will perform in front of a nightly audience of up to 12,000 people at the arena.

In spite of "all the things that work against us in that particular venue, they will be able to appreciate what ballet is - colourful, special... and want to follow it more. That is what it is all about," he added.

It is hoped staging the production at the O2 will attract people who may not have thought about a night at the ballet before.

For its 2009/10 ballet season, just 22% of audiences at the Royal Opera House were under 36 years of age, while just over half lived within 10 miles of the central London venue.

"This is an attempt to attract new audiences, to educate the audience of the future," said Acosta, who grew up breakdancing on the streets of Havana.

"Hopefully there is a much younger crowd that [will] come to the O2, a diversified crowd.

"It is not about segregation... dance is for everybody."

In Cuba, he added, "they treat it [ballet] like you imagine the final of the World Cup... it's massive, it's on TV, it's everywhere and it's not a bit elitist."

Romeo and Juliet will be the first time the ballet company has performed in a UK arena.

Announcing the production last year, company director Dame Monica Mason said she was "thrilled" about the production being shown in such a huge venue as it would "introduce our work to so many new people".

Also featuring Tamara Rojo, Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg dancing the principal roles, the ballet will run from 17-19 June.

Pakistan soldiers held over videoed killing in Karachi

Police in Karachi, Pakistan, say they have arrested two paramilitary soldiers seen on video killing a young man.

Video footage shows the man, Sarfaraz Shah, begging for his life before being shot by six members of the Sindh Rangers paramilitary force.

The Rangers say the young man was caught trying to rob someone. His family denies this.

An inquiry is already under way into the killing of five unarmed Chechens last month by the security forces.

The video from Karachi, which has been broadcast widely on Pakistani television, is disturbing to watch.

It shows a young man in a black T-shirt being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes.

He is pushed towards a group of Sindh Rangers who are in uniform and armed. The young man, who does not appear to be armed, pleads for his life as one of the Rangers points a gun at his neck.

A little later, a Ranger shoots him twice at close range, hitting him in the thigh. The young man is seen writhing on the ground, bleeding heavily and begging for help.

The paramilitaries remain close to the injured man but do nothing to help him. He died from his injuries.

The journalists' union in Karachi have said that the TV cameraman who shot the video had received threats and was being "pressured [by authorities] to say it was a fake".

Sarfaraz's brother, Salik Shah, said he had been the victim of an extrajudicial killing.

The incident has sparked an outcry with some politicians calling for the Rangers involved to be prosecuted.

It comes as a separate inquiry is under way in neighbouring Balochistan Province into the killing of five Chechens by members of the paramilitary.

Five civilians, including a heavily pregnant woman, were shot dead at close range in the western city of Quetta, despite apparently trying to surrender.

Officials initially said that the five family members were armed and were suicide bombers - but this was later found to be u

ntrue.

Deadly blasts at market in Pakistani city of Peshawar

At least 34 people have been killed and 90 wounded after two explosions ripped through a market in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, police say.

The blasts occurred just after midnight in an area of the city that is home to political offices and army housing.

The number of attacks by militants in Pakistan has risen sharply since al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US commando raid last month.

On Thursday, a bombing on the outskirts of Peshawar left four people dead.

An explosive device was planted in a pile of rubbish by the roadside in the Matani area, police said. The victims included a woman and a child.

Remote

A senior police official in Peshawar, Dost Mohammed, told the Associated Press that the first explosion on Sunday had been relatively small, and had drawn rescue workers, police and several journalists to the scene.

Minutes later, a large explosion rocked the area, causing the fatalities and most of the injuries. Eighteen people were said to be in a serious condition in hospital.

Jamal Khan, a 22-year-old student, was in his flat when the first blast happened. He was hit by flying debris by the second blast after rushing downstairs.

"The explosion was so huge I will never forget it all my life," he told AP. "It was deafening, and then there was a cloud of dust and smoke. When the dust settled, I saw people crying for help and body parts scattered everywhere."

Mr Mohammed said initial reports suggested the second blast was caused by explosives hidden in a vehicle and detonated by remote.

However, several police officials later said it might have been carried out by a suicide bomber on a motorbike.

The source of the first explosion is still unknown.

The AFP news agency said the apparent target was a supermarket. But the blasts also occurred close to a building containing the offices of several newspapers and across the road from those of the top political agent to Khyber, a volatile tribal region. There is also housing for soldiers nearby.

Rahimullah Yusfzai, editor of the News International newspaper, told the BBC he was in his office nearby when the blast went off.

He said the area had many shops and restaurants and was popular with families and students.

"First there was a small blast, we thought it was a gas cylinder which had exploded. Many people then ran towards the site of the blast and then the second big explosion took place which was heard far and wide," he said.

"This is how the militants operate - there is, in almost all cases, a smaller blast then a bigger one when the police and the media arrive."

The incident came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited the capital, Islamabad, for talks with senior Pakistani officials.

Speaking at a joint news conference, Pakistan's Prime Minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, said his country would give Afghanistan all the support it could, as Kabul pursued peace talks with the Taliban.

Mr Gilani said Pakistan's only aim was to support the peace process.

Panetta tries to repair strained relations with Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- In Pakistan to repair damaged relations, CIA Director Leon Panetta urged top officials to step up efforts to hunt militants operating within its borders as the United States reduced troop levels in the south Asian

nation at the request of Islamabad.

Between 200 and 300 U.S. military personnel remain in Pakistan, said a U.S. military spokesman, who asked not to be identified. It's not known what the previous number was but an official U.S. statement said the reduction was in line with a request from the Pakistani government.

"We recently received a written request from the Government of Pakistan to reduce the number of U.S. military personnel here, and we have nearly completed that reduction," said Navy Vice Adm. Michael LeFever, a U.S. defense representative in Pakistan.

Pakistan's military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani said the United States "has drastically cut down" troop strength in Pakistan.

Panetta met with the chiefs of Pakistan's military and top spy agency Friday to discuss U.S. partnership with Pakistan, strained by disputes about how to pursue counter-terrorism efforts.

Panetta's unannounced visit was the latest in a series of such visits by U.S. officials -- among them, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Sen. John Kerry -- in efforts to smooth things over after Osama bin Laden was killed in a Navy SEALs raid in early May.

Panetta insisted that Pakistan launch a military operation in North Waziristan, a rugged mountainous region rife with militants, according to a senior Pakistani official who asked to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Kayani agreed with Panetta in principle but told the incoming defense secretary that Pakistani troops are already stretched thin.

Panetta and his Pakistani counterparts agreed to form a joint intelligence team to track militant targets inside Pakistan.

U.S. officials believe Pakistan is not doing enough to go after al Qaeda and other extremists, while the Pakistanis are upset with what they consider to be unilateral steps taken by the United States within their borders.

Washington did not give advance notice to Pakistani officials about the raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad.

At his confirmation hearing Thursday for defense secretary, Panetta, described the U.S. relationship with Pakistan as "difficult" but "critical."

While Pakistan has proven to be a safe haven for extremists, a positive relationship with authorities in Islamabad is vital to the mission in Afghanistan, he said.

Gallery: India's monsoon arrives early

his year the monsoon arrived in Mumbai almost a week ahead of schedule. It announced itself with whip-cracking thunder on June 5, catching the otherwise prepared Mumbaikar unawares.

Around June 10 in normal years, the average Mumbaikar has umbrellas, rubber slippers, plastic bags, waterproof bags, zip-locked checkbook holders, the works. Girlfriends make dates with each other to shop for gumboots.

The slush and the rush of the torrents of water leave the average worker surviving twice-over: once their normal day in an anxious, heaving city, and once again to wade towards their destinations.

However in contrast to a heavy snow-day elsewhere in the world, no monsoon can stop Mumbai.

Everything looks full and ripe, and children play and nobody is thirsty, and all of a day’s work (and play) is undertaken wet, instead of dry.

The monsoon is a great inspiration to pop-culture. From countless Bollywood films to Tuhin Sinha’s novel, "That Thing Called Love" and Kashmira Sheth’s endearing children’s book, illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi, about a young boy and his grandfather who go out one "Monsoon Afternoon" to sail paper boats.

More famously, Steve McCurry, the photographer behind the lucid eyes of the Afghan girl featured on the front of National Geographic, created a monsoon series set in Mumbai.

Particularly, this portrait of a tailor in the monsoon became similarly iconic, for framing the good humor and idiosyncrasies that come with this paradoxical season.

McCurry's photos all pinpoint the simultaneous hardship and humor and accidental poetry that come with the monsoon season in Mumbai.

This photo gallery charts the same.

Read more: Gallery: India's monsoon arrives early | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/wettest-monsoon-photo-gallery-youve-ever-seen-410728?hpt=hp_c2#ixzz1OyHldCXf

Syria: Thousands still fleeing into Turkey

At least 4,300 people have now fled violence in Syria to seek refuge in Turkey, a senior Turkish official says.

A BBC correspondent on the border says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher.

The Syrians have mainly been fleeing the town of Jisr al-Shughour, targeted in a government crackdown.

An eyewitness described a tank attack on a nearby village on Friday morning, in which people were killed and crops destroyed.

Syria's government says its forces went into the town to restore order after the deaths of 120 security personnel.

Clashes throughout the country on Friday led to the deaths of at least 32 people.

Hundreds of people have been killed in a crackdown in recent weeks on anti-government protests, which began in March.

Meanwhile the US White House strongly condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" against the protesters and called for an "immediate end" to the violence.

'Not refugees'

The BBC's Owen Bennett Jones, in Guvecci on the Turkish-Syrian border, says the real number of displaced people is probably much higher than official total because many have slipped across the border unnoticed by the Turkish army.

Senior Foreign Ministry official Halit Cevik said Turkey would deal with the crisis as best it could.

"If they are coming, this is a humanitarian issue," he said. "We will do whatever is needed within our means."

He added that while Turkey could cope with the crisis at the moment, it might need international help if things got worse.

But Mr Cevik said that the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, would not be involved.

The Syrians involved were not seeking refuge in Turkey, he said, as their eventual aim was to go back home.

Russian colonel who killed Chechen girl is shot dead

A Russian colonel who was jailed for murdering a Chechen teenager has been shot dead in central Moscow.

Yuri Budanov was killed on Friday by an unidentified gunman on Komsomolsky Prospekt, a busy avenue in the capital, state prosecutors said.

In 2003 a court upheld his 10-year jail sentence for strangling an 18-year-old girl in war-torn Chechnya in 2000.

But he was released early from jail in January 2009 - a move that angered human rights activists.

Russian media say the gunman, wearing a blue jacket and hood, attacked Budanov at about 1230 (0830 GMT), shooting him six times with a pistol, then fled by car.

The Mitsubishi Lancer getaway car was later found abandoned and on fire, the reports said. A pistol and silencer were found inside.

High-profile case

The Budanov trial was big news in Russia, where very few officers have been prosecuted over abuses committed during Russia's two campaigns against Chechen separatist rebels.

He was the only senior officer to be jailed for crimes committed in Chechnya.

He was found guilty of the kidnapping and strangling of Elza Kungayeva in 2000. An allegation that he had also raped her was dropped.

The murder provoked outrage in Chechnya, where many civilians have died at the hands of Russian forces and the local pro-Moscow militia, during the long war against rebels.

At his re-trial in 2003 Budanov accused Russian media of having swayed the judge, insisting that he was "a Russian soldier who defended his country for the past 20 years".

Budanov was acquitted at his first trial in December 2002, when the court accepted his plea that he had been temporarily insane at the time of the killing.

But the Russian supreme court ordered a re-trial, where he was found to have been of sound mind at the time. He was found guilty and stripped of his rank and the Order of Courage, which he had won in breakaway Chechnya.

Budanov told the court he believed that Kungayeva was a Chechen sniper and that a fit of rage had come over him as he interrogated her.

The lawyer representing Kungayeva's family, Stanislav Markelov, was shot dead in Moscow in January 2009, along with a journalist, Anastasia Baburova, who was with him at the time.

Last month a court in Moscow sentenced a Russian nationalist to life imprisonment for the double murder. His partner was also jailed.

Syria: US condemns 'brutality and violence'

The US has strongly condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" against anti-government protesters.

The White House said the government was leading Syria down a "dangerous path" and called for "an immediate end to the brutality and violence".

Activists say at least 32 people were killed in fresh clashes on Friday.

The violence came as government forces moved into the town of Jisr al-Shughour, where it said 120 security personnel had

killed.

Hundreds of civilians have fled north into Turkey to escape the assault.

Assad 'unavailable'

In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated calls for the Syrian security forces to exercise restraint.

"The Syrian government is leading Syria on a dangerous path," he said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, described the use of military force as "unacceptable".

A spokesman for Mr Ban said he was "keen to speak to" Syria's president, but that Bashar al-Assad had repeatedly been "unavailable" in recent days.

Syria has prevented foreign journalists, including those from the BBC, from entering the country, making it difficult to independently verify reports from there

In the most serious of Friday's incidents, anti-government activists said about 15 people had died in the northern province of Idlib.

They said most of the deaths were in Maarat al-Numan, where tanks and helicopters are said to have fired on protesters who had taken to the streets after prayers.

State TV and opposition figures said police stations in the town had been attacked by protesters.

Correspondents say it is the first reported use of air power to quell protests in Syria's three-month uprising.

'Mutiny'

Both state media and activists on the ground also reported troops and tanks advancing on Jisr al-Shughour.

Afghanistan: Sixteen dead in Kandahar blast

Sixteen people, including children, died when their vehicle was blown up in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, the Interior Ministry says.

The attack took place in Arghandab district, an unstable area with a strong Taliban presence.

This is the latest of several deadly attacks.

The UN says May was the worst month for civilian casualties in Afghanistan since 2007.

Earlier, at least three people - including the commander of a rapid reaction police unit -p were killed and 12 injured in a suicide attack in Khost province, in the east of the country.

Militants in Afghanistan frequently target the police and military.

Syria: US condemns 'brutality and violence'Unverified amateur video appears to show Syrian soldiers kicking prisoners.Unverified amateur video appears

The US has strongly condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" against anti-government protesters.

The White House said the government was leading Syria down a "dangerous path" and called for "an immediate end to the brutality and violence".

Activists say at least 32 people were killed in fresh clashes on Friday.

The violence came as government forces moved into the town of Jisr al-Shughour, where it said 120 security personnel had earlier been killed.

Hundreds of civilians have fled north into Turkey to escape the assault.

Assad 'unavailable'

In a statement, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated calls for the Syrian security forces to exercise restraint.

Both state media and activists on the ground also reported troops and tanks advancing on Jisr al-Shughour.

Most residents are believed to have abandoned the town.

The government blamed "armed groups" for the deaths of 120 security personnel in Jisr al-Shughour earlier this week, but some reports said the troops were shot after a mutiny.

Syrian TV said troops had reached the outskirts of the town after securing nearby villages, and that they had killed or captured a number of armed men.

Activists said they had blasted the town with tank fire, but the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says there is little indication as to how much resistance the troops are facing in an area whose population has largely fled.

Slaughtered like lambs'

There were reports of large demonstrations against President Assad in many parts of Syria after prayers on Friday.

Security forces are reported to have opened fire in some areas - activists said there were deaths in the coastal town of Latakia, in Deraa in the south, and in a suburb of Damascus.

Friday protests have become a regular event since March, but government efforts to quash them have escalated in recent weeks.

Human rights groups say more than 1,300 people have died in the crackdown, mostly unarmed civilians. The government denies this and says about 500 security forces have died.

More than 3,000 Syrians - mostly women and children - have crossed the border into Turkey to escape the violence, many of them from Jisr al-Shughour. An unknown number of people are thought to have fled to other locations within Syria.

"People were not going to sit and be slaughtered like lambs," one refugee in Turkey told Reuters news agency.

Some of those arriving at the temporary camps have serious gunshot injuries - including a Syrian Red Crescent worker who said he was shot in the back as he tried to help the injured in Jisr al-Shughour.

With the unrest showing no sign of abating, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has set up a new camp in Turkey capable of housing up to 5,000 people.

Are you in Syria? Have you travelled from Syria to Turkey to flee the situation there? Send us your comments and experiences.