Drive-by victim arrested in Amador Jones killing

PHILIPSBURG--The man who was taken to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) after he was hit twice in the left leg in a drive-by shooting in Dutch Quarter last week Wednesday around 3:15pm has been arrested in connection with the death of Amador Jones.

Jones, the son of former commissioner of sports Elton Jones, was killed by a masked man outside a bar and carwash on Saturday, April 16, on L.B. Scott Road.

The suspect said Amador Jones' brother had been driving the Ford Expedition from which he had been shot, which was set ablaze in Oyster Pond later that day.

Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos said, "The grounds for his arrest were based on statements made that his attacker was the brother of Amador Jones. Witnesses still refuse to cooperate and continue to imply that they will address the issue themselves."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16206-drive-by-victim-arrested-in-amador-jones-killing.html

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U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show

The London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, began broadcasting in April 2009 but has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria as part of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the country?s autocratic leader, Bashar al-Assad. Human rights groups say scores of people have been killed by Assad?s security forces since the demonstrations began March 18; Syria has blamed the violence on ?armed gangs.?Barada TV is closely affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network of Syrian exiles. Classified U.S. diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million to the group since 2006 to operate the satellite channel and finance other activities inside Syria. The channel is named after the Barada River, which courses through the heart of Damascus, the Syrian capital.The U.S. money for Syrian opposition figures began flowing under President George W. Bush after he effectively froze political ties with Damascus in 2005. The financial backing has continued under President Obama, even as his administration sought to rebuild relations with Assad. In January, the White House posted an ambassador to Damascus for the first time in six years.The cables, provided by the anti-secrecy Web site WikiLeaks, show that U.S. Embassy officials in Damascus became worried in 2009 when they learned that Syrian intelligence agents were raising questions about U.S. programs. Some embassy officials suggested that the State Department reconsider its involvement, arguing that it could put the Obama administration?s rapprochement with Damascus at risk. Syrian authorities ?would undoubtedly view any U.S. funds going to illegal political groups as tantamount to supporting regime change,? read an April 2009 cable signed by the top-ranking U.S. diplomat in Damascus at the time. ?A reassessment of current U.S.-sponsored programming that supports anti-[government] factions, both inside and outside Syria, may prove productive,? the cable said. It is unclear whether the State Department is still funding Syrian opposition groups, but the cables indicate money was set aside at least through September 2010. While some of that money has also supported programs and dissidents inside Syria, The Washington Post is withholding certain names and program details at the request of the State Department, which said disclosure could endanger the recipients? personal safety.Syria, a police state, has been ruled by Assad since 2000, when he took power after his father?s death. Although the White House has condemned the killing of protesters in Syria, it has not explicitly called for his ouster.The State Department declined to comment on the authenticity of the cables or answer questions about its funding of Barada TV. Tamara Wittes, a deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees the democracy and human rights portfolio in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said the State Department does not endorse political parties or movements.?We back a set of principles,? she said. ?There are a lot of organizations in Syria and other countries that are seeking changes from their government. That?s an agenda that we believe in and we?re going to support.?The State Department often funds programs around the world that promote democratic ideals and human rights, but it usually draws the line at giving money to political opposition groups.In February 2006, when relations with Damascus were at a nadir, the Bush administration announced that it would award $5 million in grants to ?accelerate the work of reformers in Syria.? But no dissidents inside Syria were willing to take the money, for fear it would lead to their arrest or execution for treason, according to a 2006 cable from the U.S. Embassy, which reported that ?no bona fide opposition member will be courageous enough to accept funding.? Around the same time, Syrian exiles in Europe founded the Movement for Justice and Development. The group, which is banned in Syria, openly advocates for Assad?s removal. U.S. cables describe its leaders as ?liberal, moderate Islamists? who are former members of the Muslim Brotherhood.It is unclear when the group began to receive U.S. funds, but cables show U.S. officials in 2007 raised the idea of helping to start an anti-Assad satellite channel. People involved with the group and with Barada TV, however, would not acknowledge taking money from the U.S. government.?I?m not aware of anything like that,? Malik al-Abdeh, Barada TV?s news director, said in a brief telephone interview from London.Abdeh said the channel receives money from ?independent Syrian businessmen? whom he declined to name. He also said there was no connection between Barada TV and the Movement for Justice and Development, although he confirmed that he serves on the political group?s board. The board is chaired by his brother, Anas. ?If your purpose is to smear Barada TV, I don?t want to continue this conversation,? Malik al-Abdeh said. ?That?s all I?m going to give you.?Other dissidents said that Barada TV has a growing audience in Syria but that its viewer share is tiny compared with other independent satellite news channels such as al-Jazeera and BBC Arabic. Although Barada TV broadcasts 24 hours a day, many of its programs are reruns. Some of the mainstay shows are ?Towards Change,? a panel discussion about current events, and ?First Step,? a program produced by a Syrian dissident group based in the United States. �

Source: http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/Wikileaks-US-Syria-mt-9016237033.htm

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Tearful April Mornings

By Hatim Kanaaneh

'April is the cruelest month.' -- T. S. Eliot.

In rural Palestine we belittle men who cry. Only women let their tears flow freely. It is considered less than manly. Real men are stoic and conceal their pain, physical as well as emotional. At least in public, I try to conform to the dictates of village culture in matters that do not impinge greatly on my personal freedom. Perhaps that is why I rarely attend funerals in Arrabeh. But also I attend few weddings. Now that the village is large enough for weddings and/or funerals to be daily occurrences I avoid both extremes of village social interactions. Instead I celebrate and grieve privately on YouTube, enjoying a daily portion of Arabic song and dance on or commiserating with fellow peace and justice seekers on our various cyberspace powwows.

A rural tradition I have come to observe recently is early rising: I am up each morning at the crack of dawn, just as the seven youthful muezzins commence blaring their cacophonous calls for prayer from the loudspeakers atop their minarets, strategically dispersed around the village to reach its every bedroom. Not that I have anything against praising the good Lord early in the morning. In fact on occasion I enjoy a visit on my tape recorder with Sheik Kaid, the old village muezzin and my former Arabic language teacher who used to dock me points for not appearing at the mosque for the Friday noon group prayer. After I came back from my studies in the States and before he went on his mosque building spree resulting eventually in six additional mosques in the village, I took the trouble of making my own recording of his beautiful call for the dawn prayer. I did it one early calm summer morning when there was nothing to disturb the village peace. It was when the sheik still did not have a loudspeaker; he sang his praise of God and call of the faithful to the mosque from the lofty balcony of the old minaret in the center of Arrabeh in the serene calm of Galilee. Only an occasional rooster would crow, a dog bark or a donkey bray. It was before the advent of electricity, the innovation that threw the roosters’ timing off and made them crow every time an electric light is switched on in the village.

Once the muezzin’s morning competition in praising God is over calm returns except for the melodious singing of blackbirds in my garden. By then I have prepared my morning cup of coffee and switched my computer on. I start with a quick glance at my email inbox for any special messages, loaf around cyberspace for a few minutes, and then proceed with the morning’s writing assignment for the next few hours.

On Saturday, April, 09, 2011 I connected to The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice http://rachelcorriefoundation.org to check if the website had acknowledged the piece of bitter sarcasm I had just added on my blog about the last two sessions of the Corries’ court case against the State of Israel. Bam! Rachel’s glorious smile went right through to my heart. I was devastated. How could I have such emotional crush, fatherly as it was, on a young woman I never met in person? I craved for a hug from that beautiful woman to quench my longing for her. It was two months since the last time I had held Rhoda, my daughter, in my arms. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Here was Rhoda being run over by the blade of that D-9 Caterpillar. Oh, my God! How can they do that to my sweetheart? I held Rachel closer to my heart to protect her from the biblical cruelty she sacrificed herself to protect other humans from. I squeezed hard and broke out crying. I was afraid I might wake my wife. I gulped silently for air and let my tears flow quietly down my unshaven face. What kind of man was I? I had to take control of myself. I gave Rhoda a tight hug and kissed Rachel on the cheek before I opened my eyes and walked over to the washbasin to splash some cold water on my face. I refilled my coffee cup, went back to my computer and wrote a couple of emotional pages in my novel about Galilee, Palestine and Israel.

After a breakfast of fresh citrus fruits and fried eggs from my two surviving free-range chickens I puttered around in the garden for a while. By now I felt exhausted. I took a rest. [How did He manage to slug at it for six days straight before taking a rest? Perhaps He didn’t have much on His mind. Bad thoughts are more exhausting than ditch digging; take it from one who practices both regularly. It must have been before the Internet and all its disturbing tidings.] Soon I was up again with my laptop. I saw another video, this one posted by Kate on Mondoweiss, the online periodical that proclaims itself as the locus for “The war of ideas in the Middle East” and hence the place where I occasionally give expression to my frustration and bitter protesting. April 9th is the memorial day of the Deir Yassin massacre. [He simply couldn’t have seen this video and kept quiet. Please, don’t be upset with me. I am giving Him the benefit of the Doubt. After all, He must have slept on the job and didn’t see the actual event in 1948, just as he did earlier when the holocaust was in progress. But at least, later on, when He found out about the holocaust He tried to do something about it; He compensated His favorite children politically and financially. Never mind that He screwed us, the Palestinians, in the process.] Here is the link for it should you want to rid your body of excess salt and accumulated fluid. I for one cried my eyes out.

The over-half-an-hour-long video opens and ends with the saddest o‘ud music. In between it maintains a balance between Arab and Jewish narrators and covers a range of relevant information, from the three existing Deir Yassin memorials in New York, Scotland, and Wales to the orphanage and school established by the grand Palestinian philanthropist, Hind el-Hussainy for Deir Yassin’s children. In an entry in her diary she specifies 138 Palestinian liras as her total savings at the time. But she had the goodwill and the moral reserve to make a go of it after she found the 55 lost children let loose by the Irgun and the Stern gangs at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem.

I am pleased that Hiam Hussein, the proud daughter of the neighboring Galilee Palestinian village of Deir Hanna, has done Hind justice in playing her role in Julian Schnabel’s controversial new film, Miral. It is a film based on the autobiographical novel by the same name written by his girlfriend and former Dar el-Tifl el-Arabi resident, Rula Jebreal, another proud Palestinian with local roots, Haifa to be exact. Also I noted with displeasure that the video producers gave no credit to my own brother, Prof. Sharif Kanaana of Beir Zeit University, to the best of my knowledge the first researcher to document the actual number of Deir Yassin Palestinian residents murdered by the Zionist armed gangs and the Haganah and to stipulate that the numbers previously quoted were inflated by both sides of the conflict for their own convenient ends: by the crime perpetrators to sow panic among Palestinians and by the victims to maximize the blame for the crime.

Mind you, I am beating around the bush here. I am speaking of tangential issues to avoid crying again: The mere sight of the serene stone homes, now housing the Givat Shaul Mental Health Center, released a flood of tears. When I got to the part where a former Deir Yassin resident, likely the wife, the daughter and the sister of the village’s stonecutters of old and the descendent of seven centuries worth of stonecutting toil and sweat, was aided to walk next to her villages current barbwire perimeter and she reached to touch a tree branch to her face, I nearly collapsed stifling my urge to sob and to scream out my pain.

The next morning, Sunday, April 10, I rose before the muezzins. By the time the village regained its morning quiet I was scouting the Internet for fresh news. A mailing from a friend contained a title that piqued my curiosity: “Juliano Mer Khamis Predicted His Assassination,” it said. I clicked and followed the link to a half-minute long English language You Tube video that said it all exactly as it would actually happen to him. Here is that link. See for yourself what raw courage is. For some ten minutes I shook with silent tears of outrage and disappointment. How could someone be so stupidly misguided? And to kill such an enlightened bright promise presumably in the name of Islam! Seven guys in Arrabeh alone had just finished noisily shouting the praises of God’s mercy and justice to be totally discredited by the bullet of a “fucked-up Palestinian” as Juliano had put it! . And the guy is not only insightful. He is a good actor; you can see it even in the half-minute video. And his blonde wife is reportedly pregnant with twins. Oh God! Now I am sobbing for the orphaned unborn twins.

That indeed was the ultimate conspiracy. Juliano was literally the embodiment of integration and understanding, himself the product of interracial love and idealism. I had met his parents, the Russian Jewess Arna and the Christian Palestinian Saliba, both protesting commitment to higher ideals of revolutionary justice, humanitarianism, and internationalism, all under their communist convictions before that pipedream turned sour. And I had met Juliano on more than one occasion. I remember him informing an audience in New York that, as a parachute trooper in the IDF before he discovered peaceful resistance, he took it for granted to carry an extra handgun in his backpack to plant on any civilian Palestinian he may kill. He was an acquaintance, not close enough for me to claim him as a friend. Now I was crying for having failed to open my heart wider for this former soldier, this brave comrade in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality.

The weekend before his senseless murder my wife and I had planned to travel to Jenin to see his adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland performed at the Freedom Theater, his life’s unique project and answer the world’s barbarity, to occupation and to apartheid. Alas, a friend dissuaded us from taking the trip with the explanation that on Saturdays it would take several hours to clear the checkpoint at the border. There were that many Palestinian shoppers from Galilee making the trip on their day off to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the depressed economy of the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Now I was crying for the poor Palestinian brothers and sisters who toil endless hours to wind up with worthless produce, not intrinsically worthless but rendered so by the imposed boundaries and regulations. That was what Juliano tried to tear down. Why didn’t I bother to know him more closely? Why had I never hugged him or kissed his handsome face? I had to hear him posthumously on You Tube to fall in love with him! What a rotten deal we both have had.

Saturday, the 16th of April I slept late. The night before I had stayed up past midnight at a nephew’s wedding celebration. Juliano would have felt at home at the banquet hall: a mix of village locals and communists from across the land, Arabs and Jews. The groom is one. My sister, mother of the groom, had spent the better part of a week dancing the local feminine style, alternatively clapping her hands and twirling them over her head. Finally her rheumatism kicked in and her wrist swelled up with an acute flare of inflammation. We call that “repetitive motion injury.” Doctors are striking. I had to rush over at three in the morning to put her arm in a splint and give her a painkiller. Was she crying in physical pain or for her last gosling abandoning the nest?

By sunrise I was up but not fully alert, still dazed and in a contemplative mood. A dove was romancing another on the red bougainvillea bough sweeping across the full width of my view through the window of my study. I opened the window to hear their melodic chatter. An announcement on the mosque’s loudspeaker lamented the death of a young man in another car accident. It ruined my joyous repose and I decided to check the news. I did. Another stab in the heart of solidarity, freedom and moderation. I read and reread all the standard platitudes: “One of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine.” “Full of the joy of life.” “The man with the big smile and gentle nature.” I never met Vittorio Arrigoni, but he had a cause: “Stay Human,” he was known to admonish all concerned. Why would anyone kill such a refreshing soul? And why the torture and willful cruelty?. Who stands to gain from this or from the murder of Juliano Mer Khamis? Or from the murder of the settler family in the outpost next to Awarta in the occupied West Bank for that matter? Not who the press reports say it is, I am sure. Check with me in fifty years when the secret documents are released and I will score another I-told-you-so point, I am sure. Or else join me in signing the appeal to keep the Wikileaks founder free.

I run the video, a collection of photos of the Italian freedom fighter set to music: He is handsome, muscular and imposing with a disarming smile and a big tattoo. Just like my son, Ty, nearly of the same age. I haven’t seen my boy for four months. What keeps me away from him and his kids, God damn it? Then I reach Carlo Latuff’s cartoon portrait of Vik holding the hand of Hanthala, Naji El-Ali’s immortal symbol of Palestinian diaspora, dispossession, resistance and survival against all odds. The floodgates open again and I cry my eyes out, not only for Vik but also for Hanthala who lost another friend and protector and for all those among us who have not learned to heed those two friends’ admonition to “Stay Human.”

I wanted a fruit. I headed to the citrus side of my garden. On the way I walked over with the key and opened the cage for my dozen new chickens. I had learned a lesson: Freedom may cost a chicken its life. Only in the security of the full light of day can my chickens be safe from the murderous mongooses. I rummaged through the navel orange branches for the last fruits of the season. The perfumed scent of the flowers was overwhelmingly pleasant. Still, picking the very last orange of the season on my tree saddened me. Unexpectedly, the pleasure of admiring my citrus trees in full bloom in the rays of the rising sun evoked sadness in my heart. And my flowering apple trees and ripening kumquats and all the red poppies underneath them. How long will I have the pleasure of connecting to my chickens and trees and to the poppies in my field? Avigdor Lieberman and his fascist followers claim them as their sacred property. After all, geographically, I live in Israel and he thinks it is his exclusive property: “Israel Beitainu –Israel is our home,” he proclaims victoriously.

How many times must I repeat: “Stay Human!”

“Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.”

- Hatim Kanaaneh, MD, MPH is the author of 'A Doctor in Galilee: the Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel', Pluto Press, 2008. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: http://a-doctor-in-galilee.blogspot.com.

Source: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16817

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Palestinian Unity: One Word

By Uri Avnery – Israel

In one word: Bravo!

The news about the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas is good for peace. If the final difficulties are ironed out and a full agreement is signed by the two leaders, it will be a huge step forward for the Palestinians – and for us.

There is no sense in making peace with half a people. Making peace with the entire Palestinian people may be more difficult, but will be infinitely more fruitful.

Therefore: Bravo!

Binyamin Netanyahu also says Bravo. Since the government of Israel has declared Hamas a terrorist organization with whom there will be no dealings whatsoever, Netanyahu can now put an end to any talk about peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. What, peace with a Palestinian government that includes terrorists? Never! End of  discussion.

Two bravos, but such a difference.

The Israeli debate about Arab unity goes back a long way. It already started in the early fifties, when the idea of pan-Arab unity raised its head. Gamal Abd-al-Nasser hoisted this banner in Egypt, and the pan-Arab Baath movement became a force in several countries (long before it degenerated into local Mafias in Iraq and Syria).

Nahum Goldman, President of the World Zionist Organization, argued that pan-Arab unity was good for Israel. He believed that peace was necessary for the existence of Israel, and that it would take all the Arab countries together to have the courage to make it.

David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s Prime Minister, thought that peace was bad for Israel, at least until Zionism had achieved all its (publicly undefined) goals. In a state of war, unity among Arabs was a danger that had to be prevented at all costs.

Goldman, the most brilliant coward I ever knew, did not have the courage of his convictions. Ben-Gurion was far less brilliant, but much more determined.

He won.

Now we have the same problem all over again.

Netanyahu and his band of peace saboteurs want to prevent Palestinian unity at all costs. They do not want peace, because peace would prevent Israel from achieving the Zionist goals, as they conceive them: a Jewish state in all of historical Palestine, from the sea to the Jordan River (at least). The conflict is going to last for a long, long time to come, and the more divided the enemy, the better.

As a matter of fact, the very emergence of Hamas was influenced by this calculation. The Israeli occupation authorities deliberately encouraged the Islamic movement, which later became Hamas, as a counterweight to the secular nationalist Fatah, which was then conceived as the main enemy.

Later, the Israeli government deliberately fostered the division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by violating the Oslo agreement and refusing to open the four “safe passages” between the two territories provided for in the agreement. Not one was open for a single day. The geographical separation brought about the political one.

When Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian elections, surprising everybody including itself, the Israeli government declared that it would have no dealings with any Palestinian government in which Hamas was represented. It ordered – there is no other word - the US and EU governments to follow suit. Thus the Palestinian Unity Government was brought down.

The next step was an Israeli-American effort to install a strongman of their choosing as dictator of the Gaza Strip, the bulwark of Hamas. The chosen hero was Muhammad Dahlan, a local chieftain. It was not a very good choice – the Israeli security chief recently disclosed that Dahlan had collapsed sobbing into his arms. After a short battle, Hamas took direct control of the Gaza Strip.

A fratricidal split in a liberation movement is not an exception. It is almost the rule.

The Irish revolutionary movement was an outstanding example. In this country we had the fight between the Hagana and the Irgun, which at times became violent and very ugly. It was Menachem Begin, then the Irgun commander, who prevented a full-fledged civil war.

The Palestinian people, with all the odds against them, can hardly afford such a disaster. The split has generated intense mutual hatred between comrades who spent time in Israeli prison together. Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority – with some justification – of cooperating with the Israeli government against them, urging the Israelis and the Egyptians to tighten the brutal blockade against the Gaza Strip, even preventing a deal for the release of the Israeli prisoner-of-war, Gilad Shalit, in order to block the release of Hamas activists and their return to the West Bank. Many Hamas activists suffer in Palestinian prisons, and the lot of Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip is no more joyous. 

Yet both Fatah and Hamas are minorities in Palestine. The great mass of the Palestinian people desperately want unity and a joint struggle to end the occupation. If the final reconciliation agreement is signed by Mahmoud Abbas and Khalid Meshaal, Palestinians everywhere will be jubilant.

Binyamin Netanyahu is jubilant already. The ink was not yet dry on the preliminary agreement initialed in Cairo, when Netanyahu made a solemn speech on TV, something like an address to the nation after an historic event.

“You have to choose between us and Hamas,” he told the Palestinian Authority. That would not be too difficult – one the one side a brutal occupation regime, on the other Palestinian brothers with a different ideology.

But this stupid threat was not the main point of the statement. What Netanyahu told us was that there would be no dealings with a Palestinian Authority connected in any way with the “terrorist Hamas”. 

The whole thing is a huge relief for Netanyahu. He has been invited by the new Republican masters to address the US Congress next month and had nothing to say. Nor had he anything to offer the UN, which is about to recognize the State of Palestine this coming September. Now he has: peace is impossible, all Palestinians are terrorists who want to throw us into the sea. Ergo: no peace, no negotiations, no nothing.

If one really wants peace, the message should of course be quite different.

Hamas is a part of Palestinian reality. Sure, it is extremist, but as the British have taught us many times, it is better to make peace with extremists than with moderates. Make peace with the moderates, and you must still deal with the extremists. Make peace with the extremists, and the business is finished.

Actually, Hamas is not quite as extreme as it likes to present itself. It has declared many times that it will accept a peace agreement based on the 1967 lines and signed by Mahmoud Abbas if it is ratified by the people in a referendum or a vote in parliament. Accepting the Palestinian Authority means accepting the Oslo agreement, on which the PA is based – including the mutual recognition of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. In Islam, as in all other religions, God’s word is definitely final, but it can be “interpreted” any way needed. Don’t we Jews know.

What made both sides more flexible? Both have lost their patrons – Fatah its Egyptian protector, Hosny Mubarak, and Hamas its Syrian protector, Bashar al-Assad, who cannot be relied upon anymore. That has brought both sides to face reality: Palestinians stand alone, so they had better unite.

For peace-oriented Israelis, it will be a great relief to deal with a united Palestinian people and with a united Palestinian territory. Israel can do a lot to help this along: open at long last an extraterritorial free passage between the West Bank and Gaza, put an end to the stupid and cruel blockade of the Gaza Strip (which has become even more idiotic with the elimination of the Egyptian collaborator), let the Gazans open their port, airport and borders. Israel must accept the fact that religious elements are now a part of the political scene all over the Arab world. They will become institutionalized and, probably, far more “moderate”. That is part of the new reality in the Arab world.

The emergence of Palestinian unity should be welcomed by Israel, as well as by the European nations and the United States. They should get ready to recognize the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders. They should encourage the holding of free and democratic Palestinian elections and accept their results, whatever they may be.

The wind of the Arab Spring is blowing in Palestine too. Bravo!

- Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Source: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16829

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4th Gulf Film Festival thanks industry partners for contributing to region?s filmmakers

The Gulf Film Festival, the home of bold, contemporary and innovative cinema from the Arabian peninsula, thanked its host of business partners and industry supporters following the conclusion of its successful fourth edition last week. 

The Dubai Culture and Arts Authority

Dubai Studio City

ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/4th-gulf-film-festival-thanks-industry-partners-contributing-region%E2%80%99s-filmmakers

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Vavuniya businessman arrested with forged NICS

�

A businessman from Vavuniya was arrested with 35 forged National Identity Cards (NIC) s today.

The business who is the owner of a communication centre in the town had used the forged NICs to sell SIM cards to persons engaged in criminal activity in the area, Police said. He had charged at the exorbitant rates for the SIM cards.

The supect was produced before Court today. The Court�instructed the Police to trace the persons to whom the SIM cards were sold.
�

Source: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php/latest/7038-vavuniya-businessmen-arrested-with-forged-nics

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Air Berlin

Deputy Prime Minister and Shareholder Representative for the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Theo Heyliger led a delegation to Berlin, Germany this past week to meet with Air Berlin officials to discuss the possibilities of the airline starting service to St. Maarten. Picture from left are: Claude van Heyningen, Daniel Maier, Manager Network Development for Air Berlin, Regina LaBega, Director of Tourism, Clarence Derby, Chairman of the Board of PJIA, Sascha Kickut, Sales Planning for Air Berlin, Edward Dest, Section Head Marketing St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and Robert Gissing, Manager for Sales Planning Long Haul Flights for Air Berlin.

 

Source: http://herald.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/15637-air-berlin-.html

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Innovative idea of Rainwater Aggregation in Yemen is granted the Philips Livable Cities Award

Royal Philips Electronics has today announced the winners of the Philips Livable Cities Award, a global initiative designed to generate innovative, meaningful and achievable ideas to improve the health and well-being of city-dwellers across the world.

The overall winner of the Award, announced at a gala ceremony held at the world famous Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, was named as Sabrina Faber based in Sana?a, Yemen, for her idea ?Rainwater Aggregation in Sana?a?.

Arabia PR

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/innovative-idea-rainwater-aggregation-yemen-granted-philips-livable-cities-award

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Carnival Village ?dressed up,? opening jump-up on Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Work to prepare Carnival Village for the official opening of Carnival 2011 is moving at a rapid pace.

St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF), its sponsors and booth holders are busy "dressing up" a venue that transforms into the largest outdoor restaurant and entertainment facility in the Northeastern Caribbean.

Booth-holders started to move into the village as of April 16, followed by sponsors who are decorating the entire village with marketing and advertising paraphernalia of their respective companies.

SCDF's largest corporate sponsor United Telecommunications Services (UTS) clearly has the greatest presence in the village, followed by another large corporate sponsor, ILTT (Heineken).

The official opening of Carnival 2011 and the Carnival Village takes place on Monday, April 25. The festivities will start with the traditional opening jump-up which kicks off from a new starting point this year: Milton Peters College in South Reward. The jump-up will make its way down L.B. Scott Road, Bush Road, over Prins Bernhard Bridge, up Walter Nisbeth Road (Pondfill) and end at the Village. The jump-up starts at 8:00pm and should reach the village at approximately 11:30pm.

Once at the village, Culture Minister Rhoda Arrindell is expected to open the village gates and deliver a short address to the crowd from the village stage.

SCDF President Stuart Johnson said SCDF members and all stakeholders had been working for months to prepare for St. Maarten's largest cultural manifestation. "Months of hard work by about 30 volunteers of SCDF have gone into preparing for Carnival 2011. It is all about to pay off with what we expect to be a terrific festival," Johnson said.

"It will be nine days of big shows, colourful parades, lots of food and pure excitement. We hope the general public will be happy with the Carnival product we have put together with the cooperation of all our stakeholders. We will be fettin' for Carnival 2011."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16163--carnival-village-dressed-up-opening-jump-up-on-monday.html

Eric Pickles Aston villa Boxing City breaks Endangered species Stan Collymore

Karakter has five days to obtain a building permit

~ Or remove foundation on beach ~

SIMPSON BAY--Karakter Beach Bar has built a foundation on private property for what appears to be a deck that partially extends onto the beach although management does not have a building permit, according to Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Inspection Department head Henry Ellis.

Ellis said Karakter had received a removal order and had five days from receipt of the order to remove all illegal structures on the beach. It is unclear, however, when this removal order has been issued and if a building stop has been put in place.

Jorrit Heekelaar of the beach bar's management team explained that he had left the responsibility of organising the relevant documentation up to the construction company hired to put up the foundation. Heekelaar said he was not aware that the permit had not yet been approved or denied; he only knew that the paperwork had been submitted.

He explained that Karakter, operational now for three years, was equipped with all the necessary permits and licences, that management was leasing the property from a private person and all activities were being carried out within the boundaries of the property.

Moreover, he said, the foundation was constructed five metres from the property boundaries and this had been checked and confirmed by the Kadaster office about three weeks ago.

St. Maarten Pride Foundation raised the alarm about this allegedly illegal construction after enquiries over a two-week period from beachgoers and patrons of the beach bar about whether an establishment could construct a foundation on the public beach.

Pride argued that it would be irrelevant if Karakter management could present a permit to put up the foundation, because it would be a violation of the Building Ordinance in relation to the beach policy, which defines beaches as: "The strip of sand with a width of at most 50 metres, of which the surface consists of natural sea sand situated along the sea, or, in absence of natural sea sand, the strip of land with a width of 25 metres from the high water line, situated along the public waters."

Moreover, it states that "consequences of this beach policy are that the Island Government will strive to ensure that no construction works or activities that occupy the space on the beach in a way that restricts normal use of the beach for others will occur on the beach."

As a result, Pride is calling for the immediate demolition and removal of the foundation, which it noted had been furnished with a railing in the last couple of days.

In correspondence with Ellis, Pride said, "One needs to move away from allowing these structures to be legalised after the fact for the simple reason that they have already been erected. Case in point is the illegally constructed sea wall on the Esperanza property at Ocean Club Cupecoy, whereby Mr. Esperanza was given the opportunity to file for a building permit after his wall had already been constructed."

Pride said it had not forgotten about this case, on which this newspaper also had reported quite extensively, and would pursue a solution publicly if one was not secured by the Inspection Department.

Pride also noted that the construction is taking place in close proximity to important Sea turtle nesting sites and is therefore in violation of the Island Nature Ordinance Article 2, Article 17 and a number of international treaties for the protection of sea turtles.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16292-karakter-has-five-days-to-obtain-a-building-permit.html

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Microsoft calls for stronger IP protection on World IP Day

Microsoft Corp. is joining the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in recognizing World Intellectual Property (IP) Day, an event that calls on the IT industry, governments and consumers to speak out about the importance of IP rights. Strong IP protections are central to instilling a culture of innovation, which can spur economic growth, create jobs and increase revenue for the broader industry and government organizations.

Weber Shandwick Public Relations

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/microsoft-calls-stronger-ip-protection-world-ip-day

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World Cup, Olympics, excellent opportunity to promote the Brazil brand

Rio de Janeiro's hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics is an unprecedented chance to promote the Brazil brand and ensure a legacy of economic and social benefits, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Friday.

Source: http://en.mercopress.com/2011/04/29/world-cup-olympics-excellent-opportunity-to-promote-the-brazil-brand?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=main&utm_campaign=rss

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Air Berlin

Deputy Prime Minister and Shareholder Representative for the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Theo Heyliger led a delegation to Berlin, Germany this past week to meet with Air Berlin officials to discuss the possibilities of the airline starting service to St. Maarten. Picture from left are: Claude van Heyningen, Daniel Maier, Manager Network Development for Air Berlin, Regina LaBega, Director of Tourism, Clarence Derby, Chairman of the Board of PJIA, Sascha Kickut, Sales Planning for Air Berlin, Edward Dest, Section Head Marketing St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and Robert Gissing, Manager for Sales Planning Long Haul Flights for Air Berlin.

 

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/15637-air-berlin-.html

War crimes Tuition fees Energy bills Iain Chambers Annuities US military

Boy feared dead during stream bath

Rescue workers and divers are hunting for a 16-year-old who went missing and is�feared dead while bathing in a stream along with his family and friends during a picnic outing, police said today.

They said the missing boy-S. Bandara had taken a dip in the gushing waters of the Dunhinda Waterfall in the Badulla Division on Wednesday morning.

Police fear that the boy had drowned and were now expecting to find the body.

The victim was a resident from Aluthgama, police said.

Source: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php/latest/6942-boy-feared-dead-during-stream-bath

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Illegal miner killed by lightning

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A man who was allegedly involved in illegal sand mining was killed on the spot after he was hit by a bolt of lightning at the Mahaweli River in Manampitiya, police said today.

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Police identified the victim as Pradeep Kumara, a resident of Manampitiya.

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More than a dozen persons have been struck down by lightning over the past two weeks in several places of the country, prompting the authorities to put out several warning to the public to take adequate precautions while moving in open areas.

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Meanwhile officials with the Department of Meteorology said that more thunder showers accompanied with localized strong winds are set to hit several parts of the country later today and early tomorrow.

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Source: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php/latest/6938-illegal-miner-killed-by-lightning

Occupational pensions Australia cricket team Newspapers Mikel Arteta Lisa Allardice Francesca Panetta

At least 14 killed in Marrakesh explosion

At least 14 people died and 20 wounded on Thursday by an explosion in a cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.   A Moroccan official source said it was caused by gas canisters blast but other sources said it was a terror attack.

 "It was an accident caused by the explosion of several gas canisters," the official was quoted as saying.

According to him, an investigation was underway to shed more light on the blast, which occurred on Jamaa El Fna Square, a popular site for foreign visitors in central Marrakesh.

 

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/least-11-killed-marrakesh-explosion

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Teenager drowns in Jet Ski incident

GREAT BAY--St. Maarten Academy PSVE student Felicia Williams of Jamaican descent drowned in Great Bay following an incident involving a Jet Ski around 5:15pm on Sunday.

A man approximately 36 years, believed to be from Guyana, staying in the Fort William area hired a Jet Ski for a single user from a Jet Ski hire company on the beach near a well-known hotel. He filled in the paperwork and set off wearing an issued lifejacket. He then picked up two girls from the beach, Williams and her friend S.B., both approximately 16 years.

A witness who did not give his name said the Jet Ski had flipped when it was about 200 yards from the shore and the riders had been tossed into the sea. People could be seen waving from the sea for help. The man managed to get back onto the Jet Ski and the girl S.B. was rescued by a second Jet Ski that had been launched from the shore to assist.

The third person on the Jet Ski, Williams, went missing. It later transpired that she did not know how to swim and that she had not been wearing a lifejacket.

The Coast Guard and other boats joined the search, but no trace of the missing girl was found.

The search was set to continue on through the night until Sheriff Security company searchers in their boat found Williams' body on the rocks by Little Divi Hotel, approximately 500 yards away from the scene of the incident, around 10:00pm.

The man who had hired the Jet Ski was arrested for further investigations to be made into how the incident had occurred.

Family of the dead teenager were at the scene. A man who said he was her stepfather was totally distraught, as were several uncles and cousins. Her sister of approximately 6 years was comforted by family.

A cousin said to The Daily Herald, "Her mother, how can we tell her mother? She is gone back to Jamaica right this week to bury her aunt and now this. This man is a big man. Why is he so stupid to take them on a Jet Ski with no lifejacket? They are children, they know no better, but he is a big man. I wish they would put me by him right now!"

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/15327-teenager-drowns-in-jet-ski-incident.html

Nuclear weapons Mergers and acquisitions Pensions Sri Lanka Roy Hodgson Highlands

Amid crisis, Libya plans to raise interest rate

Libya is suffering an economic depression from the recent crisis, and there are fears of liquidity problems if the political crisis is not resolved. Libya's Finance Minister said that the government is going to double the interest rates to encourage citizens to put their money in banks rather than stored in houses. The decision to raise interest rates is an emergency procedure taken by the Government in recent weeks following the austerity to regulate the use of fuel and prevent citizens to withdraw money from their savings.

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/amid-crisis-libya-plans-raise-interest-rate

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Court acquits man of attempting to kill wife

PHILIPSBURG--A 32-year-old man charged with attempted manslaughter of his wife was acquitted by the Court in First Instance on Tuesday for lack of evidence.

Prosecutor Gonda van der Wulp had asked the judge on Wednesday, April 13, to send J.H. to jail for five years, qualifying the November 14, 2010 incident in which he had fired several shots at the window of the bedroom in which his wife was staying as attempted manslaughter.

The woman remained unharmed.

The suspect admitted he had been involved in an argument with his wife, but denied he had fired any shots. He denied he had had a firearm in his possession, but admitted that seven shells found in a buffet and bedside table in his house on Soualiga Road were his. Similar bullets were found at the scene of the crime.

According to J.H., his jealous wife and her best friend, in whose house his wife was staying during the alleged incident, had concocted the story that he had been firing shots.

J.H.'s attorney Geert Hatzmann had pointed to the fact that his client's wife had not pressed charges against her husband.

Forensic investigations did not provide traces of used ammunition on the suspect's hands and no firearm had been found with his client, on or near the scene of the crime.

Judge Monique Keppels, on Tuesday, did not elaborate extensively on the acquittal. She only stated the Court had not found attempted murder or manslaughter "legally and convincingly" proven.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16068-court-acquits-man-of-attempting-to-kill-wife.html

TV ratings Public sector cuts Kevin Campbell Theatre Mortgages Frank Lampard

12 Jerusalem families handed eviction notices

West Bank, (Pal Telegraph)-Israeli occupation forces handed eviction orders to 12 Palestinian families from Ka’abna tribe in the north east of the occupied Jerusalem.

Source: http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/9031-12-jerusalem-families-handed-eviction-notices.html

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Amid crisis, Libya plans to raise interest rate

Libya is suffering an economic depression from the recent crisis, and there are fears of liquidity problems if the political crisis is not resolved. Libya's Finance Minister said that the government is going to double the interest rates to encourage citizens to put their money in banks rather than stored in houses. The decision to raise interest rates is an emergency procedure taken by the Government in recent weeks following the austerity to regulate the use of fuel and prevent citizens to withdraw money from their savings.

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/amid-crisis-libya-plans-raise-interest-rate

Tuition fees Energy bills Iain Chambers Annuities US military Milan Baros

Canon showcases technological capabilities and expressive power of imaging devices at design festival in Milan

Canon, world-leader in imaging solutions, recently participated in the Milano Salone, one of the world?s largest design festivals, held annually in Milan, Italy. This year again Canon exhibited at the Milano Salone under the theme NEOREAL, signifying ?a new world of sensibilities.? To mark the festival?s 50th anniversary, this year Canon targeted the further pursuit of new possibilities under the theme NEOREAL WONDER, presenting a world of imaging expression in which lightness and innovation coexist.

DNA Communications

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/canon-showcases-technological-capabilities-and-expressive-power-imaging-devices-design-festival-mila

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St. Maarten Carnival season officially open

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's 2011 Carnival season kicked off last night when local bands led revellers from Milton Peters College in South Reward to the Festival Village in Philipsburg, where Culture Minister Rhoda Arrindell officially opened the gates to the village.

The jump-up, which started promptly at 8:00pm, saw hundreds come out in support of the island's premier cultural event, which will feature a number of local and international talents on stage and on the road until May 2.

As expected, the village was buzzing with many Carnival-lovers getting reacquainted with their regular booths and enjoying the must-have chicken leg and Johnny cake. With a strong police presence, the jump-up ran smoothly without interference.

Bands and revellers rounded off at the Festival Village near midnight. The Culture Minister was assisted by this year's and last year's Carnival contest winners in opening the gates with the symbolic key.

Festivities continue tonight with the Senior Carnival Queen Pageant and Youth Extravaganza, followed by the International R&B/Reggae Concert on Wednesday night, Calypso finals Thursday night, Jouvert Jump-Up on Friday and Latin Night that evening, and a spectacular of local and visiting Carnival troupes Saturday and Sunday.

The "One Love" Soca Xplosion Concert will be held on Monday night and Carnival closes with a jump-up on Tuesday evening followed by the burning of King Momo at 12:00 midnight.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16207--st-maarten-carnival-season-officially-open.html

Sir Alex Ferguson Eric Pickles Aston villa Boxing City breaks Endangered species

Brazil?s bank lending slows down as government curbs credit

Brazil?s bank lending expanded in March at the second-slowest pace in 13 months as the government stepped up efforts to contain demand and inflation by curbing credit to consumers.

Source: http://en.mercopress.com/2011/04/28/brazil-s-bank-lending-slows-down-as-government-curbs-credit?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_content=main&utm_campaign=rss

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More rain in south and western sectors

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More thunder showers accompanied by strong localized winds are set to hit several parts of the country later today and tomorrow morning, an official with the Department of Meteorology said.

Duty Official Gayani Hendawitharana said that fairly strong and widespread showers will be experienced in the Southern and Western provinces.

She warned of an increase in lightning activity and urged the public to take extra precautions at all times.

Meanwhile an official with the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said�the rains had inundated several roads in the city and suburbs, but apart from that there has been no serious incidents reported.
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Source: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php/latest/6846-more-rain-in-south-and-western-sectors

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Egypt Minister urges foreign investors to return

In a bid to encourage foreign investment in Egypt, Egyptian Finance Minister Samir Radwan brought an important message to US businesses at the Chamber of Commerce in Washington this week that, ?Egypt is back to work?.

Radwan told US business leaders in Washington, ?I want to reassure you that we are doing something right.  The political turmoil is subsiding, the country is back to work and we are planning for post-crisis management.  We need to stimulate the economy, but what we really need is partners.?

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/egypt-minister-urges-foreign-investors-return

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Worries about the Arab Democratic Renaissance

By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

The struggle for the future of the Arab nations has just begun. The best thing that can be said about their uprising is that it was truly 'made in the Arab lands by the Arab youth.' The West including the US can influence events but they learnt from the war on Iraq to do so quietly, behind the scenes. The West especially the US cannot be a reliable supporter of democracy unless its interests are served.

The US overturned the democracies of 1953 Muhammad Mossadegh in Iran, 1954 Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, 1973 Salvador Allende in Chile, the 1984-89 Sandinistas government in Nicaragua and most recently 2006 Hamas government in the West Bank and Gaza. Whatever the merits of these regimes, there was no protest or criticism by the US public. The US may use its old tricks to abort or dilute democracy in the Arab states to ensure small impassioned groups (moderates according to the US) to dominate the politics of the Middle East rather than the nationalists or the Islamists who are perceived to have near monopoly on passion (extremists according to the US).

From the moment the Tunisian demonstrators succeeded in overthrowing Ibn-Ali, optimism has dominated reporting and commentaries on what are called the “Arab democratic renaissance”. There is hope for a future of equal rights and justice in constitutional liberal democratic pluralist societies especially in Egypt.

The resignation of President Husni Mubarak was an astonishing victory for the young Egyptian revolutionaries. But the struggle for the future of Egypt is just beginning. The constitution and the election laws must be rewritten, the shaken liberal economy that lacks a system of checks and balances has to be rebuilt, the grinding poverty, massive unemployment, housing shortages, injustice and inequality must be addressed and stability restored.

Many past revolutions that overthrew tyrannical or corrupt regimes replaced them with more of the same. The 1789 French Revolution that called for democracy was terminated with the establishment of an emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. The American Revolution of 1775-83 created a slavery system that took a civil war to abolish. The fledgling democratic constitutions in the US excluded women and slaves from voting, and in France, the poor, women and servants were excluded in most elections. The movement that drew on broad ideas of addressing social injustice in late-nineteenth-century coalesced into the tyrannical Bolshevik movement in Russia.

Eastern European countries revolution of 1989 that overthrew Soviet style communism invalidate this rule; perhaps because the dictatorships were imposed by outsiders, the Soviet Union, democracy prospered after overthrowing the communist dictatorship.

There are questions about the US democracy even today: candidates with most money to spend are most likely to win elections; the election structural rules in the US national presidential elections may not allow the candidate preferred by the majority of voters to become president. And when more than two candidates run for the office of president, the winning candidate may have a plurality but not a majority. In twelve cases since the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828, “the winning candidate has not been the first choice of a majority of voters.” This makes the system even less democratic since the president’s power has been growing at the expense of the legislative branch.

It may take years for liberal democracy to succeed in the Arab world including Egypt because liberty and political tolerance has seldom been practiced in generations. Egypt’s 1952 military coup by Nasser created a template of the strong leader cult (dictatorship) that has been emulated by Sadat and Mubarak and most regimes in the Middle East. It inhibited the development of formal political opposition that might have challenged the regime by demanding political reform. The new Egyptian generation that overthrew Mubarak should avoid replacing a tyranny system with another.

The electoral process is central to democratic legitimation, but democracy cannot be reduced to elections even if they were fair. Elections in Iraq and even Afghanistan were hailed by the US politicians and some commentators as success stories of democracy, but Iraq and Afghanistan can only be accurately described after the elections as failed states.

The constitutions of Egypt under Mubarak and Tunis under Ben-Ali did not call for running the country by repressive corrupt dictators, but their system of governing became dysfunctional when the so called elected leaders maintained control through unfair elections, corruption, banning of opposition political parties, persecution of critics and declaring emergency laws. There are reasons for worrying about the future of democracy in Egypt even if I believe that the Egyptian youth yearning for freedom is too powerful to settle for less than real democracy.

The historical events raise long-standing question of whether the new democracies can manage the daunting economic crises. Viewed at this time of the Arab youth revolution, once the democratic government institutions are reformed, under what economic and institutional conditions is democracy going to be consolidated to meet the needs and aspirations of the masses in each state?

Arab people in the Middle East have been trained to consider the government as the provider of subsidized food stuff, employment, health care and education. If given the choice between the market-driven economy and Scandinavian welfare model, Arab masses would approve the welfare model. But choosing the type of economy has international dimension that may limit the reformers’ options. The World Bank, the International Money Fund and foreign aid donors are known for supporting only free market economy even if it leads to economic dislocation.

There was a popular uprising in Egypt when the price of subsidized food items in Egypt was raised in 1977 by Sadat. For two days, January 17-18, order broke down in Cairo, rioters attacked police stations and foreign interests, the regime was traumatized by the violence and Sadat called it “the thieves’ uprising.”      

The entrenched bureaucracies, that issue regulations and administer policies, will be a major challenge to the democratic process. The voice of the people may be heard on the election-day, but it may not be heard by the bureaucrats. Professional bureaucrats, whose careers do not depend on their political fortunes, are known for violating the will of the electorates. The core of their discipline is based on their acquired experiences and receiving bribes. Carl Friedrich argues in his book, ”Constitutional Government and Democracy” that whether a government is responsible to the people depends on “a responsible bureaucracy.” 

Politicizing religion by imposing a religious doctrine as the sole official faith, as some Egyptians demand, will be a serious setback to the political liberalism and the constitutional democratic state which is a major objective of the Egyptian uprising. Imposing a religious doctrine, even if it is the faith of the majority, opens conflicts and arouses sectarian hostilities. Liberal democracy does not dismiss spiritual questions as unimportant, but because of its importance, it should be left for each citizen to decide for himself or herself.

Despite optimism, the future of democracy in the Arab World is hardly secure because it carries within it the problems of the present moment and the legacy of the past.

- Hasan Afif El-Hasan is a political analyst. His latest book, Is The Two-State Solution Already Dead? (Algora Publishing, New York), now available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

Source: http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16826

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Egypt economy in deep crisis

The Egyptian Minister of Finance, Samir Sayyad, has recently said that his country?s economy shrank during the first three months of this year by 7% due to slow economic activities following the protests the country has witnessed which led to a significant decline in tourism and investments. The minister said that his country got a promise from the World Bank of a loan worth $ 2.2 billion with an interest rate of 3% paid in 18 years.

� 2011 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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Source: http://www1.albawaba.com/main-headlines/egypt-economy-deep-crisis

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Fogging planned tentatively for May

PHILIPSBURG--The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) has announced that mosquito fogging is tentatively planned for the month of May.

CPS is the executing agency of the Health Ministry. A schedule of the dates and which districts will be vector-controlled will be announced at a later time.

?In the meantime, the only way to prevent dengue virus transmission is to combat the disease-carrying mosquitoes,? it was stated in a press release issued on Friday.

?Based on the fact that reports of dengue fever in the Caribbean are prevalent, Section General Public Health is requesting residents to remain vigilant in executing measures in eradicating mosquito breeding places.?

CPS has requested the assistance of the community ?to protect themselves, their family and their neighbour from the Aedes aegypti mosquito by means of minimising mosquito breeding places in their surroundings and close environment.?

Preventive actions that every household and each resident should take are: removal of debris, old tires and standing clear/clean water in yards (usually are the main source and breeding ground for mosquitoes bringing about an increased risk of mosquito-borne diseases). These areas should be immediately eliminated.

Immediately check for clear/clean standing water in roof spouts, empty drums, buckets, jars, birdbaths, boats, plant containers, saucers, paint cans and other items that can collect water around your homes and businesses. Where clear/clean standing water exists, one can use small amounts of kerosene, just to cover the surface as a measure to prevent mosquito breeding or just get rid of the container, CPS advised.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes a severe flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults, but seldom causes death.

CPS says consultation with a physician is imperative for proper treatment and registration of the dengue fever case to ensure adequate follow-up by CPS.

Additional information can be obtained from CPS at: 542-2078.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/15727-fogging-planned-tentatively-for-may-.html

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Suspect in Amador Jones shooting will be released

PHILIPSBURG--The only suspect arrested in connection with the murder of Amador Jones will be released and handed over to Immigration, the Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday.

The victim in a drive-by shooting in Dutch Quarter last week Wednesday, a St. Kitts national, was arrested shortly after he was released from St. Maarten Medical Center. He had been detained after he told police that he had recognised his shooter to be Amador Jones' brother.

The Prosecutor's Office issued a statement on Tuesday that the investigation since last Saturday had revealed that the man from St. Kitts did not fit the description of the masked man who shot Amador Jones at a bar and carwash on L.B. Scott Road on April 16. The statement added that there were not enough grounds to keep the suspect in custody. For these reasons, he will be turned over to Immigration and repatriated to St. Kitts.

The statement from the Prosecutor's Office did not touch on how the St. Kitts national was connected to the Jones family, how he had been able to recognise Jones' brother, or why he had reason to believe that Jones' brother attacked him.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/16254-suspect-in-amador-jones-shooting-will-be-released.html

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