Saturday, 3 August 2013

Egypt crisis: Diplomatic push to seek compromise


Supporters of the deposed president Mohammed Morsi perform evening prayer at Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo Supporters of the ousted President Morsi pray in the square outside Rabaa al-Adawiya square in Cairo

US and EU envoys have been meeting officials from Egypt's military-backed government and supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi.

They are trying to find a peaceful solution to end the political crisis.

Their talks took place amid mounting tensions over plans to break up two mass sit-ins by Morsi loyalists in the capital, Cairo.

More than 100 Morsi supporters have been killed in clashes since he was overthrown by the military on 3 July.

Just hours after meeting members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and its political party, the US deputy secretary of state, William Burns, sat down for talks with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Nabil Fahmy.

They were joined by the European Union's envoy, Bernardino Leon.

Rabaa al-Adawiya

Rabaa al-Adawiya camp, Cairo

Few official details have been given, but the hope is clearly to prevent further violence and bloodshed, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo.

Washington and Brussels expressed concern this week after Egypt's new interim cabinet ordered police to clear two protest sites where thousands of supporters of the ousted president have been calling for his reinstatement.

On Saturday, the interior ministry renewed its call for the demonstrations to end peacefully, and said this would allow the Muslim Brotherhood to return to a role in the democratic political process.

Thousands have been defying warnings from the authorities to abandon the sit-ins in Cairo at Nahda Square and outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque, in the east of the capital.

Brazil Carandiru jail massacre police guilty


Carandiru jail demolition on 8 December 2002.The jail was demolished in 2002, but the state has been slow to bring the perpetrators to trial

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Twenty-five police have been given long sentences for their part in the 1992 massacre in Sao Paulo's Carandiru jail that left 111 prisoners dead.

Each officer received 624 years for the death of 52 inmates, but in Brazil no-one serves more than 30 years in jail.

The verdicts come in the second of four stages of the trial involving different floors of the prison. Twenty-three officers were convicted in April.

The police are expected to stay free pending an appeal.

The defence can only challenge the verdicts after the end of the whole trial, expected in January 2014.

Under Brazilian law there are no life sentences, and no convicted person can serve longer than 30 years in jail.

The officers, nine of whom are still on active duty, will also lose their jobs, O Globo newspaper reported.

The riot began on 2 October 1992 after an argument between two inmates quickly spread, with rival gangs facing off in what was at the time one of South America's largest prisons, housing 10,000 inmates.

Inmates said riot police brutally repressed the riot.

The officers' lawyer, Ieda Ribeiro de Souza, argued they were only doing their duty and acted in self-defence, as many of the inmates were armed.

While prison riots are not uncommon in Brazil, the number of those killed at Carandiru and the slow pace of the Brazilian justice system in bringing the accused to trial shocked the public.

Carandiru was closed in 2002, shortly after inmates co-ordinated simultaneous uprisings in 27 jails across Sao Paulo state during which thousands of visitors were held hostage.

In 2001, Col Ubiratan Guimaraes, who led the police operation to regain control in Carandiru, was convicted of using excessive force. But he was acquitted on appeal in 2006.

Hit-and-run crash at Venice Beach Boardwalk injures 12


From Janet DiGiacomo, CNN
August 4, 2013 -- Updated 0233 GMT (1033 HKT)

Los Angeles (CNN) -- A car plowed into a crowd of pedestrians at Venice Beach on Saturday, injuring 12 people before the driver fled on foot, fire and police officials said.

Two people were in critical condition after the crash and two were in serious condition, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

The victims were on the famous Venice Beach Boardwalk at the time, the fire department said.

The accident was a hit-and-run, said Officer Daniel Chun with the Los Angeles Police Department. Police recovered the vehicle, which was still on the scene.

In 2003, an elderly man accidentally plowed his car through a busy farmer's market in adjacent Santa Monica, killing 10 people and injuring 69.


Zimbabwe President Mugabe re-elected amid fraud claims


Robert Mugabe (C) answers journalists questions after voting at a polling station at a school in Harare on 31 July                                                      Robert Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence 

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has won a seventh term in office, officials say, amid claims of electoral fraud.

Mr Mugabe, 89, won 61% of the vote, against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's 34%.

Mr Tsvangirai earlier said the elections for parliament and president were fraudulent and promised to take legal action.

He said his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would no longer work with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

The two parties have been in a coalition since 2009, after the last election sparked widespread violence.

Results from this week's parliamentary election showed the MDC had been trounced, winning just 49 seats compared with Zanu-PF's 158.

In a news conference before the presidential result was announced, Mr Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe was "in mourning".'

"The fraudulent and stolen election has launched Zimbabwe into a constitutional, political and economic crisis," he said.

He said he would produce a dossier of the alleged electoral fraud and he called on the southern African regional bloc, Sadc, to investigate.

His MDC colleagues had earlier called for a campaign of civil disobedience to isolate Zanu-PF.

The European Union, which maintains sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was concerned about "alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation" in Wednesday's election.

Former colonial power the UK said it had grave concerns about the conduct of the election, and urged a thorough investigation of all allegations of violations.

The US state department also called for an investigation and said the results were not a "credible expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people".

Monitoring groups disagreed over the conduct of the election.

The most critical account came from the largest group of monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), which had 7,000 workers observing the vote.

Zimbabwe's election

Zimbabweans line up near a polling station in Harare to vote in a general election on July 31
  • Robert Mugabe wins landslide in presidential election with 61% of vote
  • Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF wins three-quarters of seats in parliamentary election
  • Morgan Tsvangirai fails to get elected president for a third time, calls election a "sham"
  • Voting passes off peacefully, but observers claim "irregularities" resulted in one million being unable to vote

The organisation said problems with voter registration had left up to one million people unable to cast their ballots, mostly in urban areas regarded as MDC strongholds.

On Saturday, one of the nine members of the election commission resigned over the way the election was conducted.

Commissioner Mkhululi Nyathi said in his resignation letter: "While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not to be."

However, the African Union, which had 70 observers, said its initial report suggested the election was "free and credible".

The AU's mission chief Olusegun Obasanjo said there had been "incidents that could have been avoided" and asked Zimbabwe's election authorities to investigate claims that voters had been turned away from polling stations.

Sadc, with 600 observers, broadly endorsed the election as "free and peaceful", but said it would reserve judgement on the fairness of the process.

Major Western groups were not invited to send observer missions.

Mr Mugabe has been president since 1987. He became prime minister when Zimbabwe won independence from the UK in 1980.


Twitter's Tony Wang issues personal apology to abuse victims


Tony Wang said the threats were "simply not acceptable" and pledged to do more to tackle abusive behaviour.The boss of Twitter UK has said sorry to women who have experienced abuse on the social networking site.

The apology came as Twitter updated its rules and confirmed it would introduce an in-tweet "report abuse" button on all platforms, including desktops.

Police are investigating eight allegations of abuse including bomb and rape threats made against women.

Two people have been arrested in relation to Twitter rape threats against Labour MP Stella Creasy and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez, who received the threats after a campaign to have Jane Austen on the new £10 note.

Three female journalists said they were subjected to bomb threats on the site.

The revelations sparked a backlash online, with a petition calling for Twitter to add a "report abuse" button to tweets attracting more than 124,000 signatures.

In a series of tweets, Twitter UK general manager Mr Wang said: "I personally apologize to the women who have experienced abuse on Twitter and for what they have gone through.

"The abuse they've received is simply not acceptable. It's not acceptable in the real world, and it's not acceptable on Twitter.

"There is more we can and will be doing to protect our users against abuse. That is our commitment."

'A clear message'

In an earlier message posted on its blog, Twitter's senior director for trust and safety Del Harvey and Mr Wang said the company had clarified its anti-harassment policy in light of feedback from customers.


The company has clarified its guidance on abuse and spam - reiterating that users "may not engage in targeted abuse or harassment".
They said: "It comes down to this: people deserve to feel safe on Twitter."

The "report abuse" button already available on the iOS Twitter app and mobile site will also be rolled out to the main website and Android app from September, Twitter said.

Ms Harvey and Mr Wang wrote in their blog: "We want people to feel safe on Twitter, and we want the Twitter rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such behaviour was, or could ever be, acceptable."

They said additional staff were being added to the teams that handle reports of abuse and the company was working with the UK Safer Internet Centre, which promotes the safe and responsible use of technology.

"We are committed to making Twitter a safe place for our users," they said, adding: "We're here, and we're listening to you."

'Sustained attack'

Ms Criado-Perez, 29, welcomed Twitter's response but said the process for reporting abuse should be further simplified to take the onus off the victim.

She said: "While I'm pleased they're listening, it's taken Twitter a week to come up with this.

"Twitter's 'report abuse' button on the iPhone application goes through to the old reporting form. What we're looking for is an overhaul of the system which sits behind the button.

"The current process is lengthy, complicated and impossible to use if you're under sustained attack like I have been.

"Right now, all the emphasis is on the victim, often under intense pressure, to report rather than for Twitter to track down the perpetrator and stop them."

Steve White, of the Police Federation, said online abuse was "un-policeable" and social networking giants like Twitter should do more to tackle the problem.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The organisations that run these social media platforms probably need to take a long, hard look, they need to take some responsibility.

"It's much like when you go into a shop - there are prevention measures within shops, whether it be security guards or things locked away that you can't get to, which is going to prevent crime, and I think social media sites need to think long and hard about being able to prevent it from happening in the first place."


Brazil Carandiru jail massacre police guilty

  

Breaking news

Twenty-five police have been given life sentences for their part in the 1992 massacre in Sao Paulo's Carandiru jail that left 111 prisoners dead.

Each police officer was sentenced to 624 years for the death of 52 inmates.

The verdicts come in the second of four stages of the trial involving different floors of the prison. Twenty-three officers were given life terms in the first stage in April.

The police are expected to stay free pending an appeal.


Zimbabwe MDC opposition calls for political boycott


Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan TsvangiraiPrime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has already dismissed the election as "a sham"

A leading Zimbabwe opposition figure has called for a campaign of "passive resistance" after election results showed President Robert Mugabe's party had won a large majority in parliament.

Roy Bennett, treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said people should force Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF to "rule by themselves".

The MDC has already said it will not recognise the results, alleging fraud.

It comes as the party holds emergency meetings to discuss the outcome.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission earlier said Zanu-PF had won 137 seats in the 210-seat chamber - just short of two-thirds - with most seats declared.

Results in the presidential race have yet to be announced.

'Transparently and fairly'

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who heads the MDC and is running for president against Mr Mugabe, has already dismissed the election as "a sham".

Amid rising tension, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai to send "clear messages of calm"to their supporters.

His spokesman, Martin Nesirky, said Mr Ban wanted any election disputes to be handled "transparently and fairly".

Zimbabwe President Robert MugabeRobert Mugabe, 89, was standing for a seventh term as president

The MDC was believed to be holding talks on Friday and Saturday to decide on a response to the results.

Its treasurer Roy Bennett said there should be a wave of social disobedience in order to bring the regime to a halt.

"I'm calling on the people of Zimbabwe, who are our constituents and who we represent in the positions we hold, for passive resistance and for total disengagement," he said.

"And let Zanu-PF rule and rule by themselves and bring the country to a standstill."

Mr Tsvangirai, 61, earlier said the vote was "null and void".

Analysis

There is a mood of despair among Morgan Tsvangirai's supporters - they are shocked and dejected.

A palpable feeling has gripped the capital, Harare, where people's hopes had been raised by the absence of the intimidation and violence seen in past elections. Many cannot understand how President Robert Mugabe's party managed to win seats in Mr Tsvangirai's urban strongholds.

In contrast, Zanu-PF supporters feel they have brought back the father of the nation, who fought colonial rule and restored the dignity of black Zimbabweans.

The country is torn apart by political strife. Emotions are running high and the country is likely to face another period of bickering and, perhaps, economic stagnation.

The leaders of Mr Tsvangirai's MDC are meeting on Saturday to map the way forward. The question is whether he will remain at the helm, or face internal pressures to quit. The strong indications are that he may stay on in the opposition trenches until the next election.

For now, the MDC is pursuing the legal route, which - judging by the past - is unlikely to succeed.

For President Mugabe, it is time to go back to the office, where he will face the world's questions about his legitimacy.

A local monitoring group has also said that the poll was "seriously compromised".

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) - the largest group of domestic monitors with some 7,000 people on the ground - said as many as one million people had been unable to cast their ballots.

It said voting irregularities were much more likely to affect urban areas, where support for Mr Tsvangirai is strong, than in President Mugabe's rural strongholds.

However, the two main observer groups have broadly endorsed the election, saying it was free and peaceful.

Uneasy coalition

African Union (AU) mission head Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed the complaints of fraud, saying the election was fair and free "from the campaigning point of view".

He acknowledged incidents "that could have been avoided and even tended to have breached the law" but added: "We do not believe that these incidences (incidents) will amount to the result not representing the will of the people."

Meanwhile, monitors from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) described the elections as "free and peaceful" but said it was too early to call them fair.

South Africa became the latest country to endorse the result, challenging critics to provide evidence of vote-rigging.

Zanu-PF and the MDC have formed an uneasy coalition government since 2009. That deal ended deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.

Mr Mugabe, 89, is running for a seventh term.

If Zanu-PF clinches a two-thirds majority it will be able to change Zimbabwe's constitution.

Under Zimbabwean law, seven days are set aside for legal challenges with another two days for rulings to be made. After that, the swearing-in of a new government takes place.

The BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg says some strong legal challenges are likely, with perhaps a few results overturned.