Dec 18
(Race of the victim is not mentioned in the article. This usually means the victim was White in cases like this where the attackers are non-Whites.)
Three men have been convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl in an attack that left her with burns to half her body after caustic soda was thrown on her.
The girl, who has learning difficulties, was lured into an empty north London house and repeatedly raped, Wood Green Crown Court was told.
Rogel McMorris, 18, of Tottenham, north London, was convicted of two counts of rape and one of grievous bodily harm.
Two others were found guilty of rape and three men were acquitted.
Jason Brew, 19, of High Cross Road, Tottenham, and Hector Muaimba, 20, of Guildford Road, Walthamstow, east London, were both found guilty of one count of rape.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7772189.stm
Dec 18
THE Minister of Information and Publicity, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu on Saturday called the cholera outbreak in the country a “genocidal onslaught” by Zimbabwe’s former colonial ruler – Britain.
Speaking to reporters in the capital, Dr Ndlovu labeled the cholera outbreak “a serious biological, chemical war force, a genocidal onslaught, on the people of Zimbabwe by the British.”
He added that “Cholera is a calculated, racist attack on Zimbabwe by the unrepentant former colonial power, which has enlisted support from its American and Western allies so that they can invade the country.”
Dr. Ndlovu also criticized the outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, whom he called “warmongers”.
http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/3924/2008-12-14.html
Dec 18
Barack Obama insists that he and his staff were not involved in the alleged schemes Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich cooked up to sell off the president-elect’s vacant Senate seat.
But the timeline of activity outlined in the FBI’s 76-page complaint against Blagojevich suggests Obama’s team was aware that his home-state governor was playing political hardball in the weeks before his arrest.
That’s because shortly after Blagojevich allegedly told his advisers, in an expletive-laced conference call, that he would not appoint Obama’s pick to the Senate absent huge favors in return, Obama’s apparent pick promptly dropped out of the running for the Senate and joined the new White House staff.
“Reading between the lines … clearly somebody from (Obama’s) operation did have a conversation with Blagojevich,” Democratic strategist Bob Beckel told FOX News. He added that Obama’s representative evidently wasn’t trying to cut a deal since Blagojevich indicated he was “getting nothing out of the Obama people.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/11/obama-blago/
Dec 18
Emanuel; much ado about nothing?
The Chicago Sun Times, which has been aggressively covering the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich scandal is reporting that Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, may have been captured in some of the government’s surveillance tapes.
The paper said Emanuel refused to take questions from reporters about whether he was the Obama “advisor” named in the criminal complaint against Governor Blagojevich.
“The complaint states Blagojevich wanted a promise of a high-level appointment or some other reward for Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich naming Obama’s friend Valerie Jarrett to replace him in the U.S. Senate,” the paper reports.
Emanuel “uncharacteristically” missed an Obama news conference Wednesday morning, the paper reported.
“Blagojevch was caught on tape saying that he wanted the Obama advisor in question to know what Blagojevich wanted in exchange for the Jarrett appointment,” reports that paper, which also quotes the governor as saying: “He asks me for the fifth CD thing, I want it to be in his head.”
Rep. Emanuel represents the 5th Congressional District in Illinois. Obama has said no one on his staff was involved in any pay to play and the government has not charged any one in the Obama campaign with any wrongdoing.
Yet, the government also recorded the governor clearly using harsh and abusive language against Obama, when it became clear that all they were willing to offer him was a thank you, instead of whatever inducements the governor was seeking.
Continue…
Dec 18
By Chelsea Schilling
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
America Online is conducting a new poll asking readers whether they believe there is any merit to the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s citizenship – and most respondents say “yes.”
There are some 87,000 national votes in the unscientific survery. A full 51 percent of nationwide respondents believe people should be concerned about Obama’s citizenship, 43 percent say the controversy has no merit and 6 percent of voters remain undecided.
In all, 43 states agree that there could be merit to the Obama citizenship controversy.
Where’s the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the “natural-born American” clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 190,000 others and sign up now!
Among voters who said Obama’s citizenship shouldn’t be an issue, represented by 7 yellow states, an average only 50 percent of those states’ respondents sided with Obama.
However, Washington, D.C., voters overwhelmingly sided with Obama – with 74 percent voting to drop the issue.
On a similar note, WND poll asked readers, “Are you satisfied Obama is constitutionally eligible to assume the presidency?” A full 97 percent of 6,000 voters said “no.”
The top three answers were:
- No, if I can’t get a driver’s license without an original birth certificate, how can Obama become president without one?
- No, and Americans should continue to dog him about it through his term
- No, there’s a reason why he’s unwilling to disclose his original birth certificate
More
Dec 13
Jaguar and Land Rover, the U.K. automakers owned by Indias Tata Motor Ltd., plan to cut jobs as the global recession undermines demand for new cars.
The automakers won’t renew the contracts of temporary computer and engineering workers after Christmas, spokesman Mark Foster said in an interview. The employees are based at four sites in central England, including Land Rover’s factory in Solihull and Jaguars plant at Castle Bromwich.
Tata bought the two units from Ford Motor Co. for about $2.4 billion in June. Ford itself said yesterday that it would dismiss temporary workers and cancel shifts as its cuts European manufacturing output by 10 percent next year. The U.K. Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders cut its 2008 sales forecast by 4.9 percent to 2.15 million vehicles on Nov. 6 after sales fell for a sixth consecutive month in October.
Global car market conditions remain severe, Jaguar and Land Rover said in an e-mailed statement. “We have to take responsible and rapid action to ensure our business is aligned and right-sized for the challenging environment we face.”
The jobs cuts come after the two carmakers offered voluntary redundancy to about 200 manufacturing workers in October. That offer was oversubscribed, prompting them to extend the terms to as many as 400 employees, Foster said.
http://www.projo.com/projocars/content/ca_jaglrcuts_11-29-08_ADCEKNS_v5.28b614b.html
According to the BBC, Ms Smith said some people were obtaining fake passports from neighbouring countries where, unlike Zimbabwe, citizens do not need UK entry visas.
