TOP 100 NEWS SITES
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italian Alps avalanches kill seven Four rescuers die in search for Italian tourists and one German boy killed and friend injured in separate avalancheSeven people have been killed in a string of deadly avalanches in the Italian Alps.The bodies of the victims, including four rescuers, were being recovered today. A German boy hit by one of the avalanches while snow-boarding off-piste is fighting for his life at a hospital in Bolzano.The rescuers died in the Val Lasties area of the Dolomites, east of Bolzano. Members of a party of seven expert mountaineers, they had climbed to 2,000 metres in search of two Italian tourists who had ventured into the area on snow shoes and been struck by the first of the avalanches.The group reached a mountain refuge on Saturday night and set off again in the dark when they were caught in an avalanche as they were descending the mountain. One of the survivors raised the alarm.The bodies of the two tourists were located by a bigger expedition consisting of tracker dogs and 40 rescuers, including members of the fire brigade and the paramilitary Carabinieri.In the mountains west of Bolzano, a third avalanche struck three young Germans after they left the ski runs near Malga Madriccio to take a well-trodden shortcut across the slopes above 3,000 metres.A 12 year-old boy was found dead below the snow, his older brother survived unharmed and their injured friend was taken to hospital by helicopter. None had been carrying a beacon or other location-indicating device, hampering rescue efforts.ItalyJohn Hooperguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
2 ships reported hijacked off Somali coast LONDON (AP) -- A cargo ship and a chemical tanker have both been hijacked by pirates in the perilous waters off the coast of Somalia, bringing to four the number of ships seized in the past week, officials said Saturday.... hosted.ap.org |
Friend: Suspect meant no harm at Newark airport PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) -- A friend describes the man charged with breaching security at Newark Liberty International Airport as a romantic who just wanted to see his girlfriend off properly.... hosted.ap.org |
Bomb in Jordan Misses Convoy of Israeli Diplomats A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of vehicles carrying Israeli diplomats in Jordan on Thursday, but no one was injured, according to Israeli and Jordanian officials. online.wsj.com |
Obama and the Messiah complexity | Al Sharpton Many expected too much of Obama. Massachusetts was a loss, but it doesn't invalidate his presidencyOn Monday the United States celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King with a national holiday. It cast my mind back to 1963, when he wrote the book Why We Can't Wait, in response to those who said it was "to early" to make America equal for all, regardless of race. On Wednesday the US marked another anniversary – of the inauguration of the first African American president.Barack Obama's election was seen by many as the dawn of the "post-racial" age, where we no longer needed to talk about equality. So if it was too soon when King was writing, and it's too late now, tell me: when will it be time?In reality, the racial age will not be over until the law guarantees all citizens equal opportunity and protection. And we must ultimately judge this not from the White House down but from Âordinary houses up.Obama's anniversary celebrations this week were marred by the crucial loss of a Democrat seat in the Senate – and, shockingly, it was in Massachusetts, which has traditionally had a huge Âdemocratic majority.From his high a year ago, Obama has lost support among Republicans who hate his healthcare reforms, and also among Democrats, some of whom believe his reforms didn't go far enough, and many of whom oppose his escalation of the war in Afghanistan. But I think he's done very well. Yes, some of the euphoria has gone, but people forget what he inherited: a nation engaged in two wars and on the brink of financial collapse.Without doubt, some of the criticism directed against Obama has been racially motivated. And some say he shouldn't have got involved, for instance, when his friend, Professor Henry Louis Gates, was arrested in his own home. Obama said the police department had acted "stupidly"; but I don't think it was a mistake to say that, despite the backlash against his intervention.Four years ago, Senator Obama spoke in Selma, Alabama, at the annual commemoration of the 1965 civil rights marches which took place there. He talked of a Moses generation of leaders (people like Dr King and Jesse Jackson) and a Joshua generation of younger leaders. For this younger group, the issues were not about seats on the bus, or the denial of voting rights; they were about racial profiling by the police and other state agencies. We didn't have Jim Crow, the segregation laws. Instead we had Master James Crow Esq: the same thing, but done in a more sophisticated way.So it was natural for Obama to treat the Prof Gates case like this; he was reacting according to what he knew. He later retracted the "stupid" comment. But at the time he'd also said: "What I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That's just a fact." He never went back on this. And I think he did the right thing.In some respects Obama faces a greater challenge now than before he was elected. Many Americans never really expected him to win the Âpresidency, but it seems they all expected him to change their lives and the world within a year.We need to remember that he ran for president, not for Messiah. The defeat in Massachusetts is a reminder that Obama already had a Âvociferous Âopposition; and if the majority of ÂAfrican Americans, along with the wider Democratic Âfamily, feel that we can somehow take our foot of the gas, we'll witness many more defeats.We've lost this battle but I believe we will still win the war, and in doing so we will offer hope to all Americans that greater justice and equality can be a reality.Barack ObamaMartin Luther KingRace issuesDemocratsMassachusettsFinancial crisisAl Sharptonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |