Wyclef Jean not on list for Haiti election for legal reasons, official says


The hip-hop star Wyclef Jean's bid to become the president of Haiti appeared to be in doubt last night after an election official said he was not on the list of candidates for the 28 November poll.

The singer's presidential bid has electrified the earthquake-stricken country's election campaign. But yesterday a member of the country's provisional electoral council, who asked not to be named, told Reuters: "He is not on the list as I speak."

guardian.co.uk

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Wahlkommission schließt Hip-Hop-Star Wyclef Jean aus


Hip-Hop-Star Wyclef Jean wird offenbar nicht als Kandidat bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen in Haiti zugelassen. Laut einem Mitglied der Wahlkommission steht Jeans Name nicht auf der Liste der offiziellen Bewerber.

spiegel.de

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Pentagon: WikiLeaks did not contact us


The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had not been contacted by WikiLeaks, despite claims that the whistle-blowing website sought its help reviewing thousands of classified Afghan war documents ahead of their release.

U.S. officials have appealed to WikiLeaks not to post any additional documents and accused the group of endangering lives of Afghan contacts named in its initial release of tens of thousands of classified U.S. military reports last month.

reuters.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



FBI wants its seal removed from Wikipedia


Wikipedia has its critics, but now the Federal Bureau of Investigation thinks the online encyclopedia is breaking the law.

In a letter to Wikipedia (PDF) dated July 22 and posted by The New York Times, the FBI demands that its official seal be removed from a Wikipedia article about the FBI because the agency had not approved use of the image.

cnet.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



State of shock: Sarkozy is dead


President Nicolas Sarkozy dies suddenly of a stroke after a tennis match against Carla. The secretary general of the Elysee tries to gain time, but the TV beats him. Obama is woken up in the middle of the night. A huge crowd gathers at the Place de la Concorde. The Pope gets ready for the funeral service. Terrorists take advantage of the chaos to prepare an attack in Paris…

Sarkozy is dead

frogsmoke.com nouvelobs.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Berlusconi-Buddy zu sieben Jahren Haft verurteilt


Er gilt als rechte Hand von Premier Berlusconi und soll dessen Partei Forza Italia mit Hilfe der Mafia groß gemacht haben: Jetzt hat ein Gericht in Palermo Marcello Dell'Utri zu einer langjährigen Haftstraffe verurteilt. Ein Meilenstein in der Rechtsprechung? Wohl kaum.

spiegel.de

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



The Mineral Miracle? Or a Massive Information Operation?


Were it not for the byline of James Risen, a New York Times reporter currently in a legal battle with the Obama administration over the identity of his sources, a second read of his blockbuster A1 story this morning, U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan, would engender some fairly acute skepticism. For one, a simple Google search identifies any number of previous stories with similar details.

theatlantic.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Angela Merkel's government threatened with collapse


German chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition government looked to be close to collapse today, weakened by a string of disagreements and intense infighting over austerity cuts, policy reform and the departure of senior conservatives.

guardian.co.uk

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Turkish President Uses Twitter To Complain About His Own Gov't's Censorship Of Google


We've noted that Turkey has repeatedly banned YouTube, and more recently a bunch of other Google properties. The YouTube ban came from the courts. It's still not clear what resulted in the wider Google blocks. A bunch of reporters have protested the censorship, noting how bad it makes Turkey look.

techdirt.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Staat zahlt 442 Millionen Euro für Kirchengehälter


Die Bundesregierung spart und streicht, doch kirchliche Gehälter verschont sie. Die Bezüge werden seit 200 Jahren vom Staat getragen, und niemand scheint daran etwas ändern zu wollen - obwohl 2009 fast eine halbe Milliarde Euro gezahlt wurde.

Update: Hier hat mal jemand ausgerechnet, wieviel Subventionen die Kirchen so jährlich von uns kriegen. Es sind deutlich mehr als die 10 Milliarden, die der Staat gerade den Ärmsten in unserer Gesellschaft aus der Tasche ziehen will.

Staat zahlt 442 Millionen Euro für Kirchengehälter

spiegel.de

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



Zum Zweiten: Zensursula


Urusla von der Leyen: Bundespräsidentin aller Deutschen?

not-my-president

dataloo.de

Update - ARD: Von der Leyen aus dem Rennen um Präsidentenamt

tagesschau.de orf.at

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment



China Decides Photocopiers Are Evil; At Least If They're In Tibet


It's widely known that China tries to widely censor political dissent online, but modern technology makes it possible to communicate widely not just on the internet. And, so, it appears that China is also looking to plug the "analog hole" in its Great Firewall -- at least in Tibet. The gov't is so concerned about photocopier machines, that printing and copy shops in Tibet will be required to take down detailed identifying information from everyone who uses the shops.

nytimes.com

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment