Watches Dutch queen OKs government backed by Geert Wilders

Dutch queen OKs government backed by Geert Wilders
Dutch Queen Beatrix has asked the leader of the Liberal VVD party to form a cabinet backed by the party of anti-Islamist populist Geert Wilders.

Party leaders, from left, Geert Wilders, Mark Rutte and Maxime Verhagen, have reached agreement
Mark Rutte will now head a centre-right coalition with the Christian Democrats (CDA).

The minority cabinet will have support of Mr Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV), which will remain outside the government.

The government says it plans to ban the full Islamic veil in the Netherlands.

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Dutch veil ban in coalition deal
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It also wants to cut the budget by 18bn euros ($24bn; £15bn) by 2015, imposes curbs on immigration and increase the number of police officers.

The Liberals (VVD) and CDA hold 52 seats in the 150-member parliament and will have to rely on the PVV's 24 MPs to get legislation passed.

The coalition deal has angered some CDA MPs who do not want to work with Mr Wilders.

Earlier this week, he went on trial in Amsterdam on Monday on charges of inciting hatred with his film Fitna (Division).

The film juxtaposes the Muslim holy book, the Koran, with the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people in the US were killed in 2001.

The Netherlands has been run by a caretaker government since February when a coalition led by the CDA's former leader, Jan Peter Balkenende, collapsed after a row over military involvement in Afghanistan.

June's general election delivered a surge of support for the Freedom Party, which won the third biggest share of seats in parliament.
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Watch Brazil government gives go-ahead for huge Amazon dam

Brazil government gives go-ahead for huge Amazon dam


The proposal to build a dam on the Xingu river has long been a source of controversy

Brazil's government has given the formal go-ahead for the building on a tributary of the Amazon of the world's third biggest hydroelectric dam.

After several failed legal challenges, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the contract for the Belo Monte dam with the Norte Energia consortium.

Critics say the project will damage the local ecosystem and make homeless 50,000 mainly indigenous people.

But the government says it is crucial for development and will create jobs.

Bidding for the project had to be halted three times before a final court appeal by the government allowed Norte Energia, led by the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco, to be awarded the contract.

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We will persuade them that we took seriously into account the environmental and social issues”

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
Brazilian president
'Death warrant'
At the contract signing ceremony in Brasilia on Thursday, President Lula said he himself had criticised the dam before he learnt more about it.

"You cannot imagine how many times I spoke against Belo Monte without even knowing what it was about, and it is precisely during my government that Belo Monte is being unveiled," he said.

"I think this is a victory for Brazil's energy sector.

"We will persuade them that we took seriously into account the environmental and social issues," he added.

The proposal to build a hydro-electric dam on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon in the northern state of Para, has long been a source of controversy.

The initial project was abandoned in the 1990s amid widespread protests both in Brazil and around the world.
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Watch Flooding submerges new towns in Pakistan's south

Enjoy Flooding submerges new towns in Pakistan's south

By ASHRAF KHAN, Associated Press Writer – Sat Aug 21, 12:47 pm ET
SUKKUR, Pakistan – About 150,000 Pakistanis were forced to move to higher ground as floodwaters from a freshly swollen Indus River submerged dozens more towns and villages in the south, a government spokesman said Saturday.
Officials expect the floodwaters will recede nationwide in the next few days as the last river torrents empty into the Arabian Sea. Survivors may find little left when they return home, however: The waters have washed away houses, roads, bridges and crops vital to livelihoods.
Already, 600,000 people are in relief camps set up in Sindh province during the flooding over the past month.
As the latest surge approached, "We evacuated more than 150,000 people from interior parts of Sindh in the past 24 hours," said Jamil Soomro, a spokesman for the provincial government. The floods submerged new areas in Thatta district.
At a relief camp in the Sukkur area, some victims said it was difficult to get the food dropped off by relief trucks.
"I am a widow, and my children are too young to get food because of the chaos and rush," said Parveen Roshan. "How can weak women win a fight with men to get food?"
Nearby, a doctor treated a boy whose back was injured after someone pushed him during a scramble for food at a truck.
The floods have affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining its civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence. At least 6 million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall. The economic cost is expected to run into billions of dollars.
The United Nations has appealed for $460 million in emergency assistance, and the U.S. has promised $150 million. Pakistan said it would even accept $5 million in aid from India, its archrival.
The floods began in late July in the northwest of the country after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, expanding rivers that have since swamped eastern Punjab province and Sindh province in the south.
A slew of aid groups have been trying to help the government in its relief effort by providing food, medicine, shelter and other crucial assistance. Poor weather and the destruction of roads and bridges have hindered the distribution.
The United Nations said it needs at least 40 more helicopters to reach the large number of people cut off by the flooding.
"We need more of these lifesavers," said the World Food Program's Pakistan country director, Wolfgang Herbinger.

We are saw this Sri Lanka's Sarath Fonseka 'expects jail sentence'

Sarath Fonseka was once a close ally of President Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka's Sarath Fonseka 'expects jail sentence'

Former Sri Lankan armed forces chief Sarath Fonseka says he expects he will soon be given a jail sentence.

A military court last week sentenced him to be stripped of his rank as a general and dishonourably discharged from the armed forces.

Mr Fonseka, 59, said he expected to receive a jail sentence from a second military court trying him on charges of corruption.

He said he believed the verdict was already planned.

The former general spoke to reporters at the Sri Lankan parliament, to which he was elected in April and which he can attend under military escort.

Mr Fonseka said he would appeal against the first court-martial verdict - which found him guilty of dabbling in politics while still military chief - although he played down the sentence removing his rank, medals and pension.

"Whatever I did for the country, I didn't expect anything in return," he said.

"When I served the country for 40 years, I did not expect medals. I did not expect promotions. I did not expect money. I didn't work on a contract."

'No rule of law'
Mr Fonseka accused Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the government of harassing opposition politicians and he alleged that there was no rule of law on the island.

"They are trying to create a lawless situation, lawlessness in the country," he said.

"That is not in the long-term interest of the country. If there is no law and order in the country, people are not safe."

There are still several other legal cases pending against the former military chief.

The government says he was planning a coup and assassinations earlier this year. It says the law will take its course.

Sarath Fonseka, once very close to President Rajapaksa and his powerful brothers, says he is being victimised for daring to challenge Mr Rajapaksa in presidential elections.
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We are enjoy meet this Allawi, Sadr meet in Syria to resolve Iraqi government impasse

We see this Allawi, Sadr meet in Syria to resolve Iraqi government impasse




DAMASCUS: Pro-Western Iraqi politician Iyad Allawi sought support on Monday to form a government from Iranian-backed cleric Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, in the first meeting between the once bitter rivals.

Sadr, an anti-US figure who has emerged as a kingmaker in Iraqi politics, did not endorse Allawi but said Allawi had shown more willingness to compromise than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is trying to cling to power after an inconclusive election in March.

Sadr and Allawi met at a hotel in the Syrian capital after they had separately been received by Syrian President Bashar Assad. They later met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was on a brief visit to Syria.

Davutoglu flew in to Damascus and held talks with Assad, agreeing on the need “to speed up the formation of a government” in Iraq, their countries’ common neighbor, SANA said.

Iraq has been gripped by violence and political intrigue since the election, which failed to produce an outright winner. A bloc supported by Sunni politicians and headed by Allawi narrowly won the most seats.

Allawi was Iraq’s prime minister in 2004 when US forces surrounded Sadr and his followers at the Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf before Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, an Iranian-born cleric, intervened and ensured Sadr safe passage, avoiding a bloodbath inside the grand mosque.



Allawi has had uneasy ties with the Najaf seminary and with Islamists in general. He has also criticized the role of Iraqi clergy in politics.

“If there were past differences, I am forgetting them so that the political process proceeds,” Sadr told reporters

“I don’t back specific names, but programs and mechanisms to arrive at the next premier,” he added, saying Allawi had promised him to draft a political program he would adopt if he became prime minister.

Allawi said Sadr’s views were “positive, showing care to preserve Iraq and accelerate forming a government”.

“Something I am sure of is that the Sayyed [Sadr] will honor his word,” Allawi said.

An aide to Allawi said he could become prime minister if he secured the support of Sadr and the two main Kurdish blocs. Allawi has good ties with key Arab rulers and the US, and has been trying to exploit discord between Iraq’s main Shiite factions over Maliki’s attempt to win a second term.



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(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

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