BBC News
11 October 2008
Editor's Note: Regardless of how you feel about his views on a personal level, this event is very significant for Austria because of their recent election results, in which his party did much better than expected. Given the inertia of the coalition that was dissolved, some Austrian constituants, disillusioned with the stagnation of in the current government, decided to support the far-right parties, who ran, in part, on a platform of bringing about radical change to a deadlocked government if given ample representation.
Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider has been killed in a road accident, police say.
Mr Haider suffered severe head and chest injuries after his car came off the road in Carinthia, his political base.
Police investigating the crash said he had been driving alone.
The 58-year-old was leader of the Alliance for Austria's Future, and was known for his anti-immigration and anti-EU policies.
The Alliance was one of two right-wing parties which did better than expected in general elections last month, fuelling speculation of a possible role in a ruling coalition.
JOERG HAIDER: KEY DATES
1950: Born in Upper Austria
1976: Joins Freedom Party
1986: Elected party's leader
1989: Elected governor of Carinthia
2000: Resigns as party leader
2005: Founds Alliance for Austria's Future
Obituary: Joerg Haider
He had reportedly been due to attend his mother's 90th birthday celebrations later in the day.
"For us this is the end of the world," the deputy leader of Mr Haider's Alliance for Austria's Future, Stefan Petzner, told Austrian news agency, APA.
Austria's President Heinz Fischer said Mr Haider's death was a "human tragedy", while Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer described him as someone who had shaped Austria's domestic and political landscape over decades, according to the Associated Press news agency.
EU sanctions
Mr Haider was a divisive figure, who gained notoriety after he became leader of the Freedom Party in 1986.
In 1991, his term as governor of the province of Carinthia was interrupted, after he made comments praising employment policies of Nazi Germany.
But he was re-elected in 1999 and 2003.
In 2000, the EU imposed sanctions against Austria in a protest over his party's role in government.
In 2005, Mr Haider left the Freedom Party and founded the Alliance for Austria's Future, which scored its best result so far in elections last month, gaining 11% of the vote.
This was, however, well below the 27% which the Freedom Party won under his leadership in 1999 - a high mark in Mr Haider's electoral career at national level.
"With his passing, Austria has lost a great political figure," said Heinz-Christian Strache, who had taken over as leader of the Freedom Party after Mr Haider left.
11 October, 2008
08 October, 2008
NORTH KIVU: CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS PRAY FOR PEACE IN GOMA.
MISNA
8 October 2008
Men and women, elderly and children, Muslims and Christians all participated in a day of prayer yesterday in all towns and cities of North Kivu to call for an end to armed clashes and a return of peace in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The initiative, promoted by the local provincial authorities, was also observed by schools and offices, which remained closed, while public transport was reduced. Churches, mosques and temples – reports the local press – held functions throughout the day calling on the Lord “to reconcile the sons and daughters of North Kivu for a lasting peace”. Peaceful marches were held in Beni and Goma for the unity of the country and its inhabitants. Meanwhile, on the political front, the Yakutumba armed group, signatory of the Goma accords, announced its pull-out from the ‘Amani’ programme of demobilisation and disarmament of armed groups. The news heightens concerns of an end to peace negotiations, in light also of the resumption since August 28 of clashes between the army and militia of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) headed by pro-Rwandan General Laurent Nkunda.
8 October 2008
Men and women, elderly and children, Muslims and Christians all participated in a day of prayer yesterday in all towns and cities of North Kivu to call for an end to armed clashes and a return of peace in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The initiative, promoted by the local provincial authorities, was also observed by schools and offices, which remained closed, while public transport was reduced. Churches, mosques and temples – reports the local press – held functions throughout the day calling on the Lord “to reconcile the sons and daughters of North Kivu for a lasting peace”. Peaceful marches were held in Beni and Goma for the unity of the country and its inhabitants. Meanwhile, on the political front, the Yakutumba armed group, signatory of the Goma accords, announced its pull-out from the ‘Amani’ programme of demobilisation and disarmament of armed groups. The news heightens concerns of an end to peace negotiations, in light also of the resumption since August 28 of clashes between the army and militia of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People) headed by pro-Rwandan General Laurent Nkunda.
U.S. Welcomes Chinese Firms to Invest in Domestic Energy Sector.
AFX News Limited
8 October 2008
The United States would welcome Chinese investments in its oil and gas sector, an official with the U.S. department of energy said on Wednesday.
"If they want to invest in our oil and gas sector, I can't imagine we would have any objections," Alan Hegburg, deputy assistant secretary in the department, told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Cape Town.
Hegburg noted that China, which is hungry to secure natural resources for its growing economy, was allowing U.S. firms to invest in oil and gas developments in its own domestic sector.
Chinese investment in the United States became a politically charged issue in 2005 when U.S. politicians scuttled a bid by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC) for California-based Unocal Corp.
The United States cited national security concerns as the main reason for opposing the unsolicited $18.5 billion bid by China's top offshore oil and gas producer, which topped an earlier offer by U.S. Chevron Corp..
Chevron ultimately won the bidding war for Unocal, which was prized for its assets in Central Asia.
8 October 2008
The United States would welcome Chinese investments in its oil and gas sector, an official with the U.S. department of energy said on Wednesday.
"If they want to invest in our oil and gas sector, I can't imagine we would have any objections," Alan Hegburg, deputy assistant secretary in the department, told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil conference in Cape Town.
Hegburg noted that China, which is hungry to secure natural resources for its growing economy, was allowing U.S. firms to invest in oil and gas developments in its own domestic sector.
Chinese investment in the United States became a politically charged issue in 2005 when U.S. politicians scuttled a bid by the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC) for California-based Unocal Corp.
The United States cited national security concerns as the main reason for opposing the unsolicited $18.5 billion bid by China's top offshore oil and gas producer, which topped an earlier offer by U.S. Chevron Corp..
Chevron ultimately won the bidding war for Unocal, which was prized for its assets in Central Asia.
07 October, 2008
McCain Tied to Iran-Contra Group.
Associated Press
7 October 2008
GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.
McCain's ties are facing renewed scrutiny after his campaign criticized Barack Obama for his link to a former radical who engaged in violent acts 40 years ago.
The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.
The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.
"McCain was a new guy on the block learning the ropes," Singlaub told The Associated Press in an interview. "I think I met him in the Washington area when he was just a new congressman. We had McCain on the board to make him feel like he wasn't left out. It looks good to have names on a letterhead who are well-known and appreciated.
"I don't recall talking to McCain at all on the work of the group," Singlaub said.
The renewed attention over McCain's association with Singlaub's group comes as McCain's campaign steps up criticism of Obama's dealings with William Ayers, a college professor who co-founded the Weather Underground and years later worked on education reform in Chicago alongside Obama. Ayers held a meet-the-candidate event at his home when Obama first ran for public office in the mid-1990s.
Obama was roughly 8 years old when Ayers, now at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was working with the Weather Underground, which took responsibility for bombings that included nonfatal blasts at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol. McCain's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has said that Obama "pals around with terrorists."
In McCain's case, Singlaub knew McCain's father, a Navy admiral who had sought Singlaub's counsel when McCain, a Navy pilot, became a prisoner of war and spent 5 1/2 years in North Vietnamese hands.
"John's father asked me for advice about what he ought to do now that his son had been shot down and captured," Singlaub recalled in one of two recent interviews. "I said, 'As long as you don't give any impression that you care more about him than you care about any of the other prisoners, he won't be treated any differently.'"
Covert arms shipments to the rebels called Contras, financed in part by secret arms sales to Iran, became known as the Iran-Contra affair. They proved to be the undoing of Singlaub's council.
In 1987, the Internal Revenue Service withdrew the tax-exempt status of Singlaub's group because of its activities on behalf of the Contras.
Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras.
Months before the cutoff, top Reagan administration officials ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network and put National Security Council aide Oliver North in charge of running it. The goal was to keep the Contras operational until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding.
Singlaub's private group became the public cover for the White House operation.
Secretly, Singlaub worked with North in an effort to raise millions of dollars from foreign governments.
McCain has said previously he resigned from the council in 1984 and asked in 1986 to have his name removed from the group's letterhead.
"I didn't know whether (the group's activity) was legal or illegal, but I didn't think I wanted to be associated with them," McCain said in a newspaper interview in 1986.
Singlaub does not recall any McCain resignation in 1984 or May 1986. Nor does Joyce Downey, who oversaw the group's day-to-day activities.
"That's a surprise to me," Singlaub said. "This is the first time I've ever heard that. There may have been someone in his office communicating with our office."
"I don't ever remember hearing about his resigning, but I really wasn't worried about that part of our activities, a housekeeping thing," said Singlaub. "If he didn't want to be on the board that's OK. It wasn't as if he had been active participant and we were going to miss his help. He had no active interest. He certainly supported us."
7 October 2008
GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.
McCain's ties are facing renewed scrutiny after his campaign criticized Barack Obama for his link to a former radical who engaged in violent acts 40 years ago.
The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.
The council's founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group.
"McCain was a new guy on the block learning the ropes," Singlaub told The Associated Press in an interview. "I think I met him in the Washington area when he was just a new congressman. We had McCain on the board to make him feel like he wasn't left out. It looks good to have names on a letterhead who are well-known and appreciated.
"I don't recall talking to McCain at all on the work of the group," Singlaub said.
The renewed attention over McCain's association with Singlaub's group comes as McCain's campaign steps up criticism of Obama's dealings with William Ayers, a college professor who co-founded the Weather Underground and years later worked on education reform in Chicago alongside Obama. Ayers held a meet-the-candidate event at his home when Obama first ran for public office in the mid-1990s.
Obama was roughly 8 years old when Ayers, now at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was working with the Weather Underground, which took responsibility for bombings that included nonfatal blasts at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol. McCain's vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, has said that Obama "pals around with terrorists."
In McCain's case, Singlaub knew McCain's father, a Navy admiral who had sought Singlaub's counsel when McCain, a Navy pilot, became a prisoner of war and spent 5 1/2 years in North Vietnamese hands.
"John's father asked me for advice about what he ought to do now that his son had been shot down and captured," Singlaub recalled in one of two recent interviews. "I said, 'As long as you don't give any impression that you care more about him than you care about any of the other prisoners, he won't be treated any differently.'"
Covert arms shipments to the rebels called Contras, financed in part by secret arms sales to Iran, became known as the Iran-Contra affair. They proved to be the undoing of Singlaub's council.
In 1987, the Internal Revenue Service withdrew the tax-exempt status of Singlaub's group because of its activities on behalf of the Contras.
Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras.
Months before the cutoff, top Reagan administration officials ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network and put National Security Council aide Oliver North in charge of running it. The goal was to keep the Contras operational until Congress could be persuaded to resume CIA funding.
Singlaub's private group became the public cover for the White House operation.
Secretly, Singlaub worked with North in an effort to raise millions of dollars from foreign governments.
McCain has said previously he resigned from the council in 1984 and asked in 1986 to have his name removed from the group's letterhead.
"I didn't know whether (the group's activity) was legal or illegal, but I didn't think I wanted to be associated with them," McCain said in a newspaper interview in 1986.
Singlaub does not recall any McCain resignation in 1984 or May 1986. Nor does Joyce Downey, who oversaw the group's day-to-day activities.
"That's a surprise to me," Singlaub said. "This is the first time I've ever heard that. There may have been someone in his office communicating with our office."
"I don't ever remember hearing about his resigning, but I really wasn't worried about that part of our activities, a housekeeping thing," said Singlaub. "If he didn't want to be on the board that's OK. It wasn't as if he had been active participant and we were going to miss his help. He had no active interest. He certainly supported us."
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