May
17
2012
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May
16
2012
El nuevo presidente franc?s Francois Hollande llega al palacio del ayuntamiento de Par?s, el martes 15 de mayo de 2012 (AP Foto / Michel Spingler).
El nuevo presidente franc?s Francois Hollande llega al palacio del ayuntamiento de Par?s, el martes 15 de mayo de 2012 (AP Foto / Michel Spingler).
People shake hands with President-elect Francois Hollande as he arrives at the City Hall of Paris, France, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. (AP Photo / Laurent Cipriani)
President-elect Francois Hollande, center, Jean-Marc Ayrault, second right, and Paris’ mayor Bertrand Delanoe, right, leave the City Hall of Paris, France, after a ceremony, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
PARIS (AP) ? Socialist Francois Hollande took over as France’s president Tuesday and jetted off to Berlin hours later for talks on Europe’s debt crisis ? only to have his plane struck by lightning. No one was hurt.
It was a startling beginning for a man who promised to be a more “normal” president, and less flashy than his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, who was ousted by voters after a single term for his handling of a stagnant economy plagued by joblessness.
After a succession of rain-drenched and pomp-filled ceremonial inauguration events, Hollande took off in a Falcon 7X aircraft for Berlin. The plane was hit by lightning shortly afterward, and returned to the Villacoublay air base outside Paris as a precaution for inspection, Defense Ministry spokesman Gerard Gachet said.
Defense officials say the president and his entourage were transferred to another aircraft, a Falcon 900, and left shortly thereafter. That made Hollande about an hour and a half late for his first meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Hollande was following a postwar custom for new French leaders to reach out to their German counterparts to solidify European unity. Right before leaving for Berlin, Hollande named a moderate, German-friendly member of his Socialist party, Jean-Marc Ayrault, as his prime minster.
The new French president and Merkel are in different camps when it comes to solving Europe’s debt crisis. While new figures Tuesday showed the 17-nation eurozone has avoided a new recession, thanks largely to Germany, political turmoil in Greece was reviving fears about the fate of their shared euro currency.
Hollande, elected May 6 as France’s first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995, rode to the presidency on a wave of resurgent leftist sentiment amid Europe’s debt woes and protests against capitalism around the world.
The 57-year-old displayed his populist touch in between Tuesday’s ceremonies, stopping for handshakes ? and even a kiss ? with adoring fans.
Arriving Tuesday morning at the 18th-century Elysee Palace, the traditional residence of French presidents, Hollande was greeted by Sarkozy on the red-carpeted steps. The two held a 40-minute private meeting that is traditionally the moment when the outgoing president hands over the codes to France’s nuclear arsenal.
Hollande was declared president after the head of the constitutional court read out the final results of the May 6 election.
The new president immediately acknowledged the challenges he inherits: “a massive debt, weak growth, high unemployment, degraded competitiveness, and a Europe that is struggling to come out of crisis.”
In his speech, Hollande promised to fight financial speculation and “open a new path” in Europe. He has pushed back against a European budget-cutting pact championed by Merkel and Sarkozy.
“To overcome the crisis that is hitting it, Europe needs plans. It needs solidarity. It needs growth. To our partners, I will propose a new pact that will tie the necessary reduction of public debt with the indispensable stimulus of the economy,” he said.
Hollande also pledged to bring “dignity and simplicity” to the presidential role ? something voters felt that Sarkozy did not always do.
The French mood is glum. Many voters looked to the inauguration as a rare moment of national pride and to Hollande’s presidency as a new opportunity to make things better.
Earlier Tuesday, the state statistics agency released new figures showing that the French economy had failed to grow in the first quarter. Some economists predict a contraction ahead, which would complicate Hollande’s promises to rein in the deficit.
World markets and other European leaders will be watching closely to see whether and how Hollande follows through on his campaign promises, such as pulling French troops out of Afghanistan, freezing gasoline prices and hiking taxes on the rich. Observers expect that once he settles into the presidency, he’s likely to fall back into the moderate consensus-building that has characterized his career.
Crucial to Hollande’s presidency will be his relationship with Merkel, the German chancellor.
The announcement of lawmaker Ayrault (ay-ROW) as prime minister may well prove an advantage for this relationship. Ayrault, who leads the Socialists in Parliament, is a German speaker and a former teacher of the language of Goethe. The 62-year-old Ayrault and Hollande are said to be very close.
After the Berlin visit, Hollande heads later this week to the United States to meet President Barack Obama and attend summits of the Group of Eight and NATO.
In the ceremony Tuesday, Hollande received the insignia of the Grand Croix from the hands of Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, who heads the prestigious Legion of Honor, and the necklace of the Great Master of the Order of the Legion of Honor. Each linked medallion of the necklace bears the name of a president, with Hollande’s name recently added.
Hollande shook hands with many of the hundreds at the ceremony, then reviewed troops in the palace gardens. Following tradition, 21 shots were fired from cannons at the Invalides, a domed complex on the opposite side of the Seine River that holds Napoleon’s tomb.
Rain started pouring down on the famed Champs-Elysees avenue as Hollande rode up its center, standing in the sunroof of his hybrid Citroen DS5, trailed by dozens of Republican Guardsmen on horseback and motorcycle. His suit was visibly drenched within moments. He then headed for the Arc de Triomphe, and its monument to the unknown soldier.
His second presidential speech of the day focused on education, as he pledged to create 60,000 new teaching jobs in the aftermath of cuts Sarkozy had made.
Hollande, who has never been married, was joined for the Elysee ceremonies and in his motorcade car Tuesday by his girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler.
Hollande’s former partner and the mother of his four children, Segolene Royal, joined him later Tuesday in a ceremony at Paris City Hall. Royal, a prominent Socialist politician, was runner-up to Sarkozy in the 2007 election. She is angling for a top job under Hollande’s presidency.
Hollande’s first presidential meal reflected relative modesty, at least by French culinary standards: lobster and citrus terrine, cote de boeuf, and strawberry macaron cookies for dessert.
Sarkozy left the palace hand-in-hand with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, had a last handshake on the palace steps with Hollande, then was driven away. Former staff members gathered in the palace courtyard applauded loudly as Sarkozy left, and fans at the Elysee gates waved signs reading “Nicolas, merci!”
___
Jamey Keaten, Thomas Adamson, Cecile Brisson and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris contributed to this report.
Associated Press
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May
16
2012
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May
15
2012
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan warned Friday that the US and Europe were not doing enough to resolve the core causes of the global economic slowdown.
The global economy remains deep in crisis and Europe and the United States are doing little to resolve its core causes, Deputy Turkish Prime Minister Ali Babacan warned Friday.
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Mr. Babacan, a former foreign minister and Turkey?s point-man for economic policy, said neither the US nor the eurozone countries have yet to deal with the underlying causes of the global economic slowdown: a weak financial sector, weak corporate balance sheets, risky public financial positions.?
Speaking at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Babacan warned that this year will be a year of reckoning for the European Union, and he pointed to the recent collapse of the Dutch government over the budget austerity measures as a harbinger for Europe?s coming fiscal battles.?
?2012 will be test year for European countries,? he said. ?2013 will be test year for American economy. After the elections [the new administration] will find very difficult decisions on the table right away. There has to be serious fiscal adjustment and a medium term plan to deal with the deficit. So far, there is no credible plan to deal with deficit.?
Babacan said developed countries need to undertake serious structural changes including reforming social security and labor markets: ?It is absolutely necessary for serious reforms, especially in many European countries, absolutely necessary and urgent.?
Babacan is a founding member of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan?s Justice and Development Party and considered a leading member of the ?Neo-Ottomanism? movement, moving Turkey?s foreign policy away from a predominantly Western focus to integration and activism in its immediate neighborhood ??the territories of the former Ottoman Empire.
Babacan contrasted the Western economic turmoil, with Turkey?s booming economy which he said grew at 9.2 percent growth rate in 2010, and 8.5 percent in 2011.
?We entered this crisis with a strong banking system and strong public financial structure. During the crisis when many countries were asking for fiscal stimulus programs.? We followed a very different route. We did just the opposite. We announced fiscal consolidation program. And we overperformed,? he said.
He said Turkey?s economy was far more open than many European countries, which had made Turkish companies more dynamic and more competitive in global markets. And he argued that Turkish growth was more sustainable because he said it didn?t come on the back of government spending, but rather private sector growth.
In the coming years, he said, ?We will have lower growth ??though better than everywhere else in Europe ??but slower than before. Growth is high, but it?s also sustainable growth.?
?Tight fiscal policies will continue, in good days or in bad days,? he said, ?but we don?t believe in economic growth through public spending.?
Islam, democracy, and capitalism
Turkey has shown how Islam and democracy and capitalism can cooexist peacefully, Babacan said.?
?When people observe a functioning example, people are more encouraged to ask for more in their own countries,? he said. ?We have been talking with leaders: Change is coming, you can no longer have a closed regime with an open society ??satellites, social media, the Internet ??you have this kind, this kind of society moving forward and you are running this closed regime, this is not sustainable, this cannot continue.?
?We have advised these leaders to lead this change, or you will be pushed by change anyway,? he said. ?
Babacan addressed several of the long-running disputes in the region, such as the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, the status of the split island of Cyprus, and the violence in neighboring Syria. He said Turkey was strongly supportive of the six-point peace plan pushed by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, but he said Turkey was strongly against any sort of military intervention or sending weapons to the embattled Syrian opposition forces.
He also said the Syrian opposition is coalescing into a viable alternative to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
?We need to see visible, verifiable, and indisputable change in the country,? he said. ?The primary responsibility to end the violence will rest with the Syrian regime.?
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May
15
2012
The 21-year-old Harlem rapper and singer is officially added to the roster at West’s Def Jam imprint.
By Nadeska Alexis
Teyana Taylor
Photo: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Well, this was a long time coming. Kanye West has been closely affiliated with Harlem rapper/singer Teyana Taylor for some time now, but this week it was confirmed that Taylor has officially been signed to ‘Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music label.
The 21-year-old singer-songwriter and actress, who worked with West on his fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, will reveal details about her first G.O.O.D. Music LP and forthcoming singles in the next few weeks. In April she debuted a new mixtape, The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor, which pays tribute to Lauryn Hill and her other early influences, including Mary J. Blige and Janet Jackson.
Taylor got her start in the industry when she was signed to Pharrell William’s Star Trak record label at the age of 15, and some fans might remember her over-the-top episode of MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16.” Her debut album, 2008′s From a Planet Called Harlem, featured the breakout single “Google Me,” and Taylor has since earned plenty of co-writing credits on recent songs like Nicki Minaj’s “Right By My Side,” which appeared on Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Taylor worked closely with West on MBDTF‘s “Hell of a Life,” “Runaway,” “Dark Fantasy” and the collaboration track “Christmas in Harlem,” which also featured G.O.O.D. Music’s CyHi the Prynce.
Her recent onscreen endeavors include roles in 2010′s “Stomp the Yard 2″ and Tyler Perry’s 2011 film “Madea’s Big Happy Family.” Last summer, the 21-year-old also grabbed attention with her remix of Drake’s hit single “Marvin’s Room.” “Her Room” found Taylor sampling lyrics from Lauryn Hill’s “X Factor,” as she came to terms with a cheating ex.
The G.O.O.D. news just keeps coming from Kanye West’s camp. Last month the super producer/rapper signed veteran Q-Tip to his Def Jam imprint.
What do you think of Kanye of signing Teyana to G.O.O.D. Music? Tell us in the comments!
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May
15
2012
Fifty Shades of Grey, the popular trilogy by EL James, may be topping bestseller lists, but you won’t necessarily be able to find it at your local library.
Libraries in a few states are choosing not to stock the books or pulling them from shelves, with many citing what they say is inappropriate content.
The libraries that have decided against stocking the books due to their explicit sexual content so far are located in Georgia, Florida, and Wisconsin.
Some libraries that are not stocking the book cite financial reasons or bad reviews for the trilogy. Yeah right. A Random House spokesperson said:
“Random House fervently opposes literary censorship and supports the First Amendment rights of readers to make their own reading choices.”
The book, in case you don’t know, is about a hot, rich guy and beautiful, young sex plaything/slave and their various, detailed physical exploits.
Its movie rights were recently optioned, with fan speculation already reaching a fever pitch over who should play Christian and Anastasia.
Sexually provocative or not, a book is still a book, Random House says.
“We believe the Brevard County Public Library System [in Florida] is indulging in an act of censorship,” the spokesman says, calling out one library ban in particular.
“Essentially this is saying to library patrons: we will judge what you can read.”
“These events resonate as unfortunately considered decisions, as they withdraw from circulation a book with one of the highest demand curves in recent history.”
THG’s TAKE: C’mon, just lighten up and give the people what they want … that being mind-numbingly cheesy, Twilight fan fiction-inspired softcore erotica.
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May
14
2012
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May
14
2012
Somali pirate attacks have dropped, from 45 in 2010 to 24 in 2011, but there’s no evidence that more naval patrols and aggressive private security firms are actually keeping pirates ashore.?
To some, the solution to Somali piracy is blindingly obvious. Patrol the seas. Capture the pirates. Send them to the briny deep. If it worked on the Barbary Coast, it should work in Somalia.
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But with Somali pirates going further out to sea, such a solution is more difficult than it sounds. Patrolling the narrow waters of the Gulf of Aden ? as the European Naval Force and some other countries such as China, India, Japan, Russia, and Taiwan are doing ? is relatively simple. Patrolling the much broader Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates have moved, is more difficult.
And for those pirate crews who do get captured, there?s one more consideration. Where do you take them for trial? Very few nations ? none of them, interestingly, in the countries providing naval patrols off the Somali coast ? have taken Somali pirates to put them on trial. Most pirates who do get captured are simply disarmed, dragged in their skiffs closer to Somali shores, and released.
As a Guardian headline this week sums it up, ?Outgunned Somali pirates can hardly believe their luck.?
Not all of the navies patrolling for pirates use gentle methods, of course. In November 2008, the Indian Navy sank a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden. Russian Navy sailors apparently captured a Somali pirate ship earlier this year, and blew it up afterward. The video of this action went viral, alleging that the Russian sailors blew up the ship with the pirates on board, but there is no proof of that. (Advisory note: the video contains violence and may be difficult for sensitive viewers to watch). And on March 25, 2011, private security guards aboard a commercial freighter called the Avocet opened fire on an apparent Somali pirate crew aboard a skiff. The pirates never made it aboard the ship, but the video stirred controversy about the use of force in commercial shipping.
Does militarizing the seas actually deter piracy? The data don?t provide easy answers.
Since 2008, Somali pirate gangs have launched more than 800 attacks on commercial ships, with 170 ships hijacked, and 3,400 sailors held for ransom. Shipping firms have paid more than $530 million on private security firms during that time period, and $160 million was paid out to pirate gangs last year alone.
That, clearly, is the reason Somali gangs get into the pirate business. Do a few well-armed security guards onboard commercial ships, or a few naval patrol ships deter those pirates from taking to the high seas? Some point to the dropping number of pirate attacks ? from 45 attacks in 2010 to 24 in 2011 ? as a sign that naval patrolling and private security may be working.
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