Experts: Accused Jamaican drug lord akin to Robin Hood, Pablo Escobar

By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

(CNN) -- Christopher "Dudus" Coke, who controls the impoverished West Kingston enclaves now blockaded by gang members, is likened by experts to both Robin Hood and Pablo Escobar.

But comparisons to the hero of Sherwood Forest and the one-time Colombian kingpin are not mutually exclusive.

Coke, 41, rules via a combination of violence, corruption and philanthropy, experts say, and the unrest in the Jamaican capital this week is a result of competing interests: those who want him handed over for drug crimes versus those who consider him a benefactor.

"He lives in a poor area, and because of his sale of cocaine, he basically plays the Robin Hood role," said Jamaican-born attorney David Rowe, a University of Miami adjunct professor with expertise in Jamaican extraditions.

Jamaicans, many of whom live in abject poverty in Kingston, are reluctant to help the government extradite Coke to the United States, experts say.

"They don't know, if he's extradited, who will be there for them. There are mothers wondering, 'Who's going to buy my child lunch?' or 'If I get sick, who's going to pay my hospital bills?' " Rowe explained.

Coke and his gang hand out sandwiches in the streets, send children to school, build medical and community centers -- "all the things to ingratiate himself that Pablo Escobar used to do in Colombia," said Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a think tank specializing in U.S. policies in Latin America. Link

Bodies found in Ontario countryside

By QMI Agency

 BARRIE, Ont. - The countryside has long been a place where people tend to get rid of things they don't want - including bodies.

This weekend's discovery of human remains in Sugar Bush and Lake of Bays Township adds to the list of bodies found in Oro-Medonte Township.

They include:

The body of Jonathan Chambers, a 21-year-old Markham man, was found in an Oro- Medonte Township ditch along Line 4 south March 7, 2007. Police say he was shot execution-style.

Richard Boxall, 31, of Barrie, was found unconscious in a snowbank on Ridge Road, between the 5th and 6th lines of Oro- Medonte in February 2007. He later died in a Toronto hospital.

Boxall was found a few concessions south of where the body of Mimi Khonsari was found in May 2004. The 61-year-old wife of a prominent Barrie surgeon, Khonsari was stabbed to death. Her body was discovered by a man taking a shortcut on a wooded rural lane just off Ridge Road, near the 8th Line of Oro-Medonte.

In May 2002, a man and woman, both 44 years old, were found shot and beaten to death in their car in a field off the 4th Line of Oro- Medonte, near Highway 11. The murders of Dung That Ton and his wife Bong Thi Bui were linked to a marijuana grow operation. Their bodies were discovered by a driving instructor.

Other recent discoveries made in local rural areas:

Nov. 7, 2008 - The body of Ali Garakan, a 47-year-old Thornhill man, is found burning in an Essa Township ditch, west of Barrie. He died from stab wounds. Three Toronto men in their 20s were charged with first-degree murder.

July 8, 2007- Alexandra Flanagan, a 33-year-old Barrie woman, is last seen alive near Sunnidale Park, not far from her Wellington Street apartment. Her partial remains are discovered the following October in a south-end wooded area. More remains are found in the city's east end in February 2008. Link

Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

Trooper Larry Rudd is the latest Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan.

Rudd, 26, died Monday while on a resupply patrol to deliver supplies and equipment to Canadian soldiers near the village of Salavat, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. He was killed by an improvised explosive device.

A native of Brantford, Ont., Rudd was with the Royal Canadian Dragoons based at CFB Petawawa in Ontario.

Rudd was "a go-to soldier who always put the needs of his family, friends and fellow soldiers before his own," said Col. Simon Hetherington, Deputy Commander of Task Force Kandahar.

Rudd never complained, regardless of the hardships he and his crew endured, and was mature well beyond his rank and experience, demonstrating enormous potential, Hetherington added.

"He was dynamic and motivated; generous and outgoing," Hetherington said. "And despite his intimidating size, he was considered the Gentle Giant within his squadron, within the armoured corps and certainly within his regiment".

He is the 146th member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since the current mission began in 2002. Link

Bulgarian Construction Firms Hesitate to Collect Debts from State

The Bulgarian state still owes about EUR 600 M to construction firms for completed public procurement projects.

Even though the mechanism for paying money by the state to private contractors through the Bulgarian Development Bank has been set up and is operational, few of them have seek to activate the mechanism in order to get their money, Bulgaria’s Regional Development Minister, Rosen Plevneliev, said as cited by bTV.

Of the total of EUR 600 M owed to construction companies by the state, EUR 240 M are owed by the Regional Development Ministry and its subordinate, the Road Agency.

The Ministry and the Agency have already paid BGN 150 M since the BDB mechanism was set up in April to about 130. About 200 firms, 144 of which are dealing with road infrastructure, have not asked for their money yet. They are supposed to file an application to the Bulgarian Development Bank, and to receive the respective payments after the government confirms their claims.

“However, there are projects such as the notorious “Water Mirror” cascade in Kardzhali where we have not the slightest intention of paying any money to their executers until the Prosecutor’s Office say that everything is legal. The contractors claim BGN 35 M,” explained the Regional Development Minister saying that the state is disputing a total of BGN 60 M claimed by construction companies over suspicions of illegal dealings.

Plevneliev pointed out that under the mechanism established by the Bulgarian government the private companies get paid only 93% of the money they are owed because the Development Bank retains 7% for administrative expenses. He believes that some of the firms might file legal suits against the state because of this arrangement.

According to the Bulgarian Construction Chamber, many of the construction firms are wary of the state procedures and do not trust the mechanism established by the government which is why they are not rushing to making their claims.

At the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, the Bulgarian government of the GERB party delayed about BGN 2 B in payments owed to private companies for public procurement projects they executed. The arguments for that were to keep Bulgaria’s budget deficit lower in order to meet the requirements for applying to join the euro zone waiting room, the ERM II, in 2010 – an aspiration which failed to materialize in the spring of 2010; and the claims of the government that they predecessors awarded illegally some of the public procurement projects. Link

Facebook to tweak privacy settings, says Zuckerberg

The social networking website 'missed the mark' on privacy controls, says founder Mark Zuckerberg

Charles Arthur, technology editor

Facebook is to revise its privacy settings within weeks to make it simpler for people to keep their information private, according to Mark Zuckerberg, its founder and chief executive of the giant social network.

Acknowledging a growing level of irritation among the site's 450m users, Zuckerberg said: "Simply put, many of you thought our controls [for determining who could see information about you] were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark".

But Zuckerberg insisted that concerns that Facebook is selling personal data to advertisers were misplaced. "We do not give advertisers access to your personal information," he said. "We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone".

Writing in the Washington Post, the 26-year-old insisted that Facebook will "keep listening" to users' concerns.

However, he stopped short of offering users the choice of opting in to having all their information spread throughout the social network and theinternet – which may mean that the new settings will not satisfy users after all.

Facebook makes money principally by selling advertising space on users' pages; the adverts can be tailored to the interests or experiences of the users without the advertiser knowing who it is being sent to. Thus someone who says their favourite band is U2 might see adverts for a new album or concert tour by the band, though the advertiser will not have known precisely who was targeted.

A rising number of people have expressed dissatisfaction with the social network's ever-changing privacy policy, which has grown in complexity since the site began in 2004 – and has also seen the default settings for sharing information go from "friends only" to "the entire internet" for almost everything that people put on it.

The ease with which people can find out anything about people who are unaware of the settings has been demonstrated by a site which uses Facebook's new connectivity to its underlying database, launched on 21 April.

Youropenbook, which has the tagline "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life. Whether you want to or not", says that it wants Facebook to restore the privacy of information "so that this website and others like it no longer work".

The site's creators say there are two fundamental problems with Facebook now: "First, they do not do a good job of indicating how public each piece of information you share on the site will be. Second, they change the rules far too often. If you understood Facebook's privacy settings two years ago (or even six months ago), that information would be worse than useless with today's bewildering settings".

Others think it is time to give up Facebook: one group has come up with a "Quit Facebook Day" idea, urging people to delete their accounts on 31 May.

Zuckerberg insists in the Washington Post article that Facebook will always be a free service – which suggests that it will have to continue to rely on selling advertising space targeted at users' interests and activities. That, in turn, means that at least some of the user information must be shared with advertisers, even in anonymised form. And that, in turn, must mean a limit on some of the limits that users can put on sharing their data.

He does not retreat in the article from his frequently-expressed view that sharing information is beneficial. "Six years ago, we built Facebook around a few simple ideas," he writes. "People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them. If we give people control over what they share, they will want to share more. If people share more, the world will become more open and connected. And a world that's more open and connected is a better world. These are still our core principles today".

No date has been put on the release of the new privacy settings.

• How to control your Facebook privacy settings – from sharing everything to locking down your photos to deleting your account. Link

Man shot by garda remains in hospital

A man shot by gardaí on Friday evening for failing to drop a loaded weapon he brought into a pub Cork city pub is still being treated in hospital.

Anthony “Pedro” O’Leary was shot in the stomach by members of the Garda Regional Support Unit at the Mo Chuisle pub on Blarney Street at about 6.40pm on Friday.

He is understood to have entered the pub brandishing a sawn-off shotgun and threatened staff and customers before demanding to see the pub owner, Niall Burns.

Mr O’Leary shot when he failed to release the weapon. He was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He was today said to be in a comfortable condition.

An investigation team from the Garda Ombudsman Commission, which investigates incidents involving gardaí, visited the scene of the shooting on Friday night and local Garda technical experts carried out a forensic examination of the scene under their direction.

Officers from the Garda Ombudsman Commission have also taken possession of CCTV footage from a camera in the pub which is understood to have captured the entire incident including the shooting of Mr O’Leary.

It is understood that the member of the RSU who shot Mr O’Leary has taken some days’ leave and that he has surrendered his weapon to investigators from Garda Ombudsman Commission for examination as is standard practice in such investigations.

Meanwhile, gardaí under Supt Con Cadogan of Gurranebraher Garda station have begun a separate investigation into Mr O’Leary’s brandishing of the illegally held sawn-off shotgun in the crowded pub and his threatening of staff and members of the public.

A team of around 20 gardaí have begun interviewing the customers who were in the pub at the time while gardaí have also begun an investigation into how Mr O’Leary made his way to the pub.

Mr O’Leary, who had been granted temporary release on May 13th from Cork Prison having served just over a year of a two-year sentence for burglary, is a nephew of Anthony “Farmer” Hennessy who died after being ejected from Mo Chuisle in March 2008.

The owner of the pub, Niall Burns from Glen Springs, Blackstone Bridge, Cork, was later charged with two other men of endangerment in relation to Mr Hennessy’s death and Mr Burns was acquitted of the charge by a jury while his co-accused were acquitted by direction.

Mr Burns had been accused of endangerment on March 13th and 14th, 2008, at Blarney Street, Cork, where it was alleged that he had intentionally or recklessly engaged in the forceful restraint of Anthony Hennessy, which created a substantial risk of death or serious injury.

The pub was previously attacked in October 2008 when a lone gunman pulled up on a motorbike outside the pub and fired a shot in through a window.

No one was injured but gardaí, despite an extensive investigation, were unable to identify the gunman. Link

Early results: Ethiopia's ruling party won vote

By ANITA POWELL (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia's election board says provisional results show the ruling party has won the national vote.

Board chairman Merga Bekana says the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies have won in the nine regions that have reported results out of a total of 11.

He says the party also is ahead for 20 of the capital's 23 parliamentary seats, with only two left to report results in Addis Ababa. There are 546 assembly seats in all.

New York-based Human Rights Watch had criticized Sunday's vote as corrupted by pre-election irregularities, including telling voters they could lose food assistance, public-sector jobs, loans and educational opportunities if they voted against the ruling party.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's election board says provisional results show the ruling party has won the national vote.

Board chairman Merga Bekana says the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and its allies have won in the nine regions that have reported results out of a total of 11.

He says the party also is ahead for 20 of the capital's 23 parliamentary seats, with only two left to report results in Addis Ababa. There are 546 assembly seats in all.

New York-based Human Rights Watch had criticized Sunday's vote as corrupted by pre-election irregularities, including telling voters they could lose food assistance, public-sector jobs, loans and educational opportunities if they voted against the ruling party. Link

Niger mining licenses handed out legally: minister

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's military-led rulers said on Monday that mining contracts signed under ousted President Mamadou Tandja passed through the appropriate procedures but some companies may not be able to fulfil their obligations.

The comments come amid speculation that the military junta that removed Tandja in a February coup, and has since vowed to clean up business and politics, may cancel a ream of contracts signed while Tandja ran the West African the uranium producer.

"There is lots of speculation over this question of the mining permits. The 159 licenses were issued by decree ... they were handed out legally," Souleymane Mamadou Abba, minister of mines and energy in the government put in place after the coup, said on state radio on Monday.

"There were no contracts handed out under the table."

Under Tandja foreign companies secured a flurry of exploration permits to work in Niger, which is rich in uranium and oil but better known for hunger and poverty.

The lack of transparency linked to many of the deals fuelled speculation over the conditions they were signed under. And many in Niger welcomed the soldiers' vows to clean up business and politics, as well as restore democracy after they ousted Tandja.

Elections are due by February 2011.

Despite apparently ending speculation over a far-reaching review of the contracts, Mamadou Abba raised other issues:

"Behind the legality of the distribution (of the contracts), there could be other problems. There could be companies that are simply not able to operate the number of operate the number of permits they have been allocated. But that is another thing".

The minister did not give any further details, but the government has said that it will examine the country's mining contracts and invalidate those that do not benefit Niger.

The country's biggest mining contracts are with nuclear energy group Areva, though the French firm is unlikely to be targeted by the interim government, whose prime minister is currently touring Europe to seek the resumption of donor aid. Link

Learning a new language? Try Globish, author says

(Reuters) - From Barack Obama's simple "Yes We Can" presidential campaign slogan to countless Chinese people sending text messages using English letters, "Globish" is fast becoming the dominant language of this century.

So says British author Robert McCrum in his new book "Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language," which expounds on the mishmash of English and other tongues that connects people from Beijing to New York.

McCrum takes the term Globish from Jean-Paul Nerriere, who coined the word in 1995 and has written books on the blunt new form of English that uses about 1,500 words, employs short sentences with simple syntax devoid of idioms and uses lots of gesticulations to make up for the lack of nuanced language.

"In the 19th century you had British English, which was international, in the 20th century, American English became the lingua franca," McCrum told Reuters in an interview. "Now there is a third phase in the 21st century -- the Globish century".

In Globish you say "strange," not eerie, and avoid all jokes, humor and colorful expressions likely to be misunderstood. It is a constantly evolving patois that develops from practical use and includes words and sounds from other languages.

McCrum says business people looking for opportunities in places like China and India should learn Globish because even native English speakers will be at a disadvantage without it.

People who seek an understanding of Globish need look no further than President Barack Obama, how he was raised and how the language he uses transcends borders, McCrum said.

"He is a classic case; raised (by a mother from) Kansas, lives in Hawaii and Indonesia and of Kenyan stock. And when he speaks ... it requires very little adaptation to make it universally intelligible," he said. "His slogan 'Yes We Can' works anywhere in the world". Link

Maruti sells 4.5 lakh Swift cars in 5 years

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Monday said its premium compact car Swift has crossed the 4.5 lakh unit sales mark since its launch five years ago in 2005.

"The Swift was launched in India on May 25, 2005. Nearly 16,000 customers had placed advance orders for the Swift even before it was unveiled and its price made public. In these five years, more than 4.5 lakh Swift cars have been sold in India," the company said in a statement.

To meet the increased demand, the company has increased the production of the car, including the diesel variant, to over 12,000 units every month at present, from about 5,000 units during the initial period.

Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) manufactures one of its very successful car with a 'sporty' look from both Gurgaon and Manesar facilities.

However, the company is finding it difficult to produce adequate volume of the cars and a steep demand-supply mis-match persists in the market.

While the current waiting period for the petrol variant is 2-3 months, customers have to wait up to 4 months to get the delivery of a diesel Swift.

The company offers the petrol variant with a 1.2 litre K-series engine, while the diesel car comes with a 1.3 litre DDiS engine. Link

Angry Tsvangirai takes on Mugabe

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has written a strongly worded letter to President Robert Mugabe warning him that he risks plunging the country into a constitutional crisis following his unilateral appointment of three High Court judges last week.

Sources said Tsvangirai’s letter was delivered on Friday, a day after Mugabe appointed controversial former Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman, George Chiweshe, the Judge President of the High Court.

Chiweshe’s predecessor, Rita Makarau was elevated to the Supreme Court while Nicholas Mathonsi, Andrew Mutema and Garainesu Mawadze were appointed to the High Court bench. 

The Prime Minister who only read about the appointments in the state controlled Herald newspaper has demanded a meeting with Mugabe on his return from South Korea.

The Standard two weeks ago broke the story of Chiweshe’s impending appointment.

Tsvangirai left for a business  visit to the Asian country where he is leading a delegation of businessmen and government ministers.

In his letter, the MDC- T leader who is under pressure to stop Mugabe’s continued disregard of the September 2008 power-sharing agreement that led to the formation of the shaky coalition, reminds the ageing leader of the dangers of violating the pact.

He made particular reference to Article 20.1.3 (p) of the constitution, which says the president shall make key appointments required under and in terms of the constitution in consultation with the Prime Minister.

“In short, we are faced with a political, legal and constitutional problem that needs to be addressed,” Tsvangirai wrote. “It is important that we meet immediately on my return from South Africa to resolve this.”

Mugabe and Tsvangirai who have not met in more than six weeks already have a lot on their plate.  Zanu PF threatened the unity government on several occasions with unilateral decisions and the appointment of the judges could be the last straw.

They are now expected to meet this Friday to consider the report by negotiators from their parties so that South African President Jacob Zuma can take his mediation in the Zimbabwe crisis forward.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was not answering his phone yesterday and Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu was unreachable on his mobile phone.

His deputy, Jameson Timba said he was not aware that Tsvangirai had written to Mugabe over the matter.

But a source said the PM might challenge the legality of the appointments on the basis that they could plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.

“I am not privy to the nature, soundness or otherwise of the advice that the Honourable Chinamasa gave or may not have given to the president,” said the source.

“However, my simple reading of the constitution as amended tells me that such appointments if they were done without securing the agreement of the Prime Minister are not valid at law.

“The risk to the State is that any decisions made by the said judges are likely to be set aside by a competent court.”

Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change has condemned the appointments and the party appears to be particularly irked by the choice for the new Judge President.

Chiweshe has a dubious reputation after he presided over the inconclusive March 2008 elections and the subsequent one-man presidential run-off, which led to the formation of an inclusive government between Zanu PF and the two MDC formations.

The MDC-T also claims Chiweshe “actively colluded in electoral malpractices which cost no less than 500 lives and he proceeded to declare the election as free and fair”. Link