All posts by Bill Maher

FYI, News

OVER 100 DEAD IN PROTESTS IN CAIRO

The Egyptian capital Cairo erupted in violence today, as both pro-and anti-Morsi protesters held huge rallies in the city.

The ousting of the elected President Mohammed Morsi has left the county divided and today’s violence has raised the speculation the country is heading towards civil war.

The military is being accused of killing over 100 pro-Morsi protesters. The clashes have also left around 1,500 people injured.

There has also been violence in Egypt’s second city Alexandria, leaving around 10 dead.

Morsi is currently under arrest, accused of plotting jail breaks during the overthrowing of President Mubarak, as well as conspiring with Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood. It is believed Morsi is soon to be moved to the same prison Mubarak is currently being held.

Read More: BBC News

FYI, News

DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF THEIR SON

The world has early been awaiting the news of the birth of the Duchess of Cambridge’s first child. At 4:24pm Catherine Middleton gave birth to a baby boy.

The baby, who will be known as the Prince of Cambridge, is the third in line for the British throne.

The Duchess gave birth 11 hours after being admitted to the St Mary’s Hospital in London. Mother and baby are said to be doing well.

The news was greeted with jubilant scenes in the streets on London.

Read More: The Telegraph

FYI, News

WITNESS IN BULGER TRIAL FOUND DEAD

A possible witness in the Whitey Bulger case, Stephen “Stippo” Rakes, has been found dead at the side of a road. Rakes, 59, had no obvious signs of trauma on his body, and detectives are awaiting autopsy results to discover the cause of death.

Rakes accused Bulger, the notorious Boston mobster, of taking over his liquor store in order to provide a legitimate front from which to operate his criminal activities from. Rakes, also claimed that Bulger had threatened his family at gun point. However, earlier this week prosecutors had informed Mr Rakes that his testimony would not be needed, something that had apparently left him feeling “despondent”, he had been waiting many years to have his day in court.

Read More: ABC News

News

DETROIT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

Detroit has become the latest city to file for bankruptcy, and will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.

Rick Snyder, the Governor of Michigan, had been trying to broker a deal with Detroit’s creditors to restructure it’s debt, estimated to be around $18.5 billion.

However, Mr Snyder’s plans received stiff resistance from some creditors, most notably from Detroit’s two pension funds.

Mr Snyder said, “it is clear that the financial emergency in Detroit cannot be successfully addressed outside of such a filing, and it is the only reasonable alternative that is available.”

Read More: The Telegraph

News

ENERGY CRISIS IN EGYPT; CONSPIRACY THEORIES BEGIN

Since the Muslim Brotherhood came to power, Egypt had been blighted by petrol and water shortages and power outages. As soon as Egypt’s first democratically elected President was ousted from power the petrol supplies returned to normal, and there have been no power outages since.

Egyptians are delighted, one taxi driver from Cairo told reporters, “For a year, life was very difficult. There were water shortages, power outages, no fuel. But now, everything has returned to normal.”

A local petrol station owner, Achraf Hader, said “Before the demonstrations on June 30, I had to send two employees to negotiate all night in order for us to have enough petrol, and that didn’t always work. Tonight, both pumps are full. And the petrol supplier called to ask if I wanted more!”

Many Egyptians believe the Muslim Brotherhood were blocking supplies to stop protesters from reaching Cairo.

However, many believe the sudden return of power and petrol are signs that supporters of former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, free market economists and the military are behind the shortages. They believe they created unrest within the civilian population, by blocking supplies so as to create the correct atmosphere for protests to begin.

Read More: France 24

News

EGYPT’S PRESIDENT MORSI DEPOSED IN MILITARY COUP

Egypt’s first democratically elected President, Mohammed Morsi, has been removed from power in a military coup. Morsi had been President for less than a year, however the people were becoming increasingly unhappy with Morsi, leading to mass protests in Cairo. The army had given President Morsi an ultimatum to enter into a greater dialogue, however he refused, so on Wednesday the army seized power. Egypt’s top judge is now acting as leader of the nation.

Tensions had been increasing in Egypt after Morsi granted himself sweeping powers late last year. Religious leaders from the Muslim as well as the Coptic Christian communities have backed the coup with Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, and Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Church saying that the military was taking up it’s “patriotic duty to the Egyptian masses” by removing President Morsi from power.

Mohammed Morsi was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Brotherhood have been linked to al-Qaeda, and with Morsi in power the Christian minority had seen a significant increase in persecution.

Today authorities have moved to arrest prominent members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite the jubilant scenes on the streets of Cairo, there are concerns that the country could see further violence with Muslim Brotherhood supporters vowing to die to defend Morsi’s “legitimate” right to power.

Read More: The Telegraph

News

SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF GAY MARRIAGE

The Supreme Court’s landmark decision on gay marriage today will see same-sex married couples in States who already have gay marriage, given the same constitutional rights as heterosexual couples. The case means that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to define marriage as only between a man and a woman.

The Supreme Court also dismissed California’s ban on same-sex marriage, under Proposition 8, meaning same-sex marriages conducted in California will be reinstated.

The DOMA decision split the Supreme Court down lines of liberal and conservative, with the centralist Justice Anthony Kennedy having the swing vote, on this occasion voting with the liberals.

The courts decision is seen as a reflection on the changing face of America. Within a decade Americans have gone for only 21% being in favor of same-sex marriage, at the time of George W Bush’s re-election, to 30% when President Obama first took office in 2009, and the most recent polls place support for gay marriage at 51%.

The full impact of these decisions will become apparent to ALL Americans, in the coming days and months ahead.

Read More: The Telegraph

News

SUPREME COURT EXPECTED TO PASS PROP 8 AND DOMA RULING TOMORROW

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

It is expected that the Supreme Court will announce it’s decision on the Prop.8 and Defence of Marriage Act tomorrow morning. The Prop. 8 case will decide if California’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional or not. In the DOMA case law makers will decide if it is constitutional to withhold state benefits for same-sex couples who are married, whilst heterosexual couples are in receipt of them.

The two cases could in effect pave the way for same-sex marriage to be legalized nation wide. Many religious and other civil liberties groups are concerned with what the wider implications could be for free speech, if the Supreme Court rules in favour.

Read More: NBC Southern California

FYI, News

ITALY COULD NEED AN EU RESCUE WITHIN SIX MONTHS WARNS THEIR SECOND LARGEST BANK

Italy’s second largest Bank, Mediobanca, has warned the nation could need a rescue deal in the next six months. The economic crisis within Italy is deepening, and even large companies are feeling the effects of the credit crunch in the country.

Italy’s €2.1 trillion debt is the third largest sovereign debt in the world after the US and Japan.

Any stress in the markets could threaten to reignite the eurozone crisis once more.

Read More: The Telegraph

FYI, News

FORMER ITALIAN PM SILVIO BERLUSCONI SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS FOR SEX WITH AN UNDERAGE PROSTITUTE

The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to seven years, and barred from holding public office for life after being found guilty of having sex with an underage prostitute.

The trial which has lasted two years, explored the world of the then Prime Minister’s infamous bunga bunga parties. The 76 year old former Prime Minister was accused of paying for sex with Moroccan-born erotic dancer, Karima El Mahroug, who called herself “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, who was 17 at the time. Although prostitution is not illegal in Italy, prostitutes have to be over the age of 18, Berlusconi argued she had told him she was 24.

Supporters of the conservative Berlusconi have accused the verdict “absurd” and “a coup d’etat”, saying the three female judges presiding over the case were all left-wing. Berlusconi’s political allies believe the case has been used as a way of removing Berlusconi from the political landscape of Italy.

Berlusconi had been convinced he would win the case against him, and is set to appeal the judges decision.

Read More: The Telegraph

FYI, News

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION MEETS TO RESPOND TO SARS LIKE OUTBREAK

The World Health Organization has been meeting today in Cairo to dscuss how to respond to an outbreak of a virus, said to be very like SARS. SARS killed around 800 people in 2003, and spread panic around the globe.

The outbreak has already claimed 38 lives, mainly in Saudi Arabia. The WHO fears a new pandemic are are hoping to find a way to deal with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, dubbed MERS.

MERS has many similarities to SARS, the new virus begins with flu like symptoms, but after a short time behaves like a serious pneumonia. Around 60% of those who contract this new virus die, doctors who have treated people with MERS have said it is not an illness anyone wants to contract, as those who have it are close to death at all times.

So far cases have centred in Saudi Arabia, however health officials are concerned the virus will spread as the region will see very large numbers of pilgrims travel through the region in the coming months, with Ramadan starting next month, and the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in October.

READ MORE: The Telegraph

FYI, News

WORLD LEADERS AT G8 SUMMIT CALL FOR SYRIA PEACE SUMMIT

The G8 summit in Northern Ireland focused heavily on the continuing civil war in Syria. The world leaders were able to agree on the need for a peace summit as soon as possible, but they made no mention as to the fate of President Assad.

The talks caused tensions between Russia and the rest of the leaders. President Putin has been Assad’s most powerful ally in the conflict, who said at the summit that Russia would not rule out sending the Syrian regime more arms, saying “We are supplying arms to the legitimate government in accordance with legal contracts,”

It is believed Assad’s regime has killed more than 93,000 people. The US, Europe, Turkey and Gulf States support the rebels.

The leaders did not fix a date for any peace talks, however the commitment was seen as progress in the situation.

Read More: France 24

FYI, News

ANTI-G8 PROTESTS ERUPT IN LONDON

Anti-capitalist groups converged on London today to protest ahead of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland next week.

Riot police were deployed as protests turned violent and protestors damaged buildings in central London. The StopG8 group had called for disruption on the streets on London for the week running up to the G8 meeting, asking that anti-capitalist groups create a “Carnival Against Capitalism”. Police made 57 arrests during the demonstrations which centred on the Oxford Street and Regent Street areas of the city.

The G8 meeting of the world’s wealthiest leaders begins next week at the Lough Erne resort in Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.

Read More: BBC News

FYI, News

POLICE ORDERED TO BRING AN END TO THE PROTESTS IN TURKEY

Ten days since protestors took to the street of Istanbul, the President has ordered that the protests stop now. Police have been told to continue operations on the streets of the city, night and day, until the protests end.

The crack down centred on Taksim Square, and saw police fire tear gas at the crowd and use water cannons to break up the protests. The protestors retaliated by using fireworks and petrol bombs.

Read More: The Telegraph