Oct 1, 2011
Maastricht bans cannabis coffee-shop tourists
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| Cannabis is widely available in the coffee shops of Maastricht |
A ban on some foreign tourists has come into force in the cannabis-selling coffee shops of the Dutch border city of Maastricht.
City authorities say the influx of tourists buying soft drugs is threatening public order and causing major traffic problems.
Coffee shop owners say the ban won't work and will hit the local economy.
However, the ban does not apply to visitors from Germany and Belgium who are the majority of foreign customers.
The move comes ahead of a proposed nationwide crackdown being discussed in the Dutch parliament.
The BBC's Anna Holligan says the ban is being seen as a test case that could be implemented in other Dutch towns and cities.
There are about 700 coffee shops in the Netherlands. The cultivation and sale of soft drugs through them is decriminalised although not legal.
An estimated 6,000 people visit Maastricht's coffee shops every day - most making the quick trip across the border from Belgium and Germany.
But from Saturday, anyone who doesn't hold a Dutch, Belgian or German passport will be told to leave.
Hi-tech security scanners have been set up to check passports and ID cards, and police will carry out random checks.
City authorities say drug tourists pose a threat to public order.
'Revenue lost'
But critics of the policy say the ban contravenes EU policies of equality and the freedom of movement.
Marc Josemans, chairman of the Association of Official Coffee Shops Maastricht (VOCM), said the ban would do more harm than good.
"All these clients who are banned from the Dutch coffee shops... have to return to the illegal circuit in their own country, therefore it will become a bigger problem and cause more criminality in those countries," he told Reuters.
VOCM says visitors attracted by the coffee shops also spend an estimated 140m euros (£120m) elsewhere in the city every year.
Correspondents say the Dutch justice ministry wants coffee shops to operate like members' only clubs, serving only local residents.
The European Court of Justice ruled last December that Dutch authorities could bar foreigners from cannabis-selling coffee shops because they were combating drug tourism.
Michael Jackson doctor 'did not tell about propofol'
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| Doctor Murray's response to a question by Richard Senneff "did not add up", the paramedic said as he gave evidence |
A jury has heard that Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray failed to tell paramedics he had been giving the star propofol as they tried to revive him.
Dr Murray said only that he gave Jackson the sedative lorazepam and the singer had no medical conditions, paramedic Richard Senneff testified.
Prosecutors allege Dr Murray lied to paramedics about Jackson's health, and covered up his use of propofol.
Dr Murray pleads not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Mr Senneff, who was the first member of his paramedic team to enter Jackson's bedroom, said Dr Murray appeared to be agitated and was sweating profusely.
"I knew that we got there very, very quickly. It meant we'd have a good chance of restarting the heart if that was the issue," Mr Senneff said.
But Jackson's skin was cool to the touch and his eyes were open, suggesting his heart had been stopped for more than five minutes, the paramedic said.
"That did not add up to me," he said to the jury.
The paramedic said he made other observations in the 42 minutes he spent trying to revive Jackson, which did not seem consistent with the information Dr Murray was telling him.
He told the court he saw Dr Murray collecting items near Jackson's bed, after the body was taken down to the ambulance.
The doctor also spent some moments alone in the star's bedroom before travelling with the paramedics to the hospital, he added.
'Gross negligence'
In the first week of the trial the jury has heard from Jackson's concert promoter, choreographer, personal assistant and security guards.
Prosecutors have scrutinised events during the moments after Jackson stopped breathing, in an attempt to show that the doctor was trying to hide Jackson's use of propofol.
They claim Dr Murray's "gross negligence" of the star while administering the powerful sedative caused Jackson's death.
Dr Murray's lawyers argue that Jackson self-administered the fatal dose of propofol while Dr Murray was out of the room.
Also giving evidence on Friday was Dr Richelle Cooper, the medic in charge of the emergency room at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where Michael Jackson was taken.
"When the paramedics arrived, the patient had no signs of life, was clinically dead," she said.
"I made a determination based on that... to pronounce the patient dead."
If convicted, Dr Murray could face up to four years in prison and lose his licence to practise medicine. The trial resumes on Monday and is expected to last about five weeks.
Typhoon Nalgae batters flood-hit Philippines
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| Typhoon Nalgae is following the same track as Nesat |
The second typhoon to hit the Philippines in less than a week is battering the north of the country, with ferocious winds and heavy rain.
Typhoon Nalgae has hit regions still waterlogged by the earlier storm, Nesat, and authorities have warned of flash floods and landslides.
The BBC's Kate McGeown in Manila says many residents are still on rooftops awaiting rescue from the first storm.
The Philippines suffers frequent typhoons, about 20 a year.
Nalgae made landfall in the eastern province of Isabela on Saturday with winds of up to 160km/h (100mph) and is heading west across the main island of Luzon.
First reports speak of material damage across the affected region, but there has been no word so far of casualties.
The storm is taking much the same route as Typhoon Nesat which hit the country on Tuesday leaving at least 50 people dead and thousands homeless.
Tens of thousands of residents have moved into evacuation centres or the homes of relatives or friends, but many areas are still heavily flooded from the earlier storm.
Officials say more than a million of Luzon's 48 million inhabitants remain trapped by the floods.
Several towns remain submerged.
Provincial disaster official Raul Agustin told ABS-CBN television that marooned flood victims were often reluctant to leave for fear their homes would be looted.
"When we send out rescue teams to help them, they ask for food instead," he said.
Greek PM presses EU leaders for new bailout tranche
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| Details of the talks between the two leaders in Paris were not available immediately |
The Greek prime minister has had a day of talks with fellow EU leaders on a new bailout tranche Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy in October.
George Papandreou met French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris after talks with European Council chief Herman Van Rompuy and others in Warsaw.
International inspectors are in Athens to decide whether Greece should receive the 8bn euros (£6.9bn; $10.9bn).
Mr Sarkozy said he would now meet with Angela Merkel in "the coming days".
He said following the meeting with Mr Papandreou that he and the German chancellor would hold fresh talks on how to tackle the Greek crisis.
Mr Sarkozy said Mr Papandreou had assured him of the "total determination of the Greek government to scrupulously put in place all commitments that Greece has taken on."
'Charm offensive'
Protesters forced the rescheduling of a meeting in Athens on Friday morning between the inspectors from the European Union, European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Greek government.
Public anger in Greece continues over austerity measures including a new property tax, and demonstrators have publicly burnt copies of emergency tax notices outside a tax office in the country's second city, Thessaloniki.
Meanwhile, the expansion of a general bailout fund for the eurozone looks on track for approval.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurozone group of finance ministers (Eurogroup), predicted all of the euro states would have endorsed the expansion by mid-October.
Mr Juncker was speaking to Reuters news agency after the lower house of Germany's parliament backed the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) on Thursday in a vote which tested Chancellor Angela Merkel's credibility.
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| Greeks burned tax notices outside a tax office in Thessaloniki on Friday |
Austrian MPs backed the expansion on Friday, with only the parliaments of Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia left to cast their votes.
In June, the European Council proposed expanding the size of the EFSF rescue fund from 240bn euros (£209bn; $326bn) to 440bn, and giving it new powers, such as allowing it to buy government bonds.
Analysts have suggested the fund actually needs to expand to 1-2 trillion euros in order to win market confidence, but EU officials have played down such reports.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Athens says Mr Papandreou is on a charm offensive, trying to convince his European colleagues that Greece can meet the demands imposed upon it by a tough austerity programme.
The unpopular reforms are vital to guarantee the international loans offered by a troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Since eurozone leaders agreed on a second rescue package for Greece this summer, Athens has fallen behind on its debt reduction targets, raising fears of a Greek default.
Many Greeks believe that austerity measures are pushing the country's crippled economy deeper into recession and strangling any chance of growth.
President Sarkozy has said he will unveil a Franco-German strategy shortly, without giving details.
Germany and France together represent about half of the 17-nation eurozone's economic output.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that with Thursday's vote in the German parliament: "The signal to our European partners is that you can rely on Germany."
Talks disrupted
Our correspondent says some analysts believe the whole strategy for Greece, with a possible second bailout, needs urgent readjustment.
The troika's team of inspectors found its second day of talks in Athens disrupted on Friday after protesting civil servants occupied the transport ministry, where they had been due to meet the minister, Yannis Ragoussis.
"Take the austerity package and get out of here!" the civil servants shouted as they stood in front of the shuttered entrance, according to a Reuters news agency report.
The meeting with the minister was rescheduled as a result.
Angry protesters against the government's austerity measures have been causing disruption in the Greek capital for months.
Karzai abandons peace talks with the Taliban
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| President Karzai says peace can only be achieved by talks with Pakistan |
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said his government will no longer hold peace talks with the Taliban.
He said the killing of Burhanuddin Rabbani had convinced him to focus on dialogue with Pakistan.
Former Afghan President Rabbani was negotiating with the Taliban but was killed by a suicide bomber purporting to be a Taliban peace emissary.
US President Barack Obama has renewed calls for Pakistani action against militants of the Haqqani network.
Mr Karzai, speaking to a group of religious leaders, said there were no partners for dialogue among the Taliban. It was not possible to find the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, he added.
"Where is he? We cannot find the Taliban Council. Where is it?" he said.
"A messenger comes disguised as a Taliban Council member and kills, and they neither confirm nor reject it. Therefore, we cannot talk to anyone but to Pakistan," Mr Karzai told the meeting.
"Who is the other side in the peace process? I do not have any other answer but to say Pakistan is the other side in the peace talks with us."
A statement by members of the nationwide council of religious scholars praised Rabbani's efforts to bring peace to the country, and condemned his killing in the strongest terms.
'Terrorist hot bed'
Last week, the US military accused Pakistan's spy agency of helping the Haqqani militant network in a recent attack on Kabul.
Pakistan's foreign minister responded by warning that the US could lose Pakistan as an ally if it continued to publicly accuse Islamabad of supporting militants.
Late on Friday, President Barack Obama renewed calls for Pakistan to take action against the group.
"My attitude is, whether there is active engagement with Haqqani on the part of the Pakistanis or rather just passively allowing them to operate with impunity in some of these border regions, they've got to take care of this problem," said Mr Obama.
Pakistan has long denied supporting the Haqqani group, but BBC correspondents say it has a decades-old policy of pursuing foreign policy objectives through alliances with militants.
Although Islamabad denies the network has safe havens inside Pakistan, the country's former national security adviser told the BBC that it was operating in North Waziristan, in Pakistan's restive tribal belt.
"Today North Waziristan is a hot bed," said Retired Maj Gen Mahmoud Durani.
"It's not just Haqqanis. Everybody who is anybody in the terrorist field is there. Although there is military (there)... I think they have a fair amount of freedom of action."
He said the army was too overstretched to take on the Haqqani group.
The BBC's Orla Guerin says that, privately, officials admit that the group is not a target for Pakistan because its members don't kill and maim inside the country.
US officials say they are close to deciding whether to label the group as a foreign terrorist organisation, and the Treasury Department on Thursday announced new sanctions on five individuals it said were linked to "the most dangerous terrorist organisations operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan".
90% of Americans say economy stinks
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| Nine in ten Americans say economic conditions in the U.S. are poor. |
The number, reported Friday in a new CNN/ORC International Poll, is the highest of Barack Obama's presidency and a significant increase from the 81% who said conditions were poor in June.
The persistent pessimism indicates that Americans are feeling a level of hardship in line with the official statistics. Unemployment stands at 9.1%, economic growth is barely above stall speed, and the housing market remains tied in knots.
For a White House now fully engaged in re-election efforts, there is one shred of good news: More than two and half years after inauguration day, Americans are still more likely to blame former President George W. Bush for current economic conditions.
Asked which administration is to blame, 52% of Americans blame the previous Republican regime, while only 32% point a finger at Obama and Democrats.
While there is widespread consensus that the economy is in rough shape, Americans have a split opinion of two of its biggest actors: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Bernanke -- who leads monetary policy for the world's largest economy -- is relatively unknown. Only 42% of Americans have an opinion of the Fed chief. Meanwhile, those with an opinion are roughly split between positive and negative views.
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| Harvard economist: 'We never left the recession' |
Both Bernanke and the Fed have become targets for criticism by most of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates, particularly Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Buffett, meanwhile, is more well known and more popular. Forty-three percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) chairman, while 33% are unsure and 24% hold an unfavorable opinion.
Buffett has been more outspoken in his support of Obama in recent months -- even holding a fundraiser in Manhattan. As with Bernanke, Buffett enjoys a higher favorable rating with Democrats -- 47% of whom approve, while only 36% of Republicans give the same answer.
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International from September 23-25, with 1,010 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.
Anwar al-Awlaki: Obama hails al-Qaeda death in Yemen
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| Barack Obama said the death was a "significant milestone" in the fight against al-Qaeda |
US President Barack Obama has said the death of US-born al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki is a "major blow" to the organisation.
Awlaki was killed by a US drone strike in the Jawf province of Yemen, along with several of his associates.
He is believed to have taken a leading role in a number of attempts to attack the US, including plots to blow up US airliners.
Awlaki, who is of Yemeni descent, has been on the run in Yemen since 2007.
Mr Obama said that as a leading figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Awlaki had taken the lead in "planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans" and was also "directly responsible for the death of many Yemeni citizens".
The death "marks another significant milestone in the broader effort to defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates", he said.
He also paid tribute to the work of both the US intelligence agencies and Yemeni security officials who had co-operated on the killing.
"This is further proof that al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world," he said, but warned that AQAP "remains a dangerous though weakened terrorist organisation".
'Online inspiration'
In a brief statement on Friday, Yemen's defence ministry statement said Awlaki had been killed in Khashef in Jawf about 140km (87 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa, "along with some of his companions".
US and Yemeni officials later named one of those as Samir Khan, also a US citizen but of Pakistani origin, who produced an online magazine promoting al-Qaeda's ideology.
US officials said Awlaki's convoy was hit by a US drone and jet strike.
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera says the killing is significant because Awlaki's use of modern media meant he was able to reach out and inspire people susceptible to radicalisation.
He is accused of recruiting and preparing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man who tried but failed to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009
overseeing a failed plot to blow up two US-bound cargo planes in 2010 with explosives hidden in printer cartridges
encouraging US Maj Nidal Malik Hasan to carry out the 2009 US army base killings in Fort Hood, Texas which killed 13 people
inspiring the man who carried out a failed bombing in New York's Times Square in 2010
inspired a British women to stab her MP Stephen Timms over his support for the war in Iraq
plotting to use poisons including cyanide and ricin in attacks
repeatedly called for the killing of Americans, saying in a 2010 video online that they were from the "party of devils"
Mr Obama is said to have personally ordered Awlaki's killing in 2010, but the al-Qaeda leader has survived several attempts on his life.
Late last year, he survived an air strike in Shabwa province in which at least 30 militants were killed. He was also the target of a US drone attack on 5 May which killed two al-Qaeda operatives in southern Yemen.
The death comes amid concerns in Washington about the impact of Yemen's political crisis on its ability to tackle al-Qaeda militants.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh is facing a widespread protest movement, along with an armed insurrection by renegade army units and tribal fighters.
Mr Saleh, who was injured three months ago when his residence was shelled, returned last week after treatment in Saudi Arabia.
In an interview published on Thursday, he said he would not stand down, as promised in a deal brokered by Gulf States, if his opponents are allowed to stand in elections to succeed him.
Saleh returns to Yemen as al-Awlaki was killed
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| President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to Yemen after medical treatment in Saudi Arabia |
Anwar al-Awlaki was killed exactly one week after President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to Yemen at the end of a long period of medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Intelligence analysts say that may have been no coincidence, and that with al-Awlaki's killing, Saleh is underlining to the West -- and the Saudis -- that they still need him.
Saleh's return was something of a surprise both to Yemenis and the international community. He had been seen as the main stumbling block to political dialogue and a transition to fresh elections sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council. But several analysts consulted by CNN said the Saudis were concerned that the growing unrest in Yemen could morph into outright civil war -- in a country that shares a long and porous desert border with the kingdom.
The rationale in Riyadh, according to these analysts, was that only Saleh had the guile and stature to pull his country back from the brink, despite his injuries and his array of enemies. And at the same time, Saleh would be best placed to turn up the heat on al Qaeda, now established in at least two eastern provinces and in parts of southern Yemen.
Diplomatic sources in the Gulf say that far from being surprised by Saleh's return, the Saudi authorities sanctioned and assisted in it, providing a jet that flew him to the southern city of Aden in the early hours of Friday last week. They say Saleh did not fly directly to Sanaa, the capital, because the airport and the route into the city are not reliably under government control. In fact, the capital is now a patchwork of pro- and anti-Saleh enclaves.
A helicopter was waiting at the Aden airport to fly Saleh 200 miles to the presidential palace in Sanaa before dawn. Again, arriving by air was probably preferable to negotiating the chaotic streets of the capital.
American-born radical cleric understood the West
There has been no official comment from Saudi Arabia on how Saleh returned home from Riyadh, but sources in Sanaa and elsewhere in the Gulf say the Saudis wanted Saleh back in Yemen because they were increasingly anxious about the growing political influence of militant Islamists in Yemen seen as sympathetic to al Qaeda. They point out that Saleh met with Saudi King Abdullah a few days before he returned.
The kingdom has long been concerned by the growth of al Qaeda in Yemen, even though the number of militants may not exceed several hundred. Several prominent Saudi jihadists have joined the leadership of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which for a while in recent months took control of most of the city of Zinjibar in southern Yemen. It was also from Yemen in August 2009 that al Qaeda sent a suicide bomber -- 23-year-old Abdullah Hassan Tali al-Asiri -- to carry out an assassination attempt on Saudi Arabia´s intelligence chief, Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, in August 2009.
Analysts say that to the Saudis, and indeed to Washington, any commitment by Saleh to chase down al Qaeda's leadership in Yemen would be welcome indeed. And, they say, Saleh probably perceives a grand bargain himself: cooperate in tracking down al-Awlaki and other AQAP seniors in return for less pressure to leave office.
U.S. drone killed American cleric in Yemen, officials say
Just hours before al-Awlaki's death, Saleh hinted at his own unique role in "saving" Yemen from al Qaeda, and broader coordination with allies, in an interview with the Washington Post and Time magazine.
"We are fighting the al Qaeda organization in [the southern region of] Abyan in coordination with the Americans and Saudis," he said in an interview at the presidential palace. "At the same time, American intelligence has knowledge that (al Qaeda) is in contact with both the Muslim Brotherhood (the opposition Islah party) and the military officers who are outlaws. And they (the Muslim Brotherhood and officers) told the vice president, "Give us Abyan, and we will stop the war in Abyan and the al Qaeda network there."
In other words: 'All my opponents are in league with al Qaeda.'
Al-Awlaki: Who was he?
Opposition figures in Yemen say it's unlikely that Saleh returned home, despite terrible burns and a chaotic situation, just to hand over the keys to the presidential palace. And certainly, since his return, Saleh has given little indication that he plans to go quietly. In the Time and Post interview, he launched a broadside against tribal leaders and dissident generals opposed to him.
"The GCC initiative is clear. It says to remove all the elements causing tensions," he said. "Because if we transfer power and they are there, this will mean that we have given in to a coup. If we transfer power, and they are in their positions, and they are still decision-makers, this will be very dangerous. This will lead to civil war."
Former CIA spy: Al-Awlaki "very narcissistic"
Christopher Boucek, an expert on Yemen with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says Saleh is the one political institution who is above everyone else in Yemen. He can adjudicate a dispute or solve a problem. "In my mind it is no coincidence this happened after his return," Boucek says.
Boucek adds that the dynamic inside Yemen has changed. Previously the government was reluctant to move against al-Awlaki because of fears about a hostile domestic reaction -- and the influence of his family and clan. That has changed: intelligence co-operation has improved and the killing of al-Awlaki is a way for Saleh to demonstrate that the United States still needs him.
Saleh, now in power for more than forty years and regarded as one of the wiliest politicians in the Arab world, is well aware of the dynamic. "What we see is that we are pressurized by America and the international community to speed up the process of handing over power," he told Time and the Washington Post. "And we know to where the power is going to go. It is going to al-Qaeda, which is directly and completely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood."
The shorthand: "Apres moi, la deluge."
But there is also a Yemeni saying which translates roughly as "From a pound of talk, an ounce of understanding." Suitable guidance in any exploration of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's motives and intentions.
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