Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Six In The Morning Tuesday January 14

Egyptians to vote on new constitution

Two day balloting is first test of legitimacy for last summer's military coup that ousted the Islamist president Mohammed Morsi

The two-day balloting is also widely seen as a referendum on a likely presidential run by Egypt's top general – but held in a climate of fear and intimidation.

It is also the first test at the ballot box for the popularly backed coup that ousted Islamist Mr Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood last July.

A comfortable Yes vote and a respectable turnout would bestow legitimacy on the cascade of events that followed the coup while undermining the Islamists' argument that Mr Morsi remains the nation's elected president.

Kim Dotcom to launch 'Megaparty' for New Zealand elections

Megaupload founder cannot stand as a candidate himself, but vows to 'activate non-voters, the youth, the internet electorate'

Associated Press in Wellington
theguardian.com, Tuesday 14 January 2014 08.07 GMT

Kim Dotcom has announced he is launching a political party in his adopted home of New Zealand to contest the country's general election this year.

The indicted internet entrepreneur says he is founding and funding the party, but will not be a candidate. Born Kim Schmitz in Germany, the 39-year-old is a New Zealand resident but not a citizen and cannot be a candidate under New Zealand law.

My political party will activate non-voters, the youth, the Internet electorate. We are going to make politics exciting. More on January 20.

4:48 AM - 12 Jan 2014

Dotcom said he would launch the party on Monday, the second anniversary of when police stormed his mansion near Auckland and arrested him. The authorities also shut down Megaupload, the popular file-sharing site he founded. He has since started a new file-hosting site, Mega.

American prosecutors accuse Dotcom of facilitating internet piracy on a massive scale. Charged with racketeering and money-laundering, he is fighting US attempts to extradite him. Dotcom argues he cannot be held responsible for those who chose to use his site to illegally download songs or movies.

Paris taxi drivers attack private chauffeurs as protest turns violent

Battle between old and new economies evident in day-long strike

Lara Marlowe

Paris taxi drivers attacked competitors in a civil war of sorts yesterday when five trade unions declared a day-long national strike to protest against the rise of private chauffeur services, particularly the US company Uber, which is also present in Dublin.

The most graphic description was tweeted by businesswoman Kat Borlongan. “Got attacked in an @uber by cab drivers on strike near Paris airport,” Borlongan wrote at 9.54am. “Smashed windows, flat tires, vandalised vehicle and bleeding hands.”

Ten minutes later, Borlongan tweeted again: “Attackers tried to get in the car but our brave @uber driver manoeuvred us to safety, changed the tyre on the freeway and got us home.” Ms Borlongan’s story was confirmed by Uber’s Paris office.

Protesters threaten air traffic, stock exchange

January 14, 2014 - 3:11PM

Lindsay Murdoch

South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media

Bangkok: Radical anti-government protesters have threatened to seize the country’s stock exchange and air traffic control in an escalation of their campaign to topple Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Nitithorn Lamlua, the leader of one group of protesters who have shut down parts of Bangkok, said protest leaders have already been charged with treason so they had nothing to lose.

“We will fight until we win,” he said.

Until now protest leaders have declared Thailand’s commercial hub and transport system, including the capital’s airports, off-limits as protesters have occupied government ministries and seized key intersections across the capital.

Nigeria signs Bill to outlaw same-sex marriages

13 JAN 2014 17:39 SAPA-AFP

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has approved a Bill banning gay marriage and same-sex partnerships.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has approved a Bill banning gay marriage and same-sex partnerships that sparked international condemnation, his spokesperson said on Monday.

"I can confirm that the president has signed the Bill into law," Jonathan's spokesperson Reuben Abati said, without specifying a date but adding that it happened earlier this month.

Abati said Jonathan signed off on the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2013 because it was consistent with the attitudes of most people towards homosexuality in the West African nation.

"More than 90% of Nigerians are opposed to same sex marriage. So, the law is in line with our cultural and religious beliefs as a people," he added.

Inside Iraq: Two years after U.S. withdrawal, are things worse than ever?

By Michael Holmes, CNN

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- On a bitterly cold December morning in 2011, we watched as the last U.S. troops crossed the border into Kuwait, ending America's war in Iraq.

More than 100 vehicles were in that convoy, snaking its way across the desert and through the floodlit border crossing, leaving behind empty bases and memories of nearly 4,500 American lives that were lost.

Americans breathed a sigh of relief. Many Iraqis held their breath. War, they feared, was far from over for them, and time has borne out their fears. The death and violence never stopped -- it's just that the bombs and bullets faded from American minds and television screens once the pull-out was complete.

Ignoring Asia