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Steamy lesbian-sex movie has Cannes abuzz

, Salon — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:45:00 -0700

CANNES, France – Now that the sun has emerged and the promiscuous, unreasonable colors of Mediterranean spring have replaced dingy, drizzly gray, conversations at Cannes have turned to this year’s other big topic: What kind of movie is a Palme d’Or jury headed by Steven Spielberg going to like best? You can certainly make a case for Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s heartwarming family drama “Life Father, Like Son,” the most Spielbergian of competition entries. But whatever you make of his own films, Spielberg is a genuine cinephile; I can just as easily imagine him being swept away by the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Asghar Farhadi’s “The Past” or James Gray’s magnificent, old-fashioned “The Immigrant” (review coming soon!), just to name a few.

Interstate 5 bridge collapses north of Seattle

, Salon — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:28:00 -0700

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. (AP) — An Interstate 5 bridge over a river collapsed north of Seattle Thursday evening, dumping two vehicles into the water and sparking a rescue effort by boats and divers as three injured people were pulled from the chilly waterway.

Authorities said it appeared nobody was killed in the bridge failure that raised the question about the safety of aging spans and cut off the main route between Seattle and Canada.

"We don't think anyone else went into the water," said Marcus Deyerin, a spokesman for the Northwest Washington Incident Management Team. "At this point we're optimistic."

A man and a woman were reported in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries in the emergency room at Skagit Valley Hospital, hospital spokeswoman Kari Ranten said. Another man was reported in stable condition at United General Hospital in Sedro-Woolley, hospital CEO Greg Reed said. He said he didn't know whether the man would be admitted.

Survivor Dan Sligh and his wife were driving their pickup truck when he said the bridge disappeared before them in a "big puff of dust."

"I hit the brakes and we went off the bridge," Sligh told reporters from Skagit Valley Hospital, adding he "saw the water approaching ... you hold on as tight as you can."

Amanda Bynes arrested after hurling bong from window

, Salon — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:44:00 -0700

NEW YORK (AP) — Police say actress Amanda Bynes has been arrested in midtown Manhattan after she heaved a marijuana bong out of a window.

It happened at an apartment building on West 47th Street at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday.

Police say a building official called police to complain that Bynes was smoking marijuana and rolling a joint in the building's lobby.

The officers went to Bynes' apartment where they saw heavy smoke and a bong, which Bynes then threw out the window in front of the officers.

Bynes was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, tampering with evidence, and criminal possession of marijuana. It wasn't clear if she had a lawyer.

Bynes rose to fame starring in Nickelodeon's "All That" and has also starred in several films, including 2010's "Easy A."

A progressive defense of drones

, Salon — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:45:00 -0700

In Thursday’s speech before the National Defense University, President Obama reflected on the concerns about “morality and accountability” raised by drone strikes. Emphasizing the importance of “clear guidelines” and intelligence gathering to properly “constrain” the use of drones, the president also maintained a firm stance on their necessity: Even though drone strikes sometimes result in civilian casualties, in many circumstances they remain the most effective option for realizing specific military objectives.

As a liberal, I’m against drones essentially by reflex. At least, I used to be. Recently, I’ve begun to reconsider that view; and I’m no longer sure where I come down on the morality of drone strikes. Disturbing as I find state-sponsored violence, when drones do the killing instead of soldiers, it seems apparent that we have an easier time recognizing the violence as horrific. War, in its traditional form, distorts our moral reasoning. Drones do not. And as much it grates against my broader political commitments to say so, this is plainly a benefit of drone warfare, other shortcomings notwithstanding.

Militants kill four soldiers in Indian Kashmir

, Agence France-Presse — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:32:33 -0700

An Indian soldier is seen standing guard in Srinagar, on May 21, 2013. Militants have killed four soldiers in an ambush outside the city, local officials said.

Militants killed four soldiers Friday in an ambush outside Srinagar, the main city of Indian Kashmir, sparking a gun battle in which one rebel also died, local officials said.

The soldiers were searching for militants during a patrol when they were ambushed in the village of Hardu Buchoo, 30 kilometres (19 miles) southeast of Srinagar near the forested area of Tral, an army spokesman said.

"The militants fired at the soldiers from outside the village, when the cordon was laid," Lieutenant Colonel Ankur Vashist told AFP in Srinagar.

"Four of our soldiers were killed," Vashist said.

The rebels fled into the forest and the army called in reinforcements to encircle the area and try to capture them.

Three soldiers were killed in the ambush and a soldier injured in the ensuing gun battle later died, a police official told AFP.

"One militant involved in the attack was also killed during the encounter. We are ascertaining his identity," Abdul Gani Mir, Kashmir's police chief, said.

The ambush comes a day after government forces killed a top militant from outlawed group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Srinagar during an early morning gun battle.

Armed rebels have fought Indian security forces in Kashmir since 1989 in an effort to secure the independence of the region or its merger with Pakistan. The conflict has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead so far.

Militants killed four police in April in an ambush, while a group of militants disguised as cricketers gunned down five paramilitary police in March in an ambush in Srinagar.

Indian Kashmir has been tense since the execution in February of a local man over a deadly 2001 attack on the national parliament in New Delhi.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, a local separatist, was convicted over the attack, but he retained widespread support in Kashmir where many doubted his guilt.

Much of Kashmir has since been put under curfew repeatedly while protests and strikes have disrupted daily life.

Kashmir is split between India and Pakistan along a UN-monitored line of control, but both claim it in full and have fought two wars over its control.

Syria opposition sceptical as Russia says regime will talk

Serene Assir, Agence France-Presse — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:51:32 -0700

A member of the Syrian opposition coalition, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, attends a meeting on May 23, 2013, in Istanbul. Syria's divided opposition has called on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to bluntly state whether it is interested in peace talks an

Syria's divided opposition on Friday called on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad to bluntly state whether it was interested in peace talks and on what terms rather than use ally Moscow as its mouthpiece.

Louay Safi, spokesman for the Western-backed National Coalition, the main opposition group, issued the call after Russia said Damascus had agreed "in principle" to attend a peace conference in Geneva.

"We would like to hear that statement from the Assad government," said Safi, whose group is meeting in Istanbul to determine whether to attend the conference.

"This has been related to us through the Russians, I have no idea why the Syrians are silent."

The peace conference, which according to some media reports has tentatively been scheduled for June 10, is aimed at putting an end to more than two years of bloodshed in Syria that has left more than 90,000 people dead.

The conference was jointly proposed by Russia, a key backer Assad, and the United States, which supports the rebels fighting to overthrow his regime.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Russia had received the Damascus government's agreement to take part in the Geneva conference during a visit to Moscow by Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.

A Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) photo dated May 23, 2013 shows Syrian president Bashar al-Assad (L) in talks in Turkey.

"We note with satisfaction that we have received an agreement in principle from Damascus to attend the international conference in the interest of the Syrians themselves finding a political path to resolve the conflict," Lukashevich told reporters.

Russia is seen as the nation exercising the strongest influence over the Syrian regime thanks to years of military and other cooperation that stretches back to Soviet times.

Moscow has in recent weeks also been keen to show its diplomatic influence in the region by ensuring that Assad's representatives attended a conference agreed this month by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry.

But Lukashevich said reports of a date having been set for the conference in Geneva were premature and "cannot be taken seriously".

"Demands to immediately name a specific date for the conference without having clarity about who -- and with what authority -- will speak in the name of the opposition, cannot be taken seriously," Lukashevich said.

The Syrian opposition and its backers, including the United States, has insisted that any transition talks must lead to Assad's ouster. The Syrian leader, however, has said he won't leave before elections are held in his country.

"We would like to have guarantees particularly from the Russian side, because the Russian leadership has been defending Assad himself," said Safi.

Khaled Khoja, another member of the Coalition, said that in offering "in principle" to attend the Geneva conference, Damascus was clearly "playing with words" and trying to buy time.

He added that unless the rebels fighting the Assad regime gained the upper hand on the battle front, no political solution was in sight.

"We want the Friends of Syria (who back the uprising)... to increase their military assistance to the (rebel Free Syrian Army's) command, until Assad complies to the idea of a real political solution," Khoja said.

In addition to discussing the proposed peace conference, the three-day opposition meeting in Istanbul, which began Thursday, is aimed at resolving internal divisions and electing a new leadership.

The opposition has been under increased international pressure to present a united front and resolve internal divisions that have weakened it.

Cars, schools ablaze in fifth night of Stockholm riots

Pia Ohlin, Agence France-Presse — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:27:31 -0700

Firemen extinguish a blaze at a nursery school in the Stockholm suburb of Kista on May 24, 2013. More than a dozen cars were torched and schools, shops and a police station were set ablaze as riots swept through Stockholm's immigrant-dominated suburbs for

More than a dozen cars were torched and schools, shops and a police station were set ablaze as riots swept through Stockholm's immigrant-dominated suburbs for the fifth straight night, police and firefighters said Friday.

Police plan to call in reinforcements to help quell the riots, but parents and volunteer organisations who have patrolled the streets in recent nights have helped decrease their intensity, police spokesman Kjell Lindgren said.

The riots have shattered Sweden's image abroad as a peaceful and egalitarian nation, and sparked a domestic debate about the assimilation of immigrants, who make up about 15 percent of the population.

Firefighters were dispatched to 70 different locations in greater Stockholm overnight, extinguishing torched cars, dumpsters and buildings, including three schools, the fire department wrote on Twitter.

That was calmer than the previous night, when they handled 90 incidents.

Lindgren said 13 people had been arrested, between the ages of 17 and 26, but no injuries were reported.

One of the rioters in the suburb of Husby told Swedish Radio that racism was rampant where he lived, and that violence was his only way of being noticed.

Police secure the area as firemen extinguish a burning car in the Stockholm suburb of Tureberg on May 24, 2013.

"We burned cars, threw rocks at police, at police cars. But it's good, because now people know what Husby is... This is the only way to be heard," said the rioter, identified only by the pseudonym Kim.

In Rinkeby, one of the city's immigrant-dominated areas, six cars parked alongside each other were torched, according to an AFP photographer on the scene.

A police station and several shops in Aelvsjoe were set on fire, but the flames were quickly extinguished.

Firefighters said a fire set at a school in another immigrant-heavy suburb, Tensta, was quickly extinguished, as was another at a nursery school in the Kista suburb.

And police in Soedertaelje, a town south of Stockholm, said rioters threw stones at them as they responded to reports of cars set alight.

Flames from another burning vehicle in the suburb of Jordbro spread to a shopping centre, which suffered significant damage before the fire could be put out.

Twenty to 30 cars have so far been reported torched at each of the big insurance companies If, Folksam and Trygg-Hansa, according to Swedish Radio, quoting an If executive as saying her company would end up paying "millions" of kronor (hundreds of thousands of dollars).

Firemen extinguish a burning car in an indoor garage in the Stockholm suburb of Tureberg on May 24, 2013.

Eric Zemmour, a right-wing French commentator known for his controversial views, said the riots showed that the Swedish "kingdom of social democracy and of political correctness" was little different from countries like Britain and France.

"These are the same suburbs, the same traffic, the same angst, senseless aggression, the same hatred of the host country, the same way of isolating oneself in counter-societies ruled by the religious prescriptions of Islam, the same riots," he told RTL radio.

Many of the immigrants who have arrived under Sweden's generous refugee policy struggle to learn the language and find employment, despite numerous government programmes.

The troubles, which began Sunday in the Husby, are believed to have been triggered by the fatal police shooting of a 69-year-old Husby resident last week after the man wielded a machete in public.

Local activists said the shooting sparked anger among youths who claim to have suffered from police brutality and racism.

Stockholm county police chief Mats Loefving said Friday the rioters were local youths with and without criminal records.

In addition, "in the midst of all this there is a small group of professional criminals, who are taking advantage of the situation to commit crimes like this," he told Swedish Radio.

Firemen extinguish a blaze at a nursery school in Stockholm after riots, on May 24, 2013.

Official data shows unemployment was 8.8 percent in Husby in 2012, compared to 3.3 percent in Stockholm as a whole.

A 25-year-old who grew in Husby told AFP he didn't think the riots had anything to do with the shooting.

"I'm not saying there are no problems... but people are glorifying this a little bit," said the man, who declined to be named, adding that the rioters were often youngsters aged 12 to 17.

"I can imagine they get a big kick out of seeing themselves on TV," he said.

Due to its liberal immigration policy, Sweden has in recent decades become one of Europe's top destinations for immigrants, both in absolute numbers and relative to its size.

In the past decade it has welcomed hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and the Balkans, among others.

China, US to try new tone in desert outing

Shaun Tandon, Agence France-Presse — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:25:31 -0700

This file photo shows US President Barack Obama listening to then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping during their meeting at the White House, in Washington, DC, on February 14, 2012. Xi and Obama will meet June 7-8 at the tony Sunnylands resort in Rancho M

China and the United States are hoping for a new chance to set the course for smoother relations through a secluded desert summit as the Asian power's leader Xi Jinping projects a more confident style.

Xi and Barack Obama will meet June 7-8 at the tony Sunnylands resort in Rancho Mirage, California, their first encounter since the Chinese president took power and three months ahead of their first scheduled run-in at the Group of 20 summit in Russia.

The talks come amid rows between the world's two largest economies over issues that include China's alleged cyber-hacking, but the two sides expect the encounter to be less about specifics and more about setting a tone.

"It may not have a long list of what we call deliverables, but it will enable our cooperation to deliver much more in the future," said Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to Washington.

White House national security spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the casual setting will give Obama and Xi space to discuss "the full diversity of issues" and set "a positive and forward-looking agenda" for Obama's second term.

For the United States, the experience has echoes of four years ago, when Obama entered the White House with hopes of forging a broader partnership with China.

But Obama grew frustrated at what US officials saw as the stilted manner of then president Hu Jintao, who rarely deviated from standard talking points.

China's President, Xi Jinping, pictured at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on May 6, 2013.

Christopher Johnson, a former CIA analyst on China, said that Xi -- thanks in part to his elite background -- consolidated power more quickly than many US policymakers had anticipated.

"Xi Jinping is much more relaxed and cosmopolitan and more likely to go off the talking points. Hu Jintao was very robotic and oftentimes seemed to be talking more to the Chinese in the room than to his counterpart," said Johnson, now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Obama administration has already invested time in cultivating a relationship with Xi, and Vice President Joe Biden spent an unusually long five days in China in 2011 to mingle with him.

On a return visit last year, Xi saw old friends in Iowa and took in a Los Angeles Lakers game -- gestures more in line with China's seminal reformist Deng Xiaoping, who famously visited a Texas rodeo in 1979, than the stiff Hu.

Beyond the atmospherics, Xi and Obama will have a full plate of issues to discuss ranging from China's tense relationship with Japan and other US-backed neighbors to the diplomatic stalemate on Syria's civil war.

The United States has stepped up charges that China has fueled cyberattacks against US companies and the government. A report by former US officials on Wednesday even suggested allowing the United States to hit back at hackers.

The two governments, particularly in China, likely feel that "if we don't start putting some strategic legs on this relationship, these irritants could really get out of control, poisoning the relationship in a way that's hard to undo," Johnson said.

Despite areas of tension, the United States has been pleasantly surprised by China's steps to rein in North Korea during a recent crisis. Beijing's support for the isolated state has long been a sore point for the United States.

While US policymakers mostly see him as supportive of warm relations with Washington, Xi has spoken of "a new great-power relationship."

According to many forecasts, China will overtake the United States as the world's largest economy during Xi's expected 10 years in power.

Xi has already traveled to Russia and Africa since taking office in March and will visit Mexico, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago on his way to California.

Nina Hachigian, a China expert at the Center for American Progress, said that the California meeting could provide clues on the trajectory of the two nations' relationship under Xi.

She said that the meeting would force both countries to work hard to ensure a smooth meeting. Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, is heading to Beijing next week to prepare the meeting.

"Especially in the US-China relationship, which is fraught with mistrust, having leaders develop a degree of chemistry, understanding and respect is worthwhile. But they also need to make progress on the many serious issues," Hachigian said.

Obama seeks to redefine the US war on terror

Stephen Collinson, Agence France-Presse — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:08:41 -0700

US President Barack Obama speaks at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, May 23, 2013. Obama laid out new guidelines for drone strikes and launched a fresh bid to close Guantanamo, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be self-de

President Barack Obama laid out new guidelines for drone strikes and launched a fresh bid to close Guantanamo, warning that a "perpetual" US war on terror would be self-defeating.

Obama told Americans their country was at a crossroads, and must move on from the counterterrorism policies deployed after the September 11 attacks to confront a new era of diverse global threats and homegrown radicals.

He argued that the idea of a "boundless" conflict everywhere radicalism took root, be it in Pakistan or Arab Spring nations or Somalia, was now obsolete.

"A perpetual war -- through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments -- will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways," he said, seeking to shape his second term and his own political legacy in a major speech.

"We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us," Obama said, warning that some post-9/11 tactics like enhanced interrogation of terror suspects had "compromised our basic values."

Medea Benjamin, a protester and co-founder of Code Pink, shouts as US President Barack Obama speaks about his administration's drone and counterterrorism policies, as well as the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, at the National Defense University in Was

But he also mounted a firm defense of his covert drone war as legal and just and the best way to confront terrorism plots against Americans, though warned that undisciplined use of the tactic would invite abuses of power.

Obama said he had signed a new policy directive codifying guidelines for the use of US drone strikes because "to say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance."

The guidelines state that drone attacks can only be used to prevent imminent attacks and when the capture of a suspect is not feasible and if there is a "near certainty" that civilians will not be killed.

The rules would follow the same criteria as those used for attacks on US citizens who have aligned themselves with foreign terror groups.

But the administration still has wide discretion to use a covert strategy condemned by some rights groups and civil libertarians.

Protesters stand next to a model of a drone during a demonstration calling for an end to targeted killings and indefinite detentions outside of Fort McNair on May 23, 2013 in Washington, DC.

On Wednesday, the administration said for the first time that it had killed Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen -- and that three other US citizens also died in anti-terror strikes abroad.

Speaking at the National Defense University, Obama said that he would be "haunted" for the rest of his life by the deaths of civilians in strikes he had ordered -- but had no choice but to act when Americans were at risk.

But he said his policies had been successful in neutralizing the threat of action from core Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, though cautioned the raid that killed Osama bin Laden was too risky to become the norm.

Obama also signaled a major new effort to close the Guantanamo Bay camp for terror suspects in Cuba, which he billed as harmful to US interests, too expensive and a relic of a past age of counterterrorism tactics.

Protesters take part in a demonstration calling for an end to targeted killings and indefinite detentions outside of Fort McNair on May 23, 2013 in Washington, DC.

He pledged to lift a personal moratorium on transferring Guantanamo Bay inmates to unstable Yemen and promised to appoint senior envoys in the State Department and Pentagon to oversee transfers. Yemen welcomed the announcements.

The president also called on the Pentagon to designate a site on US soil to hold military tribunals for terror suspects now at Guantanamo Bay, and said Congress must now drop efforts to thwart his closure plans.

"I know the politics are hard. But history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism and those of us who fail to end it," Obama said.

He offered no solution for inmates deemed too dangerous for release but who cannot be tried because evidence against them was obtained through coercion and may not be admissible in court.

Obama was repeatedly heckled by Medea Benjamin, leader of the Code Pink anti-war group, who shouted : "You are commander in chief. You can close Guantanamo today!"

The president also urged Congress to amend the legal authorization for US counterterrorism operations adopted after the September 11 attacks, saying it did not reflect the evolved threat.

"Unless we discipline our thinking and our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don't need to fight," he said.

But Republicans warned Obama's strategic rethink was premature.

"We are still in a long, drawn-out conflict with Al-Qaeda," said Senator John McCain.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said Obama had signaled a "retreat from the threat of Al-Qaeda."

Rights and civil liberties groups mostly welcomed Obama's speech, but demanded prompt action.

"The time to take our country off the global warpath and fully restore the rule of law is now, not at some indeterminate future point," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Center for Constitutional Rights praised Obama's pledge on Guantanamo but added that without immediate steps, he would not escape the "harsh judgment" of history.

Four-goal comeback lifts Man City over Chelsea

, Agence France-Presse — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:50:48 -0700

This file photo shows Manchester City's Micah Richards, pictured during an English Premier League match in Manchester, north-west England, on November 19, 2011. Richards on Thursday scored in the 90th minute to complete a stunning comeback from a three-go

Micah Richards scored in the 90th minute to complete a stunning comeback from a three-goal deficit and give Manchester City a 4-3 victory over Chelsea in an exhibition thriller.

The English Premier League sides, both bound for next year's European Champions League after top-three finishes behind league winner Manchester United, on Thursday attracted 48,263 to the home of baseball's St. Louis Cardinals.

Demba Ba's header in the 15th minute gave Chelsea the lead and Cesar Azpilicueta netted his first goal for the Blues on a penalty kick in the 44th minute.

Oscar made the lead 3-0 nine minutes into the second half and Rafael Benitez's side appeared on the way to victory.

But Javier Garcia put City on the scoreboard in the 61st minute and Edin Dzeko followed in the 64th to breathe a spark into City.

Dzeko then netted the equalizer in the 85th minute, setting the stage for Richards to convert the winner off a Garcia cross in the dying seconds.

Both teams wore black armbands as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the tornado tragedy earlier in the week in nearby Oklahoma.

Players unfurled a banner that expressed support for the Oklahoma victims and the teams donated some of the ticket sales revenue to funding the recovery effort.

The clubs play again Saturday at New York's Yankee Stadium in the second and final match of their American tour.

AlterNet.org: Breaking News

Steamy lesbian-sex movie has Cannes abuzz

Interstate 5 bridge collapses north of Seattle

Amanda Bynes arrested after hurling bong from window

A progressive defense of drones

Militants kill four soldiers in Indian Kashmir

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