Reuters, ISLAMABAD: A suicide bombing at an army recruitment center in northwest Pakistan on Thursday killed at least 10 people, said a police official.
Residents said the bomber struck while recruits were conducting morning training in the town of Mardan.
(Reporting by Zeeshan Haider; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Special Report: In Saudi Arabia, a clamor for education
Reuters, JEDDAH: Saudi teenager Abdulrahman Saeed lives in one of the richest countries in the world, but his prospects are poor, he blames his education, and it's not a situation that looks like changing soon.
"There is not enough in our curriculum," says Saeed, 16, who goes to an all-male state school in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. "It is just theoretical teaching, and there is no practice or guidance to prepare us for the job market."
Saeed wants to study physics but worries that his state high school is failing him. He says the curriculum is outdated, and teachers simply repeat what is written in text books without adding anything of practical value or discussions. Even if the teachers did do more than the basics, Saeed's class, at 32 students, is too big for him to get adequate attention. While children in Europe and Asia often start learning a language at five or six, Saudi students start learning English at 12. Much time is spent studying religion and completing exercises heavy with moral instruction. One task for eighth grade students: "Discuss the problem of staying up late, its causes, effects and cure."
In the face of rising unemployment, Saeed has taken parts of his education into his own hands. He learned how to use the internet on his own and sets himself research projects in his own time to try to make up for his school's shortcomings. "The subjects available are not enough to carry us to the career or specialization that is needed for the job," he complains.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sits on more than a fifth of the globe's oil reserves and thanks to high oil prices it has almost tripled its foreign assets to more than $400 billion since 2005. The region's thinkers had a profound influence on the evolving western science of the Middle Ages. But from kindergarten to university, its state education system has barely entered the modern age. Focused on religious and Arabic studies, it has long struggled to produce the scientists, engineers, economists and lawyers that Saudi needs.
High school literature, history and even science text books regularly quote Koranic verses. Employers complain that universities churn out graduates who are barely computer-literate and struggle with English. So frustrated are some students, they have taken to the streets in protest.
"Education in our country cannot be compared to education abroad," says Dina Faisal, mother of a 15-year old student in Jeddah. "We have a lack of sciences, physics, and biology. That is what is needed to push the country forward. There has been some change but it is far from being complete."
Six years ago, alarmed by how many young Saudis were out of work, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz launched an overhaul of state schools and universities. The effort is part of a raft of reforms designed to ease the influence of religious clerics, build a modern state and diversify the economy away from oil to create more jobs. The reforms are controversial, though, and nowhere more so than in education. Adding more science classes means scaling back on religion -- a direct challenge to the Wahhabi clerics who helped found the kingdom in 1932 and dominate vast parts of society.
"The Saudi education system is particularly difficult to reform because it is traditionally one of the main areas where the clerics have influence," says Jane Kinninmont at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Asserting technocratic control over education may require a power struggle with the conservative clerics."
Many reform-minded Saudis were optimistic when Abdullah first announced the changes. Since then, though, the pace of reform has been slow. In the past few months the chance that Saudi's rulers will really take on the clerics has faded. King Abdullah, who is around 87, is recuperating in Morocco after two months of medical treatment in the United States. The slightly younger Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz has spent most of the past two years in Morocco and the United States because of an unspecified illness. Many Saudi observers believe Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the veteran interior minister who has close ties to clerics and appears lukewarm on reform, has a good chance of taking over after his promotion to second deputy prime minister in 2009.
"Reform?" asks Simon Henderson, a Washington-based author of several studies on Saudi succession. "It has been moribund... since Nayef became second deputy prime minister. Abdullah has also lost energy for it."
THE SPARK FOR CHANGE
Abdullah launched his $2.4 billion "Tatweer" initiative -- Tatweer is Arabic for development -- in 2005, promising to overhaul teaching methods, emphasize science and train 500,000 teachers. The king has repeatedly said that giving young people a better education is at the heart of his plan to build a modern state and fight religious extremism. "Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred, fear dialogue, and pursue destruction," King Abdullah said in 2009 at the inauguration of the country's first mixed-gender university, a high-tech campus near Jeddah with an estimated budget of $10 billion. "We cannot fight them unless we learn to coexist without conflict... Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists."
Since then, the number of state and private universities catering to the 300,000 or so high school students who graduate every year has grown to 32 from eight before 2005, the ministry of higher education says. A large female-only university is under construction near Riyadh airport. Until the new universities take root, the government has given scholarships to 109,000 students to study in top universities mainly in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Schools too are changing. Within two years, all primary and high schools will get new mathematics and science textbooks that follow U.S. standards, the government says. Thousands of teachers are undergoing extra training. Primary schools will still focus largely on teaching Arabic and religion, but high schools will have more science and mathematics classes.
"We don't say we have no problems but it is getting better. It's changing," says Nayef al-Roomi, deputy minister in charge of developing education, as he shows charts of curriculum changes in his office and tries to ignore the constant ring of his mobile and desk phones.
"Education is not a factory. We will see at least three years to get results."
SLOW AND UNCERTAIN
So far, though, progress has been barely visible. A 2007 study by the respected Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) put Saudi students third-last in eighth grade mathematics. In the science category, the kingdom was fifth-last. Saudi Arabia also ranked 93rd of 129 in UNESCO's 2008 index assessing quality of education. Analysts say there has been no noticeable improvement in the kingdom's education standards in the past four years.
"I think 10 years is a realistic option to see a real change if all plans are implemented," says a consultant who has worked for the education ministry and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the risks of challenging the official view.
A 2008 study by Booz & Company said progress had been made in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries, agreeing that noticeable results can be obtained in a decade, even though "realization of the full economic impact may require a generational period."
Even then, the changes will only go some way to overhauling the system. Take school textbooks. The government has started to cut comments that urged Saudis to kill "infidel" Christians and Jews. But the books still say Saudis should avoid non-Muslims. A reference in a new religious textbook seen by Reuters says that "Prophet (Mohammed) has cursed Jews and Christians because they have built places of worship around their prophets' tombs."
"In the past the textbooks used to refer to the infidels saying that they must be killed. Now it still refers to the infidels but says that we must not use violence in dealing with them," says Dina.
Changing that will require "a mentality change," says the consultant. "It's not just introducing new textbooks."
But clerics and conservatives dominate the education ministry, diplomats and education experts say. Conservative officials in mid-level positions sometimes delay or ignore directives from above. Textbooks and teaching methods appear not to change much.
"We cannot really say that any comprehensive education reform program is underway," says the EIU's Kinninmont.
A QUESTION OF JOBS
The push to fix education is rooted in a fear that millions of young, unemployed Saudis -- 70 percent of the country's almost 19 million population is under the age of 30 -- is a recipe for radicalism. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11 were Saudis, while an al Qaeda bombing campaign inside the kingdom between 2003 and 2006 ended only after a massive government operation. Last year, 172 Saudis with al Qaeda links were arrested, proving Islamist groups are still actively recruiting in the kingdom.
The economy is ticking over nicely, and the U.S. ally has just unveiled its third consecutive record fiscal budget. The problem is, companies much prefer to hire expatriates instead of locals, in large part because of shoddy education. The number of expats working in Saudi Arabia has risen by 37 percent to 8.4 million in the past six years. Expats now fill nine out of 10 jobs in the private sector, according to John Sfakianakis, chief economist of Banque Saudi Fransi.
Labor Minister Adil Fakieh said on January 25 the government hopes to create five million jobs for Saudis by 2030 but economists think that's unlikely. Unemployment among Saudis has risen. Officially, the rate was 10 percent in 2010; the rate of female unemployment is probably triple that.
The state has introduced quotas on the percentage of local workers private firms must hire. But companies have become expert at circumventing the laws, by hiring lots of locals for low-level jobs, or breaking up firms into smaller entities "just to have smaller quotas," says a banker in Riyadh.
In the past, many Saudis found work with the government. But the kingdom has one of the region's highest population growth rates so citizens no longer automatically get such jobs. In stark contrast to a generation ago, you can find Saudis working as taxi drivers, supermarket cashiers or private security guards, jobs which net as little as 1,500 riyals ($400) a month. "I was surprised to see Saudis work in supermarkets. That would have been impossible 10 years ago," says a Western diplomat on his second posting to Saudi Arabia.
Nael Fayez, head of Injaz, a non-governmental organization that helps prepare students for the job market, believes education is the main problem. "There is a rising gap between the requirements of the private sector and what state school produces," says. "We need to fill the gap."
OPTION B
That gap is at least partially filled by a scheme to educate Saudi Arabia's brightest at foreign universities overseas. Officials who back the king hope the students will return with new ideas and a desire to shake things up. The problem: many prefer life abroad.
"There are more things to do day-to-day: going to parks, cinemas, theater shows or restaurants with your friends or girlfriend," says Osama Zeid, a 23-year old Saudi studying in Boston. In Saudi, a teenager's spare time is filled watching television or going to a mall, where the religious police make sure no unrelated men and women meet at restaurants or cafes.
"People are friendlier and everyone is socially accepted and more open-minded. In Saudi there is no entertainment. You need entertainment," says another Saudi attending the same university after graduating from high school in the U.S. city.
There is no data on how many Saudi students plan to stay overseas, but bankers in Riyadh say some of the best talent studying in the United States regularly ends up on Wall Street rather than heading home. "Expectation-management is a big issue. Young people growing up with the internet won't be happy to sit at home even if the state guarantees a basic income," says a diplomat in Riyadh. "They want to do something."
Saudi officials are also pinning their hopes on private schools and colleges at home which have sprung up in major cities in the past five years. A new technical college in a residential area of eastern Riyadh is one example. From the outside, the school looks like a typical state university -- high walls shielding white brick buildings clustered around a large mosque. Inside, the differences are radical. Germany's state aid agency GTZ, which gets paid for the project by the Saudi government, has installed laptops, Power Point presentation facilities, and electronic workstations. The aim of the 45 teachers who run the school is to turn out Saudi vocational teachers who can then transform how things work at more than 100 technical colleges around the country.
The students have already graduated from state technical high schools but feel they have entered a new world. "It's totally different and better compared to the previous institute, the methods to try out things, the materials," says Mohammed al-Mansour, who came from Najran near the Yemeni border to study here.
Applications are piling up. Of some 2,000 requests the college has admitted 450 students so far but plans to expand to 2,000 by 2012.
"It's just excellent, much better than had I expected," said 24-year old Ahmad Hamdashi from Riyadh, talking while his friends work on measuring power current on work stations at their desks.
The students' biggest surprise, perhaps, is to find that a teacher doesn't just have to read from a book. "Let's do it again," says teacher Bernhard Homann, insisting everyone in the class tests the currents properly.
"We want them to work out things on their own," says Raimund Sobetzko, vice dean at the school.
TOO MANY WRONG GRADUATES
Nayef al-Tamimi wishes he could have gone to such a college. Like thousands of other Saudis, al-Tamimi graduated from university as an Arabic language teacher but has struggled for years to get a job that pays a decent wage. At private schools, he makes about 2,000 riyals a month -- much less than the 8,000 he would get as a government teacher. "At private schools I compete with foreigners. Egyptians, Jordanians, Palestinians. It's tough," he says.
This year he joined some 250 fellow graduates to organize a series of protests in front of the ministry of education in Riyadh, a bold move in a country that does not tolerate public dissent. Even though police quickly show up whenever the group gathers, Tamimi said the protests will continue until they all get the state jobs they so desperately seek. The government may eventually decide to hire the protesters just to end the demonstrations that have started to make global headlines.
But critics of the reforms, including political opponents, say the problems will remain until the ruling al Saud family allows more freedom and independent thinking -- the sort of progress that will depend on the future king.
Saudi Arabia has no elected parliament, but King Abdullah has forced Saudi society to open up ever so slightly. Saudi newspapers now debate reforms, women enjoy slightly more access to education and the job market. Would a more conservative king reverse those?
"How can you reform education without democracy?" asks Mohammed al-Qahtani, a veteran dissident based in Riyadh. "I tell you that in five years there will be no improvement to education."
(Ulf Laessing reported from Riyadh and Asma Alsharif from Jeddah; Editing by Simon Robinson and Sara Ledwith)
"There is not enough in our curriculum," says Saeed, 16, who goes to an all-male state school in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. "It is just theoretical teaching, and there is no practice or guidance to prepare us for the job market."
Saeed wants to study physics but worries that his state high school is failing him. He says the curriculum is outdated, and teachers simply repeat what is written in text books without adding anything of practical value or discussions. Even if the teachers did do more than the basics, Saeed's class, at 32 students, is too big for him to get adequate attention. While children in Europe and Asia often start learning a language at five or six, Saudi students start learning English at 12. Much time is spent studying religion and completing exercises heavy with moral instruction. One task for eighth grade students: "Discuss the problem of staying up late, its causes, effects and cure."
In the face of rising unemployment, Saeed has taken parts of his education into his own hands. He learned how to use the internet on his own and sets himself research projects in his own time to try to make up for his school's shortcomings. "The subjects available are not enough to carry us to the career or specialization that is needed for the job," he complains.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sits on more than a fifth of the globe's oil reserves and thanks to high oil prices it has almost tripled its foreign assets to more than $400 billion since 2005. The region's thinkers had a profound influence on the evolving western science of the Middle Ages. But from kindergarten to university, its state education system has barely entered the modern age. Focused on religious and Arabic studies, it has long struggled to produce the scientists, engineers, economists and lawyers that Saudi needs.
High school literature, history and even science text books regularly quote Koranic verses. Employers complain that universities churn out graduates who are barely computer-literate and struggle with English. So frustrated are some students, they have taken to the streets in protest.
"Education in our country cannot be compared to education abroad," says Dina Faisal, mother of a 15-year old student in Jeddah. "We have a lack of sciences, physics, and biology. That is what is needed to push the country forward. There has been some change but it is far from being complete."
Six years ago, alarmed by how many young Saudis were out of work, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz launched an overhaul of state schools and universities. The effort is part of a raft of reforms designed to ease the influence of religious clerics, build a modern state and diversify the economy away from oil to create more jobs. The reforms are controversial, though, and nowhere more so than in education. Adding more science classes means scaling back on religion -- a direct challenge to the Wahhabi clerics who helped found the kingdom in 1932 and dominate vast parts of society.
"The Saudi education system is particularly difficult to reform because it is traditionally one of the main areas where the clerics have influence," says Jane Kinninmont at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Asserting technocratic control over education may require a power struggle with the conservative clerics."
Many reform-minded Saudis were optimistic when Abdullah first announced the changes. Since then, though, the pace of reform has been slow. In the past few months the chance that Saudi's rulers will really take on the clerics has faded. King Abdullah, who is around 87, is recuperating in Morocco after two months of medical treatment in the United States. The slightly younger Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz has spent most of the past two years in Morocco and the United States because of an unspecified illness. Many Saudi observers believe Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the veteran interior minister who has close ties to clerics and appears lukewarm on reform, has a good chance of taking over after his promotion to second deputy prime minister in 2009.
"Reform?" asks Simon Henderson, a Washington-based author of several studies on Saudi succession. "It has been moribund... since Nayef became second deputy prime minister. Abdullah has also lost energy for it."
THE SPARK FOR CHANGE
Abdullah launched his $2.4 billion "Tatweer" initiative -- Tatweer is Arabic for development -- in 2005, promising to overhaul teaching methods, emphasize science and train 500,000 teachers. The king has repeatedly said that giving young people a better education is at the heart of his plan to build a modern state and fight religious extremism. "Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred, fear dialogue, and pursue destruction," King Abdullah said in 2009 at the inauguration of the country's first mixed-gender university, a high-tech campus near Jeddah with an estimated budget of $10 billion. "We cannot fight them unless we learn to coexist without conflict... Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists."
Since then, the number of state and private universities catering to the 300,000 or so high school students who graduate every year has grown to 32 from eight before 2005, the ministry of higher education says. A large female-only university is under construction near Riyadh airport. Until the new universities take root, the government has given scholarships to 109,000 students to study in top universities mainly in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Schools too are changing. Within two years, all primary and high schools will get new mathematics and science textbooks that follow U.S. standards, the government says. Thousands of teachers are undergoing extra training. Primary schools will still focus largely on teaching Arabic and religion, but high schools will have more science and mathematics classes.
"We don't say we have no problems but it is getting better. It's changing," says Nayef al-Roomi, deputy minister in charge of developing education, as he shows charts of curriculum changes in his office and tries to ignore the constant ring of his mobile and desk phones.
"Education is not a factory. We will see at least three years to get results."
SLOW AND UNCERTAIN
So far, though, progress has been barely visible. A 2007 study by the respected Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) put Saudi students third-last in eighth grade mathematics. In the science category, the kingdom was fifth-last. Saudi Arabia also ranked 93rd of 129 in UNESCO's 2008 index assessing quality of education. Analysts say there has been no noticeable improvement in the kingdom's education standards in the past four years.
"I think 10 years is a realistic option to see a real change if all plans are implemented," says a consultant who has worked for the education ministry and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the risks of challenging the official view.
A 2008 study by Booz & Company said progress had been made in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries, agreeing that noticeable results can be obtained in a decade, even though "realization of the full economic impact may require a generational period."
Even then, the changes will only go some way to overhauling the system. Take school textbooks. The government has started to cut comments that urged Saudis to kill "infidel" Christians and Jews. But the books still say Saudis should avoid non-Muslims. A reference in a new religious textbook seen by Reuters says that "Prophet (Mohammed) has cursed Jews and Christians because they have built places of worship around their prophets' tombs."
"In the past the textbooks used to refer to the infidels saying that they must be killed. Now it still refers to the infidels but says that we must not use violence in dealing with them," says Dina.
Changing that will require "a mentality change," says the consultant. "It's not just introducing new textbooks."
But clerics and conservatives dominate the education ministry, diplomats and education experts say. Conservative officials in mid-level positions sometimes delay or ignore directives from above. Textbooks and teaching methods appear not to change much.
"We cannot really say that any comprehensive education reform program is underway," says the EIU's Kinninmont.
A QUESTION OF JOBS
The push to fix education is rooted in a fear that millions of young, unemployed Saudis -- 70 percent of the country's almost 19 million population is under the age of 30 -- is a recipe for radicalism. Fifteen of the 19 terrorists who attacked the United States on 9/11 were Saudis, while an al Qaeda bombing campaign inside the kingdom between 2003 and 2006 ended only after a massive government operation. Last year, 172 Saudis with al Qaeda links were arrested, proving Islamist groups are still actively recruiting in the kingdom.
The economy is ticking over nicely, and the U.S. ally has just unveiled its third consecutive record fiscal budget. The problem is, companies much prefer to hire expatriates instead of locals, in large part because of shoddy education. The number of expats working in Saudi Arabia has risen by 37 percent to 8.4 million in the past six years. Expats now fill nine out of 10 jobs in the private sector, according to John Sfakianakis, chief economist of Banque Saudi Fransi.
Labor Minister Adil Fakieh said on January 25 the government hopes to create five million jobs for Saudis by 2030 but economists think that's unlikely. Unemployment among Saudis has risen. Officially, the rate was 10 percent in 2010; the rate of female unemployment is probably triple that.
The state has introduced quotas on the percentage of local workers private firms must hire. But companies have become expert at circumventing the laws, by hiring lots of locals for low-level jobs, or breaking up firms into smaller entities "just to have smaller quotas," says a banker in Riyadh.
In the past, many Saudis found work with the government. But the kingdom has one of the region's highest population growth rates so citizens no longer automatically get such jobs. In stark contrast to a generation ago, you can find Saudis working as taxi drivers, supermarket cashiers or private security guards, jobs which net as little as 1,500 riyals ($400) a month. "I was surprised to see Saudis work in supermarkets. That would have been impossible 10 years ago," says a Western diplomat on his second posting to Saudi Arabia.
Nael Fayez, head of Injaz, a non-governmental organization that helps prepare students for the job market, believes education is the main problem. "There is a rising gap between the requirements of the private sector and what state school produces," says. "We need to fill the gap."
OPTION B
That gap is at least partially filled by a scheme to educate Saudi Arabia's brightest at foreign universities overseas. Officials who back the king hope the students will return with new ideas and a desire to shake things up. The problem: many prefer life abroad.
"There are more things to do day-to-day: going to parks, cinemas, theater shows or restaurants with your friends or girlfriend," says Osama Zeid, a 23-year old Saudi studying in Boston. In Saudi, a teenager's spare time is filled watching television or going to a mall, where the religious police make sure no unrelated men and women meet at restaurants or cafes.
"People are friendlier and everyone is socially accepted and more open-minded. In Saudi there is no entertainment. You need entertainment," says another Saudi attending the same university after graduating from high school in the U.S. city.
There is no data on how many Saudi students plan to stay overseas, but bankers in Riyadh say some of the best talent studying in the United States regularly ends up on Wall Street rather than heading home. "Expectation-management is a big issue. Young people growing up with the internet won't be happy to sit at home even if the state guarantees a basic income," says a diplomat in Riyadh. "They want to do something."
Saudi officials are also pinning their hopes on private schools and colleges at home which have sprung up in major cities in the past five years. A new technical college in a residential area of eastern Riyadh is one example. From the outside, the school looks like a typical state university -- high walls shielding white brick buildings clustered around a large mosque. Inside, the differences are radical. Germany's state aid agency GTZ, which gets paid for the project by the Saudi government, has installed laptops, Power Point presentation facilities, and electronic workstations. The aim of the 45 teachers who run the school is to turn out Saudi vocational teachers who can then transform how things work at more than 100 technical colleges around the country.
The students have already graduated from state technical high schools but feel they have entered a new world. "It's totally different and better compared to the previous institute, the methods to try out things, the materials," says Mohammed al-Mansour, who came from Najran near the Yemeni border to study here.
Applications are piling up. Of some 2,000 requests the college has admitted 450 students so far but plans to expand to 2,000 by 2012.
"It's just excellent, much better than had I expected," said 24-year old Ahmad Hamdashi from Riyadh, talking while his friends work on measuring power current on work stations at their desks.
The students' biggest surprise, perhaps, is to find that a teacher doesn't just have to read from a book. "Let's do it again," says teacher Bernhard Homann, insisting everyone in the class tests the currents properly.
"We want them to work out things on their own," says Raimund Sobetzko, vice dean at the school.
TOO MANY WRONG GRADUATES
Nayef al-Tamimi wishes he could have gone to such a college. Like thousands of other Saudis, al-Tamimi graduated from university as an Arabic language teacher but has struggled for years to get a job that pays a decent wage. At private schools, he makes about 2,000 riyals a month -- much less than the 8,000 he would get as a government teacher. "At private schools I compete with foreigners. Egyptians, Jordanians, Palestinians. It's tough," he says.
This year he joined some 250 fellow graduates to organize a series of protests in front of the ministry of education in Riyadh, a bold move in a country that does not tolerate public dissent. Even though police quickly show up whenever the group gathers, Tamimi said the protests will continue until they all get the state jobs they so desperately seek. The government may eventually decide to hire the protesters just to end the demonstrations that have started to make global headlines.
But critics of the reforms, including political opponents, say the problems will remain until the ruling al Saud family allows more freedom and independent thinking -- the sort of progress that will depend on the future king.
Saudi Arabia has no elected parliament, but King Abdullah has forced Saudi society to open up ever so slightly. Saudi newspapers now debate reforms, women enjoy slightly more access to education and the job market. Would a more conservative king reverse those?
"How can you reform education without democracy?" asks Mohammed al-Qahtani, a veteran dissident based in Riyadh. "I tell you that in five years there will be no improvement to education."
(Ulf Laessing reported from Riyadh and Asma Alsharif from Jeddah; Editing by Simon Robinson and Sara Ledwith)
Firebrand Islamic cleric's trial adjourned in Indonesia
Reuters, JAKARTA: The trial of a firebrand Indonesian Islamic cleric on terror charges opened on Thursday and was swiftly adjourned on a technicality.
Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of the outlawed southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah, faces fresh charges that carry the death penalty in a trial which refocuses attention on Indonesia's fight against Islamic terror groups.
Indonesia has won praise for largely defeating Islamic terror, but analysts and rights groups are concerned a recent spike in religious intolerance shows extremism still has a hold on the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The trial opened under tight security in the capital, but was adjourned until Monday after judges granted a defense request for a postponement on technical grounds.
Foreign investment has poured into Indonesia's bond and stock markets thanks to improved political stability and successful efforts to combat Islamic militancy since the last significant attack -- the bombing of two hotels in Jakarta in 2009.
But this week has twice seen mobs of youths running riot in the name of defending Islam -- first killing three members of the Ahmadiyya sect are considered heretical by mainstream Muslims, and then torching two churches to protest against the perceived light sentence of a Catholic accused of blasphemy.
Despite no significant terror attacks in Indonesia for nearly two years, security in the capital is pervasive, with checkpoints placed at the entrance of all major shopping malls, hotels, embassies and government buildings.
Wednesday's trial will be the third for the frail 72-year-old Bashir, who is officially the caretaker of an Islamic boarding school on Java island but has long been considered the spiritual leader of the shadowy Jemmah Islamiah movement, which seeks to establish a Muslim caliphate across Southeast Asia.
He was found not guilty of terror offences in two previous trials that attempted to link him to the 2002 Bali bombings, but
only spent time in prison for lesser charges such as immigration offences.
On Thursday scores of his supporters filled the public gallery of a south Jakarta courtroom, waiting for him to be brought to the dock where he will be charged with helping establish a terror training camp and funding terror organizations -- offences which carry the death penalty.
Bashir is also the "Amir" of above-ground Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) Islamic group, which draws support from thousands of often unemployed youths who attend public rallies and sermons by firebrand preachers. Their ranks have provided recruits for even more radical organizations with links to Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda.
UNLIKELY TO FACE DEATH PENALTY
Analysts say that if Bashir is found guilty he would more likely face a long jail term than execution.
But they say the threat remains of other terror groups forming across the archipelago of over 17,000 islands which are home to around 240 million people, most of them moderate Muslims.
"Bashir is an important figure and there is stronger evidence against him this time," said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group (ICG).
"But locking him away does not change the security situation here -- there are still small groups, some with no connection to Bashir, that could carry out attacks.
"The difficult problem is not so much the terrorists but the radical civil society activists who preach intolerance and incite violence against religious minorities. The government has been firm against terrorists but it has allowed religious intolerance to escalate out of control."
Jakarta Police said they had deployed about 3,000 personnel to guard the court where the trial was taking place and armored trucks with water cannon at the ready were stationed in the vicinity.
A team of 32 prosecutors have prepared a 93-page indictment against Bashir, court officials said
"The highlight (of the indictment) is the defendant was gathering funds ... to be used for paramilitary training in Aceh and to purchase weapons," Andi Muhammad Taufik, the head of the prosecutors team told Reuters by telephone.
Before that camp was fully established it was shut down by authorities following a raid in which three police officers and a civilian were killed.
Police said the Aceh-based group had planned to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other government officials at an independence day ceremony last August.
Police also said they held documents saying Bashir was the leader of a group which calls itself al Qaeda of Indonesia and which is the umbrella for four militant Islamic groups including Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), Kompak, and Indonesia Islamic State (NII).
Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of the outlawed southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiah, faces fresh charges that carry the death penalty in a trial which refocuses attention on Indonesia's fight against Islamic terror groups.
Indonesia has won praise for largely defeating Islamic terror, but analysts and rights groups are concerned a recent spike in religious intolerance shows extremism still has a hold on the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The trial opened under tight security in the capital, but was adjourned until Monday after judges granted a defense request for a postponement on technical grounds.
Foreign investment has poured into Indonesia's bond and stock markets thanks to improved political stability and successful efforts to combat Islamic militancy since the last significant attack -- the bombing of two hotels in Jakarta in 2009.
But this week has twice seen mobs of youths running riot in the name of defending Islam -- first killing three members of the Ahmadiyya sect are considered heretical by mainstream Muslims, and then torching two churches to protest against the perceived light sentence of a Catholic accused of blasphemy.
Despite no significant terror attacks in Indonesia for nearly two years, security in the capital is pervasive, with checkpoints placed at the entrance of all major shopping malls, hotels, embassies and government buildings.
Wednesday's trial will be the third for the frail 72-year-old Bashir, who is officially the caretaker of an Islamic boarding school on Java island but has long been considered the spiritual leader of the shadowy Jemmah Islamiah movement, which seeks to establish a Muslim caliphate across Southeast Asia.
He was found not guilty of terror offences in two previous trials that attempted to link him to the 2002 Bali bombings, but
only spent time in prison for lesser charges such as immigration offences.
On Thursday scores of his supporters filled the public gallery of a south Jakarta courtroom, waiting for him to be brought to the dock where he will be charged with helping establish a terror training camp and funding terror organizations -- offences which carry the death penalty.
Bashir is also the "Amir" of above-ground Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) Islamic group, which draws support from thousands of often unemployed youths who attend public rallies and sermons by firebrand preachers. Their ranks have provided recruits for even more radical organizations with links to Jemaah Islamiah and al-Qaeda.
UNLIKELY TO FACE DEATH PENALTY
Analysts say that if Bashir is found guilty he would more likely face a long jail term than execution.
But they say the threat remains of other terror groups forming across the archipelago of over 17,000 islands which are home to around 240 million people, most of them moderate Muslims.
"Bashir is an important figure and there is stronger evidence against him this time," said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group (ICG).
"But locking him away does not change the security situation here -- there are still small groups, some with no connection to Bashir, that could carry out attacks.
"The difficult problem is not so much the terrorists but the radical civil society activists who preach intolerance and incite violence against religious minorities. The government has been firm against terrorists but it has allowed religious intolerance to escalate out of control."
Jakarta Police said they had deployed about 3,000 personnel to guard the court where the trial was taking place and armored trucks with water cannon at the ready were stationed in the vicinity.
A team of 32 prosecutors have prepared a 93-page indictment against Bashir, court officials said
"The highlight (of the indictment) is the defendant was gathering funds ... to be used for paramilitary training in Aceh and to purchase weapons," Andi Muhammad Taufik, the head of the prosecutors team told Reuters by telephone.
Before that camp was fully established it was shut down by authorities following a raid in which three police officers and a civilian were killed.
Police said the Aceh-based group had planned to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other government officials at an independence day ceremony last August.
Police also said they held documents saying Bashir was the leader of a group which calls itself al Qaeda of Indonesia and which is the umbrella for four militant Islamic groups including Jemaah Islamiah (JI), Jema'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), Kompak, and Indonesia Islamic State (NII).
Egypt's government resists mounting pressure for change
Reuters, CAIRO: The Egyptian government resisted growing pressure on Thursday from key ally the United States and from a still energetic popular protest movement, both demanding radical and immediate political change.
Growing concern among the business community and the wider population about the economic impact of more than two weeks of disruption is adding to strains facing the cabinet appointed 10 days ago by President Hosni Mubarak to try to stave off the unprecedented challenge to his 30 years of one-man rule.
The army -- which has provided Egypt's leaders for six decades -- continues to stand by, overseeing and praised by pro-democracy demonstrators encamped in Cairo, while promising to help restore normal life and maintain political stability.
The White House said once again on Wednesday that Egyptian ministers must do more to meet the demands of protesters, who want an immediate end to Mubarak's 30 years of one-man rule and sweeping legislative changes.
Mubarak's government hit back at what it called attempts to "impose" American will on a loyal Middle East ally, saying rapid reforms would be too risky.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a survivor of the reshuffle Mubarak undertook in a vain attempt to staunch the protests, told U.S. broadcaster PBS he was "amazed" by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's urging an immediate end to the emergency law Mubarak has long used to curb opposition.
"When you speak about prompt, immediate, now -- as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States -- you are imposing your will on him," Aboul Gheit said.
U.S. DILEMMA
The new friction in an alliance long nurtured with billions of dollars in U.S. aid was a reminder of how much has changed in Cairo in two weeks, of how much is uncertain both of Egypt's future and the future of U.S. influence over a Middle East whose autocratic rulers are struggling to contain social discontent.
Since protests began on January 25, partly inspired by the overthrow of another Arab strongman in Tunisia, President Barack Obama's administration has trodden a sometimes hazy line between support for a key ally in Washington's conflict with militant Islam and backing for those demanding democracy.
It has stopped short of endorsing calls for Mubarak, 82, to quit immediately. He said last week he would step down in September when an election is due.
But U.S. officials have also voiced irritation with the pace of promised reforms, supporting the protesters in their hope of immediate, concrete change.
Pro-democracy protesters consolidated a new encampment around Cairo's parliament building and the main focus of the opposition, Tahrir, or Liberation, Square remained crowded.
Organizers were looking forward to another major push on the streets on Friday when protesters said they plan to move on to the state radio and television building.
VIOLENCE
Four people were killed and several suffered gunshot wounds in clashes between security forces and some 3,000 protesters in a desert province far from Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It appeared to be the most serious clash with official forces since January 28, when police all but disappeared from Egyptian streets after they had beaten, teargassed and fired on protesters. Last week, there was bloodshed in Cairo when Mubarak loyalists in plain clothes attacked protesters.
The armed forces have a key role to play.
U.S. officials have praised the way the army has permitted and, largely, protected anti-government demonstrations -- a point cited in defense of continuing aid from Washington even as relations with Mubarak's government deteriorate.
Alexander Vershbow, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told a conference in Israel, "What we are focusing on right now is the stabilizing role of the military as an institution that really emanates from the people, that is playing an impartial, neutral role in the current situation and which has managed to maintain the respect of the Egyptians, whatever their political orientation."
Vice President Omar Suleiman, a former general and intelligence chief, has spearheaded talks with opposition groups including Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood. Criticized in Washington for suggesting Egypt was not ready for democracy, Suleiman has said there is a road map to hand over power.
But protesters have been unmoved, and opposition groups do not want elections under what they say are unfair existing laws.
(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Tom Perry, Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Andrew Hammond, Alexander Dziadosz, Yasmine Saleh, Sherine El Madany, Patrick Werr, Edmund Blair, Jonathan Wright and Alison Williams in Cairo, Erika Solomon and Martin Dokoupil in Dubai, Arshad Mohammed in Washington, David Stamp in London and Brian Rohan in Berlin; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Louise Ireland and Jonathan Thatcher)
Growing concern among the business community and the wider population about the economic impact of more than two weeks of disruption is adding to strains facing the cabinet appointed 10 days ago by President Hosni Mubarak to try to stave off the unprecedented challenge to his 30 years of one-man rule.
The army -- which has provided Egypt's leaders for six decades -- continues to stand by, overseeing and praised by pro-democracy demonstrators encamped in Cairo, while promising to help restore normal life and maintain political stability.
The White House said once again on Wednesday that Egyptian ministers must do more to meet the demands of protesters, who want an immediate end to Mubarak's 30 years of one-man rule and sweeping legislative changes.
Mubarak's government hit back at what it called attempts to "impose" American will on a loyal Middle East ally, saying rapid reforms would be too risky.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, a survivor of the reshuffle Mubarak undertook in a vain attempt to staunch the protests, told U.S. broadcaster PBS he was "amazed" by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's urging an immediate end to the emergency law Mubarak has long used to curb opposition.
"When you speak about prompt, immediate, now -- as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States -- you are imposing your will on him," Aboul Gheit said.
U.S. DILEMMA
The new friction in an alliance long nurtured with billions of dollars in U.S. aid was a reminder of how much has changed in Cairo in two weeks, of how much is uncertain both of Egypt's future and the future of U.S. influence over a Middle East whose autocratic rulers are struggling to contain social discontent.
Since protests began on January 25, partly inspired by the overthrow of another Arab strongman in Tunisia, President Barack Obama's administration has trodden a sometimes hazy line between support for a key ally in Washington's conflict with militant Islam and backing for those demanding democracy.
It has stopped short of endorsing calls for Mubarak, 82, to quit immediately. He said last week he would step down in September when an election is due.
But U.S. officials have also voiced irritation with the pace of promised reforms, supporting the protesters in their hope of immediate, concrete change.
Pro-democracy protesters consolidated a new encampment around Cairo's parliament building and the main focus of the opposition, Tahrir, or Liberation, Square remained crowded.
Organizers were looking forward to another major push on the streets on Friday when protesters said they plan to move on to the state radio and television building.
VIOLENCE
Four people were killed and several suffered gunshot wounds in clashes between security forces and some 3,000 protesters in a desert province far from Cairo on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It appeared to be the most serious clash with official forces since January 28, when police all but disappeared from Egyptian streets after they had beaten, teargassed and fired on protesters. Last week, there was bloodshed in Cairo when Mubarak loyalists in plain clothes attacked protesters.
The armed forces have a key role to play.
U.S. officials have praised the way the army has permitted and, largely, protected anti-government demonstrations -- a point cited in defense of continuing aid from Washington even as relations with Mubarak's government deteriorate.
Alexander Vershbow, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, told a conference in Israel, "What we are focusing on right now is the stabilizing role of the military as an institution that really emanates from the people, that is playing an impartial, neutral role in the current situation and which has managed to maintain the respect of the Egyptians, whatever their political orientation."
Vice President Omar Suleiman, a former general and intelligence chief, has spearheaded talks with opposition groups including Islamist movement the Muslim Brotherhood. Criticized in Washington for suggesting Egypt was not ready for democracy, Suleiman has said there is a road map to hand over power.
But protesters have been unmoved, and opposition groups do not want elections under what they say are unfair existing laws.
(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Tom Perry, Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Andrew Hammond, Alexander Dziadosz, Yasmine Saleh, Sherine El Madany, Patrick Werr, Edmund Blair, Jonathan Wright and Alison Williams in Cairo, Erika Solomon and Martin Dokoupil in Dubai, Arshad Mohammed in Washington, David Stamp in London and Brian Rohan in Berlin; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Louise Ireland and Jonathan Thatcher)
Haiti journalist killed by gunman outside bank
AP, PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti: Haitian police say a radio journalist has been killed by a gunman who tried to rob him outside a bank.
Deputy police spokesman Garry Desrosiers says Jean Richard Louis Charles was fatally shot on a busy street in Port-au-Prince after withdrawing about $1,000.
Desrosiers says the 30-year-old Radio Kiskeya journalist resisted when he was assaulted by three robbers Wednesday. One of the gunmen shot him in the head and the shoulder, and he was declared dead at the scene.
An off-duty police officer fatally shot the gunman. The two other suspects escaped.
Deputy police spokesman Garry Desrosiers says Jean Richard Louis Charles was fatally shot on a busy street in Port-au-Prince after withdrawing about $1,000.
Desrosiers says the 30-year-old Radio Kiskeya journalist resisted when he was assaulted by three robbers Wednesday. One of the gunmen shot him in the head and the shoulder, and he was declared dead at the scene.
An off-duty police officer fatally shot the gunman. The two other suspects escaped.
Strikes in Egypt add to pressure from protests
AP, CAIRO: Thousands of workers went on strike Wednesday across Egypt, adding a new dimension to the uprising as public rage turned to the vast wealth President Hosni Mubarak's family reportedly amassed while close to half the country struggled near the poverty line.
Protests calling for Mubarak's ouster have been spreading since Tuesday outside of Cairo's Tahrir Square, where demonstrators have been concentrated for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, protesters also gathered at parliament, the Cabinet and the Health Ministry buildings, all a few blocks from the square, and blocked Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq from his office.
Strikes erupted in a breadth of sectors — among railway and bus workers, state electricity staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and at least one hospital.
In one of the flashpoints of unrest Wednesday, some 8,000 protesters, mainly farmers, set barricades of flaming palm trees in the southern province of Assiut. They blocked the main highway and railway to Cairo to complain of bread shortages. They then drove off the governor by pelting his van with stones.
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal city of Port Said set fire to part of the governor's headquarters in anger over lack of housing.
Workers "were motivated to strike when they heard about how many billions the Mubarak family was worth," said Kamal Abbas, a labor leader. "They said: 'How much longer should we be silent?'"
Egyptians have been infuriated by newspaper reports that the Mubarak family has amassed billions, and perhaps tens of billions of dollars in wealth while, according to the World Bank, about 40 percent of the country's 80 million people live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day. The family's true net worth is not known.
"O Mubarak, tell us where you get 70 billion dollars," dozens of protesters chanted in front of the Health Ministry.
Click image to see photos of protests, clashes in Egypt
AFP/Pedro Ugarte
For the first time, protesters were forcefully urging labor strikes despite a warning by Vice President Omar Suleiman that calls for civil disobedience are "very dangerous for society and we can't put up with this at all."
His warnings of a possible "coup" Tuesday were taken by protesters as a veiled threat to impose martial law — which would be a dramatic escalation in the standoff. But instead of backing off, they promised more huge protests on Friday.
"He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed," said Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth groups behind protests in Tahrir Square. "But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will follow us afterward."
Suleiman is creating "a disastrous scenario," Samir said. "We are striking and we will protest and we will not negotiate until Mubarak steps down. Whoever wants to threaten us, then let them do so," he added.
The protesters filling streets of Cairo and other cities since Jan. 25 have already posed the greatest challenge to the president's authoritarian rule since he came to power 30 years ago. They have wrought promises of sweeping concessions and reforms, a new Cabinet and a purge of the ruling party leadership, but Mubarak refuses their demands that he step down before September elections.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has said about 300 people have been killed since the protests began, but it is still compiling a final toll.
The strikes broke out across Egypt as many companies reopened for the first time since night curfews were imposed almost two weeks ago. Not all the strikers were responding directly to the protesters' calls, but the movement's success and its denunciations of the increasing poverty under Mubarak's rule resonated and reignited labor discontent that has broken out frequently in recent years.
The farmers in Assiut voiced their support for the Tahrir movement, witnesses said, as did the Port Said protesters, who set up a tent camp in the city's main Martyrs Square similar to the Cairo camp.
In Cairo, hundreds of state electricity workers stood in front of the South Cairo Electricity company, demanding the ouster of its director. Public transport workers at five of the city's roughly 17 garages also called strikes, demanding Mubarak's overthrow, and vowed that buses would be halted Thursday. It was not clear if they represented the entire bus system for this city of 18 million.
Dozens of state museum workers demanding higher wages staged a protest in front of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, crowding around antiquities chief Zahi Hawass when he came to talk to them.
Several hundred workers also demonstrated at a silk factory and a fuel coke plant in Cairo's industrial suburb of Helwan, demanding better pay and work conditions.
In the desert oasis town of Kharga, southwest of Cairo, five protesters have been killed in two days of rioting, security officials said. Police opened fire Tuesday on hundreds who set a courthouse on fire and attacked a police station, demanding the removal of the provincial security chief.
The army was forced to secure several government buildings and prisons, and on Wednesday the security chief was dismissed, security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
In the city of Suez, strikes entered a second day on Wednesday. Some 5,000 workers at various state companies — including textile workers, medicine bottle manufacturers, sanitation workers and a firm involved in repairs for ships on the Suez Canal — held separate strikes and protests at their factories.
Traffic at the Suez Canal, a vital international waterway and a top revenue earner for Egypt, was not affected.
"We're not getting our rights," said Ahmed Tantawi, a Public Works employee in Suez. He said workers provide 24-hour service and are exposed to health risks but get only an extra $1.50 a month in hardship compensation. He said there are employees who have worked their entire lives in the department and will retire with a salary equivalent to $200 a month.
In Tahrir Square about 10,000 massed again on Wednesday, the day after a crowd of about a quarter-million proved that they had not lost momentum even as Mubarak clings to power. Visitors snapped pictures and took videos while vendors sold nuts, popcorn, Egyptian flags, sandwiches and drinks.
Nearby, 2,000 more protesters blocked off parliament, several blocks away, chanting slogans for it to be dissolved. A huge caricature of Mubarak hung on the gates of parliament and army troops were on the grounds.
Organizers called for a new "protest of millions" for Friday similar to those that have drawn the largest crowds so far. But in a change of tactic, they want several protests across Cairo instead of only in Tahrir Square downtown, said Khaled Abdel-Hamid, one of the youth organizers.
The Obama administration is trying to keep pressure on Egypt's leaders. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Egypt's government had not even met a minimum threshold of reforms demanded by its people and warned that massive protests will continue until changes are made.
Fresh support for the protesters is coming from an unlikely corner — Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. The mouthpiece of successive regimes since the 1950s, the paper has sharply changed the tone of its unrest coverage and is using the word "revolution" to describe the anti-Mubarak demonstrations. The newspaper, Egypt's oldest, previously echoed official statements that called the protesters "outlaws" or "saboteurs" and a "bunch of conspirators."
Efforts by Vice President Suleiman to open a dialogue with protesters over reforms have broken down since the weekend, with youth organizers of the movement deeply suspicious that he plans only superficial changes far short of real democracy. They refuse any talks unless Mubarak steps down first.
Showing growing impatience with the rejection, Suleiman issued a sharp warning that raised the prospect of a renewed crackdown. He told Egyptian newspaper editors late Tuesday that there could be a "coup" unless demonstrators agree to enter negotiations.
Protesters considered the reference to a coup to be a veiled reference to a possible new crackdown. Suleiman, a military man who was intelligence chief before being elevated to vice president amid the crisis, tried to explain the coup remark by saying: "I mean a coup of the regime against itself, or a military coup or an absence of the system. Some force, whether its the army or police or the intelligence agency or the (opposition Muslim) Brotherhood or the youth themselves could carry out 'creative chaos' to end the regime and take power," he said.
"We can't bear this for a long time," Suleiman said of the protests. "There must be an end to this crisis as soon as possible." He said the regime wants to resolve the crisis through dialogue, warning: "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."
Officials have made a series of pledges not to attack, harass or arrest the activists, but Suleiman's comments suggested that won't last forever.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in an interview with "PBS NewsHour" that there would be chaos if Mubarak stepped down immediately. He warned that if the opposition tried to compose an unconstitutional government, "then maybe the armed forces would feel compelled to intervene in a more drastic manner. Do we want the armed forces to assume the responsibility of stabilizing the nation thru imposing martial law, and army in the streets?"
Suleiman, a close confident of the president, rejected any "end to the regime" including an immediate departure for Mubarak, who says he will serve out the rest of his term until September elections.
Suleiman suggested Egypt was not ready for democracy, and said a government-formed panel of judges, dominated by Mubarak loyalists, would push ahead with recommending its own constitutional amendments to be put to a referendum. Those statements further deepened protesters' skepticism over his intentions.
Still, authorities continued to try to project an image of normalcy. Egypt's most famous tourist attraction, the Pyramids of Giza, reopened to tourists on Wednesday after a 12-day closure. But few came to visit — tens of thousands of foreigners have fled Egypt amid the chaos, taking with them an important facet of the nation's economy.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed culture minister, Gabr Asfour, resigned his post for health reasons, according to government spokesman Magdy Rady.
Protests calling for Mubarak's ouster have been spreading since Tuesday outside of Cairo's Tahrir Square, where demonstrators have been concentrated for the past two weeks. On Wednesday, protesters also gathered at parliament, the Cabinet and the Health Ministry buildings, all a few blocks from the square, and blocked Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq from his office.
Strikes erupted in a breadth of sectors — among railway and bus workers, state electricity staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and at least one hospital.
In one of the flashpoints of unrest Wednesday, some 8,000 protesters, mainly farmers, set barricades of flaming palm trees in the southern province of Assiut. They blocked the main highway and railway to Cairo to complain of bread shortages. They then drove off the governor by pelting his van with stones.
Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal city of Port Said set fire to part of the governor's headquarters in anger over lack of housing.
Workers "were motivated to strike when they heard about how many billions the Mubarak family was worth," said Kamal Abbas, a labor leader. "They said: 'How much longer should we be silent?'"
Egyptians have been infuriated by newspaper reports that the Mubarak family has amassed billions, and perhaps tens of billions of dollars in wealth while, according to the World Bank, about 40 percent of the country's 80 million people live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day. The family's true net worth is not known.
"O Mubarak, tell us where you get 70 billion dollars," dozens of protesters chanted in front of the Health Ministry.
Click image to see photos of protests, clashes in Egypt
AFP/Pedro Ugarte
For the first time, protesters were forcefully urging labor strikes despite a warning by Vice President Omar Suleiman that calls for civil disobedience are "very dangerous for society and we can't put up with this at all."
His warnings of a possible "coup" Tuesday were taken by protesters as a veiled threat to impose martial law — which would be a dramatic escalation in the standoff. But instead of backing off, they promised more huge protests on Friday.
"He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed," said Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth groups behind protests in Tahrir Square. "But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will follow us afterward."
Suleiman is creating "a disastrous scenario," Samir said. "We are striking and we will protest and we will not negotiate until Mubarak steps down. Whoever wants to threaten us, then let them do so," he added.
The protesters filling streets of Cairo and other cities since Jan. 25 have already posed the greatest challenge to the president's authoritarian rule since he came to power 30 years ago. They have wrought promises of sweeping concessions and reforms, a new Cabinet and a purge of the ruling party leadership, but Mubarak refuses their demands that he step down before September elections.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has said about 300 people have been killed since the protests began, but it is still compiling a final toll.
The strikes broke out across Egypt as many companies reopened for the first time since night curfews were imposed almost two weeks ago. Not all the strikers were responding directly to the protesters' calls, but the movement's success and its denunciations of the increasing poverty under Mubarak's rule resonated and reignited labor discontent that has broken out frequently in recent years.
The farmers in Assiut voiced their support for the Tahrir movement, witnesses said, as did the Port Said protesters, who set up a tent camp in the city's main Martyrs Square similar to the Cairo camp.
In Cairo, hundreds of state electricity workers stood in front of the South Cairo Electricity company, demanding the ouster of its director. Public transport workers at five of the city's roughly 17 garages also called strikes, demanding Mubarak's overthrow, and vowed that buses would be halted Thursday. It was not clear if they represented the entire bus system for this city of 18 million.
Dozens of state museum workers demanding higher wages staged a protest in front of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, crowding around antiquities chief Zahi Hawass when he came to talk to them.
Several hundred workers also demonstrated at a silk factory and a fuel coke plant in Cairo's industrial suburb of Helwan, demanding better pay and work conditions.
In the desert oasis town of Kharga, southwest of Cairo, five protesters have been killed in two days of rioting, security officials said. Police opened fire Tuesday on hundreds who set a courthouse on fire and attacked a police station, demanding the removal of the provincial security chief.
The army was forced to secure several government buildings and prisons, and on Wednesday the security chief was dismissed, security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
In the city of Suez, strikes entered a second day on Wednesday. Some 5,000 workers at various state companies — including textile workers, medicine bottle manufacturers, sanitation workers and a firm involved in repairs for ships on the Suez Canal — held separate strikes and protests at their factories.
Traffic at the Suez Canal, a vital international waterway and a top revenue earner for Egypt, was not affected.
"We're not getting our rights," said Ahmed Tantawi, a Public Works employee in Suez. He said workers provide 24-hour service and are exposed to health risks but get only an extra $1.50 a month in hardship compensation. He said there are employees who have worked their entire lives in the department and will retire with a salary equivalent to $200 a month.
In Tahrir Square about 10,000 massed again on Wednesday, the day after a crowd of about a quarter-million proved that they had not lost momentum even as Mubarak clings to power. Visitors snapped pictures and took videos while vendors sold nuts, popcorn, Egyptian flags, sandwiches and drinks.
Nearby, 2,000 more protesters blocked off parliament, several blocks away, chanting slogans for it to be dissolved. A huge caricature of Mubarak hung on the gates of parliament and army troops were on the grounds.
Organizers called for a new "protest of millions" for Friday similar to those that have drawn the largest crowds so far. But in a change of tactic, they want several protests across Cairo instead of only in Tahrir Square downtown, said Khaled Abdel-Hamid, one of the youth organizers.
The Obama administration is trying to keep pressure on Egypt's leaders. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Egypt's government had not even met a minimum threshold of reforms demanded by its people and warned that massive protests will continue until changes are made.
Fresh support for the protesters is coming from an unlikely corner — Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. The mouthpiece of successive regimes since the 1950s, the paper has sharply changed the tone of its unrest coverage and is using the word "revolution" to describe the anti-Mubarak demonstrations. The newspaper, Egypt's oldest, previously echoed official statements that called the protesters "outlaws" or "saboteurs" and a "bunch of conspirators."
Efforts by Vice President Suleiman to open a dialogue with protesters over reforms have broken down since the weekend, with youth organizers of the movement deeply suspicious that he plans only superficial changes far short of real democracy. They refuse any talks unless Mubarak steps down first.
Showing growing impatience with the rejection, Suleiman issued a sharp warning that raised the prospect of a renewed crackdown. He told Egyptian newspaper editors late Tuesday that there could be a "coup" unless demonstrators agree to enter negotiations.
Protesters considered the reference to a coup to be a veiled reference to a possible new crackdown. Suleiman, a military man who was intelligence chief before being elevated to vice president amid the crisis, tried to explain the coup remark by saying: "I mean a coup of the regime against itself, or a military coup or an absence of the system. Some force, whether its the army or police or the intelligence agency or the (opposition Muslim) Brotherhood or the youth themselves could carry out 'creative chaos' to end the regime and take power," he said.
"We can't bear this for a long time," Suleiman said of the protests. "There must be an end to this crisis as soon as possible." He said the regime wants to resolve the crisis through dialogue, warning: "We don't want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."
Officials have made a series of pledges not to attack, harass or arrest the activists, but Suleiman's comments suggested that won't last forever.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in an interview with "PBS NewsHour" that there would be chaos if Mubarak stepped down immediately. He warned that if the opposition tried to compose an unconstitutional government, "then maybe the armed forces would feel compelled to intervene in a more drastic manner. Do we want the armed forces to assume the responsibility of stabilizing the nation thru imposing martial law, and army in the streets?"
Suleiman, a close confident of the president, rejected any "end to the regime" including an immediate departure for Mubarak, who says he will serve out the rest of his term until September elections.
Suleiman suggested Egypt was not ready for democracy, and said a government-formed panel of judges, dominated by Mubarak loyalists, would push ahead with recommending its own constitutional amendments to be put to a referendum. Those statements further deepened protesters' skepticism over his intentions.
Still, authorities continued to try to project an image of normalcy. Egypt's most famous tourist attraction, the Pyramids of Giza, reopened to tourists on Wednesday after a 12-day closure. But few came to visit — tens of thousands of foreigners have fled Egypt amid the chaos, taking with them an important facet of the nation's economy.
Meanwhile, the newly appointed culture minister, Gabr Asfour, resigned his post for health reasons, according to government spokesman Magdy Rady.
Prison time cut for al-Qaida cook at Guantanamo
AP, SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: A U.S. military legal official has reduced the sentence of an al-Qaida cook who was convicted at a war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo under a plea deal, suspending all but two years of his 14-year sentence, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, which presides over the war crimes tribunals at the U.S. base in Cuba, suspended the sentence for Ibrahim al-Qosi contingent on his meeting the terms of the plea agreement, the military said in a statement.
Al-Qosi, one of the first terrorism suspects taken to Guantanamo in 2002, pleaded guilty in July to supporting terrorism by providing logistical support to al-Qaida.
The 50-year-old from Sudan faced up to life in prison if convicted at trial. The terms of his plea deal were not publicly revealed, and the Pentagon refused to confirm a report at the time from the Arabic broadcaster Al Arabiya that it had agreed to return him home after two years.
A military jury was convened at the base to sentence al-Qosi in August. The judge told the 10 U.S. military officers on the panel that they could impose a sentence of between 12 and 15 years and they were not told of the terms of the plea deal.
But the final say in the matter comes from the Convening Authority, which reviews all actions taken in the war crimes tribunals. The Pentagon said the authority, retired Navy Vice Adm. Bruce McDonald, approved the sentence but said he was suspending all but two years from July 7, 2010.
The suspension is contingent on a number of conditions, including that Al-Qosi not engage in "hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners."
Al-Qosi, 50, did not receive credit for the more than eight years he had spent at Guantanamo before his conviction.
He has been imprisoned since his conviction at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds about 172 men.
The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, which presides over the war crimes tribunals at the U.S. base in Cuba, suspended the sentence for Ibrahim al-Qosi contingent on his meeting the terms of the plea agreement, the military said in a statement.
Al-Qosi, one of the first terrorism suspects taken to Guantanamo in 2002, pleaded guilty in July to supporting terrorism by providing logistical support to al-Qaida.
The 50-year-old from Sudan faced up to life in prison if convicted at trial. The terms of his plea deal were not publicly revealed, and the Pentagon refused to confirm a report at the time from the Arabic broadcaster Al Arabiya that it had agreed to return him home after two years.
A military jury was convened at the base to sentence al-Qosi in August. The judge told the 10 U.S. military officers on the panel that they could impose a sentence of between 12 and 15 years and they were not told of the terms of the plea deal.
But the final say in the matter comes from the Convening Authority, which reviews all actions taken in the war crimes tribunals. The Pentagon said the authority, retired Navy Vice Adm. Bruce McDonald, approved the sentence but said he was suspending all but two years from July 7, 2010.
The suspension is contingent on a number of conditions, including that Al-Qosi not engage in "hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners."
Al-Qosi, 50, did not receive credit for the more than eight years he had spent at Guantanamo before his conviction.
He has been imprisoned since his conviction at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds about 172 men.
NKorea refusing more military talks with SKorea
AP, SEOUL, South Korea: North Korea refused Thursday to hold any more military talks with South Korea, saying Seoul lacks serious intent to improve relations marked by months of high tensions.
Pyongyang put forth its tough stance a day after acrimony abruptly ended the Koreas' first official talks since the North attacked a South Korean front-line island with artillery in November and killed four people.
This week's talks at the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone had raised hopes of improved inter-Korean ties after the island attack and the March 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors.
The two events had raised fears of all-out war between the Koreas, still technically in a state of war since a truce, not a peace treaty, ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.
The military meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday were aimed at laying the groundwork for higher-level defense talks, but North Korea's military said Thursday that South Korea was sticking to "unreasonable" demands that Pyongyang must first take "sincere, responsible measures" in response to the island attack and the ship sinking.
"They thus revealed their sinister intention to use the North-South high-level military talks as another theater of inter-Korean confrontation," said the North Korean military statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"The army and people of (North Korea) do not feel any need to deal with the group of traitors any longer now that they do not wish to see the North-South relations improved but totally reject the dialogue itself," it said.
North Korea denies it caused the ship sinking and says its artillery firing was provoked by the South Korean military, which was conducting a live-fire drill nearby.
The North's statement is largely seen as a bluff, but Pyongyang may commit some provocative acts like missile tests and artillery drills to pressure South Korea, one analyst said.
South Korea said the North walked out of this week's military talks shortly after the Wednesday afternoon session began and that the two countries differed over what to discuss at higher-level defense talks.
South Korea demanded the high-level talks focus on the two attacks, while the North insisted other broader military issues also be included, a South Korean statement said late Wednesday.
"We cannot just put aside (the two attacks) because of our people's pains over them," Col. Moon Sang-kyun, the chief South Korean delegate, told South Korean reporters Thursday, according to the Defense Ministry.
The North Korean statement was a bluff to keep up pressure on the South to accept its demand for procedural measures for high-level defense talks, said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
Jeung said the North will eventually return to talks before long but may try to demonstrate its military strength until then through short-range missile tests or artillery firing drills near the disputed western sea border — scene of both last year's two attacks.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it was a "missed opportunity" for North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity to engage in dialogue and reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.
He told a news conference the North needed to take "meaningful steps" to improve inter-Korean relations — including taking responsibility for the island shelling and warship sinking.
Improving relations between the Koreas and hopefully, in turn, bringing North Korea back into the fold of the international community is important because of concerns about the North's expanded nuclear capability. South Korea says the North's newly disclosed uranium enrichment program violates disarmament pacts and U.N. resolutions.
On Thursday, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac traveled to China — the North's main ally — for a two-day visit aimed at discussing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry.
Pyongyang put forth its tough stance a day after acrimony abruptly ended the Koreas' first official talks since the North attacked a South Korean front-line island with artillery in November and killed four people.
This week's talks at the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone had raised hopes of improved inter-Korean ties after the island attack and the March 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship that killed 46 sailors.
The two events had raised fears of all-out war between the Koreas, still technically in a state of war since a truce, not a peace treaty, ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.
The military meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday were aimed at laying the groundwork for higher-level defense talks, but North Korea's military said Thursday that South Korea was sticking to "unreasonable" demands that Pyongyang must first take "sincere, responsible measures" in response to the island attack and the ship sinking.
"They thus revealed their sinister intention to use the North-South high-level military talks as another theater of inter-Korean confrontation," said the North Korean military statement, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"The army and people of (North Korea) do not feel any need to deal with the group of traitors any longer now that they do not wish to see the North-South relations improved but totally reject the dialogue itself," it said.
North Korea denies it caused the ship sinking and says its artillery firing was provoked by the South Korean military, which was conducting a live-fire drill nearby.
The North's statement is largely seen as a bluff, but Pyongyang may commit some provocative acts like missile tests and artillery drills to pressure South Korea, one analyst said.
South Korea said the North walked out of this week's military talks shortly after the Wednesday afternoon session began and that the two countries differed over what to discuss at higher-level defense talks.
South Korea demanded the high-level talks focus on the two attacks, while the North insisted other broader military issues also be included, a South Korean statement said late Wednesday.
"We cannot just put aside (the two attacks) because of our people's pains over them," Col. Moon Sang-kyun, the chief South Korean delegate, told South Korean reporters Thursday, according to the Defense Ministry.
The North Korean statement was a bluff to keep up pressure on the South to accept its demand for procedural measures for high-level defense talks, said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.
Jeung said the North will eventually return to talks before long but may try to demonstrate its military strength until then through short-range missile tests or artillery firing drills near the disputed western sea border — scene of both last year's two attacks.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it was a "missed opportunity" for North Korea to demonstrate its sincerity to engage in dialogue and reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula.
He told a news conference the North needed to take "meaningful steps" to improve inter-Korean relations — including taking responsibility for the island shelling and warship sinking.
Improving relations between the Koreas and hopefully, in turn, bringing North Korea back into the fold of the international community is important because of concerns about the North's expanded nuclear capability. South Korea says the North's newly disclosed uranium enrichment program violates disarmament pacts and U.N. resolutions.
On Thursday, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac traveled to China — the North's main ally — for a two-day visit aimed at discussing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, according to Seoul's Foreign Ministry.
Suicide attack at Pakistan army facility kills 10
AP, PESHAWAR, Pakistan: A suicide attacker attacked a group of soldiers during their morning exercises at an army training camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 10 soldiers, security officials said.
The attack happened in the town of Mardan, which like many other parts of Pakistan's regions bordering Afghanistan has been the target of Islamist militant attacks.
Several soldiers also were wounded in the blast, police official Nawaz Khan said.
An army spokesman confirmed the attack and the circumstances, but said the death toll was 14, with around a dozen soldiers wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record.
Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants frequently send suicide bombers to take out Pakistani police and army troops, in part because security forces have waged offensives against the militants in the northwest.
The attack happened in the town of Mardan, which like many other parts of Pakistan's regions bordering Afghanistan has been the target of Islamist militant attacks.
Several soldiers also were wounded in the blast, police official Nawaz Khan said.
An army spokesman confirmed the attack and the circumstances, but said the death toll was 14, with around a dozen soldiers wounded. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media on the record.
Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants frequently send suicide bombers to take out Pakistani police and army troops, in part because security forces have waged offensives against the militants in the northwest.
Mexico angry at US official's 'insurgency' remark
AP, MEXICO CITY: The Mexican government on Wednesday condemned comments by a top U.S. Defense Department official characterizing the drug gang violence here as a "form of insurgency" — remarks the official later apologized for and retracted.
Mexico's Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa regretted that "outdated visions" on drug trafficking continue to be used and urged U.S. officials to refrain from commenting on issues they are not fully informed about.
"These unfortunate incidents should show that officials need to refrain from making statements, from giving opinions without having all the facts," Espinosa said.
Westphal made his initial remarks Monday at the Hinkley Institute of Politics Forum. In a statement Tuesday he said that in response to a question, he "mistakenly characterized the challenge posed by drug cartels to Mexico as 'a form of insurgency.'"
"My comments were not and have never been the policy of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government toward Latin America," he added. "I regret that my inaccurate statements may have caused concerns for our partners and friends in the region, especially Mexico."
Espinosa said the two countries "need to find cooperation mechanisms that lead to a greater ability to confront organized crime."
"It's totally unacceptable and inappropriate to see the problem unilaterally," she added.
The Mexican Interior Department said in a statement late Tuesday that it "categorically rejects" the comments by U.S. Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal.
"It's regrettable that this official makes statements ... that do not reflect the cooperation that the two governments have been building," the statement said.
It is not the first time Mexico has accused U.S. government officials of exaggerating the situation in Mexico. Last year, President Felipe Calderon protested after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mexico resembled Colombia two decades ago, when drug traffickers controlled sections of that country.
Drug gang violence in Mexico has reached unprecedented levels since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police to trafficking hot spots four years ago, vowing to crush brutal cartels.
The fighting has at times taken warlike proportions, with cartel gunmen ambushing army patrols, staging elaborate roadblocks and carrying out horrific massacres.
Nearly 35,000 people have been killed.
But the Interior Department said the violence could not be characterized as a rebellion.
"Organized crime is seeking to increase its illegal economic benefits through trafficking of drugs and people, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and other crimes," the statement said. "They are not groups that are promoting a political agenda."
Mexico's Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa regretted that "outdated visions" on drug trafficking continue to be used and urged U.S. officials to refrain from commenting on issues they are not fully informed about.
"These unfortunate incidents should show that officials need to refrain from making statements, from giving opinions without having all the facts," Espinosa said.
Westphal made his initial remarks Monday at the Hinkley Institute of Politics Forum. In a statement Tuesday he said that in response to a question, he "mistakenly characterized the challenge posed by drug cartels to Mexico as 'a form of insurgency.'"
"My comments were not and have never been the policy of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government toward Latin America," he added. "I regret that my inaccurate statements may have caused concerns for our partners and friends in the region, especially Mexico."
Espinosa said the two countries "need to find cooperation mechanisms that lead to a greater ability to confront organized crime."
"It's totally unacceptable and inappropriate to see the problem unilaterally," she added.
The Mexican Interior Department said in a statement late Tuesday that it "categorically rejects" the comments by U.S. Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal.
"It's regrettable that this official makes statements ... that do not reflect the cooperation that the two governments have been building," the statement said.
It is not the first time Mexico has accused U.S. government officials of exaggerating the situation in Mexico. Last year, President Felipe Calderon protested after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Mexico resembled Colombia two decades ago, when drug traffickers controlled sections of that country.
Drug gang violence in Mexico has reached unprecedented levels since Calderon deployed tens of thousands of troops and federal police to trafficking hot spots four years ago, vowing to crush brutal cartels.
The fighting has at times taken warlike proportions, with cartel gunmen ambushing army patrols, staging elaborate roadblocks and carrying out horrific massacres.
Nearly 35,000 people have been killed.
But the Interior Department said the violence could not be characterized as a rebellion.
"Organized crime is seeking to increase its illegal economic benefits through trafficking of drugs and people, homicide, kidnapping, robbery, extortion and other crimes," the statement said. "They are not groups that are promoting a political agenda."
Charlie Sheen's image goes up among many fans: poll
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Reports of heavy drinking, drug use, porn stars. None of that should be good for a Hollywood celebrity -- unless that star is Charlie Sheen.
Sheen's drinking and drug problems may have caused a temporary shutdown on his "Two and A Half Men" TV comedy, but some of his fans think even more highly of him now than before, according to a survey released on Wednesday by show business newspaper, The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor's rabble-rousing has done nothing to harm "Two and A Half Men's standing as the most-watched comedy on U.S. television with some 15 million regular viewers.
In fact, 26 percent of those questioned for the Hollywood Reporter survey done by polling firm Penn Schoen Berland view Sheen "much more" or "somewhat more" favorably after his recent antics.
According to the poll of 700 Americans ages 13 to 59-years-old, 90 percent of those describing themselves as "avid fans" don't think Sheen's drug and alcohol problems matter as long as he does a good job on the show.
Sheen, 45, went into rehab -- at his home -- in January after being hospitalized following a wild, 36-hour party at his home. It is the actor's third stint in rehab in 12 months and caused production on the show to be suspended.
The three times divorced actor, who plays a womanizing bachelor on the show and in real life has a penchant for porn stars, is expected to return to the set by the end of February, according to his spokesman.
Among all viewers, only 28 percent of men and 42 percent of women said broadcaster CBS and Warner Bros Television, which makes "Two and A Half Men", should remove Sheen.
Following are some of the other findings in the poll:
-- 56 percent think that a future episode of "Two and a Half Men" should address Sheen's personal issues.
-- 96 percent of "Two and a Half Men" viewers want Sheen to return to the show, with just 4 percent wanting him to quit permanently.
-- 50 percent say he should take time off to get better and return to the show; 34 percent say Sheen should work through his personal issues and stay on the show.
-- 82 percent of women say they will still watch "Two and a Half Men" despite Sheen's personal problems compared to 76 percent of men.
-- 59 percent of all viewers believe that Sheen isn't acting on the show but actually just playing himself.
-- 62 percent say the media should leave him alone.
The survey was conducted on Feb 6 and can be seen in detail in The Hollywood Reporter magazine in its Thursday issue.
Sheen's drinking and drug problems may have caused a temporary shutdown on his "Two and A Half Men" TV comedy, but some of his fans think even more highly of him now than before, according to a survey released on Wednesday by show business newspaper, The Hollywood Reporter.
The actor's rabble-rousing has done nothing to harm "Two and A Half Men's standing as the most-watched comedy on U.S. television with some 15 million regular viewers.
In fact, 26 percent of those questioned for the Hollywood Reporter survey done by polling firm Penn Schoen Berland view Sheen "much more" or "somewhat more" favorably after his recent antics.
According to the poll of 700 Americans ages 13 to 59-years-old, 90 percent of those describing themselves as "avid fans" don't think Sheen's drug and alcohol problems matter as long as he does a good job on the show.
Sheen, 45, went into rehab -- at his home -- in January after being hospitalized following a wild, 36-hour party at his home. It is the actor's third stint in rehab in 12 months and caused production on the show to be suspended.
The three times divorced actor, who plays a womanizing bachelor on the show and in real life has a penchant for porn stars, is expected to return to the set by the end of February, according to his spokesman.
Among all viewers, only 28 percent of men and 42 percent of women said broadcaster CBS and Warner Bros Television, which makes "Two and A Half Men", should remove Sheen.
Following are some of the other findings in the poll:
-- 56 percent think that a future episode of "Two and a Half Men" should address Sheen's personal issues.
-- 96 percent of "Two and a Half Men" viewers want Sheen to return to the show, with just 4 percent wanting him to quit permanently.
-- 50 percent say he should take time off to get better and return to the show; 34 percent say Sheen should work through his personal issues and stay on the show.
-- 82 percent of women say they will still watch "Two and a Half Men" despite Sheen's personal problems compared to 76 percent of men.
-- 59 percent of all viewers believe that Sheen isn't acting on the show but actually just playing himself.
-- 62 percent say the media should leave him alone.
The survey was conducted on Feb 6 and can be seen in detail in The Hollywood Reporter magazine in its Thursday issue.
Current TV boasts Keith Olbermann and more
AP, NEW YORK: Cable's Current TV has existed rather quietly since its launch in 2005. But earlier this week, it made some noise with its announcement that liberal talk-show host Keith Olbermann, late of MSNBC, would soon be joining the network.
The declaration, made Tuesday, even threatened to upstage news of Current's slate of other shows a day later at its "upfront" presentation for advertisers.
But the overarching message escaped no one: Current, perhaps best known for its chairman and co-founder, Al Gore, is ready to raise its profile.
"We always knew it would take time to connect with the large audience that we know is out there for our programming," Gore said in an interview before Wednesday's presentation. "We are poised for a real breakout."
Gore's partner, vice chairman Joel Hyatt, went further.
"It's an explosion point," Hyatt said. "We're exploding onto the scene, putting together a whole bunch of stuff that we know is going to work great."
The network will welcome Olbermann this spring in a weeknight prime-time talk show, which is likely to resemble "Countdown," the show he hosted until recently on MSNBC.
"We're independent, and that's what Keith prizes," said Gore, referring to the fact that Current is a privately held company. "We are not part of a conglomerate. We don't answer to anyone but ourselves." (MSNBC is owned by NBC Universal, of which communications giant Comcast Corp. recently took 51 percent control.)
Gore suggested that the hiring of Olbermann, who chafed under MSNBC's corporate management, had caught the eye of other disgruntled TV figures.
Since Tuesday's announcement, Gore said, "We've already had a number of very interesting contacts."
He declined to be specific about the inquiries, explaining, "I doubt at this point any of those would necessarily work out. But we are getting a lot."
Current is available in 60 million homes in the U.S., roughly two-thirds the number reached by MSNBC. Even so, Olbermann's presence could make a big difference at Current, which, according to Nielsen Co. figures, was watched by an average of 28,000 viewers in prime time in the fourth quarter of 2010.
At MSNBC, Olbermann drew an average of 1 million viewers nightly, and Current CEO Mark Rosenthal proposed that a comparable number "might certainly be in the cards for us."
While Olbermann (who will also serve as the network's chief news officer) is poised to become the face of Current, the network has new shows to pitch beside his.
They include "Smoke Jumpers," showcasing an elite group of wildlife firefighters in the Northern Rockies forests, and another docu-series, "4th and Forever," about the do-or-die challenges facing the football squad at Long Beach (Calif.) Polytechnic High School, which has sent more players to the National Football League than any other high school in the country.
A groundbreaking scripted series debuts Friday at 10 p.m. EST.
"Bar Karma" is billed as "the first community-developed TV series." From raw concept to characters to stories to the names of fancy cocktails, this live-action sci-fi show, set in a bar on the edge of the universe, is the product of continuing input from thousands of participants at its "online studio."
The notion for a crowd-sourced TV series was hatched by video-game maestro Will Wright ("The Sims"). On Wednesday, he noted that "Bar Karma" had reversed the typical pattern, where TV shows spawn online communities.
"We built the community first, and we're getting a tremendous amount of involvement and participation ahead of the show actually starting," he said.
Now, after a year of interactive incubation, the show is going on the air, and Wright predicted that interest in "Bar Karma" should escalate.
"People who were already interested in this project are going to be evangelists," he said. "Even if all they did was pick the color of a character's dress in an episode, they're going to be talking to everybody they know about it."
The series harks back to the earliest days of Current, which began with a program lineup dominated by viewer-generated short videos. But "Bar Karma" involves viewers on an unprecedented scale.
"The creativity of the mass audience can become an incredible innovative force," said Gore, voicing hope that "someday, people will look back at this show and say, 'Wow, that's when something brand-new started — when the people were let into the television medium in a brand-new way.'"
The declaration, made Tuesday, even threatened to upstage news of Current's slate of other shows a day later at its "upfront" presentation for advertisers.
But the overarching message escaped no one: Current, perhaps best known for its chairman and co-founder, Al Gore, is ready to raise its profile.
"We always knew it would take time to connect with the large audience that we know is out there for our programming," Gore said in an interview before Wednesday's presentation. "We are poised for a real breakout."
Gore's partner, vice chairman Joel Hyatt, went further.
"It's an explosion point," Hyatt said. "We're exploding onto the scene, putting together a whole bunch of stuff that we know is going to work great."
The network will welcome Olbermann this spring in a weeknight prime-time talk show, which is likely to resemble "Countdown," the show he hosted until recently on MSNBC.
"We're independent, and that's what Keith prizes," said Gore, referring to the fact that Current is a privately held company. "We are not part of a conglomerate. We don't answer to anyone but ourselves." (MSNBC is owned by NBC Universal, of which communications giant Comcast Corp. recently took 51 percent control.)
Gore suggested that the hiring of Olbermann, who chafed under MSNBC's corporate management, had caught the eye of other disgruntled TV figures.
Since Tuesday's announcement, Gore said, "We've already had a number of very interesting contacts."
He declined to be specific about the inquiries, explaining, "I doubt at this point any of those would necessarily work out. But we are getting a lot."
Current is available in 60 million homes in the U.S., roughly two-thirds the number reached by MSNBC. Even so, Olbermann's presence could make a big difference at Current, which, according to Nielsen Co. figures, was watched by an average of 28,000 viewers in prime time in the fourth quarter of 2010.
At MSNBC, Olbermann drew an average of 1 million viewers nightly, and Current CEO Mark Rosenthal proposed that a comparable number "might certainly be in the cards for us."
While Olbermann (who will also serve as the network's chief news officer) is poised to become the face of Current, the network has new shows to pitch beside his.
They include "Smoke Jumpers," showcasing an elite group of wildlife firefighters in the Northern Rockies forests, and another docu-series, "4th and Forever," about the do-or-die challenges facing the football squad at Long Beach (Calif.) Polytechnic High School, which has sent more players to the National Football League than any other high school in the country.
A groundbreaking scripted series debuts Friday at 10 p.m. EST.
"Bar Karma" is billed as "the first community-developed TV series." From raw concept to characters to stories to the names of fancy cocktails, this live-action sci-fi show, set in a bar on the edge of the universe, is the product of continuing input from thousands of participants at its "online studio."
The notion for a crowd-sourced TV series was hatched by video-game maestro Will Wright ("The Sims"). On Wednesday, he noted that "Bar Karma" had reversed the typical pattern, where TV shows spawn online communities.
"We built the community first, and we're getting a tremendous amount of involvement and participation ahead of the show actually starting," he said.
Now, after a year of interactive incubation, the show is going on the air, and Wright predicted that interest in "Bar Karma" should escalate.
"People who were already interested in this project are going to be evangelists," he said. "Even if all they did was pick the color of a character's dress in an episode, they're going to be talking to everybody they know about it."
The series harks back to the earliest days of Current, which began with a program lineup dominated by viewer-generated short videos. But "Bar Karma" involves viewers on an unprecedented scale.
"The creativity of the mass audience can become an incredible innovative force," said Gore, voicing hope that "someday, people will look back at this show and say, 'Wow, that's when something brand-new started — when the people were let into the television medium in a brand-new way.'"
Magic Johnson, Yucaipa invest $10M-plus in Vibe
AP, LOS ANGELES: Magic Johnson is playing point again, this time as chairman of Vibe Holdings, the owner of the magazines Vibe and Uptown and the "Soul Train" TV show.
The former Los Angeles Lakers superstar said Wednesday that he and partner Ron Burkle have invested more than $10 million in the company, and are planning to make it the starter in a fledgling urban-media empire.
"This is just the beginning of what we're going to start buying," said 51-year-old Johnson, a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player, in an interview. "We're looking to roll up other urban-based brands up under these three. We're out there looking for deals as we speak."
Johnson said that the Vibe business was running at about break even following a reorganization that began in 2009.
In June 2009, the hip-hop and urban culture magazine founded in 1993 by producer Quincy Jones shut down amid a sharp decline in advertising revenue. It was bought by private equity fund InterMedia Partners, which is still an investor, and saw its assets merged with Uptown, a lifestyle magazine for affluent African-Americans, and interactive sales firm Blackrock Digital.
Vibe Holdings now represents TV shows, publications and 25 websites such as BallerStatus.com, Vibe.com and AllHipHop.com that reach 19 million people a month.
Johnson said an equity fund he is invested in with Burkle's The Yucaipa Cos. has $550 million to put into film and TV properties and other brands.
He said he plans to find a Saturday morning time slot to bring "Soul Train," a syndicated variety show that ran from 1971 to 2006, back to TV. It is already making money from DVD box sets and on-demand orders of its 1,100 one-hour episodes.
"There's a lot that's going on in 'Soul Train.' We know that we can take it to a whole other level," he said.
The former Los Angeles Lakers superstar said Wednesday that he and partner Ron Burkle have invested more than $10 million in the company, and are planning to make it the starter in a fledgling urban-media empire.
"This is just the beginning of what we're going to start buying," said 51-year-old Johnson, a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player, in an interview. "We're looking to roll up other urban-based brands up under these three. We're out there looking for deals as we speak."
Johnson said that the Vibe business was running at about break even following a reorganization that began in 2009.
In June 2009, the hip-hop and urban culture magazine founded in 1993 by producer Quincy Jones shut down amid a sharp decline in advertising revenue. It was bought by private equity fund InterMedia Partners, which is still an investor, and saw its assets merged with Uptown, a lifestyle magazine for affluent African-Americans, and interactive sales firm Blackrock Digital.
Vibe Holdings now represents TV shows, publications and 25 websites such as BallerStatus.com, Vibe.com and AllHipHop.com that reach 19 million people a month.
Johnson said an equity fund he is invested in with Burkle's The Yucaipa Cos. has $550 million to put into film and TV properties and other brands.
He said he plans to find a Saturday morning time slot to bring "Soul Train," a syndicated variety show that ran from 1971 to 2006, back to TV. It is already making money from DVD box sets and on-demand orders of its 1,100 one-hour episodes.
"There's a lot that's going on in 'Soul Train.' We know that we can take it to a whole other level," he said.
Miley Cyrus sorry about salvia bong hit
Reuters, NEW YORK: Last December, Miley Cyrus took the bong hit viewed around the world.
Now the "Hannah Montana" star has expressed regret for her dalliance with the psychedelic herb salvia, footage of which leaked online.
"I'm not perfect," Cyrus recently told Marie Claire magazine. "I made a mistake ... I'm disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans."
Salvia is a legal drug in most states including California, where she reportedly smoked it. She was asked, "But do you really think it was a mistake? Obviously college kids your age all over America are smoking bongs with a lot more than salvia in them."
The Disney star's response: "But they're not Miley Cyrus. They're not role models. So for me it was a bad decision, because of my fans and because of what I stand for."
Reportedly filmed just five days after her eighteenth birthday, the video of Cyrus' salvia bong hit features the singer/actress declaring that she was "having a little bit of a bad trip."
Now the "Hannah Montana" star has expressed regret for her dalliance with the psychedelic herb salvia, footage of which leaked online.
"I'm not perfect," Cyrus recently told Marie Claire magazine. "I made a mistake ... I'm disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans."
Salvia is a legal drug in most states including California, where she reportedly smoked it. She was asked, "But do you really think it was a mistake? Obviously college kids your age all over America are smoking bongs with a lot more than salvia in them."
The Disney star's response: "But they're not Miley Cyrus. They're not role models. So for me it was a bad decision, because of my fans and because of what I stand for."
Reportedly filmed just five days after her eighteenth birthday, the video of Cyrus' salvia bong hit features the singer/actress declaring that she was "having a little bit of a bad trip."
"Redwall" children's author Brian Jacques dies
Reuters, LONDON: British author Brian Jacques, renowned for his bestselling "Redwall" children's fantasy series, has died aged 71.
A message on his official website said the creator of the 21-story series, which sold an estimated 20 million copies, passed away on February 5.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper said Jacques had undergone emergency surgery at a hospital in his native Liverpool, but died late on Saturday. His brother Jim told the newspaper that the family was in "deep shock" and that his death was "sudden."
Jacques was born in June, 1939, and at an early age showed potential as a writer.
According to his official biography, when he was 10 he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. His teacher refused to believe that it was not copied, and Jacques was branded a liar and caned.
As a teenager he travelled the world in the merchant navy before returning to England, where he did a variety of jobs including driving a bus, boxing and writing plays.
He came to write "Redwall" for the children at a blind school in Liverpool where he delivered milk. The tale centers around a young mouse Matthias who summons the courage to protect Redwall Abbey when it is threatened by a rat called Cluny.
Jacques made his writing as descriptive as possible with his blind audience in mind, and, when his childhood English teacher Alan Durband took the story to a publisher, it offered the author a five-book deal.
Twenty-one Redwall books followed, starting with Redwall in 1986 and ending with "The Sable Quean" published in 2010. The 22nd novel, "The Rogue Crew," is due to appear later this year.
Jacques leaves behind his wife, Maureen, and his two sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a contemporary artist.
A message on his official website said the creator of the 21-story series, which sold an estimated 20 million copies, passed away on February 5.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper said Jacques had undergone emergency surgery at a hospital in his native Liverpool, but died late on Saturday. His brother Jim told the newspaper that the family was in "deep shock" and that his death was "sudden."
Jacques was born in June, 1939, and at an early age showed potential as a writer.
According to his official biography, when he was 10 he wrote a short story about a bird who cleaned a crocodile's teeth. His teacher refused to believe that it was not copied, and Jacques was branded a liar and caned.
As a teenager he travelled the world in the merchant navy before returning to England, where he did a variety of jobs including driving a bus, boxing and writing plays.
He came to write "Redwall" for the children at a blind school in Liverpool where he delivered milk. The tale centers around a young mouse Matthias who summons the courage to protect Redwall Abbey when it is threatened by a rat called Cluny.
Jacques made his writing as descriptive as possible with his blind audience in mind, and, when his childhood English teacher Alan Durband took the story to a publisher, it offered the author a five-book deal.
Twenty-one Redwall books followed, starting with Redwall in 1986 and ending with "The Sable Quean" published in 2010. The 22nd novel, "The Rogue Crew," is due to appear later this year.
Jacques leaves behind his wife, Maureen, and his two sons, Marc, a carpenter and bricklayer, and David, a contemporary artist.
Jude Law, Sienna Miller split up for second time
AP, LONDON: Sienna Miller's spokeswoman says the actress and Jude Law have split up for a second time.
Publicist Tori Cook said Wednesday that 29-year-old Miller and the 38-year-old "Sherlock Holmes" star are no longer in a relationship.
The couple met on the set of "Alfie" in 2003 and later became engaged, but separated after Law admitted a fling with his children's nanny in 2005. They resumed their relationship in 2009 and had been living together in London.
Law has three children with his ex-wife, actress and designer Sadie Frost. He also fathered a child in 2009 during a brief relationship with model Samantha Burke.]
Publicist Tori Cook said Wednesday that 29-year-old Miller and the 38-year-old "Sherlock Holmes" star are no longer in a relationship.
The couple met on the set of "Alfie" in 2003 and later became engaged, but separated after Law admitted a fling with his children's nanny in 2005. They resumed their relationship in 2009 and had been living together in London.
Law has three children with his ex-wife, actress and designer Sadie Frost. He also fathered a child in 2009 during a brief relationship with model Samantha Burke.]
Ricky Martin, Kristin Chenoweth honored by GLAAD
Reuters, LOS ANGELES: Singer Ricky Martin and Broadway singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth are being honored for their efforts to increase understanding of America's gay and lesbian community, the campaign group GLAAD said on Wednesday.
Martin, the Latin singer who came out as gay last year, will be given GLAAD's Vito Russo Award at a ceremony in March. The award is given annually to an openly gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual professional who is deemed to have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the community.
"Ricky coming out was a game changer for many gay and transgender Latino children, who for too long, did not have many out gay people to look up to," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(GLAAD), the nation's leading organization in promoting fair and accurate portrayals of gay people in the media.
Chenoweth, the original star of the stage musical "Wicked" and a guest star on TV show "Glee", will be presented with the Vanguard Award which is given annually to those who increase the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community.
Chenoweth was singled out for defending her gay Broadway co-star Sean Hayes in the musical "Promises, Promises" against comments in a 2010 Newsweek article which argued that openly gay actors were unconvincing in straight roles.
"When allies like Kristin take such powerful stands against anti-gay sentiments in the media, it sends an important message of equality," Barrios said in a statement,
Chenoweth said in Twitter message on Wednesday that she was "proud to be honored by GLAAD".
The honors to Chenoweth and Martin will be handed out at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York and Los Angeles, which recognize the best portrayals of the LGBT community on film, television, radio, music, newspapers and blogs.
Martin, the Latin singer who came out as gay last year, will be given GLAAD's Vito Russo Award at a ceremony in March. The award is given annually to an openly gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual professional who is deemed to have made a significant difference in promoting equal rights for the community.
"Ricky coming out was a game changer for many gay and transgender Latino children, who for too long, did not have many out gay people to look up to," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation(GLAAD), the nation's leading organization in promoting fair and accurate portrayals of gay people in the media.
Chenoweth, the original star of the stage musical "Wicked" and a guest star on TV show "Glee", will be presented with the Vanguard Award which is given annually to those who increase the visibility and understanding of the LGBT community.
Chenoweth was singled out for defending her gay Broadway co-star Sean Hayes in the musical "Promises, Promises" against comments in a 2010 Newsweek article which argued that openly gay actors were unconvincing in straight roles.
"When allies like Kristin take such powerful stands against anti-gay sentiments in the media, it sends an important message of equality," Barrios said in a statement,
Chenoweth said in Twitter message on Wednesday that she was "proud to be honored by GLAAD".
The honors to Chenoweth and Martin will be handed out at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York and Los Angeles, which recognize the best portrayals of the LGBT community on film, television, radio, music, newspapers and blogs.
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