Omission of issue from ministerial statement does not justify neglect
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Thursday, November 26, 2009

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s new Cabinet must not forget its duty to work toward granting Lebanese women nationality rights, despite its apparent omission of the issue in the ministerial statement, gender-equality activists said Wednesday. Over 100 people heeded the call of social justice organization Collective for Research and Training on Development-Action (CRTD.A) to demand an overhaul of the current discriminatory legislation, formulated in 1925. 

The law allows men to pass on their nationality to their non-Lebanese wives and children but forbids Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese from doing the same. This injustice is further exacerbated by Lebanon’s reservation on Article 2 of paragraph 9 of the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, pertaining to nationality rights. 

“The Lebanese Constitution lets any Lebanese man who marries a foreigner automatically give her his nationality and even if she has 10 children from a previous marriage, they get the Lebanese nationality,” said one woman who wished not to be identified. “But children who are born in this country and are Lebanese citizens more than some of our politicians cannot get the nationality.” 

There are about 18,000 Lebanese women married to non-Lebanese living in Lebanon and over 80,000 people affected by the current legislation, including children and spouses, according to the United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) “Toward Reforming the Nationality Law in Lebanon” project. 

CRTD.A launched the regional Nationality Campaign nearly a decade ago to demand reform of discriminatory nationality laws. Since then the campaign has met with considerable success, with Algeria, Morocco and Egypt changing their laws, said CRTD.A executive director Lina Abou-Habib. More recently, Bahrain adopted measures guaranteeing equality for women and Syria has enforced laws stipulating gender equality in education. “We are witnessing progress in the region. There is no excuse for Lebanon not to join in,” Abou-Habib said. Viewed as illegal aliens, those without Lebanese citizenship face myriad difficulties, including obtaining employment or affordable education and health care, are required to go for regular medical check-ups and blood tests, and face the threat of deportation every day. The difficulties faced by those without citizenship was on Wednesday apparent as audience members emotionally recounted painful experiences. 

One Lebanese woman married to a non-Lebanese said she feared for her children’s financial future. “Who is going to in­herit from me after I die? Neither my children nor my husband will benefit from my life’s work.” 

There are also a number of people who, because of a decades-old administrative oversight, continue to be denied their right to Lebanese citizenship. “Men and women are treated the same when it comes to injustice,” said audience member Haider Radi, struggling to hold back tears. “I was born of a Lebanese father. My father was born in Lebanon in 1920 and was registered in 1932 but he was then transferred to the foreign register in 1936. My father suffered from bad governance and now I’m suffering and my daughters are suffering.” 

Abou-Habib reiterated the Nationality Campaign would not accept reform of the nationality law that excludes Palestinians. Those against an amendment of the law have argued that the naturalization of thousands of Palestinian men and children would tip Leba­non’s delicate sectarian balance in favor of Sunni Muslims, the religion of the majority of the country’s 400,000 Palestinian refugees. 

But rights activists have pointed out that less than 2 percent of Lebanese women are married to Palestinians. “Any nationality law that comes with exceptions would be unconstitutional,” Abou-Habib said, referring to the Constitution’s demand for total equality between men and women. 

While nationality rights are important in their own right, Lebanon’s sexist legislation is only one manifestation of gender inequality, activists said. In a statement earlier this month, the Nationality Campaign urged ministers to include “clear statements” in the upcoming Ministerial Statement on how they intended to push forward gender equality. In particular, they de­manded clauses addressing the right for Lebanese women to pass on their nationality, the implementation of a women’s quota for municipal polls next year, and the approval of a proposed family-based violence bill. But the Cabinet has already disappointed them. Abou-Habib said Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud had told members of the Nationality Campaign last Friday that out of 30 ministers, which include two women, only he and Information Minister Tareq Mitri had called for the ministerial statement to include a clause acknowledging the need to reform the nationality law. 

Lebanese politicians’ inaction has only reasserted the determination of activists to persevere with their demands. “We’re going to go through with the na­tionality campaign and we won’t wait for any MPs to take action,” said one audience member.

Khalifeh business hit hard as new highway curbs traffic along old costal road
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Glass at the Khalifeh shop in Sarafand

The potters and glass blowers have long gone, with mechanics and kebab vendors taking their place. Lebanon’s once thriving glass trade hasn’t completely died out, however. One family is determinedly keeping the ancient tradition alive, albeit with considerable difficulty.

The Khalifeh family has been blowing glass for about 40 years, selling their goods in a local shop or to wholesalers. In happier times, says shop manager Nisrine Khalifeh, her grandfather taught apprentices the painstaking trade and employed several dozen locals.

The family had a thriving business, helped along by exposure at international craft fairs and friendly tour guides who would bring generous-spending Beirutis to the shop.

Today, Nisrine’s father Hussein runs the business but the locals aren’t interested in working with glass. “No one likes to do it because it’s so hard,” Nisrine says with a sigh. “Many people have asked to learn but then they can’t handle the heat.” She points to her father, who at 55 years old looks more like 85.

His face has been leathered and shoulders hunched by years sweating it out in front of the oven, designing and shaping glass in 140 degree heat. The future of Lebanon’s glass-blowing heritage now rests in the hands of Hussein, Nisrine and seven other family members.

The dearth of trained glass blowers has been accompanied by decreasing sales at the Khalifeh’s shop in Sarafand. Despite the undeniable appeal of the shop’s colorful interior, with its rainbow of ornate standing candle holders, hanging decorations, water jugs and vases, hardly anyone ever visits.

When the southern coastal highway opened a few years ago, business at the Khalifeh shop, which is situated on the old coastal road, was hard hit.

Now, says Nisrine, the only people that come to the shop are foreign clients who might not have visited in a few years or soldiers from UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL looking for presents to take home. “When the autostrade was closed a few months ago and people had to travel on the coastal road, a lot of people came in and bought things,” she says. With only the most motivated clients bothering to make the journey, the Khalifeh family’s glass products are one of Lebanon’s best-kept secrets.

Ever-rising fuel costs are also taking a toll. Because of the exorbitant prices, the Khalifehs only turn on the ovens for big orders to highbrow boutiques in Beirut who then sell the glass products for double or triple the original price.

The oven costs $500 each day to run and takes 24 hours to reach 1,500 degrees, the temperature where glass finally turns to liquid. “Sometimes we stop for two or three months because there’s no work,” Nisrine says. When The Daily Star visited, the ovens had been off for some time.

The ovens themselves are also expensive to keep, as they can only be used twice before the intense heat turns the bricks to sand.

Apart from the high fuel consumption, the Khalifeh’s glass production is environmentally sound, using only recycled glass. Behind the shop, rusty bath tubs and old oil vats groan under the weight of shattered beer and wine bottles, mirrors and windows.

The road ahead looks discouraging for Lebanon’s last remaining glass blowers. Assistance from the government has not been forthcoming, though the Khalifeh’s say they don’t expect help. If mounting costs and falling demand finally force the family to close shop for good, Nisrine doesn’t know what her brothers will do: they left school when they were 12 to learn the trade. “My brothers only know glass-blowing. There’s no work for them except this.”

By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Saturday, November 21, 2009

BEIRUT: The head of a leading Lebanese social justice organization on Friday lamented the absence from the Ministerial Statement any efforts toward reforming the country’s sexist nationality law. Lina Abou-Habib, executive director of the Collective for Research, Training and Development-Action, said Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud relayed to the organization his disappointment that out of 30 ministers, which includes two female ministers, only he and Information Minister Tareq Mitri had urged the Ministerial Statement include a clause acknowledging the need to reform the country’s 1925 nationality law.

The law allows Lebanese men to pass on their nationality to their non-Lebanese wives and children, but forbids Lebanese women from doing the same.

Abou-Habib said the decision was a “serious setback” for gender equality activists.

“It is extremely disappointing. We were expecting something better from this government given all the work that had been done and all the promises made” on allowing Lebanese women to pass on their nationality, Abou-Habib said.

“It shows consistency with the previous government in terms of the total disregard for women rights and citizenship rights,” she added, noting the Justice Ministry’s recent decision to appeal the granting of citizenship to four children born to a Lebanese mother and an Egyptian father. No ministers were immediately available for comment.

CRTD.A has called for a meeting Wednesday Midday at the Engineers Syndicate in Mosaitbeh to step up action.

After Lebanon’s cabinet formation, AFP wrote a story about Lebanese women politicians breaking into the country’s patriarchal political system. 2 women were appointed to Lebanon’s 30-person cabinet: Raya Haffar Hassan became finance minister, the first for a woman here to be appointed to the job. Mona Afeish, described by media sources as a women’s rights activist, was appointed state minister.

I was told my informed sources today that despite Ziyad Baroud’s best efforts, Baroud and Tareq Mitri were THE ONLY TWO ministers to favor an inclusion of the issue of Lebanese women’s right to pass on their nationality in the Ministerial Statement- the country’s guiding document. Neither woman gave their endorsement.

A story will be published in tommorow’s DS and next Thursday.

Watchdog suggests growing public awareness has shifted scores
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, November 18, 2009

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s corruption ranking for 2009 has slipped 28 points from last year to 130th place, graft monitoring organization Transparency International (TI) said Tuesday. The Berlin-based organization’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index also found Lebanon’s graft rating had fallen half a point to 2.5 out of 10 on a scale where 0 indicated “highly corrupt” and 10 “highly clean.”

The index ranks 180 countries on perceived levels of public sector corruption and corruption among politicians, using assessments and surveys collected by other organizations.

Although 180 countries were also assessed last year, TI’s senior coordinator for measuring corruption Juanita Riano told The Daily Star the index was not meant as “a measurement over time, but rather a snapshot of the current situation” of global corruption.

“At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle” said Huguette Labelle, TI Chair.

In the organization’s 2008 index, Lebanon ranked 102nd, 11th out of 20 countries in the Arab world and scored three out of 10. The low scores were thought to be because of the country’s political deadlock, which held back key reforms.

TI said corruption thrived when essential government institutions were weak or non-existent, resulting in insecurity and impunity.

“Corruption also makes normal a seeping loss of trust in the very institutions and nascent governments charged with ensuring survival and stability.”

According to the organization Global Integrity – which tracks international governance and corruption – political meddling and nepotism in Lebanon are “rampant in media, civil service and law enforcement agencies.”

Fighting corruption “requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well-performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” Labelle said.

Lebanon’s fall in rank is probably not indicative of increased corruption but of growing public awareness, said Gaelle Kibranian, program director at TI’s Lebanon chapter, the Lebanese Transparency Association.

“What we are linking it to is perceptions, especially given the fact that we had parliamentary elections” in June this year, which despite government regulation, were marked by stories of vote-buying and dubious campaign financing.

“I think it is very timely to have [the corruption index published] just before the ministerial statement, Kibranian said, hoping it would push officials to address corruption in the government’s guiding document.

New Zealand came first in this year’s corruption index, ranking in at 9.4, followed by Denmark at 9.3, and Singapore and Sweden at 9.2. Wallowing at the bottom of the index for a second consecutive year is Somalia, with a score of 1.1.

The index comes just 10 days after the Lebanese Transparency Association published a report indicating that corruption in the country was pervasive at all levels of society and state, taking such forms as embezzlement, vote-buying, patronage, bribery, and clientelism.

Country’s actions in sync with global trend to curb use of mines, cluster munitions
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Monday, November 16, 2009

BEIRUT: Despite not signing the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, Lebanon has made considerable progress on mine clearance operations in recent years and appears to be moving closer to signing the treaty, a report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has said. “Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Towards a Mine-Free World,” released Thursday at the UN, said that although Lebanon was continuing to carry out mine-clearance activities, these efforts were facing significant set-backs because of a lack of funds.

Lebanon’s actions were in sync with a global trend to curb the use and effects of mines and other unexploded remnants of war, the 1,253-page report said.

“The norm against mine use is firmly taking hold,” said Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch, Landmine Monitor’s Ban Policy editor. “Antipersonnel mines have been stigmatized as an unacceptable weapon globally, including by countries still outside the Mine Ban Treaty.”

Lebanon is contaminated by land and sea mines laid by Israel during its withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000 and during a 34-day war in July 2006, and to a lesser extent, by mines planted by Syria during the 1975-90 Civil War. Around 5 percent of the country’s agricultural land is affected by cluster munition contamination.

Some 80 percent of the world community has signed the Mine Ban Treaty, and though 39 countries, including Israel and the US, have yet to join, most are more or less in compliance with the treaty’s core provisions.

“Positive movement toward [Lebanon] joining the treaty in 2005 and 2006 was set back” by a war with Israel in 2006, ICBL said. Like Israel, Beirut has cited regional tensions as the reason why it can’t sign the document, although it appears to be slowly moving towards formal acceptance. “Lebanon’s signature of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions has given rise to hopes it will also join the Mine Ban Treaty,” said the report, adding Beirut “appears generally committed to mine action.”

Although there are thought to be at least 2,720 mine and explosive remnants of war survivors in Lebanon, victim assistance programs fall short of expectations, ICBL said, citing a similar global trend.

“Victim assistance has made the least progress of the major mine action sectors over the last decade, with both funding and the provision of assistance falling short of what is needed,” said Stan Brabant of non-governmental organization Handicap International, a Landmine Monitor editorial board member. “Progress in the most affected states has been variable, with some countries actively engaged, and others hardly at all. Hundreds of thousands of people need more and better assistance, and they need it now.”

In Lebanon, the report found the cost of services and transport, insufficient psychological and financial support, and lack of awareness of services available were barriers to the rehabilitation of survivors. Risk education programs also needed improvement.

The ICBL report also noted that although Lebanon was the fourth top recipient of mine action funding in 2008, receiving some $28.2 million, donor fa­tigue has since led to serious cut-backs in clearance operations.

There were 64 mine-clearing teams operating in Lebanon in the months following the war in 2006, with Hizbullah volunteers also working to clear an unknown number of cluster submunitions. Today only 18 teams remain. But with seven deminers and peacekeepers killed and 12 injured since 2002, 352 people injured or killed by cluster bombs since the cessation of hostilities in 2006, and the fact that “areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants [in the agriculture-dependent South Leba­non] … are very difficult to mark,” clearance efforts are es­pecially urgent, the report noted.

ICBL used its annual report to encourage states that have not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty to sign up, and urge signatories to make greater efforts to protect their citizens from the effects of war. “The Mine Ban Treaty has led to lives and limbs saved over the past decade,” said Jacqueline Hansen, Landmine Monitor’s Program Manager. “In the next decade more countries must meet their clearance obligations and efforts to educate affected communities about mine hazards should be sustained to ensure no more people are killed or injured by these indiscriminate weapons.”

I went to the star studded event of the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. It seemed a bit unusual to have a premier for a video game, apparently its the first of its kind. The red carpet was transformed into what they described as a ‘camo-carpet,’ basically the same but in army camouflage. Very stylish! There were soldiers marching up and down in sync carrying their plastic riffles. Boys and their toys, how very sweet.

It was the first time I was to be blinded by the bright lights of the photographers as I walked onto the ‘camo-carpet.’ What a bizarre experience! It was like being at a fish market and getting screamed at with their cheapest deals. Ha. “Look here” “Turn to the left, no now right, forward.” Aaaaaaaaaaaah! I was like an animal caught in the head lights man! Im sure the pictures were horrific.

Once we got upstairs it was alreet though. A little quiet oasis of famous people dressed in their finest drinking the good stuff. What i’ve started to realise is, all celebrities know each other. Like they’re that group of friends in the playground everyone wants to hang about with and know things about. The ‘popular people.’ Is showbiz just an amplified version of being back at school?

After the drinks reception, there was the opportunity of watching the actual reason we were all apparently there… to watch a demo of the game. As everyone was ushered in, the room was left still rather full to be honest! The odd video game fiend rushed to the cinema room of course. These were to be the lucky ones as they were given not only a free Call of Duty goody bag… but a FREE Xbox! Damn!

Meanwhile the game was ‘raising the roof,’ in the next room, I was standing by the bar chilling with my very good friend A. Very pretty and Northern, I’m always in for an amazing night when the two of us get together. Thick as thieves we are! Like me, she is not fazed by famous people, they’re just people right? In fact I seem to remember her bumping into the Black Eyed Peas then asking if I wanted to go to the loo. I was like… you know who they were right? She replied “yeah, I’m not keen on their new song.” Haha. Classic.

So we were minding our own business and chatting to Lee Francis, the guy made famous for Avid Merrion. Really nice guy, was dying to ask him to do an impression but thats not cool is it? After being shown pictures of his cute little baby we turned around to continue drinking when who comes over… the Desperate Housewives gardener Jesse Metcalfe. I have to say at first glance, I wasn’t sure whether it was him… I always envisioned this absolute classy gorgeous hunky man, tall, tanned, beautiful face and ‘hard to get.’

He was rather short, a lot of gel on his carefully combed hair, what I could recognise as tan marks on his neck, and eye brows that were just screaming out to be left alone. Wayyyy too much waxing!

We had a bit chat about what we were both doing there… What I did for a living…  You know, ‘chat up’ chat. He wanted to go for dinner with us, to which we denied. Again, when comments like ‘I have plenty money,’ come into the equation, really not feeling it. His eyes then scanned over to the page 3 girls who I went to say hello to. Im not in their group at all… but hey its nice to be nice right? He then followed and asked for his picture to be taken with all of us. Again, that ‘hard to get’ quality which I thought he had, was thrown out of the window. Desperate had replaced illusive.

He got the royal sack.

As the video junkies were coming out glowing with delight at their freebies, it was time to move over to the after party. Drivers were waiting for us outside to escourt us to the ’secret location.’ Turns out it was an under ground venue on Baker Street.

It was amazing. Food and drink was served, boxes of bangers and mash and Thai Green curry, platters of cheeses and salami’s, and of course the best part… free bar.  I paced myself… I was shooting the next day and that always comes first.

Thats what has been so baffling about moving to London, being able to afford to go out and enjoy the London nightlife and pass up on a free bar. One of the biggest worries about being 20 and moving down is that worry of not being able to afford to go out. But when you get here, everything is free all night, every night. Its been a nice surprise!

Dizzie Rascal came on stage for the last hour of the night, to which me and A were just loving! There was the odd female trying to get on stage and lick Mr Rascal. If only they could see how unattractive air licking looks? Some girls just need a guardian with them full time don’t they?

We were given a copy of the Call of Duty game as we were leaving, I left it in the cab

FB,X

Economic crisis pushes children from poorer areas into early marriage
By Dalila Mahdawi, Daily Star staff
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

BEIRUT: Early marriages are making an unwelcome comeback in impoverished Lebanese villages and among the Palestinian refugee community, spurred on by the global economic crisis and harmful gender stereotypes, women’s rights activists warned Monday. Child brides are seen as more of a problem in countries like Saudi Arabia or Yemen but have been steadily increasing in poor areas throughout Lebanon over recent years. Girls as young as 13 are being married off by their parents with damaging consequences on their education and psychological and physical well-being, experts said.

The remarks came at a regional women’s rights conference organized by the non-governmental organization Developmental Action without Borders (Nabaa) and Movement for Peace (MPDL) with support from Spain’s embassy in Beirut.

Faten Sabah, a researcher at Nabaa, said the global economic crisis was pushing poor families to marry off their daughters in an effort to relieve financial pressures on the household. “In Lebanon, the phenomenon of early marriage is reappearing … This is the start of violations against women’s rights,” she said, noting that early pregnancies could have dangerous health implications for both mother and baby.

Out of 77 Palestinian girls interviewed in south Lebanon by Nabaa, some 46.75 percent of 17 year olds and around 32 percent of 16 year olds were already married, she said, adding that there was a clear correlation between the girls’ education level and age at time of marriage.

“Most acknowledged their marriage was early and expressed some regret,” she said, with some 74 percent of all child brides saying family pressure had pushed them into marrying. Women who had married early were more likely to fight with their husbands, experience social isolation and less likely to return to formal education, Sabah added.

The poor villages of Mujid and Bibnin in Akkar, north Lebanon, are witnessing similar increases in child brides, too. After Israel’s 34-day war on Lebanon in July 2006, observers also noted an increase in “exchange marriages,” where a person’s sister is given almost as a dowry in exchange for the sister of someone else, said Jou­mana Merhi, executive director of the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering.

Lebanese law has adopted the same definition of “child” as described by the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Beirut signed in 1991. According to the convention, and for the purpose of civil obligations and contracts, a child is any person below the age of 18. The marriage of anyone under this age, then, is considered a breach of the convention.

But in some Muslim circles, girls as young as 9 are deemed suitable for marriage, Merhi said. The minimum age at which girls can marry is lower than boys in all of Lebanon’s religious courts, which govern personal status affairs such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance.

Lebanon has signed several international treaties on the rights of the child, but enforcement remains problematic. Beirut became party to the Convention’s Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in 2004. It also signed the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict in February 2002 but has yet to ratify it.

“Another choice other than early marriage must be given to these women,” stressed Merhi. “It is very important to find opportunities for these girls.”

Jesus Saenz Denis, International for the Middle East at MPDL, praised Nabaa officials for their work among the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanon.

These activities “demonstrate they don’t just come and talk about women’s rights, but enforce them” through concrete action in the camps, he said, pointing to the organization’s work in providing education and vocational training to Palestinian girls.

Despite the encouraging work being done, Denis said more work on women’s rights was needed. “This conference will not be enough. You must keep fighting in your communities every single day for women’s rights, which are human rights themselves.”

Hey everyone!

How amazing is this weather! Its so bright and sunny, the air is so clear and chilly! Wooo my favourite! Going to spend most of it indoors though, Orange wednesdays baby!!! Pizza Express and cinema… Feeling a horror film coming on!

Thank you to everyone who sent me lovely messages for yesterdays Daily Star spread. They were very sweet! Never been asked out on so many dates since my ‘looking for a normal bloke’ comment in my interview! Haha! Remember to keep txting into the Star to see me more!

Txt DSTAR then your message to 80088.

Just dropping you a quick note really to say that because of the postal strike, I have not been able to respond to your fan mail as fast as i’d like to! Thank you so much for the lovely gifts ive been sent to! I will respond to you, its just a bit of a nightmare in the post at the moment, especially in London!

If you want me to sign a photo do feel free to send it to my manager and I will try to respond ASAP! Here is where to send it to:

International Model Management
Unit 15,
Elysium Gate,
126- 128 New Kings Road,
London
SW6 4LZ

Look forward to hearing from you!

Love, FB.

X

Melanie C has claimed that she wants advice from Cheryl Cole about relaunching her solo career.

The former Spice Girl, who is currently starring in West End show Blood Brothers, praised the X Factor judge for reaching number one with her album 3 Words.

“Cheryl is doing incredibly well – her performance on The X Factor was fantastic,” she told the Daily Star.

“I think she could probably give me some advice about my solo career. I’ve halted my new solo album because I wanted to put all of my energy into the show.

“As soon as I feel like I’m really mastering it then I’ll be back in the studio. After having my baby I never knew how I’d feel, so I was leaving everything open.”

Melanie C released her last studio album This Time in March 2007.

Source

The X Factor’s controversial twins, John and Edward Grimes, are convinced Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole is a lot fonder of them than she lets on.

Speaking to the Daily Star about The X Factor judge, John said: “Cheryl has promised us a date so we will be cashing in on that! She is our perfect woman.

“She has a smile that melts your heart and I think she has a soft spot for us, despite what she says on the show.”

The twins, 18, have their own ideas about why they have stayed in the competition so long: “There is a reason why we are getting votes every week. It has to be sex appeal and charm!”

Source

Whatever you’re doing, STOP, grab your wallet, and speed to the local shop for I am your centre page girly in the Daily Star!

The last few weeks, the Daily Star have shown amazing support and interest in me which has been life changing! They are one of the biggest selling, most popular national newspapers. Especially a favorite up North, being from Newcastle myself is really relating to the readers I hope! They have received an over whelming amount of enquiries via txt and email to know more about me.

I had the pleasure of shooting with the legendary Jeany Savage last week. Jeany, as you will already be aware of,  is the Star’s signature photographer and has been for many years. She was made famous for her eye for spotting talent. Thanks to Jeany and the star, we all know today Samantha Fox, Katie Price, Melinda Messenger Kelly Brook and Lucy Pinder to name a few! I had seen early footage of Jeany shooting Jordan when she was my age, from that moment on Jordan became a huge star. The exact room and hotel where my shoot with Jeany took place was where Jordan was shot too! In a typical photoshoot, it can take a photographer hours to get a set a pictures right. In Jeany’s case, it took an hour and a half! I loved her way of working, she knew exactley what she wanted and nailed it. I was very nervous meeting her for the first time, but there was abslutely no need to be, she was lovely. I can sometimes get photographers struggling to photograph my body in a way that is flattering, my body is small with large boobies. It can be a pain! But Jeany did it effortlessly.The styling and hair and make up was wicked too (everything fit! I was nearly in tears of joy! Ha!) it made me realise i really fit in that glamour set up, my body fit in. I fit in.

I look forward to working with Jeany and her team again.

Hope you all like the pictures as much as i do!

Love F.B, X

The X Factor’s John and Edward Grimes have revealed Cheryl Cole’s offered to go out with them.

The controversial twins are convinced the Girls Aloud star is a lot fonder of them than she lets on.

‘Cheryl has promised us a date so we will be cashing in on that!,’ John tells the Daily Star Sunday. ‘She is our perfect woman.

‘She has a smile that melts your heart and I think she has a soft spot for us, despite what she says on the show.’

John and Edward, 18, have their own ideas about why they have stayed in the competition so long.

‘There is a reason why we are getting votes every week,’ says Edward. ‘It has to be sex appeal and charm!

Source

Laura White is giving her support to her former mentor Cheryl Cole, even though the pair no longer speak since the singer was voted off X Factor last year.

Although Cole has remained good friends with winner Alexandra Burke, Laura reveals she has no contact with the Girls Aloud stunner.

“Cheryl and I have lost touch because we’ve both been really busy but I support everything she’s doing and love Fight For This Love.” White revealed to the Daily Star.

“Alex has done so well, too. I don’t hear from her any more as we lost touch after the tour. It would be nice to catch up as we went though a massive thing together.”

Laura is launching her own pop career, and her first single ‘You Should Have Known’, gets a release on Monday – check out the music video here.

Source

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A teoria não é nova mas, de acordo com o publicado ontem no jornal britânico Daily Star, o alegado rapto de Maddie seria uma encomenda perpetrada por um perigoso criminoso argelino que, a troco de cem mil euros, levou a criança para Marrocos.
Segundo a mesma informação, Maddie foi transportada para o norte de Africa através do ferry que liga o sul de Espanha a Marrocos.
O diário britânico, que diz ter recebido informações do “submundo do crime”, avança que a informação foi conhecida depois do criminoso argelino se ter gabado do rapto junto de dois traficantes de droga ingleses, Paul Bennett e James Neil.

O Argelino que “raptou” Maddie por 100.000 euros?

O argelino, que responde aos nomes de Younis ou Tariq, é descrito como sendo de pele escura, cabelo encaracolado e apresentando cicatrizes faciais, correspondendo a um dos retratos robots já conhecidos no caso. O homem seria, segundo a fonte citada pelo quotidiano inglês, “conhecido da polícia em Portugal”.
O 24horas apurou entretanto que as informações citadas pelo Daily Star, e alegadamente provenientes do “submundo do crime”, já tinham sido avançadas em Portugal por um advogado ligado ao caso e que se baseava num relatório dos detectives espanhóis da Metodo 3 que estiveram ao serviço de Kate e Gerry McCann.
A agência espanhola realizou diversos relatórios acerca do desaparecimento de Maddie mas também acerca da vida privada dos inspectores da PJ responsáveis do inquérito, nomeadamente de Gonçalo Amaral – relatórios que os detectives disponibilizaram àquele advogado e que têm sido utilizados publicamente.
“Não existe qualquer inquérito em curso, a essa ou a qualquer outra alegada pista, e o caso continua a ser da responsabilidade das autoridades portuguesas,” diz uma fonte da polícia de Leicestershire, contactada pelo 24horas.

Polícias com humor britânico

Não é a primeira vez que “alegadas informações” e “especulações” acerca do caso Maddie fazem manchete nos jornais ingleses. Ainda a semana passada o governo britânico desmentiu oficialmente que o seu primeiro-ministro estaria em contacto com as autoridades americanas a quem, segundo o Sunday Express – jornal do mesmo grupo que o Daily Star – Gordon Brown queria pedir as imagens do satélite que alegadamente vigiava a costa portuguesa.
A informação avançada ontem pelo Daily Star “tem o valor da sua promoção de domingo, por 40 pences (pouco mais de 50 cêntimos)  o leitor leva os dois jornais,” ironizou fonte do Home Office em resposta ao 24horas.

Speaking, as I was only recently, about the tendency for ” left-liberal-establishment” hatemobs to generate sympathy for the most undeserving individuals …

I was planning to write a mini-essay about Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time, but I then realised that the front page of the Daily Star had got to the heart of the matter much more succinctly than I could ever hope to -

But who is it, I wonder, who Nick Griifin so persistently reminds me of?  I think it has to be Billy Bunter, the Fat Owl of the Remove.  Wikipedia provides a serviceable pen-pic -

“Character

  His main physical characteristics are obesity, brought about by over-eating, and short-sightedness (hence his nickname ‘the fat owl of the Remove’). He is dishonest, greedy, pathologically self-centered, snobbish, conceited, lazy, cowardly, mean-spirited and stupid. Nevertheless, he succeeds in achieving reader sympathy by virtue of the humour which the character generates, partly through his brazen effrontery and persistence in the face of inevitable failure.

His one talent is that he is a skilled ventriloquist, able to mimic any voice and to make it appear to be coming from any location. This unlikely ability often forms part of his schemes of deception, and thus serves to advance the storylines.”

It’s a pity that he wasn’t given a chance to demonstrate his talent for ventriloquism on the show. It would have been entertaining to hear, for instance, Baroness Warsi asking him to explain his precise position on the postal strike, and his answers might, indeed, have been quite illuminating.  We might, I suppose, have seen Bonnie Greer saying “Hey, fella, maybe you ain’t no racist after all!”  after he tried to put his arm round her.  There might even have been one or two more sympathetic comments from the audience.  I feel he needs to work on this if he’s intending to return to the show.

The similarity, I think, lies mainly in his ability to come up with completely preposterous explanations when confronted with his misdemeanours by Mr. Quelch (so, in the context of QT, David Dimbleby – “why are you smiling, boy, it’ s not a very amusing subject?”), his irritating giggle “hee hee” and the fact he always ends up getting ragged mercilously by Harry Wharton and his chums (the rest of the panel and the audience) – “Ow you fellows I say gerrof you beasts yow !! etc.”

Here is a brief illustration of Bunter/Griffin in action, from the 1950s TV series, rather than the earlier comic. 

Crippling restrictions breed ‘radicalism’ and ‘militancy’ in Lebanon’s camps
By Dalila Mahdawi
Daily Star staff
Friday, November 13, 2009
BEIRUT: The deprivation faced by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon should be eased to allow for a greater sense of security and prosperity among the extremely marginalized community, the chief of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency said Thursday. Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said the extreme poverty and desperation endured by Palestinian refugees pushed disaffected youth into the clutches of militancy.

While Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Syria are seen as “enjoying the broadest spectrum of freedoms,” those in Lebanon face considerably more difficulties, she said.

“Here, the currents of vulnerability are very much in evidence,” said AbuZayd.

There are 422,188 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, as well as an unknown number of non-registered Palestinians who fall outside of the scope of UNRWA. An additional 40,000 Palestinians reside in 42 so-called “gatherings,” or ghettoized neighborhoods consisting of 25 or more Palestinian houses.

The memory of the role Palestinians played in Lebanon’s devastating 1975-90 Civil War, the fragility of Lebanon’s sectarian and political system, the susceptibility of the country’s 12 refugee camps to foreign actors, and factional splits within the camps only exacerbated divisions between the Lebanese and Palestinians, and the Palestinians themselves, AbuZayd argued.

“In the years since the early 1990s, there has been a progressive isolation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, both in a physical sense of limiting their presence to the camps, and in terms of the constrictions and scope of economic and civil rights they enjoy,” she said.

Unlike their compatriots in Jordan, Palestinians in Lebanon do not enjoy legal status and have little access to medical, education and social services outside the provisions of UNWRA. The refugees are subject to severe restrictions of movement, forbidden from owning or repairing property and are barred from all but the most menial professions. An unknown number of Palestinians without formal identification are even more vulnerable to chronic poverty.

But AbuZayd said there were clear advantages to granting the Palestinian refugees greater rights.

“Marginalization and entrenched poverty have never served the ends of security and stability,” she said. “Restrictions breed radicalism and create an atmosphere in which disaffected youth become receptive to the call of militancy and violence.”

Boosting economic activity, raising living standards and expanding the currently limited choices afforded to Palestinians “are goals whose benefits will expand beyond the camps boundaries,” AbuZayd argued.

The existence of Palestinian and other refugees also lays a burden of duty upon the international community to uphold basic human rights during periods of asylum, she said.

So long as refugees are unable to return to their homes, the global community and host countries are “duty bound” to ensure the displaced enjoy their human rights and have access to social services and other provisions, said AbuZayd.

Her remarks came weeks before she is due to step down from her position, held since June 2005. A US national, AbuZayd has 28 years of professional experience in refugee work and previously served as an assistant secretary general of the UN and deputy commissioner-general of UNRWA.