CONGRATS TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS & WIFE MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL.
Post Sources: CBS News, NY Times, Youtube
*** Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are officially parents to a baby boy.
The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her first child early on Monday morning UK time, after months of speculation about her exact due date.
“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex was safely delivered of a son at 0526hrs (2.26pm Monday AEST),” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The baby weighs 7lbs 3oz (3.26kg).
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammad al-Maktoum tried to flee in February 2018.
The lawyers representing an Emirati princess believed to be detained in the UAE have asked the UN to urgently intervene to help secure her release.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammad al-Maktoum – the daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum – tried to escape the UAE in February before the boat she was on was allegedly intercepted off the coast of India and she was forcibly returned home.
“The whereabouts of Sheikha Latifa is currently unknown. However, given the circumstances and reports in the media, it is believed that she is in the custody of the UAE authorities, detained against her will,” Toby Cadman, of law firm Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers, told The Independent.
As such, he added: “She is subject to ‘enforced or involuntary disappearance’ – and further, if it is confirmed that she is in the custody of the UAE authorities, she is being ‘arbitrarily detained’.”
Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish friend of Ms Maktoum’s, told Human Rights Watch she was also involved in the escape attempt, and that the two of them left the UAE in late February, boarding a boat belonging to French-American dual citizen, Herve Jaubert.
Guernica 37 is also representing Mr Jaubert and Ms Jauhiainen.
On 4 March the boat was intercepted by armed men, said Ms Jauhiainen, off the coast of India and they were forcibly returned to the UAE.
Upon Ms Maktoum’s disappearance, a video was released in which she said: “I’m making this video because it could be the last video I make.”
Guernica 37 has now lodged an appeal with the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.
“We alleged that both [the UAE and India] are responsible for the enforced disappearance of Sheikha Latifa,” said Toby Cadman.
The UN working groups now have to decide whether to pass on the communication to those two countries, Mr Cadman said.
“Once communicated to the concerned states they will be invited to respond as a matter of urgency. They can refuse or decline to respond or they can respond to the substance of the allegations.
“We would encourage both states to respond and to clearly set out where she is being detained, why, and to release her forthwith. We will then urge the UN to take greater action in securing her immediate release.”
An Indian English-language newspaper reported that the Indian Coast Guard intercepted the boat, at the behest of Emirati authorities – something denied by both India and the UAE.
A source close to the Dubai government said in April that the princess was “brought back” to the Gulf country.
But while Ms Jauhiainen was later released, after being forced to sign a confession in Arabic, Ms Maktoum has not been let go, according to the source.
“UAE authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Sheikha Latifa, confirm her status, and allow her contact with the outside world,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director.
“If she is detained she needs to be given the rights all detainees should have, including being taken before an independent judge.”
Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained in Dubai, an international authority on UEA law, told The Independent that she last spoke to Ms Maktoum as the yacht was allegedly being raided off the coast of India, and she has not been heard from since.
“All their communications were then severed, and we believe there was electronic warfare aircraft” above the boat, blocking contact with the outside world.
And while Ms Jauhiainen and the crew members were held in the UAE for three weeks, and threatened not to speak out about the case, they are now doing so as they believe it is the only way to help Ms Maktoum be freed.
“At first they were very nervous, of course,” said Ms Stirling. “But they thought it was the only way for Latifa to have a chance at freedom.”
Ms Maktoum had previously tried to escape in 2002, she said in the video released in March, but UAE authorities stopped her at the border, returned her to Dubai and held her in a detention facility, where she was tortured, for three years.
At this weekend’s Kentucky Derby, friends in the US skydiving community flew a banner saying: “DUBAI, WHERE IS PRINCESS LATIFA?”
Ms Stirling is quietly optimistic the renewed focus on her case will mean she might soon be released.
“We are hopeful. It becomes very difficult for them when you have the UN involved and Human Rights Watch, and the whole world talking about it – it looks extremely bad for them to keep her locked up.
“She has faced torture and abuse and detention, and forced medication for years. An assurance from the government of the UAE isn’t enough – people aren’t going to stop campaigning for her absolute freedom.”
The Emirati authorities have not responded to a request for comment.
Representation matters. We’ve both heard and said it repeatedly: our visibility and presence—in every arena—is vital to our perception of ourselves and what spaces we believe we deserve to occupy, both in the world and in the scope of the human imagination.
And yet, as The Root covered the marriage of Meghan Markle into the British monarchy, repeatedly we heard some variation of any or all of the following questions:
“Why are you reporting on this? Why should we care? What does this mean for us?”
Let’s get one thing out of the way up front: we’re a black news site (don’t @ me about that fact while you’re using Al Gore’s internet; I know who I work with and to whom I report), so the question of why we’d cover the entry of a biracial American actress into the British royal family is basically asking us why we’re doing our jobs properly. (Which is a dumb question, so cut it out.)
But aside from that, contrary to Al Sharpton’s surprisingly naive opinion, no one here is under the illusion that the new Duchess of Sussex is going to change the course of white supremacy—or the long and brutal history of imperialism and colonialism that Britain has both perpetuated and passed down to its younger brother, America. If the election of the first black biracial American president only served to stoke the ire of the irrationally entitled, an interracial marriage into the British monarchy is probably not going to spontaneously inspire world peace (or solve racism, hunger or inequality), amirite?
Frankly, that’s not even a fair expectation to place upon Markle’s newly crowned head, as ending any ism remains the job of those who perpetuate it. And, as the royal family is currently more of a PR-driving figurehead than absolute British rule, it’d be a losing battle, anyway.
But with that in mind, it could be argued that the question of Meghan Markle’s relevance is only, well, a relevant question if one is predominantly concerned with the white gaze—and the white supremacy so often adjacent to it.
Fun fact: When I was a little girl, my parents refused to buy me any dolls that weren’t black because they didn’t want me to aspire to a beauty standard that didn’t include me (forget the skinny and perpetually in heels part). Accordingly, my Barbie Christie collection (which didn’t really resemble me, either, tbh) was pitifully small, which was fairly devastating to an already fashion-obsessed child.
It would take Mattel 40 years to introduce a full range of dolls that could even hope to begin to reflect the range of children (and doll enthusiasts) who want to be part of the Barbie universe. I now have a young niece who’s only just beginning to take an interest in dolls; despite my own childhood disappointment, should I not consider it progress that if and when she asks for a Barbie, I can now get her one that has a massive mane of naturally textured hair, just like her?
Meghan Markle is a living, breathing human being—a fact many seem to forget when discussing her—and while very light-complected and straight-haired, is the first black woman to be openly acknowledged by the British royal family (despite not being the first to potentially enter the royal bloodline; she’s not even the only black princess in Europe). Is that not a space we are (finally) entitled to be represented in, too?
Yesterday, those of us who were interested enough to watch (or were professionally obligated to) were given indisputable evidence that Meghan Markle knows exactly who she is, and what she represents—and clearly wanted the world to know it, too. She may have married a wealthy white man, but the question of her own identity was well-answered; not that she hasn’t answered it before, years before her engagement was announced:
Growing up in a homogeneous community in Pennsylvania, the concept of marrying an African-American woman was not on the cards for my dad. But he saw beyond what was put in front of him in that small-sized (and, perhaps, small-minded) town. ... He wanted me to find my own truth.
Markle’s truth was evident in the choice of a black priest to deliver an impassioned homily at her wedding. It was evident in the gospel choir that followed. It was evident in her musical selections. And most profoundly, there was tangible evidence of Markle’s heritage in her mother, Doria Ragland, to whom Markle once wrote a deeply loving tribute on her now-defunct blog, The Tig.
From the looks of it, Markle has been clear about her identity for quite some time. And whether or not a royal wedding—or the idea of “royalty” at all—personally resonates with you, to question whether or not she “matters” is, in some ways, to question whether or not you do.
Because bottom line: Representation does matter. While I don’t personally aspire to be a princess (or know anyone who does, though I’m sure they’re out there), if only mere months ago we were collectively overjoyed to meet the fictional black princess of a country that only exists onscreen, does it really make sense to be dismissive of a real one in one of the most powerful countries in the world?
It doesn’t unless you’re really dismissive of whom she chose to marry. And that’s your prerogative; just call a thing a thing, rather than dismissing the entire affair. (I personally just shrug at people marrying folks that look like their one of their parents, but that’s me.)
As to the question of what impact Markle’s presence and story will or should have, that was perhaps best answered by British writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, who has been very open about her own experiences growing up biracial in Britain, and was one of many commentators who spoke to BBC America just prior to Saturday’s nuptials:
I think the challenge for the royal family is how to be a family that represents very old-fashioned values—of intergenerational inherited privilege—in a society that’s about equality of opportunity and multiculturalism. And I think that Meghan Markle is certainly someone who represents the latter; she has become successful through her own talent and hard work, she’s used her celebrity to champion causes that she’s passionate about, and also, as a woman of mixed heritage, she hasn’t shied away from speaking about that; she’s owned it.
And for me, as a black British woman of mixed heritage myself, I think there’s been a lot of pressure in my lifetime in this country—if you’re entering spaces that have previously been very white—to downplay your identity. And I think she represents a real cultural change in her willingness not to minimize it, but to speak about it. And for me, that sends a powerful signal, that you can own your identity and it’s not a taboo; it’s not something to shy away from. And that also, there is nothing essentially ‘white’ about Britishness.
You know, for a lot of people, the royal family represents a sense of British identity, and until now, that has been an identity very much linked to whiteness in many people’s perceptions. So, I think the visual and symbolic change that Meghan’s entry into that family represents is actually quite profound.
The referendum turnout was 71.8% - with more than 30 million people voting - the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992.
Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.
Labour's Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Bank of England may have to intervene to shore up the pound, which lost 3% within moments of the first result showing a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and fell as much as 6.5% against the euro.
'Independence day'
UKIP leader Nigel Farage - who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU - told cheering supporters "this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people".
Mr Farage - who predicted a Remain win at the start of the night after polls suggested that would happen - said Thursday 23 June would "go down in history as our independence day".
He called on Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned passionately for a Remain vote, to quit "immediately".
A Labour source said: "If we vote to leave, Cameron should seriously consider his position."
But pro-Leave Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have signed a letter to Mr Cameron urging him to stay on whatever the result.
Labour former Europe Minister Keith Vaz told the BBC the British people had voted with their "emotions" and rejected the advice of experts who had warned about the economic impact of leaving the EU.
He said the EU should call an emergency summit to deal with the aftermath of the vote, which he described as "catastrophic for our country, for the rest of Europe and for the rest of the world".
Germany's foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the referendum result as as "a sad day for Europe and Great Britain".
But Leave supporting Tory MP Liam Fox said voters had shown great "courage" by deciding to "change the course of history" for the UK and, he hoped, the rest of Europe.
And he called for a "period of calm, a period of reflection, to let it all sink in and to work through what the actual technicalities are," insisting that Mr Cameron must stay on as PM.
Exit process
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the EU vote "makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union" after all 32 local authority areas returned majorities for Remain.
London has voted to stay in the EU by around 60% to 40%.
However, no other region of England has voted in favour of remaining.
The referendum has underlined the social and cultural gap between London and provincial England.
Remain's defeat seems to have been primarily the product of the decisions made by voters living north of the M4.
Throughout the Midlands and the North of England the level of support for Remain was well below what was required for it to win at least 50% of the vote across the UK as a whole.
Britain would be the first country to leave the EU since its formation - but a leave vote will not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.
That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 - the date of the next scheduled general election.
The prime minister will have to decide when to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal.
Once Article 50 has been triggered a country can not rejoin without the consent of all member states.
Mr Cameron has previously said he would trigger Article 50 as soon as possible after a leave vote but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who led the campaign to get Britain out of the EU have said he should not rush into it.
But they also said they want to make immediate changes before the UK actually leaves the EU, such as curbing the power of EU judges and limiting the free movement of workers, potentially in breach the UK's treaty obligations.
The government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.
In Whitehall and Westminster, there will now begin the massive task of unstitching the UK from more than 40 years of EU law, deciding which directives and regulations to keep, amend or ditch.
The Leave campaign argued during a bitter four-month referendum campaign that the only way Britain could "take back control" of its own affairs would be to leave the EU.
Leave dismissed warnings from economists and international bodies about the economic impact of Brexit as "scaremongering" by a self-serving elite.
CURLY PROVERBZ, THE HENNA QUEEN: DON'T SLEEP ON HER CHANNEL
Sources: Black Girl Long Hair, YouTube
If you've never visited the YouTube channel of Natural hair/ Health Vlogger Curly Proverbz I encourage you to please do so today.
Curly Proverbz (real name Farida) is from Ghana but currently resides in the UK.
She is married, has children, works and manages a successful YouTube channel.
She is a beautiful, pleasant young woman with a head full of naturally long, healthy hair who shows other women how to grow and maintain their own hair via the use of Henna and DIY Oil mixtures.
F: My Name is Farida, also known as Remedy on my YouTube channel and I am from London.
Why did you make the decision to go natural?
F: I have been relaxer free for just over two and a half years. There was a time that I thought going relaxer free was crazy, I mean why would anyone choose that? Boy have my views changed. My mum used to texlax my hair every 8 weeks, however around the time I was due a relaxer she was on a vacation and for the first time in over 18 years I saw some of the texture, which I had previously avoided like the plague. It was a revelation and I loved what I saw.
How would you describe your texture?
F: I have a thick head of hair, which is 3a in the back and 3c at the front.
Describe your styling regimen over the course of the month.
F: I do a three week rotation in my regimen. I do a monthly henna treatment after washing my hair with African Black Soap to strengthen my hair, and always follow this with a moisturizing deep conditioner. The following week I cowash and deep condition. In the final week of my rotation I cleanse with Rhassoul Clay and follow with a deep condition again. This ensures a balance of strength and moisture.
Describe your favorite go-to hairstyle for days when you don’t have a lot of time to style.
F: I just moisturize, seal and throw my hair up into a simple bun.
How do you combat shrinkage?
F: I am not too bothered about shrinkage, but whenever I do want to stretch out my hair I detangle dry hair with coconut oil and place my hair into large twists to stretch it out. Alternatively I use the banding method.
What are some of your problem areas (if any) that require special care and attention?
F: Single strand knots – I seem to be getting more and more of these with increased length.
What are 2 do’s for your texture?
F: Do use aloe vera juice to get curls popping and shiny, and to minimize tangles. Use twists as a protective style to minimize tangles.
What are 2 don’ts for your texture?
F: Do not go for longer than a week without a deep condition and detangle. Do not comb out curls and leave hair out.
Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
F: Curly Proverbz on YouTube and Facebook. Instagram: Remz316. You can find videos of my hair journey, wash and go routine and regimen on my channel.
Details surrounding Amy Winehouse's final hours became clearer as her family and friends laid her to rest today.
Kelly Osbourne and Mark Ronson were among the famous friends that joined Winehouse's family and loved ones at London's Edgwarebury Cemetery earlier today. Winehouse will be cremated following the service.
Winehouse's U.K.-based representative, Chris Goodman, told Britain's Daily Mail that her father gave a touching eulogy at today's ceremony.
"Mitch's last words to Amy in his eulogy were 'Goodnight my angel,'" Goodman said. "Sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much."
Reg Traviss, Winehouse's most recent boyfriend, attended the funeral and spoke to Britain's Sun newspaper about the singer's death, saying "I have lost my darling who I loved very much." Blake Fielder-Civil, Winehouse's ex-husband, was not in attendence. He's currently serving a 32 month jail sentence.
Rabbi Frank Hellner officiated the Jewish service in which family and friends sang Winehouse's favorite song, Carole King's "So Far Away." Afterwards, Winehouse's body was taken to Golders Green Crematorium, where her grandmother was cremated. Her family will sit shiva for two days in mourning.
What Killed Amy Winehouse?
U.K. officials began an autopsy Monday to determine what killed the 27-year-old singer, who was found dead in her home in London's Camden district Saturday. They are awaiting the results of a toxicology test, which are expected in two to four weeks. No formal cause of death has been established, and officials reportedly have found no paraphernalia or sign of drugs in Winehouse's home.
Winehouse's official cause of death will be released in October.
On Monday, Goodman revealed that a bodyguard hired to watch the singer was the first person to discover her death.
"She was in her bedroom after saying she wanted to sleep, and when he went to wake her, he found she wasn't breathing," he told the Sun. "He called the emergency services straight away. He was very shocked. At this stage no one knows how she died. She died alone in bed."
The Sun also reported that Winehouse had seen a doctor Friday night as part of a routine series of checkups, given her history of drug and alcohol abuse. The doctor saw nothing wrong.
The Grammy-winning singer was literally rocking out the night before she died, according to People magazine,
"We know that she was well enough to be playing drums well into Friday night," said Julie Dam, People's assistant managing editor. "We spoke to neighbors who said she was usually so quiet. It's worth noting that she was making a lot of noise that night."
But Winehouse's clean bill of health and activity prior to her death might have masked underlying problems from years of substance abuse that eventually killed her.
"She may have had asthma and emphysema because of her smoking," said Dr. Eric Braverman, an addiction specialist and author of the book "The Edge Effect." "From that, you can have a terrible respiratory arrest. You can have a seizure. Your lungs can choke off your trachea. It happens in asthmatics a lot."
Respiratory conditions might not have been picked up by Winehouse's physician.
"If you have a pulmonary disease, you need a lung function test, not a stethoscope," Braverman said. "So a simple physical that tells you you have a clean bill of health doesn't say much."
Winehouse's father told reporters in 2008 that she had been diagnosed with early-stage emphysema. She was also vocal about her struggles with eating disorders, which could have played a part in her death, too.
"You can also suffer cardiac arrhythmia from dieting and not eating properly," Braverman said. "Even panic attacks in her state can constrict the lungs and bring on death."
Amy Winehouse, British Soul Singer With a Troubled Life, Dies at 27 Amy Winehouse, the British singer who found worldwide fame with a sassy, hip-hop-inflected take on retro soul, yet became a tabloid fixture as her problems with drugs and alcohol led to a strikingly public career collapse, was found dead on Saturday in her apartment in London, the police said. She was 27.
The cause was not immediately known. The police said that they were investigating the circumstances of the death, but that “at this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.”
With a husky, tart voice and a style that drew equally from the sounds of Motown and the stark storytelling of rap, Ms. Winehouse became one of the most acclaimed young singers of the past decade, selling millions of albums, winning five Grammy Awards and starting a British retro-R&B trend that continues today.
Yet, almost from the moment she arrived on the international pop scene in early 2007, Ms. Winehouse appeared to flirt with self-destruction. She sang of an alcohol-soaked demimonde in songs like “Rehab” — whose refrain, “They tried to make me go to rehab/I said, ‘No, no, no,’ ” crystallized Ms. Winehouse’s persona — and before long it seemed to spill over into her personal life and fuel lurid headlines.
The interplay between Ms. Winehouse’s life and art made her one of the most fascinating figures in pop music since Kurt Cobain, whose demise in 1994 — also at age 27 — was preceded by drug abuse and a frustration with fame as something that could never be escaped. Yet in time, the notoriety from Ms. Winehouse’s various drug arrests, public meltdowns and ruined concerts overshadowed her talent as a musician, and her career never recovered.
On Saturday, as the news of Ms. Winehouse’s death spread, many musicians took to Twitter with deep sadness but no surprise. Lily Allen, who rose through the British pop scene shortly after Ms. Winehouse, called her “such a lost soul.” The singer Josh Groban wrote: “Drugs took her gift, her soul, her light, long before they took her life. RIP Amy.”
As much as her misfortunes eventually took on a sense of predictability, when Ms. Winehouse arrived with her breakthrough second album “Back to Black,” which was released in Britain in late 2006 and in the United States the next year, she was a fresh voice with a novel take on pop history. She spoke of her love for Frank Sinatra, Thelonious Monk and Motown, as well as Nas, the hard-core New York rapper with a sharp eye for narrative detail.
Her greatest love, however, was the 1960s girl groups, something that was evident from the instantly recognizable beehive hairdo and Cleopatra makeup that she borrowed from the Ronettes. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2007, Ms. Winehouse explained how a breakup had inspired the songs on “Back to Black,” and described her state of mind in terms of music and alcohol.
“I didn’t want to just wake up drinking, and crying, and listening to Shangri-Las, and go to sleep, and wake up drinking, and listening to the Shangri-Las,” she said. “So I turned it into songs, and that’s how I got through it.”
Amy Jade Winehouse was born in Southgate, London, on Sept. 14, 1983. Her mother, Janis, was a pharmacist, and her father, Mitch, was a cab driver who nursed a love for music. They both survive her, along with a brother, Alex.
Ms. Winehouse showed an early talent for performing, as well as an eclecticism that would characterize her later work. She loved her father’s Sinatra records, but she also liked hip-hop; at age 10 she and a friend formed a rap group called Sweet ’n’ Sour that Ms. Winehouse later described as “the little white Jewish Salt-N-Pepa.” (Ms. Winehouse was the “sour” half.)
She attended the Sylvia Young Theater School in London and later went to the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, a free performing arts school there that counts several other recent female pop stars among its alumnae, including Ms. Allen and Adele, another young singer who is sometimes seen as picking up the neo-soul mantle from Ms. Winehouse.
In 2003, at age 19, Ms. Winehouse released her first album, “Frank.” Influenced by jazz, it established her as a rising star in Britain. But “Back to Black,” recorded with the producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, and the Brooklyn retro-soul band the Dap-Kings, made her an international sensation. With thick horns and club-ready hip-hop beats, the album was a darkly stylish update of classic 1960s R&B, and it was adored by critics and the public alike.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales, Ms. Winehouse has sold 2.7 million albums and 3.4 million tracks in the United States.
Yet, while “Rehab” was still climbing the charts, Ms. Winehouse made headlines for drug binges and arrests that left her hospitalized and forced her to cancel concert dates.
In October 2007, Ms. Winehouse and her husband at the time, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in Norway on charges of marijuana possession. A month later, Mr. Fielder-Civil was arrested and accused of perverting the course of justice by trying to bribe the victim in a bar fight not to testify against him. (Ms. Winehouse and Mr. Fielder-Civil divorced in 2009.)
Perhaps the peak of Ms. Winehouse’s career was the 2008 Grammy Awards. She was nominated for six prizes and took home five, including Best New Artist. Yet even days before the show, her appearance there was uncertain because of visa problems. In the end, she performed by satellite from London.
Although Ms. Winehouse has not made an album since “Back to Black,” she tried to revive her career several times. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Ms. Winehouse’s father, who released a jazz album this year, said she had been in good health lately. (Mr. Winehouse was scheduled to perform at the Blue Note jazz club in New York on Monday, but canceled after learning of his daughter’s death.)
Yet Ms. Winehouse’s most recent comeback attempt faltered badly. Last month, she canceled a European tour after a performance in Belgrade on the first night, during which she appeared to be too intoxicated to perform properly.
Its Being Reported The Murdoch Family Is Allegedly Attempting To Block Or Thwart Parliament's Ability To Publicly Interrogate/ Inquire About How So-Called "Journalists" Within Their Employ Operated & Obtained Information For Stories.
I'm NOT Surprised!
Now The Whole World Knows What's REALLY Going On!
The Murdochs & "Sopranos" Appear To Both Fall Into The Same Category If You Know What I Mean.
Prime Minister David Cameron went before a loud and rowdy session of Parliament on Wednesday to offer a spirited defense of his record in Britain’s phone hacking scandal. For the first time, he seemed to distance himself from a former Murdoch employee he had hired to work in 10 Downing Street.
Mr. Cameron’s appearance before a special sitting of the House of Commons offered one more remarkable moment of passion and spectacle, following the separate appearance of Rupert Murdoch and his son James before lawmakers on Tuesday for nearly three hours of questioning of one of the world’s most powerful media moguls by British legislators.
Their appearance — made yet more dramatic by a protester’s attack on Rupert Murdoch with a plate of shaving cream — did not seem on Wednesday to have come close to answering many of the questions the father and son faced about phone hacking in the British outpost of their media empire in 2002.
Indeed, one of the two parliamentary panels investigating the widening scandal released a scathing report on Wednesday accusing Murdoch companies of “deliberate attempts” to thwart its investigations, and said police inquiries had been a “catalog of failures” to investigate the issue.
The events played out against a backdrop of huge public revulsion over the central allegation that The News of the World, a now-defunct tabloid closed down by Mr. Murdoch earlier this month, ordered a private investigator to hack the voice mail of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old girl abducted and murdered in 2002. So great is the interest in the affair that the BBC devoted live television coverage on Wednesday to what it said was the Murdochs’ executive jet flying out of Luton airport north of London. Its destination was not announced.
The gathering of so many emotive issues, laced with big money deals, tabloid scandal and long-running British suspicion of the Murdoch machine, has crystallized into the most serious crisis of credibility and confidence of Mr. Cameron’s 15 months in office — a crisis in which he seemed to be trying on Wednesday to regain some of the initiative seized earlier by the Labour opposition leader, Ed Miliband.
Mr. Cameron returned home early from an African trade tour late Tuesday to face questions about his relationships with former senior figures at News International, the British subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s global News Corporation, particularly his choice of a former Murdoch employee, Andy Coulson, as his director of communications.
Mr. Coulson, a former editor of The News of the World tabloid, resigned from the prime minister’s office in January and was among 10 people who were arrested in the affair.
Referring to his decision to hire Mr. Coulson, Mr. Cameron said, “I regret and I am extremely sorry about the furor it has caused.”
“With 20-20 hindsight and all that has followed,” he said, “I would not have offered him the job and I expect that he wouldn’t have taken it. But you don’t make decisions in hindsight, you make them in the present. You live and you learn and, believe you me, I have learned.” He added that Mr. Coulson had been properly vetted before joining his staff and had given “assurances” that he had not been involved in phone hacking.
It was the closest Mr. Cameron has come to an apology, and seemed to show that the prime minister was distancing himself from his former aide.
But Mr. Cameron continued to defend Mr. Coulson’s work as director of communications and said he had “an old-fashioned view about innocence until proven guilty.” If it is proved that Mr. Coulson lied to him, he said, “that will be the moment for a profound apology.”
“It was my decision” to hire Mr. Coulson, Mr. Cameron said, “and I take responsibility.”
Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour opposition, responded by saying Mr. Cameron’s position had been compromised by his association with Mr. Coulson. “Why doesn’t he do more than give a half-apology?” Mr. Miliband asked.
Referring to Mr. Cameron, Mr. Miliband said: “He says in hindsight he made a mistake by hiring Mr. Coulson. He says if Mr. Coulson lied to him, he would apologize. That isn’t good enough. It’s not about hindsight, it’s not about whether Mr. Coulson lied to him. It’s about all the information and warnings the prime minister ignored. He was warned and he preferred to ignore the warnings.”
Mr. Cameron was questioned repeatedly about a New York Times investigation into The News of the World that was published in September 2010.
“There was no information in The New York Times September 2010 article to make me change my mind about Mr. Coulson,” Mr. Cameron said.
The article found that hacking was widespread, and quoted two former News of the World journalists as saying that phone hacking was discussed in Mr. Coulson’s presence.
One of the former journalists, Sean Hoare, who was found dead this week at his home of unexplained causes, was quoted on the record as saying that Mr. Coulson encouraged him to do it.
Shortly after the Times article was published, an opposition Labour lawmaker, Tom Watson, said he raised his concerns about Mr. Coulson with Mr. Cameron in a letter but never received a reply.
Mr. Miliband noted that the article led the police to reopen their investigation. Why, Mr. Miliband asked, did alarm bells not ring in the prime minister’s office?
Mr. Cameron also was asked why, following the article’s publication, his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn, declined to be briefed by police officials. Mr. Cameron said Mr. Llewellyn had not acted improperly in turning down the offer.
“Ed Llewellyn’s reply to the police made clear that it would not be appropriate to give me or my staff any privileged briefing. The reply that he sent was cleared in advance by my permanent secretary, Jeremy Heywood. Just imagine if they had done the opposite and asked for, or acquiesced in receiving, privileged information — even if there was no intention to use it,” Mr. Cameron said.
“There would have been quite justified outrage,” he said. “To risk any perception that No. 10 was seeking to influence a sensitive police investigation in any way would have been completely wrong.”
He also said there had been no breach of regulations when his government was considering a $12 billion bid by the Murdoch family to assume full control of Britain’s biggest satellite broadcaster.
The Murdochs have since withdrawn the bid for British Sky Broadcasting under strong political pressure. Mr. Cameron said he had had no “inappropriate conversations” with News Corporation executives about the bid at the time it seemed likely to be approved by his government.
Mr. Cameron also said that “to the best of my knowledge” he had not known that Mr. Coulson had had consultations with another former News of the World executive, Neil Wallis, who has also been arrested. Mr. Wallis had not been employed by or contracted by his Conservative party, Mr. Cameron said.
British political analysts said that, with his appearance in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr. Cameron was seeking to draw a line under the crisis — at least for the time being — as Parliament goes into summer recess until Sept. 5 and many lawmakers leave the capital for vacations or their home areas outside London. Mr. Cameron appealed for cross-party cooperation in facing the crisis. “Over the past two weeks, a torrent of revelations and allegations has engulfed some of this country’s most important institutions. It has shaken people’s trust in the media and the legality of what they do, in the police and their ability to investigate media malpractice, and, yes, in politics and in politicians’ ability to get to grips with these issues,” he said.
“People desperately want us to put a stop to the illegal practices, to ensure the independence and effectiveness of the police and to establish a more healthy relationship between politicians and media owners,” he said.
“The public want us to work together to sort this problem out,” he said, “because until we do so it will not be possible to get back to the issues they care about even more, getting our economy moving, creating jobs, helping with the cost of living, protecting them from terrorism, restoring fairness to our welfare and immigration systems.”
Its About Time Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch Finally Reaps What He & Fox News Has Sown.
i.e., Dirty Journalism, Racist Views, Racial Discord, Lies, Division, etc., Thus I'm NOT Surprised In The Least Bit Of The Backlash He's Currently Experiencing.
He Bloody Deserves It!
But Wait A Minute!
Just When We Thought Things Couldn't Get Any Worse For Murdoch Sean Hoare, A Journalist Who Blew The Whistle On Murdoch's News Media Empire Destructive Phone Hacking Scheme, Was Recently Found Dead In His London Home.
Could Hoare's Death Be Considered A Warning To Other Whistleblowers & Witnesses?
Would Murdoch Stoop So Low To Do Just About Anything To Save His Empire Or Was Hoare's Death Caused By Suicide?
Can You Say "Godfather"?
Whether Or Not Murdoch's Media Empire Will Be Able To Survive This Horrific Scandal Remains To Be Seen.
Because Despite Murdoch's Attempts To Make This Story Quickly Disappear, I Have A Feeling Its Going To Be The Talk Of Town For Years.
This International Scandal May Also Be What Finally Topples Murdoch's Vast Media Empire.
Stay Tuned As The Murdoch Empire Phone Hacking "Soap Opera/Reality TV Show" Continues.
At a time when the reputation of News of the World journalists is at rock bottom, it needs to be said that the paper's former showbusiness correspondent Sean Hoare, who died on Monday, was a lovely man.
In the saga of the phone-hacking scandal, he distinguished himself by being the first former NoW journalist to come out on the record, telling the New York Times last year that his former friend and editor, Andy Coulson, had actively encouraged him to hack into voicemail.
Explaining why he had spoken out, he told me: "I want to right a wrong, lift the lid on it, the whole culture. I know, we all know, that the hacking and other stuff is endemic. Because there is so much intimidation. In the newsroom, you have people being fired, breaking down in tears, hitting the bottle."
He knew this very well, because he was himself a victim of the News of the World. As a showbusiness reporter, he had lived what he was happy to call a privileged life. But the reality had ruined his physical health: "I was paid to go out and take drugs with rock stars – get drunk with them, take pills with them, take cocaine with them. It was so competitive. You are going to go beyond the call of duty. You are going to do things that no sane man would do. You're in a machine."
While it was happening, he loved it. He came from a working-class background of solid Arsenal supporters, always voted Labour, defined himself specifically as a "clause IV" socialist who still believed in public ownership of the means of production. But, working as a reporter, he suddenly found himself up to his elbows in drugs and delirium.
He rapidly arrived at the Sun's Bizarre column, then run by Coulson. He recalled: "There was a system on the Sun. We broke good stories. I had a good relationship with Andy. He would let me do what I wanted as long as I brought in a story. The brief was, 'I don't give a fuck'."
He was a born reporter. He could always find stories. And, unlike some of his nastier tabloid colleagues, he did not play the bully with his sources. He was naturally a warm, kind man, who could light up a lamp-post with his talk. From Bizarre, he moved to the Sunday People, under Neil Wallis, and then to the News of the World, where Andy Coulson had become deputy editor. And, persistently, he did as he was told and went out on the road with rock stars, befriending them, bingeing with them, pausing only to file his copy.
He made no secret of his massive ingestion of drugs. He told me how he used to start the day with "a rock star's breakfast" – a line of cocaine and a Jack Daniels – usually in the company of a journalist who now occupies a senior position at the Sun. He reckoned he was using three grammes of cocaine a day, spending about £1,000 a week. Plus endless alcohol. Looking back, he could see it had done him enormous damage. But at the time, as he recalled, most of his colleagues were doing it, too.
"Everyone got overconfident. We thought we could do coke, go to Brown's, sit in the Red Room with Paula Yates and Michael Hutchence. Everyone got a bit carried away."
It must have scared the rest of Fleet Street when he started talking – he had bought, sold and snorted cocaine with some of the most powerful names in tabloid journalism. One retains a senior position on the Daily Mirror. "I last saw him in Little Havana," he recalled, "at three in the morning, on his hands and knees. He had lost his cocaine wrap. I said to him, 'This is not really the behaviour we expect of a senior journalist from a great Labour paper.' He said, 'Have you got any fucking drugs?'"
And the voicemail hacking was all part of the great game. The idea that it was a secret, or the work of some "rogue reporter", had him rocking in his chair: "Everyone was doing it. Everybody got a bit carried away with this power that they had. No one came close to catching us." He would hack messages and delete them so the competition could not hear them, or hack messages and swap them with mates on other papers.
In the end, his body would not take it any more. He said he started to have fits, that his liver was in such a terrible state that a doctor told him he must be dead. And, as his health collapsed, he was sacked by the News of the World – by his old friend Coulson.
When he spoke out about the voicemail hacking, some Conservative MPs were quick to smear him, spreading tales of his drug use as though that meant he was dishonest. He was genuinely offended by the lies being told by News International and always willing to help me and other reporters who were trying to expose the truth. He was equally offended when Scotland Yard's former assistant commissioner, John Yates, assigned officers to interview him, not as a witness but as a suspect. They told him anything he said could be used against him, and, to his credit, he refused to have anything to do with them.
His health never recovered. He liked to say that he had stopped drinking, but he would treat himself to some red wine. He liked to say he didn't smoke any more, but he would stop for a cigarette on his way home. For better and worse, he was a Fleet Street man.
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