| Police condemn pro-hunt protest |
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A senior South Wales Police officer has condemned tactics used by pro-hunt demonstrators after clashes in Cardiff.
Three police officers were injured and three people were arrested during a protest outside an hotel where a Labour Party dinner was being held.
Eggs were thrown during the confrontation at the Holland House Hotel and a Welsh MP claimed he received homophobic insults.
Chief Superintendent Bob Evans said he was concerned at the aggression shown.
Police - some in riot gear - surrounded the hotel in Newport Road and officers on horseback were brought in as the fundraising dinner took place.
Mr Evans - the divisional commander for Cardiff - said officers had acknowledged the campaigners’ right to protest and had done their best to keep the disruption to other members of the public to a minimum.
’Unfortunately, fractions within the crowd were intent on a non-peaceful response and caused considerable disruption, he said.
At one stage, missiles were thrown and previously unseen levels of aggression were shown to police officers.
This has sadly introduced a new dynamic into the pro-hunt lobby in Wales, detracting from the actions of those seeking to peacefully demonstrate. Injuries have occurred as a result, that is extremely concerning and regrettable.
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant said he received homophobic insults.
When I was trying to come in there were a large number of people shouting very unpleasant homophobic stuff at me, he told Radio Wales.
One of the police officers was from an Asian family and she had all sorts of racist taunts.
The irony was that people were carrying banners that said, ’Fight prejudice’. Unfortunately, I think that many of the people who were there showed their true colours.
Countryside Alliance protesters began arriving by coach at 1750 GMT.
South Wales Police said up to 250 people were involved when the protest was at its height.
Mair Hughes, of the Countryside Alliance, told Radio Wales that only a small number of those who attended had been intent on causing trouble.
We didn’t go along for a confrontation with the police, she said on Friday.
The vast majority went along to hold placards and make a bit of noise. We just wanted to make our voices heard.
But there have been warnings that the protests will continue.
Brian Hughes, of Llangeinor Hunt based near Bridgend, was one of those who took part in the demonstration.
He said demonstrators would go to every event attended by government ministers in the run-up to the general election.
We are going to make it as difficult as possible for any of the government ministers that visit Wales, he said.
We have got enough resources to shut these roads if we want to but we don’t want to alienate the public.
We just feel that we should carry on peaceful protesting and target Members of Parliament that are against us.
Welsh Secretary Peter Hain - who has been a target for protesters - said there was no excuse for their behaviour.
I condemn the violence and thuggery and appalling attacks on police, he said.
The hunting community has got to sort these villains out because they are discrediting the cause.
In September, more than 100 pro-hunt campaigners carrying placards and blowing hunting horns demonstrated outside Mr Hain’s Neath home.
A month later, the Neath MP was pelted with eggs on a visit to Oxford University when protesters stormed a meeting.
Police brought the campaigners to the ground and escorted Mr Hain from the building.
Rural affairs minister Alun Michael has also been the subject of the pro-hunt lobby.
The Cardiff South and Penarth MP cancelled two official visits in September on police advice after protesters gathered outside the venues.
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| Latino Leaders & Celebrities Come Together to Dedicate Monument on World AIDS Day - Nov 26, 2004 19:12 IST |
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Latino leaders and celebrities will come together at the dedication of a Los Angeles-based AIDS monument to fight the silence, denial and shame that contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS.
LA-area news anchors Laura Diaz and Francisco Pinto will serve as emcees of a program that includes internationally acclaimed Dionne Warwick, Associate Artist of the Los Angeles Opera and East LA native Suzanna Guzman and actress Lupe Ontiveros,. Warwick, Ontiveros and Guzman have submitted the name of a friend who has died of AIDS to be etched on the monument’s memorial panels in time for the dedication.
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| Asset freeze as Pinochet turns 89 - Nov 26, 2004 19:9 IST |
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Judicial sources say assets worth more than $4m, mainly property, were frozen by Judge Sergio Munoz last week.
Gen Pinochet is being sued by Chile’s authorities for tax fraud and faces a money-laundering inquiry.
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| UK minister visits Arafat grave - Nov 26, 2004 19:3 IST |
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Mr Straw is meeting Palestinian leaders at their headquarters in the occupied West Bank, following talks in Israel.
He has offered Britain’s help in ensuring a smooth succession to Arafat. He earlier said solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is his priority.
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| Flagstaff Nordic Center Opens Ski Trails Thursday, November 25th - Nov 26, 2004 19:2 IST |
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Wendell Johnson, owner and manager of Peak Endeavors, is pleased to announce the opening of the ski trails at the Flagstaff Nordic Center on Thanksgiving Day, November 25th. Both beginner and intermediate trails will be groomed for skiing over the holiday weekend, while equipment rentals, snacks, and hot drinks will all be available at the lodge. Hours on Thursday will be from 8:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., and on Friday through Sunday from 8:00 to 4:00 P.M.
Located 15 miles northwest of Flagstaff on Highway 180, the Flagstaff Nordic Center is located on the east side of the highway. For current information on the trails and hours of operation, please visit our website, http://www.FlagstaffNordicCenter.com.
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| Human rights link to Nepal aid - Nov 26, 2004 19:2 IST |
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Washington is a strong supporter of the Nepalese government in its campaign against Maoist rebels.
But recent reports put the country at the top of the world tables for political disappearances.
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| More Burma inmates ’to be freed’ - Nov 26, 2004 19:1 IST |
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State media said the new releases would take the total number of prisoners freed or set to be released to 9,248.
Very few are political prisoners, but one man reportedly due to be freed is veteran dissident Win Tin.
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| Laura Thomas Band Plays D.C.’s Velvet Lounge - Nov 26, 2004 18:58 IST |
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The LT Band includes Laura on vocals and acoustic guitar, Julia Eve on drums, Chris Farrell on lead guitar, and Ben Lively on violin.
Laura’s music is characterized by her powerful and strikingly unique voice complementing folky, Latin-influenced acoustic strumming. Her music conveys diverse messages in tracks ranging from Slow, the passionate title track from her second self-produced CD, to Blind Trinity, a political allegory for the powerful oligarchy that is: Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. Laura Thomas’ travels are reflected in world music sounds, and her band infuses every song with an energetic funk-rock feel that renders her a one of-a-kind mixture of Ani Difranco, Michelle Branch, and Norah Jones.
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| Lords reform campaign launched - Nov 26, 2004 18:58 IST |
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Ex-Cabinet ministers Robin Cook and Ken Clarke are part of the cross-party plan for a draft bill to show a consensus can be reached on the thorny issue.
Ministers dropped plans for changing the Lords before the next election but promise to act early in a third term.
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| ’Stunning’ arms haul in Falluja - Nov 26, 2004 18:57 IST |
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The stunning finds included mortars, bomb-making equipment, grenades and rockets, officials said.
The biggest haul was made at a mosque complex in the east of the city.
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| Royal art collection goes on show - Nov 26, 2004 18:53 IST |
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Holbein to Hockney contains a selection of works from the Royal Collection, including drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
The collection, gathered by Britain’s monarchs over the centuries, is normally housed at Windsor Castle.
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| Midas Announces The Results of Its “Ramadan Orphanage Solidarity Campaign” - Nov 26, 2004 18:48 IST |
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The Midas “Ramadan Orphanage Solidarity Campaign” yielded positive results and exemplified the Jordanian Community’s strive to help the needy during the Holy month of Ramadan.
The results of the 5% of sales to the orphans in the “Adopt a Palestinian Orphan Program” and the “Orphan’s Future Program” were fruitful whereby 15 Palestinian orphans will benefit for an entire year and the remainder of the proceeds were donated to the “Orphan’s Future Program,” an initiative launched by Her Royal Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah’s call to support orphans, help improve their living standards, and play a role in securing a future for them after they leave the orphanages.
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| Private firms to tackle NHS waits - Nov 26, 2004 18:49 IST |
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Mr Kerr said he is looking to the private sector to provide additional capacity within the NHS.
He suggested private companies would be tied to long-term contracts but vowed the proposals would not lead to staff leaving the NHS to work privately.
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| Biometric Firm Takes Off With Safer Air Travel - Nov 26, 2004 18:43 IST |
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In airports on both sides of the Atlantic, BioWise is taking off as a leader in the provision of multi-biometric and multi-modal identification and authentication middleware for safer air travel.
Working with SITA and UNISYS, the BioWise system is in use in the US’ large-scale registered traveller’s pilot programme for internal flights. “In return for registering,” explains André Oeyen, Managing Director of BioWise, “they will be considered as trusted travellers and will be granted some privileges, allowing them to pass faster through the airport gate.” This is only once they are accepted into the programme, and have their smartcard with their biometric details authenticated at the BioWise kiosk. During registration travellers have both their index fingers and irises scanned and stored according to International Civil Aviation Organisation recommendations for biometric information storage, and have valid forms of identification checked by the police authorities.
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| ’Trade can resolve Kashmir issue’ - Nov 26, 2004 18:45 IST |
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Foreign Minister Natwar Singh was speaking a day after a visit by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
In Islamabad Mr Aziz has briefed top political and military officials on his talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Kashmir.
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| Scandal-Plagued Corporate World Scrambles to Comply with Reforms - Nov 26, 2004 18:40 IST |
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Scandals are rampant. No, not just in the gossip-infested worlds of Hollywood or politics. Scandals plague what was once perceived to be the bastion of conservatism—corporate America. However, the ugly underbelly of the corporate beast has now been exposed, revealing wrongdoing at some of the nation’s most prominent companies, ranging the corporate alphabet from Adelphia to Xerox. The countdown began Nov. 15. After that date, companies have 75 days following their financial year-end to comply with key Sarbanes-Oxley reforms. However, accountants struggling with this tough and costly task may soon be confessing they can’t, as more “creative” corporate bookkeeping is thrust into the limelight, leaving us to wonder if corporate executives have any common sense. One veteran of many boardrooms, Michael McFeeley, advocates injecting “common sense” into the business world and wrote a book, Common $ense Management, to explain in simple terms just how to go about doing that.
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| I’m not draconian, says Blunkett - Nov 26, 2004 18:41 IST |
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The government has been accused of trying to create a climate of fear through new law and order measures.
And there are fears plans to give police and civilian officers more powers go too far.
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| Emin film gets debut in home town - Nov 26, 2004 18:38 IST |
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Top Spot was shown to an invited audience at a hotel on Thursday in an event organised by BBC South East Today and attended by Emin.
Last week Emin withdrew the film from UK cinema release after it was given an 18 certificate by censors.
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| Portugal child sex trial begins - Nov 26, 2004 18:37 IST |
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The accused include a TV presenter, a former top diplomat, and a former director of the Casa Pia children’s home network.
Abuse at Casa Pia is said to have started in the mid-1970s, but was only discovered in 2002.
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| DUP ’not committed’ says Adams - Nov 26, 2004 18:35 IST |
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The Sinn Fein leader has been updating his party’s national executive (Ard Chomhairle) in Dublin on Thursday over the latest efforts to restore devolution.
The DUP will brief its executive on the ongoing efforts on Friday night.
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| Students put university on eBay - Nov 26, 2004 18:34 IST |
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The university wants to end degrees in music, chemistry and Italian.
On Wednesday night, the highest mock bid was £10m and the page had received more than 4,000 hits. The auction website removed the page on Thursday.
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