Mortars exploded there: near the Presidential Palace in Damascus

Damascus (Reuters)-Two mortar shells fired rebel forces exploded near the Presidential Palace in Damascus Tuesday Tishreen causing some damage but no casualties, State media said.

Bullets-Bullets mortar "landed near the southern wall of the Palace, only damages Tishreen material", the Government news agency said quoting an official statement and THERE are unnamed, reports AFP.

Syria Liberation Army rebels claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to SANA, bullet-bullet struck one location in the vicinity of Al-Mouwassat and the children's HOSPITAL in Damascus, "there are no survivors".

Hospitals were located a few hundred meters from the Tishreen used to receive important officials who visited but not the residence of President Bashar al-Assad.

This is the first time Syria authorities reported bullet-bullet fell near the Presidential Palace.

Military Liberation Army Council announced on Facebook that Syria "Liberation Army had fired mortars into the Palace-mortar Tishreen, has been on the mark".

Tishreen is one of three such Palace in Damascus. The other two are the people's Palace on Mount Qassioun Rawda Palace in the North and the executive offices. (RN/R013)

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The opposition again head to the Presidential Palace Egypt

Cairo (Reuters)-Opposition on Friday returned to the Presidential Palace came to Egypt, the official residence and workplace of the President of Moursi.

Hundreds of demonstrators seemed to run regularly while shouting shouted and shouted antipemerintah carrying posters and banners inscribed with sentences against President Mohamed Moursi.

They came from several mosques around Eastern Palace in Cairo, including the An Nur Mosque in the District of Abbasea.

Posters and banners, among others, reads "Disband the Government" and "tear down the Constitution made by the Muslim Brotherhood", referring to the formation of the new Constitution which was passed by a referendum at the end of last year.

A similar demo action took place on Friday last week that turned into bloody clashes between protesters and security apparatus so that one person and 79 people injured.

In addition to the Ettihadiyah Palace, thousands of protesters also come up to the roundabout Tahrir in downtown Cairo after Friday prayers.

As in Cairo, a number of provincial capitals, including Alexandria, Port Said, Suez Canal, and Ismailism not escape from opponents of government action demo.

Responding to the rise of the demo action, the President in some occasions Moursi said that the rallies were as common in Egypt at the time of the transition to a life of democracy.

The President also called for the earlier Moursi dialogue with all political forces, but the opposition responded by cold.

Political analyst Gaber El Sassar assess national dialog mandeknya that because each party establish conflicting terms to each other.

"Before, the opposition figures include Mohamed Elbaredai, Amr Moussa, expressed the readiness of Sibahi Hamdun, to attend a national dialogue, but they set impossible conditions accepted by Moursi's President," he said.

Terms of the proposed opposition, for example, the President must dissolve the Government led by Moursi Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and the formation of the Cabinet, the idea that Nations rescue rejected Moursi, he said.

On Thursday (31/2) last week, the Sheikh Of Al Azhar collects a number of opposition figures, including Elbaredai, Moussa, and Government representatives Sibahi includes the freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the meeting it was agreed a national dialogue, but so far the efforts the Union stance that has not been fulfilled.
(M043/D007)

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French left milks novelty of presidential primary

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France's Socialist Party primary election candidates, from L-R, Jean-Michel Bayle, Martine Aubry, Manuel Valls, Francois Hollande, Arnaud Montebourg, and Segolene Royal, pose in the studios of BFM news television, after their final debate in Paris, October 5, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Fred Dufour/Pool

By Brian Love

PARIS | Thu Oct 6, 2011 2:55pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Socialists have the wind in their sails less than seven months from a presidential election, buoyed by the novelty of an American-style primary and the airtime access it is giving them.

The presidential favorite is a Socialist, but there is more to it than opinion polls suggesting party veteran Francois Hollande -- still relatively unknown outside France -- would easily unseat the incumbent, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy.

The country's first open-door primary is a Socialist innovation, inspired by the momentum that got Barack Obama into the White House, and conservative rivals are watching with mounting envy as millions of French tune in to hear Socialists explain why they must vote for the left after five years of Sarkozy.

One of France's more obscure TV stations said on Thursday it had drawn a record high of nearly 3.7 million viewers the previous night for a live debate between six politicians seeking to run for president next April on a Socialist Party ticket.

The LCP channel, a narrow-focus broadcaster of parliamentary affairs, was one of many TV and radio stations that seized on the novelty of a primary to turn airwaves over to the main opposition party three times in as many weeks, for debates of more than two hours of prime time media exposure.

Some 5 million people watched the first such debate on France 2 state television in mid-September, while 3.5 million tuned in to a second one on i>tele.

The battle for the Socialist ticket has also generated heavy print coverage of the policy stances, stature and body language of the six candidates, reinforcing perceptions that conservatives are less present or have less to propose.

No wonder, skeptics say, that Hollande appears to be consolidating his opinion poll lead over Sarkozy and fellow left-wingers in the primary, where the first of two rounds of voting takes place on Sunday.

Beyond who ultimately wins -- the second runoff round is set for October 16 -- the primary itself is shaping up as a triumph for the Socialists, who hope that at least a million people will take part in a contest open to any voter who pays a euro and signs a document professing support for left-wing principles.

The Socialists have organized primaries in the past but they have been limited to party cardholders, whose number is estimated at around 200,000 at best.

If they muster a turnout of a million or more, analysts say, the Socialist presidential candidate stands to gain considerable legitimacy, as long the victory in the primary is clear-cut.

Either way, Sarkozy's UMP party, initially hostile, appears to be coming to the conclusion that they will one day have to take a leaf out of their opponents' book.

UMP party chief Jean-Francois Cope had sought to cast doubt on the motives behind the Socialist primary some months ago. But Prime Minister Francois Fillon paid tribute to it this week and said the UMP should aim to do likewise, not ahead of the 2012 election but for the following presidential battle in 2017.

Hollande, whose former partner Segolene Royal is also in the running but seen unlikely to win, savored the acknowledgment from Fillon.

"It's not because he's from the right that he cannot see the utility of something that comes from the left," Hollande said in response to Fillon's endorsement on Wednesday.

Others from the UMP camp are starting to sing the same tune.

"I've always been a supporter of the primary process, which makes room for more original candidacies," said Valerie Pecresse, a young budget minister and government spokeswoman who may herself be considering a shot for the presidency in 2017.

Right now, Sarkozy has yet to declare but is widely expected to seek a second term in next April's presidential election.

He may be looking for a way to respond to all the media attention given to his political opponents on the left.

Le Figaro, a newspaper close to Sarkozy and his party, says Sarkozy's communications advisers are worried that his penchant for addressing voters in speeches may mean his words have too short a shelf-life and that he is considering issuing a letter to France's 45 million voters in early 2012, a time when many believe he will announce his re-election goal.

(Writing by Brian Love; additional reporting by Patrick Vignal and Elizabeth Pineauy; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

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Tea Party Presidential Candidates Flash and Fade

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Home > Politics & Policy > Ken Walsh's Washington > Tea Party Presidential Candidates Flash and Fade

September 28, 2011 Print

Tea Party favorites for president aren't showing much staying power in the race for the Republican nomination because they come across as too harsh, Democratic pollster Geoff Garin says.

"None of the Tea Party darlings has held up," Garin told me. "Being the Tea Party darling requires a level of stridency that can come across as not being presidential."

Garin has a point. The pollster, who advises many congressional Democrats and was a senior strategist for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, notes that Tea Party activists were pushing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but she has faded in the polls and hasn't gotten into the race. Another favorite has been Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, but she is also dropping in the polls. The most recent favorite was Texas Gov. Rick Perry, but his momentum has stalled.

[See editorial cartoons about the 2012 GOP field.]

Garin says Perry is a good example of the flash-and-fade phenomenon. The Texas governor initially got positive news coverage but more recently he has been criticized for his stands on immigration and other issues and for a weak performance in last week's GOP debate. "The more Perry is out there, the less formidable he's going to be," Garin says.

Tags:Tea Party, politics, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, 2012 presidential election, Sarah Palin

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Florida sets presidential primary for Jan 31

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A woman exits a polling place after voting began in the Florida Primary election in Deerfield Beach, Florida January 29, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Joe Skipper

By Michael Peltier

TALLAHASSEE, Florida | Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:44pm EDT

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida defied national Republican Party leaders on Friday and set its presidential primary election for January 31, a move by the pivotal swing state likely to push forward the 2012 election schedule as other states jockey to maintain their influence.

The four states authorized by the Republican National Committee to go first in the nominating process -- Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina -- were expected to respond by moving their nominating contests forward from February to early January.

"The arrogance shown by Florida's elected leadership is disappointing, but not surprising," said Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn.

Florida is the largest of the presidential swing states and moved its election forward in order to increase its influence in the process that will eventually produce a Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election.

In the process of choosing the presidential nominees for the two major U.S. political parties, candidates compete in primary elections and caucuses at the state level to win delegates who ultimately will pick the nominees in party conventions.

The Republican National Committee has threatened to punish Florida with the loss of half of its delegates to the party's nominating convention, which will be held in Tampa, Florida, in August 2012.

Strawn urged the committee to make good on the threat and punish Florida's "petulant behavior."

Members of Florida's Presidential Preference Primary Date Selection Committee said the added clout from an early primary would offset the loss of delegates to the nominating conventions, which had become little more than "coronations" for outcomes that have already been decided.

"We're the biggest swing state in the union," said former Florida Governor Bob Martinez, a Republican on the panel that set the date. "So, I think this is a real, real election in Florida."

As it stands now, the Iowa caucuses are set for February 6, the New Hampshire primary for February 14, the Nevada caucuses for February 18 and the South Carolina primary for February 28.

Strawn said those states would move their elections and caucuses forward in tandem to maintain their voting order.

(Writing by Jane Sutton, editing by Pascal Fletcher)

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Tea Party Presidential Candidates Flash and Fade

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Home > Politics & Policy > Ken Walsh's Washington > Tea Party Presidential Candidates Flash and Fade

September 28, 2011 Print

Tea Party favorites for president aren't showing much staying power in the race for the Republican nomination because they come across as too harsh, Democratic pollster Geoff Garin says.

"None of the Tea Party darlings has held up," Garin told me. "Being the Tea Party darling requires a level of stridency that can come across as not being presidential."

Garin has a point. The pollster, who advises many congressional Democrats and was a senior strategist for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008, notes that Tea Party activists were pushing former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, but she has faded in the polls and hasn't gotten into the race. Another favorite has been Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, but she is also dropping in the polls. The most recent favorite was Texas Gov. Rick Perry, but his momentum has stalled.

[See editorial cartoons about the 2012 GOP field.]

Garin says Perry is a good example of the flash-and-fade phenomenon. The Texas governor initially got positive news coverage but more recently he has been criticized for his stands on immigration and other issues and for a weak performance in last week's GOP debate. "The more Perry is out there, the less formidable he's going to be," Garin says.

Tags:Tea Party, 2012 presidential election, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, politics

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What's Wrong With the 2012 Republican Presidential Field

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I remember watching The Dating Game as a kid in the 1970s, the show where the bachelorette asks questions of Bachelor No. 1, Bachelor No. 2, and Bachelor No. 3, all separated from her by a screen and all sitting in groovy director chairs. Most of the contestants were average guys, but every once in a while the producers would sneak a celebrity in, like actor (now director) Ron Howard or singing sensation David Cassidy.

That's how it is right now with Republican voters. It feels like we're in the middle of the dating game, asking questions of the contestants while time is running out, hoping to pick the right one before the end of the show. And what we're really waiting for is the secret celebrity to walk out at the end. We need the secret Lee Majors or the secret Farrah Fawcett—both of whom were contestants early in their careers—to appear now.

But one candidate who would have had conservatives swooning like bachelorettes: Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who announced last week that he's definitely not running. Other secret Lee Majors are sitting it out as well, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush. [See a slide show of who's in and out for the GOP in 2012.]

We thought maybe Texas Gov. Rick Perry was the secret Six Million Dollar Man, but he seems more like the secret Bill Bixby—a supporting actor in the sitcom My Favorite Martian rather than a leading man. The first week of his campaign didn't go so well, as he made headlines with his comments on everything from a "treasonous" Fed chair to climate change to evolution. Before he entered the race, Perry had the potential to carry both fiscal and social conservatives. Now maybe not.

Why are so many of my fellow conservatives dissatisfied with the Republican field? It seems the only ones who are happy with the current crop of candidates are the people who work at the White House and the Democratic National Committee. That's because they see what we see: Each of the Republican contenders is flawed in their own way and could easily be defeated. One's too inexperienced, another's famous for flip-flopping, several of them just come across as very angry people. Most important, none of them seems to have a detailed plan for turning the economy around, reining in entitlements, reforming the tax code, or cutting specific spending programs. [See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]

For example, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann recently said that if she were elected president, she'd bring back $2-a-gallon gasoline. But that was all she said about it. No discussion of how she'd lower energy prices. She just threw it out there, forgetting that the kind of conservatives who think our dependence on foreign oil is a national security problem aren't the kind of people who think paying $2 for a gallon of gas is a good idea. She needs to put out some serious economic blueprints, and maybe even a domestic energy strategy, and more than the one-pager she's got on her website.

Like President Obama, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has announced that he will make a major "jobs" speech in September too. That's good. But why wait until September? Why mimic, as New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd put it, the president's "fierce urgency of next month"? All of the candidates should be staking out their detailed positions on the economy, and they should be doing so right now. They risk looking indifferent and unconcerned about the heartbreaking pictures of thousands of people lined up at job fairs in various cities, the nightly graphics of the stock market hitting lows, and the growing unrest in Europe caused by the debt crisis there. People want clarity and certainty in volatile times. They're not getting it from Obama, and they aren't getting it from the Republican candidates either. [Check out editorial cartoons about the economy.]

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Zambia's Sata wins presidential race

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata was declared the winner of the presidential election on Friday, defeating incumbent Rupiah Banda to head Africa's biggest copper producer after polls marred by violence.
Sata, 74 and nicknamed "King Cobra" because of his sharp tongue, toned down his rhetoric against foreign mining firms, especially from China, in the closing stages of the six-week campaign but his victory could still cloud the investment outlook.
Zambia's kwacha fell to a 12-month-low of 5,030 against the dollar after Sata's victory and traders said it would remain vulnerable until he has given clearer indications on his future policies.
Sata, the leader of the Patriotic Front (PF), told Reuters last week he would maintain strong commercial and diplomatic ties with China and would not introduce a minerals windfall tax, but implied he might impose some form of capital controls to keep dollars in the country.
Chief Justice Ernest Sakala declared Sata the winner after he received 1,150,045 votes compared with Banda's 961,796 with 95.3 percent of constituencies counted. Sata received 43 percent of the vote also contested by many minor parties.
Rupiah Banda, 74 and leader of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) party that has run Zambia since one-party rule ended in 1991, was expected to make a statement about the vote.
Supporters of Sata, who will be sworn in as president later on Friday, celebrated the win.
"At long last the will of the people has been respected. The people wanted change," said street vendor Peter Musonda.
Sata secured support among the youth on the back of campaign promises of creating more jobs and his criticism that Banda's government failed to let ordinary Zambians share in the proceeds from the country's copper mines.
"We are now a relieved nation. God has finally answered our prayer," said Emmanuel Mwanza, a student at the Zambian Open University.
Election monitors from the European Union and regional grouping the Southern African Development Community said the polls were largely fair although there was some violence.
Youths fought running battles with riot police on Thursday in the towns of Ndola and Kitwe, 250 km (150 miles) north of Lusaka, setting fire to vehicles and markets in the normally peaceful mining heartland.
CHINA FACTOR
Chinese companies have become major players in Zambia's economy, with total investments by the end of 2010 topping $2 billion, according to data from the Chinese embassy.
But Sata accused Chinese mining firms in the earlier stages of the campaign of creating slave labor conditions with scant regard for safety or the local culture.
Sata had strong backing in urban areas and the economic center in the Copper Belt, while Banda, a farmer and former diplomat, relied on votes from rural areas.
Analysts said younger voters also helped propel Sata to victory with youth using the ballot box to bring about change in a continent that has seen the long-standing rulers of Egypt and Tunisia toppled by mass street protests.
In 2008 Sata lost to Banda by just 35,000 votes, or 2 percent of the electorate, in a presidential run-off triggered by the death in office of Levy Mwanawasa.

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