Michael Jackson Memorial

July 7, 2009 - Stevie Wonder, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Queen Latifah and others close to Michael Jackson attended the late King of Pop's much-publicized memorial service in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday.

The event, broadcast live to the world via television and streaming internet video, was neither the mob scene authorities were expecting nor the bizarre gathering most anticipated, given the 20,000 people gathered inside the Staples Center.

The Associated Press reports that the ceremony was equal parts celebration and mourning, songs and tears. Michael Jackson's memorial was a somber, spiritual ceremony that reached back for the essence of the man.

Jackson's daughter, Paris-Michael, was moved to tears when she took the stage.

One of the more memorable moments was when Jackson's daughter, Paris-Michael, 11, took to the stage and made her first public statement regarding her father's passing.

"Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine," she said, dissolving into tears and turning to lean on her aunt, Janet Jackson. "And I just wanted to say I love him — so much."

More than 3,000 police officers massed downtown to keep the ticketless at bay. The atmosphere inside the arena was very somber, almost churchlike, with the help of a large video screen projecting the image of a stained-glass window behind the stage.

The ceremony began with Smokey Robinson reading statements from Jackson's close friend Diana Ross — "Michael was part of the fabric of my life" — and then Nelson Mandela — "Be strong."

Kobe Bryant, Spike Lee, Wesley Snipes, Lou Ferrigno, Don King, the Kardashian sisters, Magic Johnson, Brooke Shields and Larry King were also on hand for the memorial.

Taliban infiltrate once-peaceful Afghan north

The northern Afghan province of Kunduz is renowned for its mouth-watering melons, rice and almonds.

Kunduzis are likely to remember their province as "the bread basket of Afghanistan" - it was the country's main source of cotton and fruit exports in more peaceful times.

But those memories might be fading fast. A recent spate of attacks by the Taliban and al-Qaeda has altered the face of Kunduz beyond all recognition.
"The Taliban have closed girls' schools in the districts. They collect taxes from people and they have their own courts. The governor was attacked and the Taliban are in the villages. All because Kunduz is ignored by our president and ministers in Kabul," said a group of elders over endless cups of green tea in the provincial capital.

As you drive from Kabul into Kunduz city, it is not long before motorists come across a colourful billboard with a powerful message:

"Last year explosives killed 1,700 and injured more than 2,393 people. That is enough."

In this way, one fact becomes immediately clear to all those entering Kunduz: security is the most pressing concern in this far-flung northern province.

A senior interior ministry official in Kabul agrees the situation is volatile but rejects any accusations that the central government has turned a blind eye towards Kunduz.

"We know that the enemy is there in big numbers and there are also al-Qaeda fighters. We conducted a big operation in Goar Tepa and we will continue to kill and capture them. But we are waiting for people to collect their harvests," said the official, who wished to remain anonymous.

In recent months, Kunduz has felt the consequences of the Taliban presence - a senior Afghan government official was shot dead while driving to the Tajikistan border and four US soldiers were recently killed by a roadside bomb.

Under surveillance

The Taliban have also built a shadowy network of control and influence in the province's villages and districts.

Take for example the strategic district of Char Dara, 30km (18 miles) west of the provincial capital, where the writ of the central government does not extend beyond the district headquarters.

The BBC was recently approached by a local tribal elder from Char Dara district, who made it clear that he wanted the plight of Kunduzis to be known to the world, and offered to take me on a tour of his district.

"We are stuck between the government and the Taliban. Kunduz shouldn't have been left to fend for itself," says the elder, angrily.

We left Kunduz city before dawn, winding our way through a series of dirt trails and bumpy roads. As the sun rose, it revealed our surroundings: unkempt farms stretched into the distance, and we passed several farmers working doggedly in fields of wheat, rice and cotton, their foreheads drenched in sweat.

During our three-hour drive through many of Char Dara district's villages, signs of Afghan government influence were few and far between.

Instead we consistently encountered motorcycle-borne Taliban fighters openly surveying the operations of the district's villages throughout the day.

It was during our first such encounter that my host broke the drive's long silence: "Taliban fighters," he said, indicating with his eyes.

"They are patrolling, but will not stop anyone unless they have intelligence on them."

We drove onwards, passing a gaggle of young boys walking along the roadside towards their school. There was no sign, though, of the district's young girls.

"The Taliban have closed down all the girls schools in the district. They have warned people not to educate their daughters," my host informed me.

A short while later, we stopped in the village of Basoas and I was shown the local girl's school, which was shuttered and padlocked.

Taliban tax

We met 13-year-old Zarmina with her father.

"I work in the fields with my father because our school was closed. I want to be an educated woman but I don't know how I can read and write because my parents are illiterate," said Zarmina with a determined look on her face.

After several hours of driving we arrived at another remote village and local farmers informed the tribal chief that the province was expecting one of its best harvests.

But, they complained, they were being forced to pay the Taliban a 10% usher (religious tax).

"The Taliban come and take our 10% in exchange for resolving our disputes. People don't go to the government because the Taliban control the area," wheat farmer Mohammed Nabi said.

Several farmers went as far as providing me with the documentation and taxation papers to prove this claim.

The governor of Kunduz is open about the Afghan government's failure in his province.

"We don't have enough police to guard the people of our districts. The Taliban are well-resourced.

"They have funding from abroad and though drug-deals. They are able to intimidate people into accepting high rates of taxation and close down schools in places where we don't have any physical presence," he said.

But the governor of the province, Engineer Omar, is confident about the government's preparation.

"We have asked for more police from Kabul and the only reason why we are not going against Taliban is because it's the harvest time and we don't want our people to lose their harvests and this is exactly what the Taliban wants us to do."

Obama tells Russia to move from old ways of thinking

BARACK OBAMA set out his vision for a new post-cold war world yesterday, urging Russia not to interfere in neighbouring states and to move on “from old ways of thinking”.

On his first trip to Russia as US president, Mr Obama called on Moscow to stop viewing the US as an adversary. The assumption that Russia and the US were eternal antagonists was a “20th-century view” rooted in the past, he said.

He delivered a tough, though implicit, critique of Kremlin foreign policy, rejecting the claim that it had “privileged interests” in post-Soviet countries. He said the 19th-century doctrine of spheres of influence and “great powers forging competing blocs” was finished.

“In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonising other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chessboard are over,” he told graduates from Moscow’s New Economic School.

“As I said in Cairo, given our interdependence, any world order that tries to elevate one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. That is why I have called for a ‘reset’ in relations between the United States and Russia. America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia.”

Mr Obama acknowledged the US needed to play its part in bringing about a fresh start with Russia – a “great power”.

He paid tribute to the achievements of Russian writers and scientists, even quoting Pushkin when he told the students: “Inspiration is needed in geometry just as much as in poetry.”

Crucially, though, he indicated Washington would not tolerate another Russian invasion of Georgia. Russia has been staging full-scale military exercises next to the Georgian border amid ominous predictions that a second conflict in the Caucasus could erupt this summer.

On Monday, Mr Obama reaffirmed Georgia’s sovereignty – severely undermined by last year’s war and Moscow’s subsequent unilateral recognition of rebel-held Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. Yesterday, Mr Obama defended “state sovereignty”, describing it as “a cornerstone of international order”.

He also said Georgia and Ukraine had a right to choose their own foreign policy and leaders, and could join Nato if they wanted.

Russia is opposed to Ukraine’s and Georgia’s accession and wants the White House to rule out their future membership.

Yesterday Mr Obama responded by saying Nato sought collaboration with Russia, not confrontation.

Earlier, Mr Obama had breakfast with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, who many regard as Russia’s real ruler.

Last week, Mr Obama described Mr Putin as having “one foot in the past”. But yesterday he talked to him for 2½ hours – longer than planned and an admission of Mr Putin’s continuing importance.

The meeting, their first, had been “excellent”, Mr Obama said.

However, during his speech, Mr Obama delivered a withering assessment of Putinism. Without mentioning Russia by name, Mr Obama spelled out the US’s commitment to “universal values”.

These included the rule of law, the equal administration of justice, and competitive elections – all missing from Mr Putin’s vertically managed authoritarian state. Mr Obama also stressed the importance of “independent media in exposing corruption at all levels of business and government”.

Russia’s state-controlled television has largely snubbed Mr Obama’s first trip to Moscow, apparently on Kremlin orders.

On Monday, Mr Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev agreed a framework document that would see both sides cut their nuclear arsenals by up to a third.

Yesterday Mr Obama warned again of the dangers of nuclear proliferation and urged Moscow to join with the US to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons and to end North Korea’s nuclear efforts.

He reaffirmed that the US would only go ahead with its planned missile defence shield in Europe – opposed by the Kremlin – if there was an Iranian nuclear “threat”.

Later, Mr Obama met former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. – (Guardian service)