Northern Ireland's Martin McGuinness dies at 66

BELFAST - Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army commander and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland who was a key figure throughout five decades of conflict and peace, has died aged 66, his party, Sinn Fein, said on Tuesday.

McGuinness, whose journey from street fighter to peacemaker began in the 1970s during Northern Ireland's "Troubles", had bowed out of politics several months earlier than planned in January due to an undisclosed illness.

"Throughout his life Martin showed great determination, dignity and humility, and it was no different during his short illness," Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams said in a statement.

"He was a passionate republican who worked tirelessly for peace and reconciliation and for the re-unification of his country. But above all he loved his family and the people of Derry and he was immensely proud of both."

McGuinness abandoned a butcher's apprenticeship in 1970 to join the Irish Republican Army in a bloody campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland. He played a key role in both the start and the end of the province's 30-year sectarian conflict, in which some 3,600 people were killed.

War and peace

McGuinness later admitted he was second-in-command in Londonderry on "Bloody Sunday" - the day in 1972 when British troops in the city killed 14 unarmed marchers, ushering in the most intense phase of the Troubles.

In the 1980s, McGuinness emerged alongside Adams as a key architect in the electoral rise of Sinn Fein, the IRA's political ally, and became the party's chief negotiator in peace talks that led to the 1998 peace deal.

McGuinness had been deputy first minister for a decade before quitting in January in protest at First Minister Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) handling of a controversial green-energy scheme. His resignation led to the collapse of the power-sharing government.

"History will record differing views and opinions on the role Martin McGuinness played throughout the recent and not so recent past but history will also show that his contribution to the political and peace process was significant," said Foster, who survived an IRA bomb attack on a school bus at the age of 17.

"In recent years his contribution helped build the relative peace we now enjoy." 

Shortly after his retirement, the party achieved a major electoral breakthrough in elections to the regional assembly, coming within one seat of the Democratic Unionist Party and depriving the pro-British political camp of an overall majority for the first time since the partition of Ireland in 1921.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins said McGuinness played an "immense contribution" to the advancement of peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland – a contribution he said was rightly recognized across all shades of opinion.

"The world of politics and the people across this island will miss the leadership he gave, shown most clearly during the difficult times of the peace process," Higgins said in a statement.

"His death leaves a gap that will be difficult to fill. May he rest in peace."

source: interaksyon.com

John Edwards on trial over mistress money

GREENSBORO, North Carolina — Prosecutors on Monday portrayed disgraced Democratic politician John Edwards as a liar as he went on trial for allegedly using campaign money to hide an affair from the public and his cancer-stricken wife, but the defense said his “sin” was not a crime.

The 58-year-old Edwards, a two-time presidential hopeful, faces six criminal charges related to accepting nearly $1 million to hide his affair with videographer Rielle Hunter and the child he fathered with her.

In their opening statements, prosecutors argued that the former US senator broke the law by accepting the cash as an illegal contribution to his 2008 presidential campaign so he could maintain his clean family-man image.

Prosecutor David Harbach said in opening statements that Edwards’ “image of a family man was critical to his campaign,” and that he would do “anything to maintain his chance of being president.”

But the credibility of their key witness, former top Edwards aide Andrew Young, was quickly called into question.

Presiding District Court Judge Catherine Eagles ruled that Edwards’s lawyers could mention that Young called three trial witnesses in recent weeks—a possible violation of federal law.

Young also was forced to acknowledge two arrests—one for his role in a 1997 car accident, and the second for drunk driving in 2006 in which he spent a night in jail.

At the time of the scandal, Edwards was married to his college sweetheart, attorney Elizabeth Edwards. The couple had four children, including a teenage son who died in a freak automobile accident in 1996.

By all appearances it was a model family—so perfect that in 2007 a charity even granted Edwards an award as “Father of the Year.”

In order to maintain that image, “Edwards did what he always did—deny, deceive, manipulate,” Harbach told the court.

Defense attorney Allison Van Laningham acknowledged that her client—himself a skilled trial lawyer—was not perfect, but said that did not make him a criminal.

“The truth for John Edwards may be a sin, but it is not a federal crime,” she told the court, noting that her client “fell from grace in a very public, very humiliating way.”

Edwards did not ask for the money that was used to hide the affair from his wife, Van Laningham said, and the contributions were unrelated to the campaign.

The money came from wealthy Texas lawyer Fred Baron, who died in 2008, and Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, now 101, the widow of banking heir Paul Mellon.

At the time, under federal law, individuals could give a maximum of $2,300 for a political campaign.

Baron’s widow is on the list of witnesses along with an attorney representing Mellon, who is too frail to travel to Greensboro from her Virginia estate.

Edwards’s defense claims that Young siphoned off much of the money to build a $1.5 million home, and that it was his idea to claim the child’s paternity in order to stay close to Edwards and the rich donors.

Young, 46, testified that he was impressed when he first saw Edwards speak in 1998 and soon after went to work on his Senate campaign.

When Edwards was elected, Young became a close confidant and toured across North Carolina with the senator.

“We were two North Carolina boys and we had a lot in common,” Young told the court.

Young said that Mellon, a friend of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was convinced that Edwards was a combination of the best of slain Democratic president John F Kennedy and his late brother Robert.

“She felt he would be the savior of America,” Young said. “She asked, ‘What can I do to help?’”

According to the government, the “help” came in the form of hefty checks written to a third person, who then gave the cash to Young.

“This case has turned into John Edwards versus Andrew Young,” Hampton Dellinger, a North Carolina lawyer who is closely following the case, told AFP.

Young’s two arrests and his effort at contacting witnesses are “not going to help the government’s case,” said Dellinger.

Edwards was in the courthouse along with his eldest daughter Cate, a 30-year-old attorney that lives in Washington, and his aged parents, Bobbie and Wallace.

Elizabeth Edwards attracted enormous sympathy when it became known she had battled cancer while grappling with her husband’s infidelity. She died in December 2010.

Edwards publicly admitted to the affair with Hunter in August 2008, after his presidential bid ended, but refused to publicly recognize that he had fathered the child until January 2010.

A group of nine men and seven women—nine whites and seven African-Americans—were chosen for the 12-member jury. Four of the jurors will serve as alternates.

source: japantoday.com

Aga Muhlach, the politician?

MANILA, Philippines – Multi-awarded actor Aga Muhlach is open to taking on another role very soon – that of politician.

“Yeah, of course! Why not?” said he at a recent media huddle that was tendered for his recent triumph as Golden Screen Awards Best Actor.

The actor has admitted taking the necessary steps that would bring him closer to fulfilling ambition and that is by registering as voter in sleepy San Jose in Camarines Sur.

“Tagaroon kami,” he insisted in the same interview.

Apparently, Muhlach, although largely Manila born and bred, still considers himself very much a Bicolano at heart. He disclosed having traced his roots on his father’s side to the Amador and Borja clans of Goa and San Jose.

Although Muhlach is not eager to reveal what town and position he is gunning for, he is reportedly eyeing a congressional seat in the fourth district of Camarines Sur, which includes Goa and San Jose.

Further fueling the buzz is his participation last month in a mass baptismal in San Jose alongside his friend, Camarines Sur Governor LRay Villafuerte.

San Jose, about 60 kilometers northeast of Naga City, is categorized as a fourth-class municipality with an annual income of P20 million-P30 million. It has 21,471 voters (as of 2010) and a population of at least 35,000 covering 29 barangays.

Goa on the other hand, is a second class municipality, which according to the 2007 census, has a population of 54,035 people.

The 42-year old Muhlach started his career as actor in the '80s via several teenybopper movies, the most notable of which is “Bagets” in 1983. He has appeared in over 61 movies since, as well as several successful made-for-TV comedy series.

Muhlach is also a longtime commercial endorser for the Jollibee fast food chain and is the founder of MaAga Ang Pasko, a Christmas gift-giving event launched in 1994 which benefits the less fortunate.

Prior to the big announcement of his political plans, Muhlach snared a lucrative deal with TV5, where he now hosts an educational travel series.

source: mb.com.ph