Ehud Barak quits Israel's Labour to form new party.

Labour leader Barak served as Israel's prime
minister between 1999 and 2001

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak says he
is resigning as head of the Labour party to
form his own faction.

Mr Barak is heading a breakaway group -
Independence - which includes four other Labour
MPs, reports say.
Correspondents say the move strengthens Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing
coalition, as it allows Mr Barak's party to remain in
government.
Labour is due to vote on whether to quit the
coalition over Mr Netanyahu's handling of the
Mid-East peace process.
But Mr Barak's surprise move pre-empts that
decision, due next month, suggesting he still
believes Mr Netanyahu is genuine about seeking
peace with the Palestinians, says the BBC's Jon
Donnison in Jerusalem.
The fledgling peace talks broke down late last year
over Israel's refusal to renew a freeze on Jewish
settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
New start
"We have presented a request to the Knesset to
recognise us as a new faction that will be called
Independence," Mr Barak told a press conference
that was carried live on Israeli radio and
television.
"[The new party] will be centrist, Zionist and
democratic," he said.
There have been tensions within the Labour party
- a key member of Israel's ruling coalition - for
months. A party official said four Labour
parliamentarians would be joining Mr Barak's new
faction.
Israeli TV and radio stations said that Agriculture
Minister Shalom Simchon and deputy defence
minister Matan Vilnai were among those who
would join the Independence party.
Israeli army radio said Mr Netanyahu was aware
of the initiative, and had pledged to allow the
defence minister and the other two senior party
members to continue in their ministerial posts.
The Labour movement was central to the
creation of Israel in 1948 and had long dominated
Israeli politics since then.
However, it placed fourth during the 2009
elections, behind the opposition Kadima party, Mr
Netanyahu's Likud and the ultra-nationalist Yisrael
Beitenu of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
It is currently a key member of the ruling
coalition, with 13 MPs prior to Monday's split. Mr
Netanyahu's coalition currently has a majority,
with 74 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
Analysts say Labour's eight remaining members,
political doves who are in favour of getting peace
talks back on track, are likely to quit the
government.
Their departures could leave Mr Netanyahu with
66 seats in the 120-seat parliament, a smaller but
more stable majority.


Source: Http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12204321

READ MORE ................... Ehud Barak quits Israel's Labour to form new party.

American newspapers turn on Ricky Gervais.

Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes awards. His
glasses were criticised

American newspapers were full of reaction to the
Golden Globes awards - and many were angry at
Ricky Gervais.
LA TIMES
"Ricky Gervais's red-carpet eyewear looked like a
leftover from last year's Avatar and about three
sizes too big."
WASHINGTON POST
"Are we at war with England? If not, then why
have we been subjected to two years of Ricky
Gervais hosting the Golden Globe Awards,
witnessing a growing hostility between the British
comedian and a resentful audience of celebs?
(Colin Firth, best actor winner for The King's
Speech, with your sophisticated and
magnanimously eloquent acceptance speech! Do
something!)"
NEW YORK TIMES
"The Golden Globes entirely snubbed True Grit,
the Coen brothers Western. Maybe they just have
it in for the Coens? Last year ’s A Serious Man was
also nearly ignored. On the other hand, the Coens
are not much for the hoopla of the awards
circuit."
WASHINGTON TIMES
"The Facebook tale The Social Network won top
honors at the Golden Globes with four prizes,
including best drama and director, solidifying its
prospects as an Academy Awards favorite."
USA TODAY
"Natalie Portman needs to clear shelf space after
winning the Globe and the BFCA's Critics' Choice
award for her role as an obsessive dancer in
Black Swan, which vaults her into an early lead
for the Oscar statuette."
WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Best TV Series- Drama goes to Boardwalk
Empire. HBO just keeps pumping out the award-
winning shows."
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Besides best drama, The Social Network, about
the founding of Facebook, won for David
Fincher's direction, Aaron Sorkin's script and the
score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. After
receiving top honors from critics groups coast to
coast, this resounding victory positions the film
as the front-runner at the Academy Awards."
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"Ricky Gervais’ biting lines were scattered at
various stars (and movies like The Tourist), with
not everyone taking kindly to the treatment.
Bruce Willis seemed miffed to be called the father
of Ashton Kutcher."

Source: Http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8263971/American-newspapers-turn-on-Ricky-Gervais.html

READ MORE ................... American newspapers turn on Ricky Gervais.

Tunisian leaders bid to fill power vacuum

TUNIS — Tunisia prepared to unveil a new
government of national unity on Monday as
interim leaders struggled to impose order
following the ouster of president Zine El Abidine
Ben Ali.
The government is set to include ministers from
the old regime, members of the opposition and
independent figures, an opposition leader said.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are set to
be held in two months.
Opposition leader Maya Jribi told AFP earlier that
the executive would exclude forces loyal to Ben
Ali, who resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia on
Friday after 23 years in power amid a wave of
protests against his regime.
Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, a former
close ally of Ben Ali, was set to stay on. Speaker
of parliament Foued Mebazaa has taken over as
interim president in the wake of Ben Ali's abrupt
departure with backing from the army.
Government talks with legal political parties --
excluding the Communist and Islamist parties
banned under Ben Ali -- were held on Sunday as
fierce gun battles broke out in Tunis and near the
presidential palace in Carthage.
The army fought with members of Ben Ali's
presidential guard near the palace late on Sunday
during dusk-to-dawn curfew hours in Carthage --
a wealthy suburb and archaeological site north of
Tunis city centre on the Mediterranean coast.
The army said two gunmen were shot dead near
the interior ministry in central Tunis and two
more were arrested. Police officers told AFP that
eight people were wounded in the fighting in
Tunis and taken to hospital.
The outcome of the gunfight near the palace was
not immediately clear.
"The old regime is trying to sow panic in the
population," Mustapha Ben Ahmed, a trade
unionist walking on an avenue in the centre, said
on Monday.
"That bastard Ben Ali ran away and left the
country to burn," he said.
The prime minister has vowed there will be "zero
tolerance" for anyone threatening the security of
the country after the authorities arrested the
former head of Ben Ali's guard for allegedly
plotting against the state.
Ben Ali's nephew, Kais Ben Ali, has also been
arrested along with 10 other people in the central
town of Msaken -- the Ben Ali family's ancestral
home -- for allegedly "shooting at random" from
police cars.
Ben Ali's ouster has sent shockwaves around the
Arab world as he is the first Arab leader in recent
history to be forced out by street protests.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on
Sunday downplayed prospects of the revolt
spreading to other Arab countries, calling it
"nonsense".
There have been four attempted public suicides in
Algeria in the past week in apparent copycat
replays of last month's self-immolation of a 26-
year-old graduate in Tunisia which triggered the
revolt against Ben Ali.
Tunisia has been in a state of chaos since Ben Ali's
downfall, and observers warned that change in
the North African state would be far from smooth
because of the tightly-controlled system of power
put in place by the former leader.
A few cafes and groceries re-opened on Monday
in the centre of Tunis -- the scene of violent
clashes in the days running up to Ben Ali's flight
-- as security forces continued their lockdown of
the city centre.
Interim president Mebazaa said at the weekend
that all Tunisians "without exception" would now
be able to take part in national politics and called
for a unity government for "the greater national
interest".
Secular leftist Moncef Marzouki declared his
intention Monday to compete for the presidency.
Human rights groups say dozens of people were
killed after food protests which began last month
escalated into a popular revolt against Ben Ali.
International powers including European nations
and the United States have urged calm in Tunisia
and called for democracy in the Mediterranean
country after events that Tunisian bloggers have
dubbed the "Jasmine Revolution".


Source: Http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gDhEKPUhTKOc2679FNNA3sw8PIsA?docId=CNG.099a7790fcca8af10af7cf8da781d7e7.201

READ MORE ................... Tunisian leaders bid to fill power vacuum

Golden Globes 2011: Ricky Gervais gets mixed reaction.

Ricky Gervais risked some close-to-the-knuckle
jokes as he hosted the Golden Globes ceremony,
but appears to have entertained his American
audience more than he offended them.
Gervais, 49, who was presenting the show for
the second year running, caused some
controversy with typically biting humour that
targeted some of the biggest stars in
Hollywood.
He opened proceedings with a sip from a beer
glass and said: "It's going to be a night of partying
and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it,
breakfast."
Linking a dig at the characterisation of thriller The
Tourist with the growth of 3-D film, he said:
"Seems like everything this year was three-
dimensional. Except the characters in The Tourist.
"I'd like to quash the rumours that the only
reason The Tourist was nominated was so that
the Hollywood Foreign Press can hang out with
Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That is rubbish,
that is not the only reason. They also accepted
bribes."
The comic also took a jibe at an the sexualities of
unnamed Scientologists. He said: "Also not
nominated, I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey
and Ewan McGregor. Two heterosexual actors
pretending to be gay, so the complete opposite of
some famous Scientologists then."
Loud "oohs" and intakes of breath from the
audience ensued before he added: "Probably. My
lawyers helped me with the wording of that
joke."
Gervais also poked fun at Hugh Hefner, 84, for
marrying a 24-year-old woman and gave her
advice on how to handle the relationship.
Alec Baldwin was seen wiping a tear from his eye
at Gervais' jokes, while Robert De Niro, who was
handed a lifetime achievement award, dissolved
in laughter. Halle Berry appeared to laugh and
wince at the same time.
Some bloggers praised Gervais' attempts to
deflate the pomp of the ceremony but doubted
he would ever be invited back.
Caryn James said his performance could have
been "legendary" but fell just short. She wrote:
"He crossed lines of taste and civility at times, as
risky comedy always does. He made one
introduction, 'Ashton Kutcher ’s Dad – Bruce
Willis', and Bruce did not seem amused.
"Things got ugly when he said of Philip Berk, the
much-mocked head of the HFPA [Hollywood
Foreign Press Association - which picks the
winners], 'I had to help him off the toilet and put
in his teeth'."
Gossipcop summed it up as "awkward glory".
While some critics thought his jokes were in bad,
others and felt he had injected "much
needed edge" .
The Washington Post's celebritology site
described Gervais as "funny during certain
moments and less so during others".
The New York Times observed: "Mr Gervais’s
jibes at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
divided the room... It was Mr Gervais ’ second
chance to host the Golden Globes; he may not get
a third."
Before the event - the 68th Annual Golden Globe
awards - Gervais had said: "I'll be close to their
edge, but I'm not going to go crazy."
He added: "I'm not worried about the celebrities,
they're all right, they're not scary!"
Last year, he was less controversial, and included
ribbing of Steve Carell for playing his
character in the American version of The Office.


Source: Http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/8263565/Golden-Globes-2011-Ricky-Gervais-gets-mixed-reaction.html

READ MORE ................... Golden Globes 2011: Ricky Gervais gets mixed reaction.