17 Colombian civil leaders ‘massacred’…Read full details

A state conflict resolution body in Colombia sais that "17 civil leaders have been murdered since December 1, 2016" (AFP Photo/Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS)<br />

Colombian officials said Monday that 17 civil campaigners have been murdered over the past two months in the country, amid tensions over its contested peace process.

President Juan Manuel Santos has warned that fresh violence could destabilize the demobilization of the leftist FARC rebels under a historic peace accord.

He signed the deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and pushed it through the legislature in December, defying criticism from conservative rivals.

In the weeks following, reports emerged of killings by local civil campaigners by unidentified groups in conflict areas.

On Monday the Victims’ Unit, a state conflict resolution body, said in a statement that “17 civil leaders have been murdered since December 1, after Congress ratified the peace accord.”

The last known victim was Porfirio Jaramillo, leader of a group demanding rural land restitution. He was killed on Saturday in Antioquia department, in the northwest, it said.

Land rights were at the heart of the conflict that pitted the Marxist FARC against Colombian state forces since 1964.

The peace agreement reconciles the two main rival forces in the war, but there are fears of score-settling between renegade players in the multi-sided conflict.

As well as leftist rebels and state forces, the conflict drew in right-wing paramilitaries backed by landowners.

They were supposedly disbanded in the 2000s but the FARC and other groups say former members of them are still active.

The Victims’ Unit said Jaramillo was taken away from his home by four armed men. Police found his dead body on Sunday morning.

“We are extremely worried by these events, because the truth is they are massacring social leaders,” the unit’s director, Alan Jara, said in a statement.

He called on prosecutors to investigate the killings and urged authorities to provide protection for social group leaders.

French Socialists nominate leftwinger Hamon for president (Read full details)

Winner of the right-wing primaries ahead of France's 2017 presidential elections Benoit Hamon (R) smiles next to defeated candidate Manuel Valls (L) as French Socialist Party (PS) leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis (C) holds their hands following the announcement of the results of the second round of the left primaries ahead of France's 2017 presidential elections, at the Solferino Party Socialist's headquarters in Paris on January 29, 2017. French leftwinger Benoit Hamon has won the Socialist nomination for president in this year's election, easily defeating centrist ex-premier Manuel Valls in a runoff, partial results showed on January 29, 2017. Results from 60 percent of polling stations showed Hamon winning 58.65 percent to 41.35 percent for Valls, announced the head of the primary organising committee, Thomas Clay.<br />Eric FEFERBERG / AFP

France’s divided Socialists picked leftwinger Benoit Hamon as their presidential nominee Sunday, in the latest twist of a roller-coaster election race that has seen conservative frontrunner Francois Fillon engulfed in scandal.
Near definitive results from a Socialist primary runoff vote Sunday showed Hamon beating his centrist rival Manuel Valls, a former prime minister, with 58.72 percent of the vote in a clear victory for the left-wing of the party.
“Our country needs the left but a modern, innovative left turned towards the future,” the 49-year-old Hamon told cheering supporters in a victory speech.

His triumph is another upset in the French poll race, with the former education minister and son of a dockworker viewed as an outsider only three weeks ago.
His nomination completes the list of major candidates for the two-round election in April and May after five years of unpopular Socialist rule.
Hamon’s rivals include rightwing Republicans nominee Fillon, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, as well as centrist Emmanuel Macron who some analysts see as likely to benefit from the Socialists’ tilt to the left.
Fillon, who was also deemed a long-shot until he clinched the Republicans nomination in November, has consistently been tipped to become France’s next leader.
But his campaign has been in turmoil since Wednesday when a newspaper reported his wife had been paid around 500,000 euros ($540,000) over eight years for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary aide.

Those allegations have sparked a preliminary judicial inquiry, but there was more bad news for Fillon on Sunday.
Investigative website Mediapart and the Journal du Dimanche newspaper reported Fillon had used his parliamentary allowance to pocket up to 25,000 euros while working as a senator from 2005-2007.
A poll by Kantar Sofres-Onepoint published Sunday evening showed Fillon losing ground and Macron gaining.
The survey of 1,032 voters showed Le Pen leading the first round of the election with 25 percent, followed by Fillon with 21 percent and Macron on 20 percent.
While Fillon would easily beat Le Pen in a run-off, he would lose a duel with Macron, the poll showed.
– Fillon ‘headwinds’ –
In a defiant speech on Sunday in front of thousands of flag-waving supporters in Paris, Fillon said he would not let himself be “intimidated”.
“On the road to victory, there will be some headwinds, there will be some squalls. We’ll go straight ahead, straight to victory!,” he declared.
Earlier, in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, he denounced a “plot” against him and French democracy.
It remains unclear how the allegations will affect him or the outcome of the vote, which is being closely watched after the Brexit referendum in Britain and Donald Trump’s triumph in the United States.
After five years of rule by Socialist President Francois Hollande, France is pessimistic about its economic prospects and fearful about terrorism and immigration.

Far-right leader Le Pen believes the nationalist sentiment that influenced British and American voters in 2016 will also carry her to the French presidency in what would be a profound shock for the continent.
But her National Front party is also embroiled in its own expenses scandal over money from the European parliament.
Valls, who conceded defeat and wished Hamon well on Sunday, took a parting shot at the far-right leader, saying that Socialists “reject Marine Le Pen’s face being the face of France in the future.”
– Macron hopes –
Hamon’s victory and Fillon’s woes could boost Macron, the youngest candidate in the race at 39 who quit Hollande’s government last year to start his own political movement, En Marche (On the Move).
The former economy minister and investment banker has been drawing crowds of thousands to rallies around the country and polls show him creeping up on Fillon and Le Pen.
Hamon has pitched himself as a man of fresh ideas for the left, promising to bring in universal basic income — a state handout to all adults, irrespective of income — to compensate for jobs lost to automation.
He also wants to levy taxes on robots, legalise cannabis, introduce stricter rules on chemical products, and introduce a new corps of state inspectors to combat discrimination.
Valls, prime minister under Hollande until December, had lampooned Hamon’s programme as unworkable and labelled him a dreamer.
The bill for his universal income programme, envisaged for sometime after 2020, was estimated at a staggering 480 billion euros annually by an economic research unit at Sciences Po university in Paris.

French Socialists nominate leftwinger Hamon for president

John Legend: America has to be ‘better’ than Trump (Read full details)

John Legend

Oscar-winning singer-songwriter John Legend implored Hollywood Saturday to stand against Donald Trump, telling the Producers Guild Awards the Republican president’s political outlook was anti-American.

Legend, 38, was at the glitzy ceremony in Beverly Hills to represent the musical “La La Land,” in which he stars opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

“We are the voice, the face of America. Our America is big, it is free and it is open to dreamers of all races, all countries, all religions,” Legend said as he introduced a clip to Damien Chazelle’s acclaimed movie.

“Our vision of America is directly antithetical to that of President Trump and I want specifically tonight reject his vision and affirm that America has to be better than that.”

Legend’s speech came after Trump signed a sweeping executive order to suspend the arrival of refugees for at least 120 days and impose tough new controls on travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen for the next three months.

Since then, travelers from those countries have been stopped from boarding US-bound planes, triggering angry protests and detentions at airports.

“This is a film about love, about dreams and about this lovely city we call home, Los Angeles, California,” continued Legend, who has ten Grammys and an Oscar for penning the song “Glory” for the 2014 civil rights movie “Selma.”

“Los Angeles is the home of so many immigrants, so many creative people, so many dreamers, and those of us who work in this business have the privilege of shaping how the world perceives this country we love.”

Legend said he and his wife were considering not turning up to the awards in solidarity with protesters who have taken to streets and airports against the measure.

Instead, he said, he decided to make a donation to the American Civil Liberties Union.

“There’s a lot of money and power in this room and I hope you will use it for something good,” Legend added.

“Let’s all continue to stand up together for what is right.”

John Legend: America has to be ‘better’ than Trump

Veteran British actor John Hurt dies (Read full details)

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 27, 2015 shows British actor John Hurt giving a speech during a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at Central Hall Westminster in London. Hurt, known for his roles in "Elephant Man" and "Harry Potter", has died aged 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, reports said on January 28, 2017 citing his agent.<br />Chris Jackson / POOL / AFP

Oscar-nominated British actor John Hurt, known for his roles in “Elephant Man” and “Harry Potter”, has died aged 77 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, reports said Saturday citing his agent.

The versatile actor, who played Mr Ollivander in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and in two other films in the series, also starred in the movie adaptation of George Orwell’s novel “1984”.

He also played the role of Kane in “Alien”, who dies when the creature dramatically bursts from his chest.

He was twice nominated for an Oscar, in the best supporting actor category for his performance in the 1978 film “Midnight Express” as Max, a British man imprisoned in Turkey, and for his starring role in “Elephant Man” two years later.

He received a BAFTA award for “Midnight Express” as well as a Golden Globe in the best actor in a supporting role category. His death was confirmed to the British press agency PA by his agent Charles McDonald.

Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood paid tribute to the actor, writing on Twitter: “Very sad to hear of John Hurt’s passing. It was such an honor to have watched you work, sir.”

Among many tributes to flood in following news of his death, American actor Chris Evans described Hurt as “remarkable”.

“John Hurt was one of the most powerful, giving, and effortlessly real actors I’ve ever worked with Remarkable human being. U will be missed,” he wrote on Twitter.

Born on January 22, 1940 in Chesterfield, central England, Hurt first began his career as a teacher of drawing.

But he quickly moved to a life on camera and, after entering the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, he began his career in British film in the 1960s.

But it was at the end of the 1970s when his career definitively took off following back-to-back roles in “Midnight Express” and “Alien”.

Hurt, who appeared in some 140 films, often playing supporting roles, also maintained a strong television presence, making appearances in cult British series Doctor Who among others.

The actor, who received a total of four BAFTAs, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014. His cancer was diagnosed the following year but he did not give up his profession.

For his final role, he played Father Richard McSorley in the biopic “Jackie”, the story of the former American First Lady, which was released in December in the US.

He was however forced to pull out of a play last July on the advice of his doctors. “It is therefore with great sadness and disappointment that I must withdraw,” he said at the time.

Veteran British actor John Hurt dies