Monday Babalas

30 May 2011

Blatter Cleared As FIFA Suspends Hammam – Fifa will open a “full-blown” investigation into allegations that Mohamed bin Hammam and Jack Warner offered financial incentives to members of the Caribbean Football Union and has provisionally suspended them from all football activity. Sepp Blatter will not face an investigation into the allegations that he knew about the payments. [guardian]

ANC Slams Libya Bombing, As Zuma Departs For Visit – The African National Congress on Sunday slammed the bombing of Libya, in a statement on the eve of a visit by President Jacob Zuma to Tripoli for talks with Muammar Gaddafi. Zuma is scheduled to meet Gaddafi on Monday. [ mail&guardian]

Lewis Hamilton Outburst Overshadows Monaco F1 Grand Prix Thriller - As if the Monaco Grand Prix had not already been dramatic enough, Lewis Hamilton’s controversial comments afterwards will ensure it makes even bigger headlines across the world. The McLaren driver quoted Ali G, as he railed against the decision by race stewards to call him to explain his part in two separate incidents during Sunday’s event. [ bbcsport]

Sarkozy Minister Resigns Amid Sexual Assault Allegations – A minister accused of sexually assaulting two women he once worked with resigned Sunday in an apparent bid to spare the French government the kind of notoriety the opposition has faced since its leading man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was charged with attempting to rape a Manhattan hotel maid. Tron, 53, is a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party who joined the government just over a year ago. [ newser]

Saudi Prince Calls For Lower Oil Prices - Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal said Sunday that he wants oil prices to drop so that the United States and Europe don’t accelerate efforts to wean themselves off his country’s supply. In an interview broadcast Sunday on “CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS,” the grandson of the founding king of modern Saudi Arabia said the oil price should be somewhere between $70 and $80 a barrel, rather than the current level of over $100 a barrel. [ cnn]

Has Malema Met His Match? - The man challenging ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema for his position plans to use a “hard-hitting” document to oust him. The league’s Gauteng leader, Lebogang Maile, and his campaign team penned the document last week and in it they accuse Malema of dictatorial tendencies, plundering state resources and dividing the league. [ timeslive]

Worst Ever Carbon Emissions Ever - We’re Getting Nowhere – Greenhouse gas emissions increased by a record amount last year, to the highest carbon output in history, putting hopes of holding global warming to safe levels all but out of reach, according to unpublished estimates from the International Energy Agency. Well done, you failed. [ guardian]

Samsung’s Lawyers Demand To see The iPhone 5 - We always knew the Apple / Samsung lawsuit would produce some major fireworks, and Samsung just lit off a corker: the company filed a motion Friday night asking Apple to turn over the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 as part of the discovery process. Seriously! [ thisismynext]

Duke Of Edinburgh Defends ‘Slitty-eyed’ Gaffe – While on an official visit to China in 1986 he told a group of British exchange students staying in the city of Xian: “If you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed.” However, during a documentary to mark his 90th birthday, he still claims the resulting outcry was disproportionate. [ telegraph + Top 15 Prince Philip Quotes]

Barcelona Win Champions League Final - Lionel Messi scored one goal and created another Saturday, leading Barcelona to a 3–1 victory over Manchester United and a third Champions League title in six years. [ time]

Japanese Plan To Turn Moon Into Mirror-Ball – Plans to turn the moon into a gigantic mirrorball manned by robots to provide all the Earth’s energy came a step closer to reality today when they were unveiled by Japanese scientists. The ambitious project would result in 13,000 terawatts of continuous solar energy being transmitted back to receiving stations on Earth, either by laser or microwave. I’m in! [ dailymail]

Tupac Alive In New Zealand Rumour Spreads Fast, As PBS Gets Hacked – A report is spreading quickly on Facebook and Twitter that famed rapper Tupac Shakur is shockingly “alive and well” in New Zealand, 15 years after he died. This is of course false. Tupac died in Las Vegas in 1996. But the link that is circulating, a PBS Web story, looks entirely legitimate, fueling the rumor. PBS has been hacked. [ huffpo]

Mubarak Fined £55m For Switching Off Internet - Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak and two senior members of his regime have been fined 540 million egyptian pounds (£55m) for cutting off mobile phone and internet services during January’s protests. An administrative court fined Mubarak 200 million pounds (£20m) and former interior minister Habib al-Adly 300 million pounds (£30m). [ skynews]

The Most Complex Movie Ever Made? – Writer-director Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life is many things to many people: a ponderous exercise in non-linear storytelling, a triumph of elliptical moviemaking that just happens to star Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, a plotless and overlong art film, a singular work by an idiosyncratic genius. [dailybeast]

Justin Bieber And Selena Gomez Kiss In Hawaii – Bieber Gets Tattoo – Justin Bieber and his girlfriend Selena Gomez have been pictured kissing on a beach in Hawaii – sparking a mixed reaction from the singer’s legion of fans on Twitter. [ metro]

The Hangover Part II Nails Record Sales, Despite Reviews – “The Hangover Part II” was the top film in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, generating $86.5 million in receipts for Warner Bros., and making it the best debut ever for a comedy. “The Hangover Part II” drew audiences even as poor reviews led to a 65 percent “rotten” rating on Rottentomatoes.com. [ bloomberg]