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To: maceng2 who wrote (694)	1/8/2005 1:48:17 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 1417

The power of Springer. Even able to make an argument in the UK with people who are supposed to know more. What a bunch of suckers.. ananova.com Tories join row over Springer opera The BBC has been accused of using shock tactics as the row over its screening of the Jerry Springer musical moved into the political arena. Critics have alleged that the show, to be shown uncut on BBC2 on Saturday night, features more than 8,000 swear words and have been angered by scenes showing Jesus in a nappy admitting he is "a bit gay". The BBC insist there are less than 300 hundred offensive words in the opera, even under the broadest definition of the term, including 117 'f-words' and seven 'c-words'. The disputed 8,000 figure is arrived at by multiplying the number of swear words by the number of people singing them in the show. The BBC has received around 45,000 calls and letters over the issue but stressed that some correspondence had been supportive of the decision to air the musical. Meanwhile, prayer group Christian Voice will hold a vigil outside BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, west London. The storm took on a political dimension after Tory deputy leader Michael Ancram joined the criticism. He said: "You can choose to go to the theatre, you can decide that you want to pay a sum of money to go to see something. That is where you go to see freedom of expression." Speaking on BBC Radio Four's Any Questions? he added: "Public service television, I believe, has another duty and that is to exercise a degree of caution which is not there for the theatre to exercise. "I ask the question about the motives of the BBC in putting this on. They haven't advertised it as a great cultural event. They have advertised it as an occasion when we are going to have 3,000 of one type of word and 1,000 of another type of word. "What they are trying to do is to get people to watch it because they think it is going to shock them. I don't think it is the duty of the BBC to do that." The decision to broadcast Jerry Springer - The Opera has sparked a record 7,361 complaints to TV watchdogs and protesters have burned symbolic TV licences over the issue.

To: maceng2 who wrote (694)	1/10/2005 5:19:57 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1417

Kuchma orders troops to withdraw from Iraq news.ft.com Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine's outgoing president, upstaged Viktor Yushchenko, Orange Revolution leader, on Monday by ordering an early withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Iraq. Mr Kuchma announced the decision just after the Central Election Commission anointed Mr Yushchenko as president-elect. Mr Kuchma's order was made in response to the deaths of eight Ukrainian soldiers in a blast in Iraq at the weekend, but it pre-empted Mr Yushchenko, who had made withdrawal from Iraq one of his key campaign promises. Although his presidential campaign had US backing, Mr Yushchenko had accused Mr Kuchma of pandering to the Bush government in an attempt to soften its criticism of his regime. Mr Kuchma had warm ties with Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government and opposed the US-led war, but he agreed to contribute troops after the fall of Mr Hussein, arguing that Ukraine should stay involved in Iraq to protect Kiev's economic interests. Mr Yushchenko, a pro-western liberal who has pledged to improve ties with the US and the European Union, won a re-run presidential election last month. He won 52 per cent of the vote against 44 per cent for Viktor Yanukovich, the Russian-backed former prime minister, according to the country's election commission, which was set to formalise the results on Monday night. Mr Yushchenko reiterated his pledge to pull out Ukraine's 1,600 troops from Iraq on Sunday, soon after the blast, and also promised personally to oversee an investigation, which a defence ministry spokesman said had uncovered evidence of possible sabotage. Olexander Kuzmuk, the outgoing defence minister, said in a televised address that one battalion of Ukrainian troops would be withdrawn in March or April, with the rest coming home in two to three months. Although Mr Yanukovich resigned as prime minister last week, his ministers remain in their jobs and continue to take directions from Mr Kuchma, who has clung to the presidency despite having been forced to abandon his offices in central Kiev in November by the Orange Revolution's massive street protests. Mr Yanukovich has managed to hold up the transfer of power to Mr Yushchenko by filing numerous appeals to the Supreme Court. Mr Yanukovich maintains that he legitimately won the right to be president in an earlier election in November that the Supreme Court ruled was spoiled by fraud. Mr Yanukovich's campaign chief promised also to appeal against Monday night's results ruling, in what would be the final obstacle to Mr Yushchenko's inauguration, which his spokeswoman said could be held as early as Sunday. Mr Yushchenko would then need parliament to confirm a new prime minister, who he is expected to name later this week.