Tyrone and Armagh unite for emotional farewell to Michaela

By John Campbell
Saturday, 15 January 2011

Alan Lewis - Photopress Belfast

The remains of murdered honeymooner Michaela McAreavey return home last night from Mauritius.

One of the most passionate rivalries in Irish sport will be temporarily shelved when Michaela McAreavey, daughter of Tyrone team boss Mickey Harte, is laid to rest on Monday.

Armagh players will join their Tyrone counterparts in forming a guard of honour at the funeral and last night Red Hands spokesman Damien Harvey recalled this will be a re-enactment of what happened when Cormac McAnallen died suddenly almost seven years ago.

“There is no more intense rivalry within the GAA than Tyrone v Armagh,” stated Harvey. “But we feel that in a sporting context at least this will be the ultimate expression of solidarity with the Harte and McAreavey families.”

When Tyrone won their first All-Ireland title in 2003, Armagh were their victims in the final.

And when they captured ‘Sam’ for a second time two years later, the O’Neill county again lowered the Orchard County colours this time in the semi-final.

While Armagh have landed seven Ulster titles in the last eleven years, Tyrone have three All-Ireland crowns to Armagh’s solitary achievement in 2002.

Harvey added: “But all this counts for little at a time like this.

“It is tremendous to see players rallying round — Michaela was almost as well-known in Armagh.

“We know that we can count on the support of our Orchard County friends at a time like this despite the great rivalry that exists between our counties.”

Tyrone's McKenna Cup match against Fermanagh, scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed until after the funeral.

President McAleese to join mourners at Michaela's funeral

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Alan Lewis - Photopress Belfast

The remains of murdered honeymooner Michaela McAreavey return home last night from Mauritius.

Irish President Mary McAleese will join a string of other dignitaries at Michaela McAreavey's funeral on Monday.

The family of the murdered Mauritius honeymooner accompanied her on a final journey home to Northern Ireland yesterday.

Her widower John was on the flight into Belfast that brought his wife of just 12 days back in her coffin. He wore her engagement and wedding rings on a chain around his neck.

Mrs McAreavey, 27, was strangled to death in their hotel room on Monday. Police suspect she interrupted thieves in her room taking money from a purse.

Three men have been charged in connection with the death and today officers said the alleged killers were hiding in her room when she went in.

The victim was the daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football manager Mickey Harte and his wife Marian.

Mr McAreavey was accompanied on the flight by his father Brendan, his brother Brian and Mrs McAreavey's brother Mark.

There to meet them at the airport was Bishop of Dromore John McAreavey, an uncle of the groom who married them on their wedding day, December 30.

The bride's three brothers were also present to escort her body home.

The coffin was covered with a purple drape as the hearse drove from the airport. The family followed in cars behind.

The procession made its way slowly out of Belfast to Mrs McAreavey's family home near Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, where her parents awaited.

Mrs McAreavey's funeral will be held at St Malachy's Church, Ballymacilroy - the same church where she was married.

Harte tragedy: Mourners pay respects to Michaela McAreavey

Saturday, 15 January 2011

Th hearse carrying the remains of Michaela McAreavey makes its way to her family home as hundreds of people line the streets of the route.

Hundreds of people have gathered in Ballygawley, County Tyrone to pay their respects to Michaela McAreavey at the Harte family home.

The 27-year-old was found dead on Monday, murdered in her honeymoon hotel room in Mauritius.

The bride's long journey back to her devastated parents Mickey and Marian in Co Tyrone ended last night when her coffin was carried into the house she had left a fortnight ago on her wedding day.

Thrilled guests who kissed the young teacher outside St Malachy's Church and wished her well for the future will soon be back at the idyllic chapel half-a-mile off the busy A5, only this time as mourners.

Weather-beaten home-made signs directing her wedding traffic, which provided such a heartrending image in the days after her murder, have now all been taken down.

In their stead hundreds of people gathered on the roadside to pay their respects as the cortege rounded the Ballygawley roundabout and headed for home. It was doubtful anyone was left in the nearby village.

There are few motorists in the north of Ireland who haven't driven round the landmark that links the rural west to the rest of the province.

But for Michaela and Mickey Harte it had significance beyond a road junction.

This is where the father and his only daughter would have jumped on the bus with the rest of the Tyrone GAA team on their way down to Dublin's Croke Park in search of Gaelic footballing glory.

And so many times they would return in joyous mood having found exactly that.

Footballers met there again on this cold January night to form a guard of honour as the girl they treated as a little sister passed by.

Among them the former captain of Tyrone's all-conquering All-Ireland champions Peter Canavan and goalkeeper John Devine. They like dozens of others wore the colours of Mr Harte's home club Errigal Ciaran.

One man who made a special effort to get to the roundabout was Eddie McGuigan, from the village of Benburb 18 miles away.

"I'm a cancer patient and going through a pretty bad time and I wouldn't be fit for Monday's funeral, to maybe walk a mile or stand wet in the rain, so the wife and me said we'd go up today and pass our respects on," he said.

"Even if we only stood on the side of the road and blessed ourselves when the remains were going by, at least we'd done something."

Like the Harte family, Mr McGuigan is a member of the devout Catholic Pioneer abstinence movement.

"The Hartes are such a respected family all over the countryside, being very, very honest, very, very genuine people with their religion," he said.

"It's safe to say they wouldn't know what bigotry was.

"I don't think he will recover, I pray to God he does and comes out again. Those lads in the Tyrone team that he has been working with since 1997, they are a big happy family, this has wrecked that family."

A fellow mourner encapsulated the thoughts in all of the bowed heads.

"It's devastating to think that only 14 days ago she was getting married," she said.

"She was such a good girl, a really decent girl, it's just such a tragedy."

Two miles up the A5 an army of GAA men flanked the junction with the Glencull Road that leads to the Harte house.

They wore the same high-visibility vests they sport when marshalling supporters at the big match.

But even in their worst nightmares this is one event none of them ever thought they'd have to steward.

Tunisia: Deadly jail fire in unrest after Ben Ali exit

15 January 2011 Last updated at 16:22 GMT

A fire has swept though a prison in the Tunisian resort town of Monastir, killing at least 42 people amid continuing unrest following the removal of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Looting hit the suburbs of the capital Tunis after he fled the country on Friday.

Troops are patrolling the city centre and a state of emergency is in force.

The violence came as the Speaker of parliament, Foued Mebazaa, took over as interim president.

He said he had asked Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi - who earlier said he was in temporary charge - to form a national unity government.

In a televised address, Mr Mebazaa said all political parties including the opposition would be consulted.

"All Tunisians without exception and exclusion must be associated in the political process," he said after taking the oath. Under the constitution a new presidential election must be held within 60 days.

The BBC's Wyre Davis, in Tunis, says the political developments come against a backdrop of increasing violence.

A doctor at Monastir hospital told the BBC it had received 42 bodies so far following the prison fire.

The identities of the victims and the cause of the fire are still unclear.

Earlier on Saturday an eyewitness in the city, about 160km (100 miles) south of Tunis, told Reuters news agency: "The whole prison is on fire, the furniture, mattresses, everything."

In Tunis, soldiers and police exchanged fire with gunmen outside the interior ministry, media reports said.

The Associated Press said its reporters had seen "two bodies lying on the ground" - it was not clear who they were, or whether they were dead or injured.

The capital's main thoroughfare, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, was blocked by security forces after an overnight curfew was lifted.

Troops and tanks are protecting official buildings and the streets are largely deserted, correspondents say.

Overnight looting continued into Saturday in the city's suburbs, with French-owned supermarkets among the properties targeted. The city's main railway station has been badly damaged by fire.

Tunis Carthage International Airport, which was closed amid Friday's unrest, re-opened on Saturday. Hundreds of tourists and other foreigners have been trapped there.

Mr Ben Ali's plane refuelled in Sardinia, before going on to Saudi Arabia

Our correspondent says people are now waiting for some indication that the interim administration is prepared to bring in widespread economic and political changes.

Late on Friday Mr Ghannouchi, the prime minister, assumed the interim presidency, saying his "very first priority" was restoring security.

"We are at the service of the Tunisian people. Our country does not deserve everything that is happening. We must regain the trust of citizens in the government," he said.

But on Saturday, the country's Constitutional Council declared that Mr Mebazaa, the Speaker of the lower house of parliament, should be the country's new interim president.

Power change

• 17 Dec: A graduate sets himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid over lack of jobs, sparking protests
• 24 Dec: Protester shot dead in central Tunisia
• 28 Dec: Protests spread to Tunis
• 8-10 Jan: Dozens of deaths reported in crackdown on protests
• 12 Jan: Interior minister sacked
• 13 Jan: President Ben Ali promises to step down in 2014
• 14 Jan: Mr Ben Ali dissolves parliament after new mass rally, then steps down and flees

• Profile: Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

In the past four weeks, protests have swept the country over unemployment, food price rises and corruption. Security forces used live ammunition against protesters and dozens of people died.

The African Union condemned "excessive use of force against the demonstrators". A statement called for no efforts to be spared to avoid any further loss of life.

Mr Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years, conceded power on Friday after the unrest culminated in a giant rally against him in Tunis.

He flew out of Tunisia with his family and, after the French government rejected a request for his plane to land there, was allowed to refuel in Sardinia before landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi palace statement said: "Out of concern for the exceptional circumstances facing the brotherly Tunisian people and in support of the security and stability of their country... the Saudi government has welcomed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family to the kingdom."

French President Nicholas Sarkozy said on Saturday the Tunisian people had "expressed their democratic will" and called for free elections as soon as possible.

Britain's foreign secretary condemned the violence and looting and urged restraint from all sides.

There has been little official reaction from Tunisia's Arab neighbours to the events. On Saturday the Arab League called on Tunisia's political forces "to stand together and unite" to maintain peace.

The UK, the US and France are among the countries advising against non-essential travel to Tunisia.

Mr Ben Ali was only Tunisia's second president since independence from France in 1956. He was last re-elected in 2009 with 89.62% of the vote.

Doctors amputate actress Zsa Zsa Gabor's right leg

15 January 2011 Last updated at 01:54 GMT

Doctors said Gabor is in "frail health" after having her right leg amputated

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor's right leg, which was infected with gangrene, has been amputated in a life-saving surgery her doctors have deemed a success.

She is in "frail health" and will be closely monitored in a Los Angeles hospital, Dr David Rigberg said.

Gabor was hospitalised on 2 January after attempts to save her leg with antibiotics proved unsuccessful.

The 93-year-old has been admitted to hospital a number of times since breaking her hip in July.

"Ms Gabor needed an amputation above her knee due to poor circulation and a large ulcerated area on her right leg," said Dr Rigberg, an associate professor of vascular surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

"The surgery today went well, however, she is in frail health so we will continue to monitor her closely," he said, adding that after consulting with Ms Gabor's husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, he felt amputation was the best decision.

Multiple hospital visits

Gabor had been hospitalised several times for swelling in her legs and blood clots throughout her body, following a hip replacement surgery this summer.

She was readmitted to hospital in the new year because a wound in her right leg had grown and "wasn't healing any more", her publicist John Blanchette said earlier this month.

Gabor had reportedly been bedridden in recent months.

She was in critical condition and had asked for a priest during a trip to the hospital in August, but Gabor soon recovered and was sent home.

The veteran actress was partially paralysed in a car accident in 2002 and suffered a stroke in 2005, forcing her to use a wheelchair.

Gabor starred in the films Moulin Rouge, Touch of Evil and Queen of Outer Space, among others.

Fiat: Turin plant workers accept new conditions

15 January 2011 Last updated at 16:15 GMT

The unions had been divided over the deal at the Mirafiori plant

Workers at a Fiat car plant in Italy have voted to accept changes to working conditions, in a deal that could have widespread implications for industrial relations in the country.

The changes at the Mirafiori factory in Turin include longer hours, cuts in benefits, and limits on strikes.

Fiat's management described them as essential and had threatened to invest abroad if the deal was rejected.

Unions have called the deal "shameful", saying it takes away workers' rights.

Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne has said the new conditions are crucial to reforming the ailing car maker.

He also said the firm would perform better without its loss-making Italian plants.

The changes were accepted by 54% of those who voted in the referendum at the Mirafiori factory.

The left-wing Fiom, which opposed the deal, said a deciding factor was support from white-collar workers.

The BBC Duncan Kennedy in Rome says that by forging an agreement for an individual plant, Fiat has broken Italy's tradition of national negotiations.

The changes also brings Italy closer to other countries like the UK and Germany, where more flexible deals have been in place for many years, our correspondent adds.

Venezuela anger at 'mocking' Colombia soap opera

15 January 2011 Last updated at 10:56 GMT

Mr Chavez's critics say he is trying to muzzle the media to prevent criticism

Venezuela has told a private TV company to stop showing a Colombian soap opera it says is insulting to the country.

Chepe Fortuna stars a character called Colombia and her sister Venezuela, who owns a dog called Little Hugo, the same name as Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.

In one episode Venezuela loses Little Hugo, prompting Colombia to tell her she is better off without him.

The spat comes as the countries are making efforts to improve their historically strained relationship.

They restored relations last August, shortly after President Juan Manuel Santos took office in Colombia.

Venezuela's telecommunications regulator Conatel said the secretary character named Venezuela was "repeatedly characterised as associated with crime, interference and vulgarity".

“Start Quote

It is a folkloric tradition with the sole intention of entertaining the people ”

End Quote Miguel Angel Baquero Producer, Chepe Fortuna

Her gossipy and unscrupulous manner, it said, showed "the shameless manipulation of the plot to demoralise the Venezuelan people".

Conatel ordered the Televen channel to take the programme off air on Thursday night. The channel has not yet commented on the demands.

But the show's producer, Miguel Angel Baquero, denied the programme was promoting political intolerance.

"It is a folkloric tradition with the sole intention of entertaining the people and showing how the humour of the people of Colombia's coast lets two sisters be called Colombia and Venezuela," he said in a statement.

It is not the first time Televen has come under fire from the authorities.

In 2009 it was one of several countries ordered to stop showing episodes of the US cartoon Family Guy, over its apparent endorsement of the use of marijuana.

And in 2008, the channel was forced to broadcast public service films as a punishment after it broadcast episodes of The Simpsons - a cartoon the authorities consider inappropriate for children - in the morning.

Mr Chavez maintains tight control over the media in Venezuela - opposition groups accuse him of trying prevent coverage of political discontent.