Algeria adopts landmark constitutional reforms

Former prime minister Ali Benflis criticised the reforms as a "constitutional power grab" [Reuters]

Algeria's parliament has adopted a package of constitutional reforms that authorities say will strengthen the country's democratic stature, but opponents doubt it will bring real change.

The reforms are meant to address longstanding public grievances in the North African nation, and possibly to prepare for a smooth transition amid concerns over the health of 78-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

The package was passed by 499 votes to two, with 16 abstentions, Senate speaker Abdelkader Bensalah said.

A two-term limit on the presidency - lifted in 2008 to allow Bouteflika to run for a third time - will be reintroduced and the president will be required to nominate a prime minister from the largest party in parliament.

Bouteflika - whose public engagements have become rare since suffering a stroke in 2013 - will be allowed to finish his fourth term, which ends in 2019, and run for a fifth if he wishes.

The package also prevents Algerians with dual nationality from running for high posts in public office, which has sparked criticism among the Franco-Algerian community.

It foresees the creation of an independent electoral commission and recognition of the roles of women and youth. Freedoms of assembly and the press will be explicitly guaranteed.

The Amazigh language spoken by the indigenous Berber population will also be recognised as official, alongside Arabic.

After the vote, Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal hailed the president as "the architect of the new Algerian republic".

But critics disagree, saying the reforms are little more than a show and will do little to reduce the influence of the powerful elite, including Bouteflika's National Liberation Front party and army generals.

'Constitutional power grab'

Former lawmaker and regime opponent Djamel Zenati said that "with the current revision, our country's constitution finally brings together the main elements necessary to build a democracy".

But as "violating laws has become the law" in Algeria, it is hard to believe those in power are being even "the slightest bit sincere", he wrote in El Watan newspaper.

ormer prime minister Ali Benflis, who was Bouteflika's rival in the 2014 presidential polls, slammed the reforms as a "constitutional power grab" to "solve only the regime's - not the country's - problems".

The president and his supporters have moved in recent months to take control of the security services, dissolving the powerful Department of Intelligence and Security and jailing or sidelining top officials.

Bouteflika and his inner circle have held a firm grip on power since 1999 and, as the end of his rule appears to close in, there are fears of instability in the mainly Muslim country of 40 million.

Beyoncé Announces Formation World Tour After Super Bowl 50 Halftime Performance

Looks like “Formation” wasn’t the only surprise Beyoncé had in store for this weekend: the singer announced a new world tour after performing with Coldplay.

After performing her new single—which she surprise-released the day before the Super Bowl—and having a dance battle with Bruno Mars during Coldplay’s set, a TV spot announcing The Formation World Tour played at the conclusion of the Super Bowl 50 halftime show.

While full dates have not been announced, the 40-date tour will kick off on April 27, according to Billboard.

Beyoncé’s last tour was the On the Run Tour, which was a co-headlining tour with her husband Jay Z, in 2014

Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show Transcended Expectations

A Super Bowl halftime show whose early going promised to make it one of the franchise’s worst ever managed to evolve, briskly, into something far more interesting; a meta-commentary on various star personas and on the Super Bowl halftime show itself.

The segment of the show belonging solely to Coldplay was the set’s worst. Though the band was the halftime show’s notional headliners, it was the least relevant-seeming of the three acts onstage. Bruno Mars and Beyoncé had been invited, the language around the show suggested, as a nod to the franchise’s “history,” and yet they felt far more urgent and intriguing than the British band, whose act was also plagued by significant audio problems. Lead singer Chris Martin’s onstage leaps felt like an attempt to gin up the sort of enthusiasm that Mars, with the opening bars of his hit “Uptown Funk,” generated organically.

Mars and Beyoncé are a part of halftime show history, sure, but it’s very recent history. They performed on the world’s biggest stage two and three years ago, respectively. (One wonders whether Katy Perry, last year’s headliner, felt snubbed.) Before the show began, I was among those who questioned what, exactly, the pair of performers were thinking: Beyoncé in particular seemed to have said everything she needed to say with a refined and incredibly ambitious Super Bowl solo set. Why tempt the fates by going for a second act, as someone else’s support?

And yet the two transcended not merely expectations but Coldplay’s tepid set. Indeed, the British band practically disappeared for minutes as first Mars, then Beyoncé performed recent hits, “Uptown Funk” and Beyoncé’s new hit “Formation,” then took part in a dance-off. That the latter star announced the Formation World Tour in an ad immediately following the set felt apt; she has clearly entered a new era, building on the themes of social consciousness and complicated feminism present in her prior work (and in her 2013 Super Bowl set). Mars had a new hit to perform; Beyoncé, in putting forward a new song that’s about her pride in her race and dressing in militaristic regalia that recalled the Michael Jackson of 1993, had new things to say.

Strangely, what the halftime show did best, though, was fun. Not the forced fun of Chris Martin giddily skipping through songs from 2008, but the genuine (or genuine-seeming) enthusiasm of Beyoncé and Bruno Mars’s dance-off to “Uptown Funk,” or, once Martin re-entered the fray, the trio singing about the history of the halftime show as images played.

Sure, it was meant as a paean to all halftime shows, or a platonic ideal of celebrity spectacle that exists only in the viewer’s imagination. But the one it specifically recalled was the 2001 show, in which NSYNC, Aerosmith, and Britney Spears cavorted in a loose, carefree way, more concerned with projecting an image of fun and inclusiveness than hitting their marks. Beyoncé’s choreography in “Formation” was impressive, as were the visual effects overlaid on the field. But what was most unusual for a franchise whose recent years have been marked by decadent costuming and extravagant stagecraft was just how much it seemed all involved were genuinely enjoying themselves, unfreighted by ideas of building their fame (Coldplay has been successful for years now, and Beyoncé and Mars have nothing to prove). Rarely has a break in play during the year’s most-watched TV event seemed quite so refreshing.

Beyoncé’s Amazing Recovery From a Near-Fall During the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show

It may have been a Coldplay show, but all anyone can talk about is Beyoncé.

The singer, who headlined the game in 2013, made her triumphant return to the halftime show stage on Sunday during Coldplay’s set at Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

While performing her new song “Formation,” which she dropped one day before Super Bowl 50 without warning, it looked like the usually “Flawless” singer almost slipped during one of the dance breaks—but only almost.

The singer’s recovery, which was captured and shared widely on social media, is almost more impressive than if she had nailed the move in the first place—and a reminder of just how hard it is to pull off those moves while making it look like you woke up like this.

Her quick footwork wasn’t Beyoncé’s only victory on Sunday: she also ended the show by announcing a new world tour that kicks off in April.

Beyonce releases gritty new song ahead of Super Bowl appearance

Another Beyonce surprise project has lit up social media and caused a frenzy of excitement a day before the superstar's planned Super Bowl performance.
Beyonce released "Formation" on Saturday as a free download on her artist page for the streaming service, Tidal, which she co-owns with husband Jay Z, Rihanna and other artists. The song, along with a music video, was released as a gift to her fans and it can be downloaded without having a subscription to Tidal.

Formation" is a gritty street anthem that, perhaps not coincidentally for Black History Month, has lyrics that express black pride with an exclamation point. One lyric: "I like my Negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils."

And a cheeky line about her man's sexual prowess earning him a trip to Red Lobster had the seafood chain a top trending topic on Twitter Saturday afternoon.

The video features a brief cameo from her daughter, Blue Ivy, who dances with a group of young girls.

Beyonce will perform at the halftime show at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with Coldplay and Bruno Mars. Beyonce headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2013 in New Orleans.

At the end of 2013 Beyonce dropped the album "Beyonce" unannounced on iTunes; it went platinum in days.

Benghazi Attack Haunts Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire

Just three days before the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton was confronted Saturday at a town hall meeting by one of her Republican critics’ most common attacks.

A woman who identified herself as a 2008 Hillary Clinton supporter, but whose identity was not confirmed, asked the former secretary of state to assuage some doubts she had been having over the Benghazi attacks. In a quiet voice, the woman pointed to an email Clinton sent to her daughter on the night of the Benghazi attack that suggested terrorists were responsible for the killing of Ambassador Chris Steven. She asked why Clinton had spoken of protests over an anti-Islamic video in public. “What seemed to have come out was that you were pushing the video paradigm, when you were writing an email to your daughter that said the opposite,” she said at New England College in Henniker, N.H. 

The Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi might just as well have phoned in. “You tell the American people one thing, you tell your family an entirely different story,” Republican Rep. Jim Jordan lectured during Clinton’s Benghazi hearing in October.

The reality of Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi situation is not so cut and dry, but Clinton’s answer in New Hampshire demonstrated her challenge. She continues to struggle to translate the complex details of a hectic response to an attack in Libya into a easily parsable campaign trail message for voters.

There was a “fog of war,” Clinton told her inquisitor, and it took a long time to figure out what had happened. The Benghazi incident was a terrorist attack, and shortly after the incident, she said as much. “Both President Obama and I, we called it a terrorist attack. We said it was an attack by terrorists,” Clinton said.

What has inflamed many Republicans is Clinton’s first statement from the night of the attack in 2012. In that press release, Clinton did not call the attack an act of terror. She also made reference to an anti-Muslim video, which had sparked protests in Egypt, noting that others had suggested that the Libya attacks were related to the same video. “Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” the statement read. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.” Hours later, Clinton emailed her daughter, Chelsea, saying that the attack was committed by an “Al Qaeda-like group.” 

In Henniker, Clinton said there was no effort to mislead the public. “There was no clear understanding and there wasn’t for many many days,” she said. “But the first claim of responsibility for Benghazi came from a group, a terrorist group that claimed responsibility and after that happened that’s when I communicated with my daughter. That it looks like, clearly there was an attack, but both President Obama and I, we called it a terrorist attack. We said it was an attack by terrorists. Between the time I told my daughter that and the next day that group withdrew their claim of responsibility.”

At the House hearing, Clinton explained it differently, pointing out that her initial public statement never explicitly connected the video with the terror attack. She also said then that the statement was meant to send a broader message to the region, warning that attacks over the video were unacceptable. That has not stopped Republicans from attacking her on the stump for having two different stories. “She spent over a week telling the families of those victims and the American people that [the attack] was because of a video,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said in October. Clinton, he says regularly, is a “liar.”

“I have to tell you I know this is a meme,” Clinton said Saturday. “This is a constant claim by some in the media, some on the right, some in the Republican Party. . . . But all you have to do is look at the time line. Did the video play a part? It certainly played a part in all the other attacks we were under.”

Clinton has forcefully denied there was a cover-up, and independent investigators have uncovered no evidence of intentional deception by Obama administration officials. Ansar al-Sharia, the group that at first claimed responsibility for the attack, withdrew its claim the next day. The reticence by the Obama Administration to call that attack terrorism did not last long. President Obama explained in the Rose Garden the day after the Benghazi attack that it was an “act of terrorism.” Administration officials have since maintained that the attack would have been “terrorism,” even if there was no other motive than a protest of the video.

Clinton tried to explain some of this nuance to the audience on Saturday. She added the terrorist attack at Benghazi could very well have been incited by the anti-Islamic video, and there was evidence to show it. “Did the ringleader who we arrested and now have in this country for trial say [the video] played a part? He did,” Clinton said. “Were they terrorists? Yes they were. Those are not in contradiction.”

The questions about Benghazi appear to have taken a toll on Clinton. Her trustworthiness, which has also been battered by a debate over the proper handling of her private email accounts, has sunk significantly among independents and even slightly among some Democrats, polls show. “Hillary is a liar. Benghazi is a big problem,” said Sean Adkins, a Democrat and native of Waterloo, Iowa who supports Bernie Sanders. One of the most pointed questions Clinton faced during a CNN town hall last week in Iowa came from a student who said, “I’ve heard from quite a few people my age that they think you’re dishonest.” An ABC/Washington Post poll released last month shows that while Clinton is the favorite of most Democrats by a significant margin, Democrats think Sanders is more honest by a margin of 48% to 36%.

Clinton, for her part, has said she will stand up to partisan attacks on her record. “Why is this being used as a great political issue? I really regret it is,” Clinton said at Henniker. She added that the investigations into Benghazi have been exhaustive, compared with other crises like the September 11th attacks. “I regret that four brave Americans whose lives have been lost serving our country has been put in the middle of what is a very political effort. I just think it’s wrong and I don’t think it should continue.”

Netanyahu seeks to suspend Palestinian politicians

Hanin Zoabi has been given a six-month suspended sentence for 'insulting' police officers [File: Atef Safadi/EPA]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed a bill that would suspend lawmakers who follow in the footsteps of three Palestinian members of the Knesset, including Hanin Zoabi, who visited relatives of alleged Palestinian attackers.

Netanyahu's proposal on Sunday came after an Israeli court handed a six-month suspended sentence to Zoabi for insulting public officials in a separate case.  

As part of Zoabi's plea deal, the court also issued her a fine of 3,000 Israeli shekels ($750), placing her on parole for three years and stripping her of parliamentary immunity. 

The charges were levelled against Zoabi after she called Arab police officers "traitors" during protests held in 2014 in Nazareth, a Palestinian city in the Galilee region of northern Israel. 

Zoabi is a senior member in the Balad faction of the Joint List, a popular electoral coalition among the estimated 1.7 million Palestinians who carry Israeli citizenship and live across the country. 

"Hanin Zoabi was sentenced for protesting against police treatment of young people during demonstrations, against torture, against arrests," Jamal Zahalka, a legislator from the Joint List, told Al Jazeera. 

"It will not stop us from struggling for our civic and human rights," Jamal added. 

During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said he would promote the bill that, if passed, would require 90 votes in order expel Knesset members for "unseemly behaviour". 

He announced the bill after Zoabi, Zahalka and fellow legislator Bassel Ghattas met with the families of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces while allegedly attacking Israelis. 

Zahalka said the proposal would be "anti-democratic and crazy" by enabling Knesset members to "throw democratically elected lawmakers" out of the parliament. 

"Netanyahu is doing this because he wants to gain more cheap popularity points by inciting against Arabs," he added. 

Netanyahu and Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein also filed a formal complaint against the three in the parliament's Ethics Committee. 

Netanyahu accused Zoabi, Zahalka and Ghattas of "comfort[ing] the families of murderers, people who murdered Israeli citizens". 

"Many Israeli citizens do not feel that these MKs represent them. We are making great efforts, a great investment to involve Arab citizens in Israeli society and [these legislators] do the exact opposite, they build walls of hatred," Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting on Sunday. 

From left to right, Arab lawmakers Hanin Zoabi, Bassel Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka [File: EPA/Israel Hayom]

"I would like to examine new and reinforced legislative changes to ensure that anyone who acts in this direction - will not serve in the Israeli Knesset."

Amjad Iraqi, an international advocacy coordinator at Haifa-based Adalah Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights, accused Israeli leaders of double standards. 

"The key thing here is the pure double standard with which these kinds of measures are applied," he told Al Jazeera. 

Iraqi alluded to Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's recent visit to the the mother of an Israeli teenager accused of participating in an arson attack that killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank town of Duma last July.  

In December, Shaked, a member of the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party, met with the unnamed suspect's motherand Adi Kedar, a lawyer for Honenu, a group that provides legal support to Jewish settlers accused of attacking Palestinians. 

Iraqi also mentioned that Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett employs Nathan Nathanson, an Israeli who was a member of the Jewish Underground, considered a "terrorist" organisation by Israel. 

In 1985, Nathanson was sentenced to three years in prison for his involvement in three separate car bombings targeting Palestinian mayors in the West Bank five years prior. 

"Regardless of what one may think of visiting families on either side, the fact that Netanyahu only sees a problem when Palestinians are the ones doing the visiting illustrates the very targeted and discriminatory nature in which the government approaches what Palestinian lawmakers can and cannot do," Iraqi added. 

According to Adalah's online database, Palestinian citizens of Israel face dozens of discriminatory laws that limit their access to state resources and muzzle their political expression.