Saturday, December 31, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany's cult New Year's Eve show 'Dinner For One' – where an increasingly drunken waiter tries to keep up with the demands of his eccentric mistress – has been reworked to feature German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy as her servant.
The Prime Minister was accused of rewarding his party’s “friends in the City” after a knighthood was given to Paul Ruddock for services to the arts and a CBE to Gerald Ronson for his charity donations.
Mr Ruddock, a hedge fund manager, profited from the collapse of Northern Rock and donated £500,000 to the Conservatives.
His company used a practice known as “short selling” to bet on shares in the bank falling. Northern Rock subsequently failed and had to be rescued by the taxpayer.
Mr Ronson, a millionaire property developer, was convicted of theft, conspiracy and accounting fraud following the Guinness scandal in 1990.
He served six months of a one-year sentence and has always denied any wrongdoing.
The business tycoon, whose company built the tallest skyscraper in the City of London, has since given much of his fortune to charity. His wife also recently received an honour.
The Cabinet Office refused to confirm whether the honour was the first senior award to be given to someone who has been convicted of a crime. » | Rowena Mason, and Robert Winnett | Saturday, December 31, 2011
What a load of sh** the New Year's Honours List is! It should be scrapped. It is BS from start to finish. Is this man a former member of the Bullington Club, I wonder? Cameron is looking sleazier by the minute. – © Mark
This comment also appears here
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New Year Honours 2012: full list of recipients – Here is a full list of recipients of the New Year Honours 2012. » | Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: ‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through Nigeria, not a creature was stirring except for the members of the militant Islamic sect Boko Haram, preparing to bomb Christian churches across the country and setting on fire the cars of worshippers inside a church just outside of Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state.
Christmastime in the United States now brings with it a new tradition that is becoming as familiar as eggnog, mistletoe, and the Macy’s Parade: skirmishes in the ongoing cultural war on Christmas. But as the recent attacks in Nigeria prove, in Muslim lands around the world there is also a very real and very violent war on Christmas, or more specifically on Christians themselves minding their own business in peaceful celebration of the birth of Jesus.
In Iraq, for example, all Christian services and masses were scheduled for daylight hours. Why? “Midnight Christmas Mass has been canceled in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk as a consequence of the never-ending assassinations of Christians,” bluntly stated Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. In Egypt, where we are witnessing the outright, state-assisted genocide of the dwindling Coptic Christian population, churches were also threatened with violence. Christian prisoners in Pakistan, incarcerated for such crimes as blasphemy against Islam, were refused Christmas Day visits from their families. Read on and comment » | Mark Tapson | Friday, December 30, 2011
JIHAD WATCH: It probably comes as no surprise to Jihad Watch's regular readers that certain countries in the Middle East continue to traffic in slaves from Africa, with the authorities either indifferent or as willing accomplices. While we've written on this before, there's now a novel twist. According to a recent media report, homosexual men in Kenya are lured to certain Middle Eastern countries with the false promises of lucrative legitimate employment, only to find themselves in involuntary servitude of the worse kind--as chattel and sex slaves of rich families and individuals. Remember, in Arabic the word for 'black' and 'slave' is the same: abed.
Islamic supremacists constantly lambaste the supposedly 'immoral' West for permitting homosexuality and even legalizing gay marriage in some jurisdictions -- homosexuality is in fact a capital crime in five Muslim-controlled countries. But these same supremacists, along with every Muslim government, hypocritically and blatantly ignore the ongoing Muslim trafficking of homosexuals (and others) for the explicit and sole purpose of sex. Read on and comment » | Posted by The Anti-Jihadist | December 30, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syrian forces were accused of firing nail bombs to disperse protesters as tens of thousands of people flooded streets to make their voices heard to Arab monitors.
Protesters called for the removal and prosecution of President Bashar al-Assad, whose autocratic regime has been blamed for the deaths of more than 5,000 people since pro-reform protests erupted in March.
Activists urged monitors, who started this week a mission to implement an Arab League peace plan, to protect civilians from the regime's wrath.
"We urge you to make a clear distinction between the assassin and the victim," activists of the Syrian Revolution 2011 said in a statement posted on their Facebook page.
"Our revolution which was launched nine months ago is peaceful," they said.
The death toll rose again Friday, with at least five civilians killed by gunfire as Syrian forces dispersed crowds of protesters around the country, while four people died in an ambush by government troops, a watchdog said. » | Friday, December 30, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Maldives government has ordered all spas in resorts to be closed after protests by an Islamist party which claimed they were being used as a front for prostitution.
The tourism ministry told all resort hotels across the islands to shut their spas and health centres with immediate effect.
"An Islamic party has been agitating against spas hoping to embarrass the government," a senior government figure told the AFP news agency.
Last week the opposition Adhaalath party, a conservative religious movement, staged a protest in the capital Male against such spas, arguing that they were being used as brothels. The party's website features an article criticising "lustful music".
Tourism is crucial for the economy of the Maldives, and the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry said the ban would harm the economy.
Popular with honeymooning couples and celebrities, luxury rooms in resorts on the islands can cost up to $12,000 (£7,748) a day. » | Barney Henderson | Friday, December 30, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Any hopes that North Korea may soften its rhetoric under Kim Jong-un were dashed overnight, as Pyongyang released an uncompromising message to foreign powers.
“We declare solemnly and confidently that the foolish politicians around the world, including the puppet group in South Korea, should not expect any change from us,'' the country’s powerful National Defence Commission, or NDC, announced in a statement read out in strident tones by a state television anchor on Friday.
North Korea propaganda routinely refers to South Korea as a “puppet” of the United States.
The statement, the first on North-South relations since Kim Jong-il's memorial ceremonies ended, added that the North would never deal with the “traitor group” of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
The conservative Lee ditched his two predecessors’ decade-long “Sunshine Policy” of pro-North engagement, and halted all tours to the joint North-South tourism resort at Mount Kumgang – a significant cash cow for Pyongyang – after the shooting of a South Korean tourist there by a North Korean soldier in 2008.
And following 2010’s North Korean naval and military attacks that killed 50 South Koreans, Lee halted most humanitarian aid and all high-level contact with the North.
The NDC also criticised the Lee administration for not sending a national delegation to Kim Jong-il's funeral. » | Andrew Salmon in Seoul | Friday, December 30, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: North Korea warns the world: no change in policy under Kim Jong-un – Defence commission sends uncompromising message to 'foolish politicians including the puppet forces in South Korea' ¶ Hopes for a new era of engagement with North Korea have faded after the country's powerful defence commission warned the world not to expect a change in policy under its new leader, Kim Jong-un. ¶ The announcement broadcast by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Friday, effectively dashed hopes that Kim might be ready to engage with South Korea and the wider international community. ¶ In comments attributed to the national defence commission, the agency said "foolish politicians" should expect no change in policy and threatened South Korea's conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, with a "sea of fire". » | Justin McCurry in Osaka | Friday, December 30, 2011
Inaki Urdangarin, 43, a former Olympic athlete who carries the title Duke of Palma, will face court as part of an investigation into accusations that a non-profit organisation he ran was siphoning off funds from the regional government of the Balearic Islands – Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
The Noos Institute, which the duke ran from 2004 to 2006, is accused of misusing millions of euros in public funds.
The case has made the front pages of Spanish newspapers for weeks, but a judge's decision to name Mr Urdangarin as a formal suspect took the scandal to a new level.
The former handball player, who is married to King Juan Carlos's younger daughter, Princess Cristina, will have to appear in court in Palma, the capital of Majorca, on Feb 6.
He has not been charged with any crime and denies any wrongdoing.
But the ex-sportsman, who represented his country at three Olympic Games, apologised publicly this month for the embarrassment his legal problems were causing the royals. » | Nick Squires in Rome | Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
The daughter of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has hired an Israeli lawyer to petition the international criminal court [sic] to investigate the circumstances of the death of her father.
Aisha Gaddafi, who fled Libya in August before the capture and killing of her father by opposition forces, claims to have been caused "severe emotional distress" by the images of his death and the treatment of his body.
Nick Kaufman, a former senior prosecutor at the ICC and now an international lawyer based in Jerusalem, wrote to the ICC prosecutor Jose Luis Moreno-Ocampo earlier this month to demand an immediate investigation.
Gaddafi and his son Mutassim, Aisha's brother, "were murdered in the most horrific fashion with their bodies thereafter displayed and grotesquely abused in complete defiance of Islamic law. The images of this savagery were broadcast throughout the world causing my client severe emotional distress," said the letter, which has been seen by the Guardian. » | Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem | Thursday, December 29, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Vatican's official newspaper has given strong endorsement to research by Italian scientists which suggests that the Turin Shroud cannot be a medieval fake and may be the authentic burial cloth of Christ.
"For science, the shroud continues to be an 'impossible object' – impossible to falsify," L'Osservatore Romano said in a lengthy article on Thursday.
After conducting five years of advanced laser experiments, a team of experts from Enea, the National Agency for New Technologies and Energy, concluded that the imprint of a bearded man's face and crucified body could not be reproduced by modern scientific techniques.
The 14-ft-long, 3.5-ft-wide cloth was therefore not a medieval fake, the team said.
They concluded that the iconic image was created by "some form of electromagnetic energy (such as a flash of light at short wavelength)".
The researchers presented their results with "extreme caution" and had stopped short of putting forward theories that "strayed from science", the Vatican daily said.
But the implication of their work was that the enigmatic marks on the cloth were created at the moment of Christ's Resurrection by some sort of miracle. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Thursday, December 29, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Head of Christian group criticises Muslim leaders and government for failing to intervene after series of deadly attacks
Christian leaders in Nigeria have accused Muslims of making a "declaration of war" after a series of fatal attacks, raising fears of sectarian conflict.
Islamist militants targeted churches in a series of explosions on Christmas Day, leaving more than 40 people dead and dozens wounded. On Tuesday a Christian couple and their one-year-old baby were shot dead.
Stirring tensions further, on the same day unknown attackers lobbed a crude homemade bomb into an Islamic school in Delta state, wounding seven people including six children in an Arabic class.
Nigeria is largely divided into a Muslim north and Christian south, although members of the two faiths live everywhere across the country, do business together and intermarry.
With the shadowy Islamist sect Boko Haram stepping up deadly attacks in recent months, Christian leaders have warned that they will take action to protect themselves. » | David Smith in Johannesburg | Thursday, December 29, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Special envoy warns religious groups are focused and organised while progressives need support and unity
Tony Blair has called on the west to do more to help "liberal and democratic" elements in the Middle East and north Africa following the Arab spring – or risk the formation of new Islamist governments that are not "genuine" democracies.
Admitting countries such as Britain and the US had previously been "too reluctant to push dictatorships on a path to democracy", the former prime minister said they now had to be clearer on their view of democracy "because the trouble really in the region is the more religious and extreme elements are very well organised and the liberal and democratic types basically aren't".
Blair, the special envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East (the UN, US, EU and Russia), regretted previous failures to promote "a concept of evolutionary change", predicting the recent revolutions would cause quite a lot of difficulty, citing, as an example, Egyptian growth rates and tourism difficulties. » | James Melkie | Thursday, December 29, 2011
BBC: Sir Victor Blank has taken a keen interest in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians for many years.
The Today programme's Sarah Montague met with former prime minister and current envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair to talk about the role that political leadership could, or should, play in the region's conflict resolution. Listen to BBC audio » | BBC Today | Thursday, December 29, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: The Year of Revolution: As the leaders of Syria and Bahrain cling to power, Patrick Cockburn explains how they have managed to resist the protesters – and wonders whether they can survive another 12 months
In three of the Arab countries east of Egypt – Syria, Bahrain and Yemen – protesters have challenged their governments over the past year but failed to overthrow them. The reasons for those failures are very different though they have important points in common. In each of these states protesters were frustrated because a significant part of the population had a lot to lose if the ruling elite were reformed or overthrown.
In Syria and Bahrain religious identity helps explain loyalty to the powers-that-be. Protesters in Bahrain might insist that their programme was secular and democratic, but everybody knew that a fair poll would affect revolutionary change by putting the majority Shia in power instead of the minority Sunni. In Syria, similarly, democracy means that the Sunni, three quarters of the population, would effectively replace the Alawites, a heterodox Shia sect, as rulers of the state. » | Patrick Cockburn | Thursday, December 29, 2011
The nationwide memorial ceremony for North Korea’s departed leader wrapped up two days of brilliantly choreographed mourning events while setting a very public seal on the successorship of the third-generation Kim family member to hold power in Pyongyang.
Thursday’s memorial was less emotional than Wednesday’s funeral, but like the previous event, demonstrated that the regime has not lost any of its power to mobilise masses. Hundreds of thousands of people were packed into Kim Il-sung Square in the heart of the capital.
It also indicated that the Korean People’s Army, which played a prominent role in the funeral ceremony, remains central to this hardline, ultra-nationalist state dominated by a “military first” policy. The crowd appeared to be predominantly, though not entirely, composed of soldiers.
Above all, it was the clearest sign yet that the third-generation succession of the Kim dynasty is a sealed deal.
The young leader Kim Jong-un’s only official title is vice-chairman of the Korean Workers Party Central Military Commission, but he has, following his father Kim Jong-il’s passing on Dec 17, been lauded by state media as “successor” and “leader”. » | Andrew Salmon in Seoul | Thursday, December 29, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Kim Jong-un declared 'supreme leader' in North Korea: Kim Jong-un publicly endorsed as new leader as crowds gather at memorial service for his father Kim Jong-il » | Justin McCurry in Osaka | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
JDJOURNAL: Victoria Jackson, the former Saturday Night Live cast member, obtained confidential information that she had special clearance for while working as a web talk show host. Jackson claims that the United States is being overrun by radical Muslims who are bent on bringing the nation under Sharia Law, according to the Huffington Post.
“I just went to a briefing in Washington DC, across the street from the Capitol, at the Longworth building at 8:30 am two days ago and it changed my life,” Jackson said last week on her web show, “Politichicks.” “For six hours, I saw pictures and names and dates and facts and Islamic law books and Korans, Surahs for six hours and they proved to me… that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our highest positions in government and this is serious.” » | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
"The Islamic Awakening which has started in Islamic countries has created a political earthquake in the western countries," Larijani said, addressing a meeting with Foreign Ministry top officials, heads of the Iranian missions abroad and ambassadors.
"The quake has shaken many political and social foundations and presented rival foundations for them in a way that they have shaken the West," he added.
He stated that principles of the western liberal democracy have been shaken by Islamic thoughts. » | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Related »
Mrs Kirchner, who recently began her second term after easily winning a landslide re-election in October, was found to have cancer "on the right lobe of the thyroid gland" during a routine medical examination on December 22, spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro said.
Doctors confirmed that the cancer hadn't spread to other parts of her body or affected her lymph nodes, Mr Scoccimarro said.
"The illness has been contained," he added.
The 58 year-old is due to have an operation at Buenos' Aires Hospital Austral to remove[d] the papillary thyroid carcinoma in her neck on Jan 4.
Papillary carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid cancer and normally affects people under the age of 40, especially women. » | Amy Willis, Los Angeles, and agencies | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The US military has warned that it will not tolerate any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea lane on which the world's oil supply depends.
"The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity," said a spokeswoman for the US Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. "Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."
The unusually blunt statement came in response to threats by Iran to shut the channel if the West pressed ahead with sanctions on the country's oil industry.
Mohammed Reza Rahimi, Iran's vice-president, told state media on Tuesday: " “If sanctions are adopted against Iranian oil, not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz. [Our] enemies will only abandon their plots when we give them a strong lesson."
Admiral Habibollah Sayari, commander of the Iranian navy, said that closing the Strait, and effectively strangling the global oil supply, would "be easier than drinking a glass of water". (+ video) » | Raf Sanchez, Washington | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: State TV shows procession moving through Pyongyang against backdrop of snowfall and clearly audible outpouring of grief
Tens of thousands of people have endured freezing temperatures in Pyongyang to bid farewell to the former North Korean leader Kim Jong-ilin a meticulously-choreographed funeral designed to cement his legacy and transfer power to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un.
In death, as in life, Kim had kept the outside world guessing – this time about the timing of his funeral. The Russian and Chinese media said the images coming from Pyongyang on Wednesday were live, but the abundance of natural light at the end, just as it was getting dark in Seoul, suggested they were recorded.
Reports said the capital's citizens had been mobilised to clear snow from the funeral cortege's 40km route from the Kumsusan memorial palace, where Kim's body had been lying in state.
North Korean state TV showed the procession moving slowly through the streets against a backdrop of snowfall and a clearly audible outpouring of grief from mourners, most of whom were wearing dark green military uniforms.
The three-hour procession may have helped answer key questions about the communist regime's immediate future amid fears that the rapid rise of the inexperienced Kim Jong-un could spark a power struggle and potentially threaten regional security.
Kim Jong-un, wearing a long black coat but no hat, walked in front of the hearse carrying his father's casket which was wrapped in a red flag – a sign that the succession is proceeding as the older Kim had envisaged when he unveiled the youngest of his three sons as his heir at a military parade in October 2010. » | Justin McCurry in Osaka | Wednesday, December 28, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Trauerfeier für Kim Jong-il – Pompöser Salut mit Führerkult und deutschen Autos: Drei Stunden dauerte die spektakuläre Totenprozession für Kim Jong-il. Sein Leichenwagen fuhr durch die ganze Hauptstadt. Eine deutsche Automarke fiel dabei besonders auf. ¶ Nordkoreas Familiendynastie der Kims zementiert ihre Herrschaft in dritter Generation mit dem Ausbau eines Führerkults, der auch für ihre Toten ewig halten soll. So wie Staatengründer Kim Il-song wird auch der am 17. Dezember am Herzinfarkt gestorbene Diktatur Kim Jong-il nach dem Ende der Trauerzeit einbalsamiert werden. Er soll im Kristallsarg im Kumsusan Mausoleum „für immer aufgebahrt ruhen.“ ¶ Das meldete am Mittwoch der chinesische Fernsehsender Phönix unter Berufung auf Pjöngjangs Staatsfernsehen. Der von einer Parteifahne bedeckte präparierte Leichnam des Präsidentenvater Kim Il-song liegt bereits seit 1994 im Mausoleum, dem Jahr, als er starb. » | Johnny Erling | Mittwoch 28. Dezember 2011
LE MONDE: Corée du Nord : grandioses obsèques pour Kim Jong-il – La Corée du Nord a organisé, mercredi 28 décembre, de grandioses obsèques pour son dirigeant Kim Jong-il. L'agence de presse russe Itar-Tass a affirmé que le service funèbre avait débuté à 10 heures, heure locale (2 heures, heure de Paris) à Pyongyang, dans le mausolée Kumsusan, où le corps du "Cher Dirigeant" a été placé dans un cercueil de verre. La cérémonie, qui a rassemblé des dizaines de milliers de Nord-Coréens, a pris fin à 9 heures (heure de Paris), selon la télévision officielle. "La cérémonie est terminée", a déclaré un responsable officiel devant le mausolée Kumsusan de Pyongyang où le convoi funèbre est revenu à l'issue d'un tour dans la ville enneigée devant des dizaines de milliers de personnes. A son retour sur la place du mausolée, devant des dizaines de milliers de soldats et de civils rassemblés, la garde d'honneur a défilé et l'hymne national a été interprété par un orchestre militaire. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | mercredi 28 décembre 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis,
Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te.
Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi,
propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Gus O’Donnell asks whether the Union can survive increasing pressure for Scottish independence.
Sir Gus, who is the head of more than 440,000 civil servants in England, Scotland and Wales, says the future of the Union is one of several “enormous challenges” facing the political establishment in the coming years.
The admission from such a senior non-political figure that the break-up of Britain is now a real possibility is likely to push the issue up the political agenda.
“Over the next few years there will be enormous challenges, such as whether to keep our kingdom united,” he warns officials and politicians.
The remarks in today’s Daily Telegraph are Sir Gus’s final public comments before he steps down as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service on Jan 1.
In the exclusive article, Sir Gus also warns that Britain faces major challenges as its economy falters and says that the Civil Service has to overcome its own “cultural inertia” to help lead Britain out of the economic downturn. » | Christopher Hope, and James Kirkup | Wednesday, December 21, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Alex Salmond: Sir Gus O’Donnell is right to recognise possibilty of Scottish independence: Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister, dubbed Sir Gus O'Donnell 'a model civil servant' after the outgoing cabinet secretary questioned the future of the United Kingdom. » | Christopher Hope, and James Kirkup | Thursday, December 22, 2011
Fünf Monate nach den traumatischen Terroranschlägen von Norwegen, bei denen 77 Menschen ums Leben kamen, hat der Vater des Attentäters sein Schweigen gebrochen. Er fühle sich indirekt mitschuldig, sagte Jens Breivik dem stern [sic]. "Wahrscheinlich wäre das alles nicht passiert, wenn ich mich mehr um Anders gekümmert hätte."
Der 76-jährige ehemalige Diplomat zeichnet in dem Interview von seinem Sohn das Bild eines apolitischen, nicht sonderlich intellektuellen faulen Jungen. Ihr letzter Kontakt sei ein Telefongespräch vor etwa sechs Jahren gewesen. » | Mittwoch 21. Dezember 2011
In his most ferocious attack to date, the Hollywood star vented his anger at the President's failure to bring about change in America.
He said: "I've talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level. One of them said to me, 'Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician,'".
"You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of the country, much better."
His latest attack was made in an interview for Elle magazine to promote his new film "We Bought a Zoo."
Damon, 41, was one of the biggest Hollywood stars to stump for Obama during his 2008 election campaign. » | Paul Thompson | Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
REUTERS FRANCE: BEYROUTH - Les forces syriennes ont fait de la journée de mardi "la plus sanglante de la révolution syrienne" en tuant 111 personnes, dit mercredi une ONG d'opposants, à la veille de l'arrivée d'observateurs de la Ligue arabe.
"Une tuerie d'une ampleur sans précédent a eu lieu en Syrie mardi, causant près de 120 morts", a dit le porte-parole du ministère français des Affaires étrangères, Bernard Valero.
"Il est urgent que le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies se prononce par une résolution ferme qui exige la fin de la répression", a-t-il ajouté.
Rami Abdoulrahmane, de l'Observatoire syrien pour les droits de l'homme, affirme que 111 civils et activistes ont été tués, auxquels il faut ajouter une centaine de déserteurs tués dans la région d'Idlib depuis lundi.
Les rebelles ont détruit 17 véhicules militaires dans la province d'Idlib depuis dimanche et tué 14 membres des forces de sécurité mardi dans une embuscade près de Deraa, dans le Sud.
Par ailleurs, cinq techniciens iraniens ont été enlevés par des inconnus à Homs, autre foyer de la contestation du régime du président Bachar al Assad. » | par Dominic Evans | mercredi 21 décembre 2011
REUTERS.COM: North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.
The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un, who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after World War Two.
The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North's first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.
The comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated -- it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948. » | Benjamin Kang Lim | BEIJING | Wednesday, December 21, 2011
REUTERS FRANCE: La Corée du Nord se dirige vers un pouvoir collegial : PEKIN - Le nouveau dirigeant de la Corée du Nord, Kim Jong-un, partagera le pouvoir avec un de ses oncles et l'armée après la mort de son père survenue samedi, a-t-on appris mercredi auprès d'une source proche de Pyongyang et de Pékin. » | Benjamin Kang-Lim, Marine Pennetier pour le service français | mercredi 21 décembre 2011
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Nordkorea steuert auf Machtteilung zu: Peking - Nach dem Tod von Nordkoreas Alleinherrscher Kim Jong Il steuert das kommunistisch regierte Land erstmals in seiner Geschichte auf eine Machtteilung zu. ¶ Kims politisch unerfahrener Sohn Kim Jong Un werde nicht als Autokrat, sondern gemeinsam mit seinem Onkel Jang Song Thaek und dem Militär herrschen, sagte am Mittwoch eine Person mit engen Verbindungen zu den Regierungen Nordkoreas und Chinas der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters. Formell allerdings werde der von seinem Vater als Nachfolger aufgebaute junge Kim an der Spitze der Führungsriege stehen. Die Generäle hätten ihm die Treue geschworen. Ein Putsch sei damit sehr unwahrscheinlich. Die Lage in dem Land, dass nach seiner Gründung 1948 zuerst von Kim Jong Uns Großvater und dann von seinem Vater streng autokratisch geführt wurde, scheine stabil zu sein. Auch sei vorerst nicht mit einem weiteren Atomtest zu rechnen. » | Reuters | Mittwoch 21. Dezember 2011
The wailing and gnashing of teeth inside North Korea was not entirely unexpected. That the death of Kim Jong-il has plunged other parts of the world into grief may come as more of a surprise.
Communist ally Cuba has declared three days of mourning, with flags to be flown at half mast, while Nicaragua and Venezuela also expressed sorrow. The Korean Central News Agency's website carries messages of condolence from the emir of Qatar, the former president of Moldova and the "Great King and Great Queen of Cambodia".
Not to be outdone in the contrarian stakes, Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's loyalists have paid tribute to North Korea's "dear leader", who died from a heart attack aged 69.
"He was a lovely man whom we associated with," Didymus Mutasa, the secretary of administration for Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, told Zimbabwe's Voice of the People radio. "He was our great friend, and we are not ashamed of being associated with him." » | David Smith in Johannesburg | Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Le chef de l'État turc Abdullah Gül a appelé, mardi, la France à abandonner une proposition de loi "inacceptable" sanctionnant la négation du génocide arménien, que les députés français doivent voter jeudi. "Il n'est pas question pour nous d'accepter cette proposition de loi (...) qui dénie le droit de rejeter des accusations infondées et injustes contre notre pays et notre nation", souligne le président, selon son service de presse. "Nous attendons que la raison et le bon sens l'emportent en France et que l'on renonce dans les plus brefs délais à ce projet", souligne le texte. » | Source AFP | mardi 20 décembre 2011
Dienstag früh, kurz nach 7 Uhr in einer Seitengasse des Tahrir-Platzes im Herzen von Kairo: Nebelschwaden ziehen durch die Straßenzüge, ein paar streunende Hunde suchen in umgestürzten Mülltonnen nach fressbaren Abfällen, beim Bahnhof brennt ein Stapel mit alten Autoreifen. Im improvisierten Straßencafé ziehen Bauarbeiter seelenruhig an ihren Wasserpfeifen - Alltag in der Metropole. » | Gregor Brandl, Kronen Zeitung/red | Dienstag 20. Dezember 2011
The regime placed the body of Kim Jong-il, the late dictator who died on Saturday, on display in a glass coffin in the capital, Pyongyang, on Tuesday. His son and successor was among the first to pay his respects and observe a moment of silence.
The official media have begun fashioning a personality cult around Mr Kim, who became a general last year despite lacking any military experience. The young man - officially 29 but probably only 27 - has been officially labelled the "great successor" and a "lighthouse of hope".
Yet his inexperience has opened the way for more practised operators to increase their influence. "For someone who was meant to be all-powerful, this was hardly the kind of succession that Kim Jong-il would have wanted," said Kerry Brown, head of the Asia programme at Chatham House.
Despite "intricate calculations that have gone on for quite a while", there was only a "very rickety consensus" behind the succession of the late dictator's third and youngest son, added Mr Brown. "This choice was a big, big compromise," he said.
Three factions may now be taking shape behind the new leader. Perhaps the most significant is led by Chang Sung-taek, a pillar of the regime who serves as vice-chairman of the National Defence Commission. His wife, Kim Kyong-hui, is the younger sister of the late leader. » | David Blair, Chief Foreign Correspondent | Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The European Commission has imposed tough new restrictions on the export of anaesthetics used to execute people in the US, in a move that will exacerbate the already extreme shortage of the drugs in many of the 34 states that still practice the death penalty.
The EC has added eight barbiturates to its list of restricted products that are tightly controlled on the grounds that they may be used for "capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". The eight include pentobarbital and sodium thiopental – the two drugs on which almost all American executions currently depend.
The EC said its move, which follows restrictions introduced unilaterally by the UK in November 2010, was designed to forward the European Union's stated mission to abolish the death penalty around the world. "The decision today contributes to the wider EU efforts to abolish the death penalty worldwide," said the commission's vice president, Catherine Ashton. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Tuesday, December 20, 2011
North Koreans have been introduced to their youthful new leader in a style that befits the last truly totalitarian state on earth. Kim Jong-un, the “Great Successor”, has been hailed variously as a martial genius and the “outstanding leader of our party, army and people”.
The rise of the younger Kim, officially 29 but possibly only 27, has mirrored his father’s physical decline: last year, while the “Dear Leader” ailed, the son was hastily made a four-star general and awarded a senior post in the military high command. When the armed forces bombarded a South Korean island with heavy artillery, before sinking one of their neighbour’s warships with a well-aimed torpedo, stories were circulated giving the new general the credit.
Not many countries would deliberately promote their future leader as a child soldier given to impulsive attacks on other countries. The portrayal of the younger Kim reveals much about the psychology of North Korea’s ossified regime, glorying in its own isolation and obduracy. In particular, it reveals the two principal strands of the impoverished state’s official ideology: militarism and an obsession with racial purity.
Thus North Korea spends about a third of its total gross national product on the armed forces, rendering it probably the most militarised state in the world. If Britain were to follow this example, we would have a defence budget exceeding £400 billion – significantly bigger than America’s. A country in which people eat roots and berries to avoid starvation has built a small arsenal of nuclear weapons.
Instead of being the world’s last Communist state, North Korea is best understood as a murderous laboratory for the utopian fantasies of the fascist Right. Its official propaganda glorifies the moral superiority of the Korean race, as compared with the decadence and depravity of the outside world. The North Korean people are portrayed as being almost childlike in their innocence and purity – so different from the amorality of their neighbours, supposedly corrupted by Western materialism and the corrosive influence of America. Read on and comment » | David Blair | Monday, December 19, 2011
ABC NEWS – NIGHTLINE: An ancient text called the "Revelation of the Magi," has been rediscovered and tells a very different version of the Three Wise Men's journey to Bethlehem.
"It ends up being the most complex, richest, most strange, the strangest story of the Wise Men to come out of Christian antiquity," said Brent Landau, an expert in ancient Biblical languages and literature. "Until now, it had never been translated into English."
Landau, who teaches in the Religious Studies program at the University of Oklahoma, translated the text from Syriac and published it in his book, "The Revelations of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem."
The ancient text's original author is still unknown, although it is written from the point of view of the Magi themselves. Landau tracked it down in the Vatican archives and believes it is about 1,700 years old.
"It's an incredibly grand story," Landau said. "So who the Magi are in this text is, they are descendants of Adam and Eve's third son, Seth. They live in this far eastern land. The text calls the land 'Shir' and from other ancient texts, it seems like the place it had in mind is the land of China."
Landau said the rediscovered text described the Magi as practicing religious rituals, waiting for the Star of Bethlehem to appear. When the star finally did, they embarked on their journey to the City of David.
But the version of the Wise Men's story in this text is strikingly different than the traditional one in the Bible, told in 12 verses in the Gospel of Matthew. » | Katie Hinman | Thursday, December 23, 2010
THE TIMES: France and Turkey accuse each other of perpetrating some of the 20th century’s most horrific massacres as their diplomatic ties hit crisis point » | Adam Sage, Paris | Tuesday, December 20, 2011 [£]
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Iligan - Die Folgen des Taifuns "Washi" sind auf den Philippinen möglicherweise durch Menschenhand verstärkt worden.
Präsident Benigno Aquino setzte nach einem Besuch des Katastrophengebiet eine Untersuchungskommission ein, die klären soll, ob die Überschwemmungen und Erdrutsche hätten verhindert werden können. Ermittelt werden soll vor allem, ob ein landesweites Verbot des Holzfällens missachtet wurde. "Wenn wir wollen, dass dies die letzte Katastrophe dieser Art war, müssen wir aus unseren Fehlern lernen", sagte Aquino am Dienstag. Die Zahl der Toten stieg mittlerweile auf fast 1000. » | Reuters | Dienstag 20. Dezember 2011
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Berlin - Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel hat die Gewalt der syrischen Regierung gegen das eigene Volk scharf verurteilt.
Die Kanzlerin sei zutiefst besorgt über die fortdauernde Verletzung der Menschenrechte und der elementaren Grundfreiheiten in Syrien, sagte Regierungssprecher Steffen Seibert am Dienstag in Berlin. "Sie fordert die syrische Regierung auf, die brutale Gewalt gegen Zivilisten und Kinder und Frauen sofort einzustellen, wie auch die Gewalt gegen Deserteure aus der syrischen Armee", fügte Seibert hinzu. » | Reuters | Dienstag 20. Dezember 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has signed into effect a law imposing the death penalty on anyone arming "terrorists", according to state media amid mounting clashes with rebel troops.
"The law provides for the death penalty for anyone providing weapons or helping to provide weapons intended for the carrying out of terrorist acts," the official SANA news agency said.
The decree also imposes life imprisonment with hard labour for arms smuggling "for profit or to carry out acts of terrorism," and 15 years' hard labour for arms smuggling for other purposes.
The Syrian authorities contend that protests raging since March are the work of "armed terrorists" not civilian demonstrators as maintained by Western governments and human rights groups. » | Tuesday, December 20, 2011
After the hysterical scenes which greeted news of Kim Jong-il's death, North Korean media struck a more solemn mood on Tuesday as mourners filed past his body and the state prepared for the succession of Kim's youngest son.
North Korean state TV showed weeping mourners pass their former leader, whose body is on display in a glass coffin at the Kumsusan memorial palace in the capital, Pyongyang.
TV screenshots show Kim dressed in his trademark khaki suit, his head on a white pillow and a plain red sheet covering him from the chest down. The bier supporting his casket is bedecked with red and white flowers.
Among the mourners was his youngest son and successor, Kim Jong-un, accompanied by senior figures from the military and ruling Workers' party.
The younger Kim was quoted as expressing the "bitterest grief" over his father's death – a significant choice of words as it was used to describe the nation's mood during the funeral of his grandfather and North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, in July 1994. » | Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Tania Branigan in Beijing | Tuesday, December 20, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Kim Jong Il body displayed, North Korea media hail son » | AP foreign | Tuesday, December 20, 2011
They howled and whimpered and scrubbed raw eyes with fists. They flailed their arms in grief and marched in their thousands to the capital's landmarks. But no one, outside of North Korea, really knows what North Koreans felt at news of Kim Jong-il's death.
There was shock, of course. Some perhaps wept from sorrow for their Dear Leader, some from sorrow for themselves. Some cried for fear that inadequate public anguish might damn them, and some from anxiety about what lay ahead. Kim veiled his country throughout his life and uncertainty shrouded his death.
State media said he died at 8.30am on Saturday, felled by a heart attack "due to physical and mental overwork", as he travelled by train on one of his innumerable inspection visits. There had been not a whisper of anything unusual in the two days before the announcement.
The official news agency KCNA swiftly hailed his third son, Kim Jong-un, as the "great successor" and "the eminent leader of the military and the party". The young man, thought to be just 28, has been groomed as heir since his father's apparent stroke in 2008.
The 69-year-old left his son a nuclear-armed but impoverished country where food is scarce and human rights abuses rife, and his unexpected death sent a chill far beyond the 24 million inhabitants of North Korea. Politicians in Washington, Seoul, Tokyo and beyond weighed the prospects of a third generation of this communist dynasty with the risk of regional instability. Concerns were underscored by South Korean media reports on Monday that the North had fired short-range missiles, although the Yonhap news agency said the tests had been conducted before the death announcement. The defence ministry in Seoul did not comment.
The South's military was already on high alert, while a spokesman for the Japanese prime minister said he had set up a crisis management team. » | Tania Branigan in Beijing and Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Monday, December 19, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Just days before Christmas, a new study has emerged that suggests that one of Christianity's most prized but mysterious relics – the Turin Shroud – is not a medieval forgery but could be the authentic burial robe of Christ.
Italian scientists have conducted a series of advanced experiments which, they claim, show that the marks on the shroud – purportedly left by the imprint of Christ's body – could not possibly have been faked with technology that was available in the medieval period.
The research will be an early Christmas present for shroud believers, but is likely to be greeted with scepticism by those who doubt that the sepia-coloured, 14ft-long cloth dates from Christ's crucifixion 2,000 years ago.
Sceptics have long claimed that the shroud is a medieval forgery, and radiocarbon testing conducted by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Arizona in 1988 appeared to back up the theory, suggesting that it dated from between 1260 and 1390.
But those tests were in turn disputed on the basis that they were skewed by contamination by fibres from cloth that was used to repair the relic when it was damaged by fire in the Middle Ages.
The new study is the latest intriguing piece of a puzzle which has baffled scientists for centuries and spawned an entire industry of research, books and documentaries. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
La mort soudaine du «cher leader» nord-coréen complique l'agenda de Barack Obama dans la région. L'Administration américaine devait prendre ce lundi d'importantes décisions sur la reprise des négociations sur le dossier nucléaire et l'octroi d'aide alimentaire au «royaume ermite». Ces arbitrages devraient, au minimum, être retardés.
La Maison-Blanche a réagi avec prudence à l'annonce du décès de Kim Jong-il, se gardant de commenter la disparition du dictateur. «Nous exprimons à nouveau l'espoir d'une amélioration de nos relations avec le peuple de Corée du Nord et restons profondément soucieux de son bien-être», a indiqué lundi soir Hillary Clinton, espérant une transition «stable et pacifique». Washington stationne toujours 29.000 GI en Corée du Sud.
Dès minuit, dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi, Barack Obama a appelé le président sud-coréen, Lee Myung-bak. L'Administration est également en contact étroit avec les autorités japonaises. Le président s'est toutefois gardé pour l'heure d'offrir ses condoléances à la Corée du Nord. S'il devait faire un tel geste, cela indiquerait une volonté de saisir l'opportunité de la succession à Pyongyang pour tendre la main au nouveau leader désigné, Kim Jong-un. Mais cela pourrait se révéler prématuré, compte tenu de l'incertitude qui enveloppe l'avenir politique de la Corée du Nord et les intentions du «grand successeur». » | Par Adèle Smith | lundi 19 décembre 2011
China has endorsed Kim Jong-un as North Korea's new leader in a gesture of support designed to bolster Pyongyang and avoid regional instability.
The Chinese government announced that co-operation with North Korea would continue. It hailed the late Kim Jong-il as a great leader and a close friend, and called on the North Korean people to unify under the leadership of "comrade Jong-un" and turn their "anguish into strength".
China is crucial to the survival of Pyongyang in the face of international isolation. It has provided economic assistance to North Korea since 2006, when US and South Korean aid dried up after Pyongyang carried out the first of two nuclear tests. In the past 18 months Kim Jong-il travelled four times to China. He also visited Russia, North Korea's other key partner.
Beijing is anxious to avoid any collapse of its often troublesome neighbour, reasoning that this would lead to a flood of refugees and economic migrants across its border. Unlike the US, which wants North Korea to scrap its nuclear capabilities, China's chief strategic concern is to maintain regional stability.
The White House said it was closely monitoring developments on the Korean peninsula following Kim Jong-il's death. It restated its commitment to the "freedom and security" of its allies, with Barack Obama phoning South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, at midnight. They agreed to stay in close contact. » | Luke Harding, Tania Branigan in Beijing and Justin McCurry in Tokyo | Monday, December 19, 2011
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