Kyrgyz Leader Calls for Trial of Ousted President
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — With Russia warning that his country was “on the verge of civil war,” the deposed president of Kyrgyzstan said that he would formally step down if there were guarantees of safety for him and his family. But, in a hardening of the lines, the country’s new leader said on Wednesday that he might face trial.

The fugitive president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was speaking after the interim government that ousted him after bloody riots last week stripped him of immunity and threatened to send special forces to arrest him.

With conditions in the country still fluid on Wednesday, the head of the new government, Rosa Otunbayeva, seemed to adopt a tougher posture toward Mr. Bakiyev, ruling out safe passage for family members wanted by the new government.

Mr. Bakiyev must either stand trial in Kyrgyzstan or go into exile alone, she said — leaving behind brothers and other relatives whom she has accused of ordering the police to fire on demonstrators and of corruption.

At a news conference, Ms. Otunbayeva said that if Mr. Bakiyev waited until security forces loyal to the new government detained him, he would certainly face trial, adding that his time may already have run out.

“He has already had his chance to leave,” she said.

As she spoke, about 100 people gathered outside the Ministry of Defense building, which serves as the seat of the new government, to demand that Mr. Bakiyev be returned to the capital to face justice. >>> Andrew E. Kramer and Alan Cowell | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Verbunden:

DIE PRESSE: Medwedjew: "Kirgisistan [sic?] könnte zweites Afghanistan werden" >>> Ag. | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

Verschiedene Artikel über Kirgistan >>>

Bravo, M. le Président ! Homosexualité et Pédophilie : Paris dénonce l'"amalgame inacceptable" du numéro deux du Vatican
Paris a condamné les propos controversés de Tarcisio Bertone sur le rapport entre homosexualité et pédophilie. Nicolas Sarkozy avait rencontré le numéro deux du Vatican en décembre 2007. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: La France condamne les propos du cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, qui a lié homosexualité et pédophilie, affirme mercredi le ministère des Affaires étrangères. Selon Bernard Valero, le porte-parole du ministère qui s'exprimait lors d'un point de presse, "il s'agit d'un amalgame inacceptable que nous condamnons". "La France rappelle son engagement résolu dans la lutte contre les discriminations et les préjugés liés à l'orientation sexuelle et l'identité de genre", a-t-il ajouté. >>> Avec AFP | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

Lien en relation avec l’article:

LE FIGARO: Le numéro 2 du Vatican lie homosexuels et pédophiles >>> Par Charlotte Menegaux | Mardi 13 Avril 2010

CYBERPRESSE.CA: Le Vatican lie homosexualité et pédophilie: la France s'indigne : La France condamne un «amalgame inacceptable» dans les propos controversés du numéro deux du Vatican, le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, qui a lié homosexualité et pédophilie, a indiqué mercredi le ministère français des Affaires étrangères. >>> Agence France-Presse | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

Grèce : Nouvelle série de grèves contre la rigueur et l'austérité
La Grèce est confrontée à une quatrième vague de grèves depuis le début de l'année, en réaction aux mesures draconiennes prises par le gouvernement pour réduire le déficit. Photo : Le Point
LE POINT: Une nouvelle série de grèves et d'arrêts de travail a débuté mercredi en Grèce avec des mouvements de chauffeurs de taxi et d'avocats contre un projet de réforme fiscale qui doit être voté jeudi par le parlement. "Notre revendication reste la même : la non-inclusion de notre secteur dans la logique du projet fiscal", souligne un communiqué de la Fédération nationale des taxis et voitures de location (POE.IATA, 30.000 adhérents) qui a déjà organisé deux grèves, en février et mars, pour les mêmes raisons.

Les grévistes de la région d'Athènes, qui regroupent quelque 15.000 taxis, devaient manifester en début d'après-midi dans le centre de la capitale. Les avocats ont eux aussi lancé une grève de trois jours, la deuxième en un mois, contre la loi qui réforme l'imposition des professions libérales. Les vendeurs des marchés populaires ont de leur côté observé une grève de 24 heures pour protester contre l'obligation d'utiliser des caisses enregistreuses prévue par le gouvernement. >>> AFP | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

If Immigration Is So “Financially Beneficial,” Why Do the Lib/Lab/Con Parties Not Suggest It for Poor Third World Nations to “Cure Poverty” There?
BNP: If mass immigration supposedly brings all sorts of financial benefits, why do the Liberal / Labour / Conservative parties not propose it as a solution to the poverty of the Third World, asks our correspondent Maid of Kent.

What the media refers to as “immigration” is in truth nothing other than a Government-sponsored invasion which is becoming the major topic in this election campaign, despite the best efforts of the other parties to ignore it.

“Invasion” can be defined as people from alien cultures intruding and encroaching on a settled indigenous population, forcing that population to make way for them and to adapt to their ways.

The other political parties are still trying to feed the British people the lie that this immigration invasion has ‘enriched’ Britain — even though it costs this country billions of pounds annually in benefits, translation services and public services.

The vast majority of immigrants are low skilled and contribute almost nothing to this country except to take jobs from British people.

Proof of this enormous financial cost to Britain is the fact that our country is bankrupt. Public services are no longer “affordable” and will be cut drastically whichever of the Tweedledee Tweedledum parties wins the election.

As Britons are slowly realising, the ‘enrichment’ of Britain through mass immigration doesn’t end with the fictitious financial benefits, but continues through to the fragmentation of our society, the elimination of the cohesion that formerly existed among the British people, the breakdown of law and order and the eventual but logical total destruction of British culture — and with it, the destruction of Britain as it was — the homeland of the British people. >>> MaidofKent | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Why Is There No Talk About Immigration?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is one of the voters' greatest concerns - but politicians are turning a deaf ear, says Frank Field.

The economy and immigration are the two big issues that voters wish to see debated at this election. The economy has already featured in the clashes between the main parties. But, despite brief mentions in the manifestos, immigration is the issue that dare not speak its name.

No sensible person is calling for a policy of no immigration. It is the scale of population change, which over the past decade has transformed parts of Britain, that voters wish to make an election issue. A continuation of mass immigration on roughly the present scale will bring the population of the UK to 70 million in 20 years – and the growth won't stop there, unless we are prepared to control drastically the size of net migration. Immigration will account for 70 per cent of this population increase. This is what needs to be tackled.

We have just lived through 10 fat years of public expenditure increases, of a scale we are unlikely ever to see again. Yet, even as most budgets doubled during the past decade, the pressures on our public services due to immigration were plain.

Maternity units are struggling as 25 per cent of all births in England and Wales are to foreign-born mothers – in London that proportion is 50 per cent. Primary schools in some areas have to resort to portable classrooms to cope with new arrivals, and are forced to redirect teachers' time to teaching English rather than ensuring that the weakest pupils succeed. >>> Frank Field | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Liberal Democrats Pledge £10bn a Year of Spending Cuts
THE TELEGRAPH: The Liberal Democrats have published their election manifesto with a promise to cut more than £10 billion a year from public spending.



Tax credits, winter fuel payments to pensioners, child trust funds would all be reduced under Liberal Democrat manifesto plans to cut the Government deficit.

ID cards, RAF fighter jets and surveillance systems used by MI5 would also be cut.

Nick Clegg said the party was being honest with voters about the need for savings to reduce the deficit, which reached £167 billion this year.

"We have to come clean with people. There is this big black hole in the public finances," Mr Clegg said.

Other parties were "kidding people" and "failing to show candour" about the need to make cuts, Mr Clegg said.

Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman said the cuts would have to be even bigger than the £10 billion a year in the manifesto.

He said: "There is more to be done. I fully appreciate this isn't enough. We have to go beyond that."

The Lib Dems would also raise the starting threshold for income tax to £10,000, a tax cut for 3.6 million low earners.

That would cost £17 billion, money the party said it would find by cracking down on tax avoidance and by imposing higher taxes on airline flights.

The party also pledges to boost the pay of the lowest ranking members of the Armed Forces to bring them into line with the starting salary of their emergency services counterparts.

Under the manifesto commitments, prison inmates would be forced to work and contribute to a compensation fund for victims.

In his foreword to the document, party leader Nick Clegg said the Lib Dems will ''sort out our rotten political system once and for all'' if successful at the May 6 General Election. >>> James Kirkup, and Jon Swaine | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Political Risk Looms for Merkel: Greece Aid Promise Spurs Grumbling Ahead of Key State Vote for Ruling Coalition
Jürgen Rüttgers, conservative premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, campaigns ahead of a vote that will test Germany's ruling center-right alliance. Photograph: The Wall Street Journal
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BERLIN—Europe's ever-louder promises of help for Greece may have calmed financial markets for now, but they pose a problem for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who faces growing criticism at home as her resistance to a Greek bailout softens.

Ms. Merkel's center-right coalition will be tested in crucial regional elections on May 9 that could wipe out its thin majority in Germany's upper house of parliament, making it harder for the government to pass its major economic policies into law.

Loaning taxpayer money to Greece at a time when German authorities are strapped for cash to maintain schools and roads at home could potentially add to broader voter dissatisfaction with the performance of the ruling coalition, political analysts say.

So far the election campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, has centered on domestic issues including jobs, education and the appeal and flaws of local candidates. Opinion pollsters say Greece isn't playing a major role. But the center-right, which is lagging in polls, can't afford extra controversy, analysts say.

"If Greece is bailed out shortly before the election, it could lead to an awkward debate for Merkel, with voters questioning why there's money for Greece but not for them," says Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University.

Ms. Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats and their junior coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, who hold a governing majority in North Rhine-Westphalia, are lagging in opinion polls, which show them with about 45% of the vote. >>> Markus Walker | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Le numéro 2 du Vatican lie homosexuels et pédophiles
Le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone est le bras-droit du pape Benoît XVI. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, bras-droit du pape Benoît XVI, réfute en revanche tout lien entre le célibat de prêtres et la pédophilie.

Après la cascade de révélations de scandales pédophiles dans l'Eglise catholique, le Vatican ravive la polémique. C'est sur une radio chilienne que le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, bras-droit du pape Benoît XVI, a lancé lundi soir : «De nombreux psychiatres et psychologues ont démontré qu'il n'existe pas de relation entre le célibat et la pédophilie, mais beaucoup d'autres - et on me l'a dit récemment - ont démontré qu'il existait un lien entre l'homosexualité et la pédophilie. La vérité est celle-ci et le problème, c'est cela». Le responsable religieux répondait à une question qui lui suggérait que la fin du célibat des prêtres pourrait résoudre les problèmes de pédophilie au sein de l'Eglise catholique. Officiellement, l'Eglise considère l'homosexualité comme «un dérèglement», qu'elle «ne condamne pas absolument» mais «n'approuve en aucun cas».

Le rapprochement que Tarcisio Bertone établit entre pédophiles et homosexuels n'a pas manqué de susciter la réaction indignée d'associations de défense des droits des homosexuels au Chili : «Ni Bertone, ni le Vatican, n'ont l'autorité morale» pour offrir des leçons de sexualité, a ainsi estimé Rolando Jimenez, président du mouvement pour l'intégration et la libération homosexuelle au Chili. Selon lui, il n'existe aucune étude pouvant étayer les propos du cardinal Bertone. «Il s'agit d'une stratégie perverse du Vatican qui cherche à fuir sa propre responsabilité» a-t-il poursuivi, avant d'expliquer que l'un des scandales majeurs de prêtre pédophile au Chili avait mis en cause un ecclésiastique qui avait mis enceinte une jeune fille. >>> Par Charlotte Menegaux | Mardi 13 Avril 2010

Liens en relation avec l’article:

LE POINT: Église Catholique : Pour le Vatican, "il y a une relation entre homosexualité et pédophilie" >>> Le Point.fr | Mardi 13 Avril 2010

And other related articles >>>

Medwedjew: "Kirgisistan [sic?] könnte zweites Afghanistan werden"
DIE PRESSE: Die politischen Kräfte ringen weiter um eine Lösung für den gestürzten Präsidenten Bakijew. Der russische Präsident Dmitrij Medwedjew warnt vor einem Bürgerkrieg. Er fordert Bakijew zum Rücktritt auf.

Dmitri Medwedjew. Bild: Die Presse
Eine Woche nach dem blutigen Umsturz in der zentralasiatischen Republik Kirgistan ringen die politischen Kräfte weiter um eine Lösung für den gestürzten Präsidenten. Nach Einschätzung des russischen Präsidenten Dimitrij Medwedjew steht das Land vor einem Bürgerkrieg. 



Kurz vor geplanten Verhandlungen mit Bürgerrechtlern forderte der entmachtete Staatschef Kurmanbek Bakijew erneut "Sicherheit für mich und meine Familie". Er sei "kompromissbereit", sagte der 60-Jährige nach Angaben kirgisischer Medien am Mittwoch in Jalalabad im Süden des Landes. In der politischen Hochburg von Bakijew sollten am Mittag (Ortszeit) die Gespräche mit Bürgerrechtlern beginnen. Die Übergangsregierung hatte direkte Verhandlungen mit Bakijew abgelehnt. >>> Ag. | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Kirgisische Führung will Bakijew vor Gericht bringen: Weiterhin keine Immunität für gestürzten Präsidenten >>> sda/dpa | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

«Zehntausende pro Jahr, und nicht Hunderttausende» : Tories wollen Einwanderung in Grossbritannien einschränken
NZZ ONLINE: Die britischen Tories haben im Wahlprogramm ihren europaskeptischen Kurs festgeschrieben. Die Partei verspricht in ihrem Manifest, dass es unter einer konservativen Regierung über alle EU-Angelegenheiten ein Referendum geben werde.

«Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass Grossbritannien in ein föderalistisches Europa schlittert», heisst es in dem Programm, das Parteichef David Cameron am Dienstag in London vorstellte.

Darin versprachen die Tories zudem, die jährliche Zahl der Einwanderer aus Nicht-EU-Ländern zu begrenzen. Die Zahl solle auf das Niveau der 90er Jahre gedrückt werden - «Zehntausende pro Jahr, und nicht Hunderttausende».

Die traditionell euroskeptischen Tories versicherten auch, dass Grossbritannien unter einer Tory-Regierung niemals den Euro einführen würde. Zudem wollen sie die Bürger generell mehr an der Regierung beteiligen. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 13. April 2010

David Cameron s'engage à «rendre le pouvoir au peuple»
David Cameron, lors de la présentation du programme officiel de son partipour les élections législatives,mardi à Londres. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Le chef des conservateurs britanniques veut s'attaquer aux déficits et limiter le rôle de l'État.

De correspondant du Figaro à Londres

Pas d'annonces surprises ni de grandes promesses coûteuses. David Cameron a quelque peu rompu avec la tradition des grands discours électoraux lors de sa présentation du programme conservateur mardi à Londres. Après avoir longuement laissé la parole à ses principaux futurs ministres, le chef des tories a précisé sa vision du gouvernement s'il réussissait à obtenir une majorité des députés à la Chambres des communes lors des législatives, dans trois semaines.

Promettant de rendre «le pouvoir au peuple», le jeune leader des conservateurs a présenté le manifeste de son parti, un épais livre de 130 pages intitulé: «Invitation à rejoindre le gouvernement de Grande-Bretagne.» «Les projets contenus dans ce manifeste vont changer la Grande-Bretagne pour le meilleur, mais seulement avec votre implication», a-t-il dit. >>> Par Cyrille Vanlerberghe | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

Soros: Griechenland droht „Todesspirale"
DIE PRESSE: Der Investor George Soros ist der Meinung, dass die Zinsen, die Griechenland für das Rettungspaket der EU zahlen muss, zu hoch sind. Er sieht die Gefahr einer Schuldenspirale nicht gebannt.

Der bekannte Investor George Soros sieht für Griechenland die Gefahr einer Todesspirale. Die Zinsen, die Europa für das 30-Milliarden-Euro-Hilfspaket für die Griechen vorsieht, seien zu hoch. Griechenland muss für Kredite mit drei Jahren Laufzeit fünf Prozent Zinsen zahlen. >>> APA | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

Pröll warnt vor "griechischem Szenario" für Österreich
DIE PRESSE: Ohne massive Budgetmaßnahmen würde Österreich in drei Jahren selbst vor einem "griechischen Szenario" stehen, warnt Finanzminister Pröll. Alle Gesellschaftsschichten werden die "monetären Lasten zu schultern haben".

VP-Finanzminster Josef Pröll warnt davor, dass Österreich ohne massive einnahmen- und ausgabenseitige Budgetmaßnahmen in drei Jahren selbst vor einem "griechischen Szenario" stehen würde. Um das zu verhindern, werde er als Finanzminister mit aller Kraft daran arbeiten, dass im Herbst das Budget gelingt, so Pröll am Dienstagabend bei einer Diskussionsveranstaltung anlässlich der 5. Ökologiegespräche der Raiffeisen Leasing GmbH in Wien. Alle werden betroffen sein >>> APA | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

Der schönste Mann der Welt hebt bald völlig ab
Krone.tv Video hier anschauen

Hundreds Killed as Earthquake Rocks China
TIMES ONLINE: At least 400 people have been killed and 8,000 injured after a strong earthquake struck northwestern China. Many others were left trapped in collapsed mud-built homes.

The magnitude 6.9 tremor shook the county of Yushu in the remote Qinghai province this morning and was followed by a series of large aftershocks that destroyed low-rise brick and mud buildings.

Troops stationed nearby were digging with their bare hands through the rubble in search of survivors, state television showed.

They were hampered by a lack of equipment in the rural prefecture. Additional rescue teams were en route to the remote county, which is in mountains near the border between Qinghai and Tibet. >>> Jane Macartney in Beijing | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Séisme meurtrier en Chine
leJDD.fr: Un séisme d'une magnitude de 6,9 degrés sur l'échelle de Richter a touché l'ouest de la Chine, mercredi. Pour le moment, les médias locaux parlent de 300 morts et plus de 8.000 blessés.

Le bilan s'alourdit de minute en minute. Un séisme d'une magnitude de 6,9 degrés sur l'échelle de Richter a touché le haut plateau tibétain, dans le sud-ouest de la Chine. Selon la télévision officielle, qui cite un responsable du gouvernement, il y aurait au moins 300 morts et plus de 8.000 blessés. De nombreuses autres personnes seraient encore prisonnières des décombres de maisons effondrées. >>> B.B, leJDD.fr | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010-04-14

Naturkatastrophe: 400 Tote, 10.000 Verletzte bei Erdbeben in China
WELT ONLINE: Das Beben mit der Stärke 7,1 hat eine arme und abgelegene Region im tibetischen Hochland von Qinghai getroffen. Hunderte sind dem chinesischen Staatsfernsehen zufolge gestorben. Schulen und öffentliche Gebäude stürzten ein. Risse in einem nahe gelegenen Staudamm könnten die Katastrophe noch verschlimmern.

Chinas neues verheerendes Erdbeben mit Stärke 7,1 bei dem mit Hunderten Opfern gerechnet wird, kam aus einer Tiefe von 33 Kilometern, so wie auch das Erdbeben in Chile.

Offiziellen Angaben zufolge wurden bislang 400 Tote geborgen. Um die 10.000 Menschen seien verletzt worden.

Sorge macht den Behörden der Zustand eines Stausees in der Nähe, bei dessen Staumauer sich Risse zeigten. Untersucht würde auch, ob die 200 Kilometer vom Bebengebiet westlich verlaufende Strecke der Tibet-Eisenbahn Schäden erlitten hat.

Das Beben erschütterte eine der ärmsten und abgelegensten Regionen im tibetischen Hochland von Qinghai um 7,49 Uhr, 800 Kilometer im äußersten Süden der Provinzhauptstadt Xining. >>> Von Johnny Erling | Mittwoch, 14. April 2010

Polish President Made Trip to Russia after Putin Snub
THE TELEGRAPH: Poland's president Lech Kaczynski only made his fateful trip to Russia after Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, failed to invite him to formal commemorations for the Katyn massacre.

Mr Kaczynski had wanted to attend the ceremony marking the wartime massacre of thousands of Polish officers at the hands of the Soviet Union, along with Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, and Mr Putin, but received no invitation from the Russians, said Pawel Kuglarz, a close party associate of the late president.

Feeling snubbed, but wanting to pay his respect to the massacre's victims, President Kaczynski decided to hold his own ceremony on Saturday, three days after the event hosted by Mr Putin.

But disaster struck when the aircraft carrying President Kaczynski crashed as it approached Smolensk airport in western Russia, killing all 96 on board.

The details to what lay behind President Kaczynski's decision to travel to Russia emerged as Warsaw welcomed home the body of his wife Maria, who also died in the accident. As a sign of the deep, yet dignified, grief that still grips the Polish nation, thousands of people lined the capital's streets to say goodbye to the respected first lady, who now lies in state alongside the body of her husband.

Polish authorities have announced that both Lech and Maria Kaczynski will be given a state funeral on Sunday afternoon. >>> Matthew Day in Warsaw | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Israel Accuses Syria of Providing Scud Missiles to Hizbollah
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel's president has accused Syria of double-dealing amid allegations that Damascus has handed over an arsenal of Scud missiles to the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hizbollah.

Reports claim that Hizbollah operatives have been trained in the use of Scuds, some models of which have a longer range than its current arsenal and could hit any city in Israel from Lebanon.

They say Israel is threatening to bomb targets in both Lebanon and Syria if additional claims that the missiles have been physically moved across the border and placed under Hizbollah control are verified.

"Syria claims it wants peace while at the same time it delivers Scuds to Hezbollah whose only goal is to threaten the state of Israel," Shimon Peres, the Nobel peace prize-winning Israeli president said yesterday.

The United States, which has been moving towards closer relations with Syria, is also said to be alarmed. Washington this year agreed to send its first ambassador to Damascus for five years, but a hold has been put on his taking up his appointment. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Israel Issues ‘Urgent’ Warning of Terrorist Attacks in Sinai
THE TELEGRAPH: Israel on Tuesday night issued an urgent warning of impending terrorist attacks aimed at tourists in the popular resorts of Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.

The anti-terror office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said it was advising all Israeli tourists to leave the Sinai.

It asked families who had relatives on holiday there to contact them and update them on the warning.

It said it had “concrete evidence” of an attempt to kidnap Israelis who had crossed the Egyptian border to the peninsula’s Red Sea resorts.

The resorts, particularly Sharm el-Sheikh on the peninsula’s tip, are also popular with British and other European holiday-makers, and the Foreign Office was last night thought to be reviewing the situation.

Sharm el-Sheikh and the nearby towns of Taba and Dahab have all seen bomb attacks in recent years. Two Britons were among 70 people killed in the attack on Sharm el-Sheikh in 2005, while a year before 34 people were killed at Taba, on the Israeli border.

Twenty people died in the attack on Dahab in 2006.

Since then, Israeli intelligence agencies have focused on the threat posed by Sinai, which was under Israeli occupation until the implementation of its peace deal with Egypt in 1982. Israeli citizens are advised not to holiday in the area, but tens of thousands visit every year.

Last year, a tip-off from Israeli intelligence agencies led to a series of raids by Egyptian security forces on what it said were Hizbollah cells that had infiltrated the country to attack tourist sites, particularly those frequented by Israelis. >>> Samer al-Atrush in Cairo and Richard Spencer | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Radovan Karadzic's Death Squad Told Me to Dig My Grave, Says Muslim Survivor
THE TELEGRAPH: A Bosnian Muslim has described how he watched men dig their graves before Serb killers slashed their throats as he came face-to-face for the first time with the warlord Radovan Karadzic in a UN war crimes court.

The former Bosnian Serb leader, who is on trial for genocide and war crimes, was confronted by a victim of the ethnic cleansing and killings he is accused of unleashing during the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992.

Karadzic, who is defending himself, was repeatedly reprimanded by the UN judge for hectoring, trying to browbeat and interrupting Ahmet Zulic, a Muslim survivor of Serbian executions and detention camps, as he cross-examined him.

As Mr Zulic, 62, entered The Hague court with his head bowed, Karadzic subjected him to a baleful stare over his reading glasses before the prosecution's first witness began his, often, harrowing testimony.

The former mineworker described to the court how Serbs shelled Muslim houses in Sanski Most, in north west Bosnia, before he and many others were rounded up in June 1992 and held in horrific conditions, where they were regularly beaten or taken off to be killed.

"Two men would kick us in one part of the body and another would use a baton to beat you over the head until you became unconscious," he said. >>> Bruno Waterfield in The Hague | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Ex Bosnian Leader Accuses British Government of 'Rewriting History'
THE TELEGRAPH: A former Bosnian president facing extradition to Serbia to face war crimes charges yesterday accused the British Government of conspiring to "rewrite history" by allowing court proceedings to be brought against him.

Ejup Ganic, a university professor and friend of Baroness Thatcher, was arrested last month on suspicion of being involved in a 1992 massacre despite the charges having already been dismissed by a UN war tribunal.

Yesterday he appeared before Westminster magistrates after the Crown Prosecution Service accepted the Serbian extradition warrant.

It alleges that Mr Ganic ordered attacks that killed 42 Yugoslav soldiers despite a ceasefire in 1992. It also alleges that he was responsible for the torture and murder of captured soldiers and patients in a military hospital in 1992.

Mr Ganic, who spent 10 days in Wandsworth Prison following his arrest on March 1, claimed the warrant was a politically motivated abuse of the extradition arrangements between Britain and Serbia.

John Jones, his defence counsel, said that the charges had been examined and dismissed by the international tribunal investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia.

The 64-year old professor condemned the government's decision to accept the warrant.

"I am not happy with the decision of the British government, especially the Home Office, to initiate this process," he said. "It appears the British government volunteers to do the police job for the Milosevic regime which is still more or less in some way very active.

"The British government also volunteered to help Serbs to rewrite the chapter of Srebrenica and other places where genocide has been committed,"

He said the Serbian record was second only to "Nazi Germany in the books of genocide." >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Poland's President and First Lady Lie in State
BBC: The bodies of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria Kaczynska are now lying in state in the capital, Warsaw.

Maria Kaczynska's body arrived earlier from Moscow amid emotional scenes after Saturday's plane crash in Russia that killed the couple and 94 others.

Parliament has held a special session to honour those killed in the disaster.

The first couple are to be buried on Sunday, a day after a memorial service for the victims in the Polish capital.

US President Barack Obama has said he will attend the funeral on Sunday.

Weather warning

A guard of honour stood to attention in the rain at Warsaw airport as the body of the first lady arrived on a military plane. President Kaczynski's remains were repatriated on Sunday.

After a brief religious ceremony, mourners took turns to kneel at Maria Kaczynska's casket and pay their respects as it stood on the tarmac.

They included the late first couple's only child, daughter Marta, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, identical twin of the late president.

Maria Kaczynska's coffin, draped with Poland's white-and-red flag, was then driven through the streets of Warsaw to the presidential palace.

Thousands of Poles lined the 10km (6 mile) route to the city centre, covering the hearse with flowers, then took turns to file past the coffins.

The first couple will be laid to rest on Sunday at Wawel Castle in the southern city of Krakow, according to Poland's PAP news agency. Read on and watch BBC video – The first couple's only child, Marta, led mourners >>> | Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Americans Have Lost Their Way
Rep. Paul Ryan, shown here in March, has proposed reductions in future Medicare and Social Security benefits for people under 55, a politically difficult idea. Photo: USA Today
USA TODAY: WASHINGTON — Erskine Bowles realized how tough his task will be leading President Obama's war on the federal budget deficit when he told his 90-year-old mother of his appointment.

She was proud of him. Then she said, "Don't mess with my Medicare."

It won't be the last threat Bowles gets this year as he directs an 18-member, bipartisan commission through an ocean of red ink that has never been deeper or more foreboding.

Under Obama's budget plan, the USA's debt in 2020 would be nearly the size of the entire economy then. Interest costs would be $900 billion, five times today's level.

The White House, Congress, budget experts and typical Americans are growing anxious about the nation's mounting debt, which is helping to fuel the rise of the anti-tax, anti-big government Tea Party movement.

Yet the only solutions capable of raising enough money are politically dangerous for the president and Congress: tax increases and major reductions in Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to take the first step.

The debt hasn't stopped conservatives from saying tax increases should be off the table when the panel debates how to close Washington's budget gap — an estimated $1.5 trillion this year alone, equal to the entire federal budget in 1995. Nor has it stopped liberals from saying Medicare, Social Security and other entitlements must be protected.

Bowles, outgoing president of the University of North Carolina and a White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, says neither taxes nor benefits can be off-limits.

"We can't do this without a lot of pain," he says. Nation's soaring deficit calls for painful choices >>> Richard Wolf, USA Today | Tuesday, April 13, 2010