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Thursday, April 07, 2011
A Brazilian gunman fatally shot 12 children at a Rio de Janeiro public school before killing himself, police said, shocking the South American nation that has never seen such an incident before.
Twenty-two people, including children, were wounded in Thursday's shooting spree, several of them seriously.
Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo has this report from Rio.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama was locked in crisis budget talks with congressional leaders as the US faces the prospect of a costly government shutdown.
The shutdown would see 800,000 workers asked to stay at home and could cost taxpayers more than $100 million (£61 million) a day.
Mr Obama called for a “sense of urgency” as America sought to avoid the first shutdown since 1996 when Bill Clinton was president.
Failure to reach a deal by midnight on Friday would mean that Washington would essentially run out of money. » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Thursday, April 07, 2011
NATO's latest air strike in the eastern Libyan town of Brega that killed at least five people -- the second such incident -- has raised doubts in the minds of many, who wonder whether it was really a mistake.
At the same time, rebel fighters who criticised NATO's mission failure to protect civilians in Misurata, do realise that they cannot win the battle against the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, alone.
Thousands of civilians have also begun to flee intense fighting particularly in the coastal areas between Brega and Ajdabiya, further east.
Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports. (07 April 2011)
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Japan has been hit by a strong earthquake, with emergency workers at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant ordered to evacuate.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which operates Fukushima, says it is checking on the situation, but efforts to assess any damage were complicated by the evacuation.
"After the earthquake and the tsunami warning, all the workers evacuated to a safe area. The company confirmed all the workers have cleared the plant safely," a spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said.
"We don't know if there is any impact to the facilities as all the workers have cleared the area."
The Japan meteorological agency issued a tsunami warning for a wave of up to 6 feet (two metres) after the magnitude-7.4 aftershock. The warning, which was later cancelled, was issued for a coastal area already torn apart by last month's tsunami, which is believed to have killed some 25,000 people and has sparked an ongoing crisis at a nuclear power plant.
"Please do not hesitate to leave for higher ground, nor try to return to the coast line. Please do not try to check the status of the coastline," broadcaster NHK said repeatedly. » | Barney Henderson | Thursday, April 07, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Japan hit by earthquake and tsunami warning: Alert for wave of up to two metres issued for area devastated by last month's quake » | James Meikle | Thursday, April 07, 2011
REUTERS: Major aftershock shakes Japan's ruined coast: A major earthquake shook the northeast of Japan late on Thursday, and a tsunami warning was issued for the coast already devastated by last month's massive quake and tsunami that crippled a nuclear power plant. » | Kiyoshi Takenaka and Yoko Nishikawa | TOKYO | Thursday, April 07, 2011
REUTERS FRANCE: Alerte au tsunami levée dans le nord-est du Japon : TOKYO - Les alertes au tsunami émises pour les côtes nord-est du Japon ont été levées, rapporte vendredi matin (heure japonaise) la chaîne de télévision publique NHK. » | © Reuters | Jeudi 07 Avril 2011
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Katastrophenregion in Japan erneut von Beben erschüttert: Tokio - Knapp vier Wochen nach dem schweren Erdbeben in Japan ist das Katastrophengebiet am Donnerstag erneut von heftigen Erdstößen erschüttert worden. » | © Reuters | Donnerstag, 07. April 2011
There is mounting pressure for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to go before the end of year elections.
Inside Story with Kamahl Sanatamaria discusses with: Shiraz Maher, a senior fellow at the centre for the study of radicalization at King's college London; and Hakim Almasmari, Editor in Chief of the Yemen post.
This episode of Inside Story aired on Wednesday, April 6, 2011.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A newly-wed couple on a four-month honeymoon were hit by six natural disasters, including the Australian floods, Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami.
Stefan and Erika Svanstrom left Stockholm, Sweden, on December 6 and were immediately stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms.
Travelling with their baby daughter, they flew on to Cairns in Australia which was then struck by one of the most ferocious cyclones in the nation's history.
From there, the couple, in their 20s, were forced to shelter for 24 hours on the cement floor of a shopping centre with 2500 others.
"Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered across the streets," Mr Svanstrom told Sweden's Expressen newspaper. "We escaped by the skin of our teeth."
They then headed south to Brisbane but the city was experiencing massive flooding, so they crossed the country to Perth where they narrowly escaped raging bush fires. Swedish couple have honeymoon from hell » | Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, April 06, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Portugal last night became the third European Union country after Greece and Ireland to formally request an emergency bail–out which could cost Britain £4.4 billion.
The country's caretaker prime minister José Sócrates said the measure had been taken after the stricken nation had run out of options.
Economists last night put the UK's involvement in a Portuguese bail–out at up to a potential £4.4billion.
After months of resisting having to apply for a bail–out from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, Portugal's cost of borrowing has reached unsustainable levels.
Addressing the nation last night Mr Sócrates, said: "I have always said that asking for aid would be the final way to go, but we have reached the moment."
It is understood that the rescue fund could be as high as £70 billion, or €80 billion.
Sources close to the Treasury said last night that Britain would take part in any Portugal–related discussions involving the EU's 27 member states. However, the type of bail–out is yet to be discussed and therefore the extent of the UK's exposure was impossible to gauge, the sources said. » | James Hall | Thursday, April 07, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Spain 'won't follow Portugal' with bail-out: Spain said it will not follow ailing neighbour Portugal in seeking a European bail-out. » | James Hall | Thursday, April 07, 2011
Compared to other countries in Latin America with sizeable Muslim communities, Mexico's Muslim population is tiny.
In southern Mexico, the indigenous Mayan population is a minority. But another minority is being created within that group, as more and more Mayans convert from Catholicism.
In Chiapas, Frank Contreras takes a look at how Islam is gaining a foothold in the region.
Before Muammar Gaddafi took control of Libya in 1969, it was the Italians who ran the show, and their Mediterranean architecture still colours Benghazi's side streets.
But the Italians aren't the only foreign force to have asserted themselves over Libya's second city. Only under Gaddafi has Benghazi been wrestled into subservience to Tripoli, and the new leader did his best to erase meaningful traces of the old.
Now, those who have lived through both eras hope to see a new one that will be Benghazi's own.
Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from Benghazi.
THE GUARDIAN: There are signs that Poles are discovering their lost Jewish heritage and that antisemitism is in decline
In Kazimierz, once the Jewish heart of Krakow, signs of a revival are everywhere. There are restaurants with Hebrew lettering, a new community centre where students drop in for a Sabbath meal, and even a Jewish kindergarten. And once a year, this quarter is dominated by a celebration of Jewish music, theatre and film that attracts up to 13,000 visitors.
Krakow's Jewish Culture festival is the most prominent symbol of an apparent rejuvenation in the shadow of the Holocaust. This is the nearest Polish city to Auschwitz, but it has also become a place where Poles are discovering their lost Jewish heritage.
The Jewish community centre on Miodowa Street, neighbouring a synagogue defiled by the Nazis but now restored for worship, has seen a steady stream of visitors. Opened in 2008 by Prince Charles, the centre offers Hebrew and Yiddish language lessons and an introductory religious course, alongside yoga, belly-dancing and basketball.
Jonathan Ornstein, the centre's director, says: "I think that people for a few years have been talking about a Jewish renaissance in Poland, in Krakow especially, and that was primarily an interest by non-Jews in Jewish culture, and I think that now we're in a second stage that is totally made possible by this first stage. That's people with Jewish roots getting involved in the Jewish community."
Ornstein says the centre has young people coming in every day who have no contact with Jewish life but want to explore their Jewish roots. One local rabbi tells a story of a Pole who discovered from his mother's birth certificate that she was Jewish, born in Krakow's wartime ghetto. She told him that she had kept it a secret all her life – and then they discovered that the man's father was Jewish, too.
There are reckoned to be slightly more than 100 official members of the Jewish community in Krakow, but 400 who consider themselves Jewish. » | Jeevan Vasagar and Julian Borger | Thursday, April 07, 2011
NZZ ONLINE: Die amerikanische Aussenministerin Clinton hat den Appell des libyischen Machthabers al-Ghadhafi, die Nato-Luftangriffe zu stoppen, zurückgewiesen. Ghadhafi hatte sich in einem Brief an Amerikas Präsidenten Obama gewandt.
Libyens Machthaber Muammar al-Ghadhafi ist beim amerikanischen Präsidenten Barack Obama mit einem persönlichen Bittschreiben abgeblitzt. US-Aussenministerin Hilary Clinton wies Ghadhafis Appell zurück, die Nato-Luftangriffe zu stoppen, und forderte ihn auf, ins Exil zu gehen.
«Es ist überhaupt kein Geheimnis, was derzeit von Herrn Ghadhafi erwartet wird», sagte Clinton bei einer Pressekonferenz. Je früher «das Blutbad aufhört, desto besser ist das für alle». » | sda/Reuters/afp | Donnerstag, 07. April 2011
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Der Militärführer der libyschen Regimegegner hat den Einsatz der Nato als nicht entschieden genug kritisiert. Gleichwohl soll Gaddafi den amerikanischen Präsidenten Obama in einem Brief um ein Ende der Angriffe des Bündnisses gebeten haben.
Der libysche Staatschef Muammar al Gaddafi hat den amerikanischen Präsidenten Barack Obama in einem Brief um ein Ende der Nato-Angriffe in seinem Land gebeten. In dem Brief vom Mittwoch, der der Nachrichtenagentur AP vorlag, sprach Gaddafi von einem „ungerechten Krieg gegen ein kleines Volk eines Entwicklungslandes“.
Aus amerikanischen Regierungskreisen verlautete, man halte den dreiseitigen Brief für echt. Darin erkläre Gaddafi weiter, die Nato-Luftangriffe hätten seinem Land moralisch stärker geschadet als militärisch. Ein demokratische Gesellschaft könne nicht mithilfe von Raketen und Kampfflugzeugen errichtet werden. Gaddafi wiederholte außerdem, seine Gegner seien Mitglieder des Terrornetzes Al Qaida. Der libysche Machthaber sprach Obama in seinem Brief mit den Worten „unser Sohn“ an und erklärte, er wünsche dem amerikanischen Präsidenten die Wiederwahl 2012. » | FAZ.NET mit dapd/AFP/Her./nbu. | Mittwoch 06 April 2011
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