Kim Jong-il: 'He Was a Lovely Man'

THE GUARDIAN: Cuba declares three days of mourning for North Korean leader, while Nicaragua, Venezuela and President Mugabe loyalists express sorrow too

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

President Obama: The Full "60 Minutes" Interview

Génocide arménien : le président turc appelle Paris à renoncer à une loi "inacceptable"

LE POINT: La Turquie admet jusqu'à 500 000 morts, mais qui ont été, selon elle, victimes des aléas de la Première Guerre mondiale.

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

”Krone” in Kairo: Die jungen Ägypter "kämpfen bis zum letzten Atemzug"

KRONEN ZEITUNG: Die Revolution ist vorbei - jetzt regiert die Anarchie. 312 Tage nach dem Sturz des Hosni-Mubarak-Regimes ist die ägyptische Millionen-Metropole Kairo ein Pulverfass, das jede Sekunde in die Luft fliegen kann. Die "Krone" begleitete zwei Studenten auf dem Tahrir-Platz bei ihrem Kampf für die Freiheit - und gegen die Tränengas-Geschoße der verhassten Militärs: "Wir kämpfen bis zum letzten Atemzug."

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

North Korean State Television Broadcasts Pictures of Kim Jong-il Lying in State
A stream of mourners is shown filing past the glass coffin of North Korea's 'Dear Leader' as the country's grieving reaches new levels of hysteria

Read short article here | Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Kim Jong-il Dead: Power Struggle Begins between Three Factions

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A dynastic power struggle has begun in North Korea where experts have identified three rival factions jockeying for position behind Kim Jong-un, the country's new leader.

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

Europe Moves to Block Trade in Medical Drugs Used in US Executions

THE GUARDIAN: New export controls will further limit the ability of states already facing severe shortages of sedatives used to kill prisoners

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

Kim Jong-un, the Child Soldier, Takes Over in North Korea

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: What is the nation's future under the control of a belligerent new 'Dear Leader’ who is not yet 30?

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

Kim Jong Il Dead: What's Next in N. Korea?
A new crisis emerges in the Far East as the head of a rogue nuclear state dies.

Digital Nativity Goes Viral

Turkey Threatens Blood Feud with France
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 [£]

Zahl der Taifun-Toten auf den Philippinen bei fast 1000
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

Merkel fordert sofortiges Ende der Gewalt in Syrien
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

Amish Girl Shot in Head While Returning Home in Buggy from Christmas Party

Syria Signs Law Imposing Death Penalty on Those Arming 'Terrorists'
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

North Korea Mourners Line Up to See Kim Jong-il as Leader Lies In State

THE GUARDIAN: Stream of weeping mourners viewing body in glass coffin include son and successor Kim Jong-un

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

After Kim Jong-il's Death, What Next for the People of North Korea?

THE GUARDIAN: State media said leader died of a heart attack on a train, and swiftly hailed his third son, Kim Jong-un, as the 'great successor'

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

Italian Study Claims Turin Shroud Is Christ's Authentic Burial Robe
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

Washington prudent face aux inconnues de Pyongyang

LE FIGARO: Hillary Clinton a appelé à une transition «stable et pacifique» en Corée du Nord.

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

Kim Jong-il's Successor to Rule North Korea Is Publicly Endorsed by China

THE GUARDIAN: Beijing calls on North Koreans to unify under 'comrade Kim Jong-un' in move to bolster Pyongyang and avoid regional crisis

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