Video shows Saddam being taunted

The grainy image of Saddam's execution was probably captured on a mobile phone by a witness

A new video has emerged showing Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president, exchanging taunts with onlookers before the gallows floor dropped away and he was hanged.
bodyVariable350="Htmlphcontrol1_lblError";
The video, first broadcast by Al Jazeera on Sunday, was captured on a mobile phone when Saddam was executed on Saturday.

Someone among the witnesses can be heard praising Muhammad Bakr al-Sadr, the founder of the Shia Dawa party and an uncle of Muqtada al-Sadr, who was executed in 1980 by Saddam.
bodyVariable300="Htmlphcontrol2_lblError";
"God damn you," a guard said.

"God damn you," replied Saddam.

Saddam appeared to smile at those taunting him from below the gallows. He said they were not showing manhood.

Then Saddam began reciting the Shahada, a Muslim prayer that says there is no God but God and Muhammad is his messenger, according to an unabridged copy of the video clip, which was posted on a website.

Saddam made it to midway through his second recitation of the verse. His last word was Muhammad. Then the floor dropped out of the gallows.

'Act of revenge'

Najib al-Nuaimi, a member of the defence team, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that no Sunni lawyer was allowed to be among the execution witnesses and that the conduct of those present showed it was an act of revenge and for political purposes.

"This is not in the normal procedures to execute a normal person," he said.

"It's full of hatred and it's very ugly. It's nothing to do with the Dujail case."
By several accounts, Saddam was calm but scornful of his captors, engaging in a give-and-take with the crowd gathered to watch him die and insisting he was Iraq's saviour, not its tyrant and scourge.

Munir Haddad, an appeals court judge who witnessed the hanging, told the BBC: "He said we are going to heaven and our enemies will rot in hell and he also called for forgiveness and love among Iraqis but also stressed that the Iraqis should fight the Americans and the Persians."

Witness account

Another witness, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the Iraqi national security adviser, told The New York Times that one of the guards shouted at Saddam: "You have destroyed us. You have killed us. You have made us live in destitution."

Al-Rubaie told the newspaper that Saddam responded: "I have saved you from destitution and misery and destroyed your enemies, the Persians and Americans."

Saddam has been buried in Awja village, close to Tikrit.

Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, said that the burial had taken place at 4am in a family plot in the village of Saddam's birth.

It is Muslim practice to bury the dead within a day. Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, are buried in Awja.

Al Jazeera's correspondent Hoda Abd al-Hamid said he was buried in a remote corner, his grave covered with the Iraqi flag.

Saddam's family had hoped to bury him in Ramadi, a symbolic site, but they were prevented from doing so due to security reasons.

Peace prospects

There is little prospect of peace from al-Qaeda in Iraq, but Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and George Bush, the US president, hope that more moderate Sunnis may now choose negotiation over violence.

Unusually, the government did not even see a need for a curfew in Baghdad.
Protests in Saddam's home town and in the mainly Sunni west were small.

Although resentful at a loss of influence, few Sunnis found much to mourn in Saddam's passing.

Many Kurds were disappointed that Saddam was not convicted of genocide against them in a trial yet to finish.

With violence killing hundreds every week, Iraqis have other worries. Celebrations in Shia cities and the Sadr City slum in Baghdad were brief and fairly restrained.

Execution condemned

The UN, the Vatican and Washington's European allies all condemned the execution on moral grounds.

Many Muslims, especially Sunnis, making the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca were outraged by the symbolism of hanging Saddam on the holiest day of the year at the start of Eid al-Adha - some Shia also said his death was a suitable gift from God.
After complaints of interference by Shia politicians in the trial, the speed of the execution may add to unease about the fairness of the US-sponsored process.

Barzan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half-brother, and Awad al-Bander, a former judge, will be hanged for the same crimes in January.

Sectarian violence
Al-Maliki, his fragile authority among fellow Shia significantly enhanced after he forced through Saddam's execution over Sunni and Kurdish hesitation, has reached out to Saddam's Sunni supporters

"Saddam's execution puts an end to all the pathetic gambles on a return to dictatorship," he said in a statement as state television showed him signing the death warrant in red ink.

"I urge ... followers of the ousted regime to reconsider their stance as the door is still open to anyone who has no innocent blood on his hands to help in rebuilding ... Iraq."

Source: Agencies By Aljazeera.net

亞洲電訊因台灣地震受到嚴重干擾 Telecom Asia were seriously affected by the earthquake in Taiwan

Earthquake shook the entire island of Taiwan

周二台灣附近發生強烈地震使海地電纜受到破壞，亞洲各地的電訊受到嚴重影響。

Tuesday cable near Taiwan, where a strong earthquake in Haiti has been destroyed in Asia's telecommunications have been seriously affected.

據報道，台灣、韓國、中國和日本的銀行和商務都受到電話和互聯網問題的困擾。
據美國地理調查透露，在台灣南部海域發生了強度為里氏7.1級的地震。
地震震撼了整個台灣島，2人在地震中喪生，至少42人受傷。
地震中心位于台灣南部恆春外海，地震后發生強烈余震，在屏東等南部縣造成了災情。
海嘯警報中心警告周邊100公里地區防范出現局部海嘯。
台灣最大的電話公司中華電信表示，海地電纜受到破壞，使台灣同馬來西亞、新加坡、泰國和香港的通訊98%受到了影響。
該公司的負責人說，修復工作需要3周時間，但是通訊質量將會逐日得到改善。
在香港、日本和中國的電訊公司也受到了影響。BBC中文部在香港的辦公室的互聯網連接也被中斷。
中國最大的電訊公司中國電訊集團表示，通往美國和歐洲的電纜受到了破壞。
韓國寬帶服務公司KT公司表示，6條海地電纜受到影響，中斷了對客戶的服務，包括對銀行提供的服務。
據報道一些外匯交易也受到影響。
許多公司受到警告說，今后几天的互聯網連接將被減慢。
這次地震正值亞洲海嘯發生兩周年，那次海嘯中將近25萬人喪生。

According to reports, Taiwan, South Korea, China and Japan's banking and business telephone and the Internet have been plagued by problems. According to the United States Geological Survey revealed that the intensity of the waters in southern Taiwan, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.1. Earthquake shook the entire island of Taiwan, two people were killed in the earthquake, at least 42 people were injured. Quake off Hengchun in southern Taiwan, where a strong earthquake aftershocks in Pingtung County caused such a disaster. 100-kilometer area surrounding the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center warned against any local tsunami. Taiwan's largest telephone company Chunghwa Telecom said that the damage to cables in Haiti, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong 98% of communication were affected. The company officials said that repair work may take three weeks, but will gradually improve the quality of communications. In Hong Kong, Japanese and Chinese telecommunications companies have also been affected. BBC中文部 in office Internet connection has been interrupted. China Telecom Group, China's largest telecommunications company, said access to the United States and Europe, the cables have been damaged. South Korean broadband company KT company said that six of Haiti cables affected, the disruption of service to customers. including the provision of banking services. It has been reported that a number of foreign exchange transactions will be affected. Many companies have been warned that the coming days will be slower Internet connections. The earthquake was the second anniversary of the Asian tsunami, tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) 大规模毁灭性武器(大规模毁灭性武器)

迪莫纳反应堆,从太空. (图片:太空影像/太空旅游特克)

The Dimona Reactor, as seen from space. (Photo: Space Imaging/NTA Space Turk)

Nuclear Weapons --- 核武器

The Israeli nuclear weapons program grew out of the conviction that the Holocaust justified any measures Israel took to ensure its survival. Consequently, Israel has been actively investigating the nuclear option from its earliest days. In 1949, HEMED GIMMEL a special unit of the IDF's Science Corps, began a two-year geological survey of the Negev desert with an eye toward the discovery of uranium reserves. Although no significant sources of uranium were found, recoverable amounts were located in phosphate deposits.
The program took another step forward with the creation of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) in 1952. Its chairman, Ernst David Bergmann, had long advocated an Israeli bomb as the best way to ensure "that we shall never again be led as lambs to the slaughter." Bergmann was also head of the Ministry of Defense's Research and Infrastructure Division (known by its Hebrew acronym, EMET), which had taken over the HEMED research centers (HEMED GIMMEL among them, now renamed Machon 4) as part of a reorganization. Under Bergmann, the line between the IAEC and EMET blurred to the point that Machon 4 functioned essentially as the chief laboratory for the IAEC. By 1953, Machon 4 had not only perfected a process for extracting the uranium found in the Negev, but had also developed a new method of producing heavy water, providing Israel with an indigenous capability to produce some of the most important nuclear materials.
For reactor design and construction, Israel sought the assistance of France. Nuclear cooperation between the two nations dates back as far as early 1950's, when construction began on France's 40MWt heavy water reactor and a chemical reprocessing plant at Marcoule. France was a natural partner for Israel and both governments saw an independent nuclear option as a means by which they could maintain a degree of autonomy in the bipolar environment of the cold war.
In the fall of 1956, France agreed to provide Israel with an 18 MWt research reactor. However, the onset of the Suez Crisis a few weeks later changed the situation dramatically. Following Egypt's closure of the Suez Canal in July, France and Britain had agreed with Israel that the latter should provoke a war with Egypt to provide the European nations with the pretext to send in their troops as peacekeepers to occupy and reopen the canal zone. In the wake of the Suez Crisis, the Soviet Union made a thinly veiled threat against the three nations. This episode not only enhanced the Israeli view that an independent nuclear capability was needed to prevent reliance on potentially unreliable allies, but also led to a sense of debt among French leaders that they had failed to fulfill commitments made to a partner. French premier Guy Mollet is even quoted as saying privately that France "owed" the bomb to Israel.
On 3 October 1957, France and Israel signed a revised agreement calling for France to build a 24 MWt reactor (although the cooling systems and waste facilities were designed to handle three times that power) and, in protocols that were not committed to paper, a chemical reprocessing plant. This complex was constructed in secret, and outside the IAEA inspection regime, by French and Israeli technicians at Dimona, in the Negev desert under the leadership of Col. Manes Pratt of the IDF Ordinance Corps.
Both the scale of the project and the secrecy involved made the construction of Dimona a massive undertaking. A new intelligence agency, the Office of Science Liasons, (LEKEM) was created to provide security and intelligence for the project. At the height construction, some 1,500 Israelis some French workers were employed building Dimona. To maintain secrecy, French customs officials were told that the largest of the reactor components, such as the reactor tank, were part of a desalinization plant bound for Latin America. In addition, after buying heavy water from Norway on the condition that it not be transferred to a third country, the French Air Force secretly flew as much as four tons of the substance to Israel.
Trouble arose in May 1960, when France began to pressure Israel to make the project public and to submit to international inspections of the site, threatening to withhold the reactor fuel unless they did. President de Gaulle was concerned that the inevitable scandal following any revelations about French assistance with the project, especially the chemical reprocessing plant, would have negative repercussions for France's international position, already on shaky ground because of its war in Algeria.
At a subsequent meeting with Ben-Gurion, de Gaulle offered to sell Israel fighter aircraft in exchange for stopping work on the reprocessing plant, and came away from the meeting convinced that the matter was closed. It was not. Over the next few months, Israel worked out a compromise. France would supply the uranium and components already placed on order and would not insist on international inspections. In return, Israel would assure France that they had no intention of making atomic weapons, would not reprocess any plutonium, and would reveal the existence of the reactor, which would be completed without French assistance. In reality, not much changed - French contractors finished work on the reactor and reprocessing plant, uranium fuel was delivered and the reactor went critical in 1964.
In a report published on 4 August 2005, the BBC revealed evidence from the British National Archives that showed that the UK sold 20 tons of heavy water to Israel for £1.5 million in 1958. The heavy water, surplus from a shipment purchased by the UK from Norway in 1956, was for use in Israel's Dimona reactor. British officials involved in the deal made a conscious effort to keep the deal secret from both the United States and ministers of their own government. In 1961, Israel asked the UK for more heavy water, but due to the publicity that the Dimona project was receiving at the time, the British declined to sell any more to the Israelis.
The United States first became aware of Dimona's existence after U-2 overflights in 1958 captured the facility's construction, but it was not identified as a nuclear site until two years later. The complex was variously explained as a textile plant, an agricultural station, and a metallurgical research facility, until David Ben-Gurion stated in December 1960 that Dimona complex was a nuclear research center built for "peaceful purposes."
There followed two decades in which the United States, through a combination of benign neglect, erroneous analysis, and successful Israeli deception, failed to discern first the details of Israel's nuclear program. As early as 8 December 1960, the CIA issued a report outlining Dimona's implications for nuclear proliferation, and the CIA station in Tel Aviv had determined by the mid-1960s that the Israeli nuclear weapons program was an established and irreversible fact.
United States inspectors visited Dimona seven times during the 1960s, but they were unable to obtain an accurate picture of the activities carried out there, largely due to tight Israeli control over the timing and agenda of the visits. The Israelis went so far as to install false control room panels and to brick over elevators and hallways that accessed certain areas of the facility. The inspectors were able to report that there was no clear scientific research or civilian nuclear power program justifying such a large reactor - circumstantial evidence of the Israeli bomb program - but found no evidence of "weapons related activities" such as the existence of a plutonium reprocessing plant.
Although the United States government did not encourage or approve of the Israeli nuclear program, it also did nothing to stop it. Walworth Barbour, US ambassador to Israel from 1961-73, the bomb program's crucial years, primarily saw his job as being to insulate the President from facts which might compel him to act on the nuclear issue, alledgedly saying at one point that "The President did not send me there to give him problems. He does not want to be told any bad news." After the 1967 war, Barbour even put a stop to military attachés' intelligence collection efforts around Dimona. Even when Barbour did authorize forwarding information, as he did in 1966 when embassy staff learned that Israel was beginning to put nuclear warheads in missiles, the message seemed to disappear into the bureaucracy and was never acted upon.
In early 1968, the CIA issued a report concluding that Israel had successfully started production of nuclear weapons. This estimate, however, was based on an informal conversation between Carl Duckett, head of the CIA's Office of Science and Technology, and Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen bomb. Teller said that, based on conversations with friends in the Israeli scientific and defense establishment, he had concluded that Israel was capable of building the bomb, and that the CIA should not wait for an Israeli test to make a final assessment because that test would never be carried out.

Posted By www.globalsecurity.org

Read it in Chinese --> 阅读中文

以色列核武计划核武器的前身有理由确信屠杀以色列采取任何措施,以确保其生存. 因此,以色列一直在积极调查其核选择从最早天. 1949年,哈迈德gimmel国防军特种部队的科学兵团 开始两年内盖夫沙漠地质调查与主导权发现铀储量. 虽然没有发现重大的铀源,可采量位于磷酸盐存款. 节目又迈进了一大步,创造了以色列原子能委员会于1952年(原子能). 主席恩斯特幼斯蒂娜 曾长期主张以色列炸弹是最佳的保证",决不再为主导羊羔" 斯蒂娜也是国防部主管科研和基础设施司(希伯来已知其缩写,emet) 已接管哈迈德研究中心(哈迈德gimmel当中 现在改machon4)作为重组. 根据斯蒂娜 emet间的界线模糊,并给伊拉克原子能machon四点基本上为行政运作的原子能实验室. 由1953年4machon不仅完善了工艺提取铀格夫发现, 还研制生产重水的新方法, 向以色列提供原生产能力的一些最重要的核原料. 为反应堆设计和施工,以色列寻求协助法国. 两国核合作据追溯到50年代初, 当法国开始建造的重水反应堆和40mwt化学厂在Marcoule的. 法国是天然的伙伴,两国政府认为,以色列的核选择作为一个独立的方法,使他们能够保持一定程度的自治两极冷战环境. 1956年秋,法国同意向以色列提供18兆瓦研究堆. 然而,苏伊士运河危机爆发几周之后形势急剧变化. 继埃及的苏伊士运河关闭7 法国和英国已同意与以色列挑起战争,后者应提供与埃及同欧洲国家在其部队为借口派遣维和重新占领运河区. 在苏伊士运河危机之后,苏联作了掩饰霸道威胁三国. 这个插曲不仅加强以色列认为独立核能力需要依赖可能是不可靠的盟国,以防止、 而且导致了法国领导人之间的债务意识,他们没有履行自己承诺的一个伙伴. 法国总理家伙mollet甚至话说私下表示,法国"欠"的炸弹给以色列. 关于1957年10月3日, 法国和以色列签署了一项协议,要求法国修改建设24兆瓦反应堆(虽然冷却系统和废物处理设施的设计能力三倍), 在协议中未承诺皮化学厂. 这是在复杂的秘密,国际原子能机构检查制度以外,法国和以色列在迪莫纳技术员、 在盖夫沙漠鬃毛普拉特领导下的国防军上校军团条例. 无论规模和项目建设取得涉及保密迪莫纳浩大. 新情报机构,办事处科学liasons(lekem)创立提供安全和情报的项目. 在施工高峰,约1500名以色列人一些法国建筑工人迪莫纳. 为了保密,法国海关官员表示,最大的反应堆组件 例如反应堆坦克,是一部海水淡化厂运往拉丁美洲. 此外, 在买重水从挪威的情况下,它不会被转移到第三国, 法国空军秘密出动高达4吨的物质到以色列. 1960年5月发生故障, 当法国开始向以色列施加压力,使公共工程和向国际视察现场 扬言中止反应堆的燃料,除非他们这样做的. 戴高乐总统担心难免有爆发的丑闻之后,法国与援助项目 尤其化学厂,将有负面影响,法国的国际地位, 因为它已经动摇地面战争在阿尔及利亚. 在随后与本-古里、 戴高乐售予以色列战斗机对换工作停厂, 来到远离会议确信此事被关闭. 它不是. 在未来几个月,以色列出台了妥协. 法国将与零件供应的铀已经放在秩序和不坚持国际核查. 作为回报,以色列会向法国表示他们无意制造原子武器 没有任何加工钚,并揭示存在反应堆 将未经竣工法国援助. 实际上,没有多少改变法国反应堆工程承包商和成品厂、 铀作燃料的反应堆是在1964年进入关键. 在2005年8月4日发表的一份报告, 证据显示,英国广播公司从英国国家档案显示,卖出20吨重水给以色列为150万英镑1958. 大量用水,剩余由一批从英国购买了挪威在1956年 被用于以色列迪莫纳反应堆. 英国官员参与了这项交易的自觉努力,保持双方的秘密协议,美国和其政府的部长. 1961年,英国要求以色列更多重水, 但由于宣传的迪莫纳项目接收当时 英国拒绝出售更多的以色列人. 美国首次发现迪莫纳生存后的U-2飞越1958被俘设施的建设、 但不列为核现场,直到两年后. 被解释为各种复杂的纺织工厂,一个农业站、冶金研究设施、 直到幼本-古里表示,在1960年12月,是一个复杂的迪莫纳核研究中心的建成,为"和平目的" 随后的二十年中,美国通过多种良性忽视,分析错误, 以色列成功行骗,没有看出第一细节以色列的核计划. 早在1960年12月8日,美国中央情报局发表一份报告,概述迪莫纳的影响核扩散 和中央情报局曾在特拉维夫站由60年代中期,以色列核武计划是既定的和不可逆转的事实. 美国核查人员参观迪莫纳七次六十年 但是他们无法准确了解目前所开展的活动, 由于以色列严格控制访问的时间和议程. 以色列人竟以虚假控制室安装板和砖瓦对电梯或走廊,进入某些领域居. 核查人员可以向各位报告,也没有明确的科学研究或民用核能计画说明这样的大型反应堆旁证了以色列炸弹节目,但发现没有证据表明"武器有关的活动",如存在着钚的工厂. 尽管美国政府不鼓励或批准了以色列的核计划 它也没有什么可以阻止它. walworth钝,从1961年至1973年美国驻以色列的炸弹计划的关键年 主要看他的工作是为了保障总统从事实可能逼其法在核问题上 一度alledgedly说,"总统没有给他送我上的问题. 他不想告诉任何坏消息. " 1967年战争后,连江雪制止武官的情报收集工作迪莫纳左右. 即使没有授权江雪传递信息、 他曾在1966年时为大使馆工作人员介绍,以色列开始把核弹头飞弹 这个信息似乎并没有消失在官僚行事. 1968年初,美国中央情报局发表报告总结说,以色列已成功启动生产核武器. 这项估计,不过,根据一项非正式对话卡尔包皮、 美国中央情报局长办公室科技、承天出纳员、氢弹之父. 柜员说,基于朋友的交谈中,以色列科学和国防建设, 他得出结论说,以色列的轰炸能力建设, 中央情报局和以色列不要等待检验,进行最后评估,因为这不会进行测试.

Press reflects split over Pinochet

Supporters and opponents of Gen Pinochet took to the streets

Strong passions sparked off by the death of the former Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet are evident in the pages of the Chilean press.
Comments range from satisfaction to sadness, with some pointing to the fact that Pinochet died on human rights day.
La Tercera publishes scathing remarks by the president of the Families of The Detained and Disappeared Group, Lorena Pizarro.
"Do you know how people feel today in this country? That the worst scum that this fatherland has given birth to has died", she is quoted as saying.
Ms Pizarro says it is symbolic that Pinochet died on human rights day.

"How wise is history, Pinochet died on 10 December, so perhaps the whole of humanity said enough is enough", she says.
The coincidence was also highlighted by the popular paper La Cuarta, with its headline "Pinochet died on human rights day".
It reports that his death coincided with the 84th birthday of his wife.
'Fervour'
La Cuarta also reports on the polarized reactions to the announcement of the death.
It notes both "the fervour of his supporters who yelled for flags to be flown at half mast" and "the hundreds of families waving flags celebrating his death in the area of La Victoria".
For La Hora, "there is no middle ground with Pinochet - you either love him or hate him".
"The light and dark of an historic day," runs a headline in the paper. "No sooner had the death of Augusto Pinochet been announced than his supporters and opponents took to the streets to give vent to their emotions".

An editorial in La Tercera says the death marks "the disappearance of the principle figure in Chilean politics for at least the past three decades".
"But he and his regime are, lamentably, destined to continue causing controversy for a long time to come."
A letter in the paper says: "We Christian Democrats who defend the dignity of the human being find it unacceptable to celebrate the death of a person, whatever their crimes."
'Figure from the past'
And a political commentator in the same paper argues that "most people saw Pinochet as a figure from the past".
"I hope these people, both supporters and adversaries, can start looking towards the future rather than back to the past."
A headline in the major conservative daily El Mercurio proclaims "Profound impact in Chile and the world: Pinochet dies."
An El Mercurio editorial speaks of the "deep hatred which divided Chilean society" and argues that Pinochet acted to "bring an end to the gravest crisis in Chile in the last century, an insoluble crisis".
It says the debate over Pinochet's heritage will continue for many years but makes a plea for "reconciliation" between "all who fought from different perspectives to forge a better Chile".
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.

Posted By www.BBC.co.uk

News from Canada - Harper mum as Commons debates same-sex marriage proposal

Janice Tibbetts, CanWest News Service
Published: Thursday, December 07, 2006

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the man who promised to bring the contentious same-sex marriage issue back to the Commons, was absent from the chamber and had no plans to defend traditional marriage as debate opened Wednesday on whether to revoke Canada's same-sex marriage law.
The Commons was virtually empty, with about 20 of 308 members showing up, including Conservative House leader Rob Nicholson.
He acknowledged at the onset that ''some members may question why it's necessary to engage this House on this matter.''
Nicholson introduced a motion ''to call on government to introduce legislation to restore the traditional definition of marriage without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing same-sex marriages.''
As he led the government's case, Nicholson spent little time arguing why the gay-marriage law should be revoked, focusing instead on the fact that the government made an election promise to revive the issue.
''Given the importance of marriage in our society and its importance to Canadians, we made a commitment in the last election to ask parliamentarians whether they wished to revisit this issue,'' Nicholson said.
MPs were to debate the issue until late Wednesday night, with a vote scheduled for today.
The motion is expected to fail, with the minority Conservatives finding little support on the opposition benches.
At least a dozen Conservatives are also expected to vote against the government, including cabinet ministers John Baird, Jim Prentice, Loyola Hearn and David Emerson.
On the Liberal benches, it is anticipated that only handful of MPs will vote to reopen the gay marriage issue.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, calling the prospect ''an attack against the charter,'' had pondered imposing a whipped vote, meaning that Liberal MPs would have had to vote against the government or face discipline.
But after adding up the numbers and concluding there is virtually no chance the vote will succeed, Dion said Wednesday that Liberals will be able to vote as they wish so that Harper cannot accuse him of gagging his MPs.
''A free vote will prove that the overwhelming majority are not willing to go with the government on this issue and then that will be the end of the story,'' Dion said.
The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois are imposing party discipline and voting en masse against the motion.
Harper promised gay-marriage opponents on the first day of last winter's election campaign to hold a Commons vote on whether to re-open debate on Canada's 2005 law, a move that critics say mobilized his socially conservative supporters.
Liberal MP Bill Graham, leading the Liberal assault on the motion, dismissed it as a stunt that carries no weight and said that if the government was serious ''they would have introduced legislation.''
Graham said the only way for the government to restore the traditional definition is to use the Constitution's ''notwithstanding clause,'' which allows governments to override court decisions for up to five years.
The previous Liberal government, reacting to a string of court rulings, passed a law in June 2005 that rewrote the traditional definition of marriage. The vote in the Commons succeeded 158-133.

China should increase gold holdings

China's foreign exchange reserves have become a thorny issue for the government. Experts around the world have suggested ways in which China might address the surplus of foreign exchange reserves. However, many of these simply involve consuming the excess which could easily lead to inflation. Any attempt to address the excess of foreign exchange reserves should incorporate a fundamental economic restructuring and an adjustment of the RMB exchange rate formation mechanism, which will be a long and slow process. In the process the government can pursue some complementary policies to reduce its huge foreign currency reserves. The author believes that raising gold holdings should be one of government's strategic choices.
Gold has played a very important role in the international monetary system. With the Demonetization of Gold, decided at a meeting in Jamaica in 1976 after the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system, the function of gold as a currency has been weakened and its status in the international reserve system fallen. As a result, many countries and regions reduced their gold holdings. However, following the Asian financial crisis, the US' economic downturn and the depreciation of the dollar, gold once again has risen in importance. Many countries have restored or even raised their gold holdings and adjusted the proportion of gold in their reserves, seeking a better role for gold in the modern economy.
Gold has several functions. It can be a tool in a diversified investment portfolio and can spread investment risks. Gold has high liquidity, high security and low profitability. With a high liquidity, it can realize any market price freely. This is compatible with the ability of reserve assets to deal with any unexpected economic difficulties. Despite low profitability gold can have a very important hedging function. It can be combined with some asset portfolios that are high risk but also high benefit, increasing investment benefits at the same level as risks.
Gold is also important in helping prevent inflation. For emerging countries and markets, low interest rates, high oil prices and rampant fund speculation has increased the extent of inflation. To curb the bubble economy that could arise from inflation, countries usually adopt macroeconomic controls such as increasing the interest rate. Gold is another effective means of preventing inflation. History shows that gold prices increase in sync with the rise of the inflation index and often in a higher range. During deflation, the price of gold does not necessarily fall in line with the index, or by a lower margin.
In addition, holders of gold are able to meet their temporary funding needs in emergencies. During its 1998 financial crisis in 1998, Russia sold off 33 percent of its gold reserves. In 2001, to deal with a series of natural disasters that had befallen the country, it sold more of its gold holdings and invested the money into the reconstruction of Siberia. During the Asian Financial Crisis, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand all appealed to residents to convert their gold into local government bonds or to turn the gold they had collected directly into holdings or into dollars either to pay for the debt or to reduce risks. This helped stabilize the local currencies.
Gold assets have unique features. Gold holdings is an issue that concerns national sovereignty. Every country has autonomous control of its gold. Gold does not involve a liability, nor is it subject to any country's economic policies, including the direct impact of monetary and fiscal policies.
China's Central Bank says that China has 600 tons of gold holdings, equal to about 19.29 million ounces. This figure has not changed since December 2002. China's gold reserves account for only 1.3 percent of its total foreign exchange reserves, far lower than the 3 percent that is standard in other countries. With the rapid growth of foreign exchange reserves, which now exceed US$1 trillion, the ratio of gold in China's foreign exchange reserves is even lower. In the long term, China should raise its gold holdings. The price of gold has rebounded since April 2001 and a record high was set in May 2006 ¨C US$725 per ounce. Currently an ounce of gold sells for approximately US$625. The price of gold has fluctuated but overall it remains high. If China adopts a long-term strategic approach, accurately predict the market price of gold and purchase gold in a timely and reasonable manner, it can preserve and increase the value of gold, improve the reserve structure, and create a solid foundation for the internationalization of the RMB in the future.
By People's Daily Online; The author, Gao Jie, is an Associate Professor at the School of Finance in the University of International Business and Economics

China, DPRK, U.S. agree to resume six-party talks

Top negotiators of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States agreed to resume the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue as soon as possible, Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The negotiators held several rounds of bilateral and trilateral talks in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday, exchanging views "frankly and in an in-depth way", said the Ministry.
The negotiations have "increased mutual understanding" between the three parties, who agreed to work together for the early resumption and progress of the six-party talks, the Ministry said.
But it did not say whether an exact date has been set.
The top negotiators of China, the DPRK, the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan are all in Beijing making preparations for the resumption of the talks.
On Tuesday's regular press conference of the Ministry, spokeswoman Jiang Yu said the exact date for the resumption of the talks was still undecided.
Jiang called on all parties to take a "flexible and pragmatic approach" and work toward the early resumption of the talks and make concerted efforts to achieve progress.
The six-party talks, aimed at finding a solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, have been stalled since last November as the DPRK refused to return to the talks because of U.S. sanctions against it.
Source: Xinhua

China reaffirms efforts to push for Mideast peace

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has reiterated his country's readiness to join international efforts to push for peace and stability in the Middle East region.
In a message to the Conference in Commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People held at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday, Wen extended warm congratulations on the occasion of its convocation on behalf of the Chinese government.
In the message, Wen stressed the Palestinian issue is at the core of the Middle East conflict. "China supports restart of the Middle East peace process and resumption of political negotiations as soon as possible, so as to establish an independent state of Palestine that co-exists peacefully with Israel, on the basis of relevant UN resolutions and the 'land for peace' principle," he said.
The settlement of the Palestinian issue calls for political will and courage of the Palestinians and Israel as well, and needs support and assistance from the international community, Wen said.
As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China would continue its support for a larger UN role in the Middle East issue, he said.
"China is ready to make unswerving efforts with the international community for a fair and overall solution to the Palestinian issue and an early realization of peace and stability in the Middle East region," the Chinese premier said.
The United Nations set Nov. 29 as the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
Source: Xinhua

Israelis believe in the killing of children and women

Palestinian children

I don't have to say anything, the picture speaks for it self, everyone knows that the Israelis believe in the killing of kids and women.

Look at the picture, I ask you WHY? because they are Arab children, then we should call them European children, Perhaps we might get the world attention.

Tony

tony@newsclock.com

Israeli killings resume in Gaza Strip

The killings took place in the northern town of Beit Hanoun

Israeli troops are reported to have killed four Palestinians in northern Gaza, two of them civilians including a 75-year-old, in one of its biggest operations in the coastal strip in months.
Witnesses said soldiers, backed by tanks and using loudspeakers, ordered all residents over 16 years of age in the town of Beit Hanoun to present themselves at a school for questioning.

The town of 30,000 people has been effectively under an army curfew since the Israeli troops entered it on Wednesday, the witnesses said.

The latest casualties bring to 13 the number of Palestinians killed since Wednesday.

Although the Israeli army says the operation was aimed partly at halting rocket fire at the Jewish state from northern Gaza, militants launched four homemade missiles at the nearby Israeli border town of Sderot, wounding one person, medical officials said.

Peace talks

"Residents are in panic as the sound of gunfire and explosions never stops. The curfew is very, very tight" Yamen Hamad, a local journalist
Thursday's offensive has further weakened the prospects of resuming peace talks between the two sides, already minimal since the Hamas movement took office in March after winning elections.

Hamas has said the bloodshed could also complicate Egyptian-brokered talks aimed at arranging a swap of Palestinian prisoners in Israel for an Israeli soldier abducted by militants in a cross-border raid last June.

"Residents are in panic as the sound of gunfire and explosions never stops. The curfew is very, very tight," Yamen Hamad, a local journalist, told Reuters by telephone.

One Israeli soldier was killed during the raid. More than half the Palestinians who died were said to be militants.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said all men in Beit Hanoun had been asked to gather in one place to answer questions.

Children wounded

Relatives said one of the civilians killed on Thursday, a 75-year-old man, was shot by troops on a rooftop when he went onto the balcony of his home to take his disabled son inside. The army said its forces were only targeting militants.

Among the dead was a Hamas gunman who worked as a bodyguard for Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, witnesses said.

Hospital officials said 15 people had been wounded, including four children and a woman injured when a tank shell hit their house.

The assault is one of the biggest since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza to try to force the release of the captured soldier and halt the rocket fire.

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed in the four-month-old offensive, about half of them civilians. Three Israeli soldiers have been killed.

Posted by www.aljazeera.net

Chavez denies being anti-US

Chavez says he wants to strengthen ties with Arab nations

Hugo Rafael Chavez Frías, the 53rd president of Venezuela, was born on July 28 1954. He came to power in 1998, promising to help Venezuela's poor majority, and was re-elected in 2000. He survived a coup in 2002 and faces a presidential election in December.
Since becoming president he has followed a policy of democratic socialism, Latin American integration and anti-imperialism.

His reforms have created much controversy in Venezuela and abroad. Most Venezuelans are split between those who say he has empowered the poor and stimulated economic growth, and those who say he is autocratic and has badly managed the economy.

Some foreign governments view Chavez as a threat to world oil prices and regional stability, while others welcome his bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements.

Chavez recently described George Bush, the US president, as "the devil" and says Bush has plans to assassinate him and invade Venezuela. He recently talked to Aljazeera about his relationship with the US, the Venezuelan army and why he gets only a few hours' sleep a night.

Aljazeera.net: You are strengthening ties with countries that are dissatisfied with Washington, countries such as Iran, Bolivia and Cuba. What is the end game of such an alliance?

Hugo Chavez: We are not against the US people, where there are children, women, intellectuals and students. We have investments in the US, we have eight refineries there, we have 14,000 gas stations. I have many friends there, I have played baseball there, I even have a nephew there.

What we are against is the imperial elite and that is very different. This is not a game. Do you think Iraq is a game, the aggression against Latin America for a century is a game, the toppling of Allende, the invasions of Grenada, Haiti, Panama, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, is that a game?

If that's a game, then my goodness that would be awful. This is an aggression and every day more and more people are against this hegemony and trying to save the world. Look at Lebanon, the aggression against the Palestinian people, why do they do that? Because the Israelis are supported by the elite of the US. We are against that.

Some would say in order for such an alliance to stop these events and counter the power of Washington that you refer to, regional powers such as China and Russia would need to back it. You hold talks with the leaders of these countries, are they ready to come on board for such an alliance?

You insist on something that is out of my main focus. I have never said we want to build an alliance against the US, so your question is not really focused.

If you take Moscow, Iran, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, what we are doing is getting closer through integration, through energy, oil, gas, trade and respect for international law.

We are today on a campaign around the world asking for support for Venezuela to become part of the Security Council as a non–permanent member. The US is in a terrible campaign to prevent us being elected. We are defending our interests but we are not proposing an alliance against anyone, much less the people of the United States. So your question is out of focus.

In May 2005, you called for an alliance between Latin America and the Arab world. How far has that initiative gone?

Not only me, Lula [Brazil's president] has been outspoken in calling for the coming together of Latin America and the Arab countries.

In Brasilia in May we had the first ever Arab-South American summit. It was a very important meeting.

In the past, only Venezuela had strong relations with the Arab world through Opec and through links with other non-Opec countries such as Egypt.

But now Lula is convening these meetings, he is coming to the Arab world. Not long ago in Venezuela we held a meeting between senior ministers in charge of education and social matters in both Latin America and the Arab world. We have made serious progress. It is not just an individual proposal of Hugo Chavez, it is a proposal of leaders like Muammar al-Qadhafi and the amir of Qatar. As well as Lula and Eva Morales [Bolivia's president]. And we want to get our two regions together.

You have started an ambitious programme to rebuild your military, you are buying new weapons, you are trying to raise, I think, the largest standing army in the Americas. If everything goes to plan, you will have two million reserve troops. What has prompted this military build up?

Let me tell you something. I hardly have time to sleep a few hours a day, but I don't care because I've decided to devote my life to taking my people out of poverty and misery.

To make a great effort for all Venezuelans to have access to education, health, housing, to life. When we were elected, poverty in Venezuela was over 55 per cent based on UN figures, it is now between 30 per cent and 40 per cent.

We are building a system of Bolivarian schools where children can have breakfast, lunch and dinner, gain internet access and take part in sports activities.

I devote a tiny part of my time to being commander-in-chief of the Venezuelan army. The imperialists have threatened to invade Venezuela, they have already conducted a coup d'etat four years ago. Recently they conducted manoeuvres in the Caribbean. We have even captured US soldiers taking pictures of military installations and we have expelled them.

We have much evidence, proof and documents that show there is a plan to invade Venezuela. What do you want us to do? That I forget my task of minimum defence of the country?

We had old rifles, they were 60-years old. We depended almost totally on US supplies. The F16 fighters we bought 20 years ago, they refused to give us spare parts, and they were stranded on the ground. So I have bought better planes and Kalashnikovs from Moscow. We have a vast border with Colombia, we have a huge coastal line along the Caribbean. We have to defend this country. We are not going to be aggressors.

Do you feel you are still being targeted and threatened by the US? We know that some people in the US have spoken in the past about assassinating you. Do you still feel personally targeted by the US?

Yes indeed. People have publicly called for my assassination and that is a crime. However, this person is not in jail, he is a close friend of the US president.

Venezuelan terrorists who left for the US after the 2002 coup, who killed people in Venezuela, are today living in the US. The US will not extradite them. Some of them are organising actions against myself and Venezuela.

The US is protecting terrorism. They are applying state terror. President Bush has left a measure taken by a former president that authorises the CIA, like 007, with a permit to kill whoever, whenever and however. They have a green light. President Carter banned that practice and the current president has just reinstated it. I am one of the targets, no doubt about it.

If the opposition parties do take part in the forthcoming Venezuelan presidential elections will you make a move towards presidency for life?

There is no way I can adopt such a provision. We have a constitution and it is only the people who might change the constitution in this direction or any other direction. They have the power to hold a referendum to remove the power given to me. The people can collect and gather signatures to ask for a referendum to recall a government official and that is totally democratic

By Aljazeera.net

Iraq similar to Vietnam says Bush

Pressure is growing on Bush over the worsening situation in Iraq

The US president has for the first time acknowledged a possible parallel between the raging violence in Iraq and the Vietnam War.

George Bush on Wednesday was asked in an ABC News interview if he agreed with a New York Times columnist's comparison of the strife in Iraq with the Tet Offensive, which is considered a key turning point in the US war in Vietnam.
"He could be right," he said. "There's certainly a stepped up level of violence."
Bush said insurgents are trying "to inflict enough damage that we'd leave."
"First of all, al-Qaeda is still very active in Iraq. They are dangerous. They are lethal. They are trying to not only kill American troops, but they're trying to foment sectarian violence," he said.
"They believe that if they can create enough chaos, the American people will grow sick and tired of the Iraqi effort and will cause (the) government to withdraw," Bush said.
Vietnamese campaign
The Tet Offensive, a campaign launched by the North Vietnamese in early 1968, was considered a military defeat for them, but the scope of the assault shocked Americans and helped turn US public opinion against the war.
The White House later sought to put the comparison in context.
"The full context was that the comparison was about the propaganda waged in the Tet Offensive ... and the president was reiterating something he's said before - that the enemy is trying to shake our will," Dana Perino, a Bush spokeswoman, said in a statement.
"The president also believes the American people understand the importance of beating our enemy who is determined to kill innocent freedom-loving people"
Dana Perino, White House spokeswoman
"They know that we're a caring and compassionate people and that we're deeply affected by gross violence," she said.
"The president also believes the American people understand the importance of beating our enemy who is determined to kill innocent freedom-loving people."
In the television interview, the US leader also expressed support for Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, but warned that his patience is not infinite.
"In my judgment, Maliki has got what it takes to lead a unity government," Bush said.
"I'm patient. I'm not patient forever. And I'm not patient with dawdling. But I recognise the degree of difficulty of the task, and therefore, say to the American people, we won't cut and run," he said.

By www.Aljazeera.net

Study Claims Iraq's "Excess" Death Toll Has Reached 655,000

October 8, 2006 A man mourns his son Friday in Baqubah, a city north of Baghdad. The child died in random gunfire near a family home in the village of Khan Bani Saad.

(Photo: Mohammed Adnan / AP)

By David Brown
The Washington Post

A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists estimates that 655,000 more people have died in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March 2003 than would have died if the invasion had not occurred.
The estimate, produced by interviewing residents during a random sampling of households throughout the country, is far higher than ones produced by other groups, including Iraq's government.
It is more than 20 times the estimate of 30,000 civilian deaths that President Bush gave in a speech in December. It is more than 10 times the estimate of roughly 50,000 civilian deaths made by the British-based Iraq Body Count research group.
The surveyors said they found a steady increase in mortality since the invasion, with a steeper rise in the last year that appears to reflect a worsening of violence as reported by the U.S. military, the news media and civilian groups. In the year ending in June, the team calculated Iraq's mortality rate to be roughly four times what it was the year before the war.
Of the total 655,000 estimated "excess deaths," 601,000 resulted from violence and the rest from disease and other causes, according to the study. This is about 500 unexpected violent deaths per day throughout the country.
The survey was done by Iraqi physicians and overseen by epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. The findings are being published online today by the British medical journal the Lancet.
The same group in 2004 published an estimate of roughly 100,000 deaths in the first 18 months after the invasion. That figure was much higher than expected, and was controversial. The new study estimates that about 500,000 more Iraqis, both civilian and military, have died since then - a finding likely to be equally controversial.
Both this and the earlier study are the only ones to estimate mortality in Iraq using scientific methods. The technique, called "cluster sampling," is used to estimate mortality in famines and after natural disasters.
While acknowledging that the estimate is large, the researchers believe it is sound for numerous reasons. The recent survey got the same estimate for immediate post-invasion deaths as the early survey, which gives the researchers confidence in the methods. The great majority of deaths were also substantiated by death certificates.
"We're very confident with the results," said Gilbert Burnham, a Johns Hopkins physician and epidemiologist.
A Defense Department spokesman did not comment directly on the estimate.
"The Department of Defense always regrets the loss of any innocent life in Iraq or anywhere else," said Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros. "The coalition takes enormous precautions to prevent civilian deaths and injuries."
He added that "it would be difficult for the U.S. to precisely determine the number of civilian deaths in Iraq as a result of insurgent activity. The Iraqi Ministry of Health would be in a better position, with all of its records, to provide more accurate information on deaths in Iraq."
Ronald Waldman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University who worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for many years, called the survey method "tried and true," and added that "this is the best estimate of mortality we have."
This viewed was echoed by Sarah Leah Whitson, an official of Human Rights Watch in New York, who said, "We have no reason to question the findings or the accuracy" of the survey.
"I expect that people will be surprised by these figures," she said. "I think it is very important that, rather than questioning them, people realize there is very, very little reliable data coming out of Iraq."
The survey was conducted between May 20 and July 10 by eight Iraqi physicians organized through Mustansiriya University in Baghdad. They visited 1,849 randomly selected households that had an average of seven members each. One person in each household was asked about deaths in the 14 months before the invasion and in the period after.
The interviewers asked for death certificates 87 percent of the time; when they did, more than 90 percent of households produced certificates.
According to the survey results, Iraq's mortality rate in the year before the invasion was 5.5 deaths per 1,000 people; in the post-invasion period it was 13.3 deaths per 1,000 people per year. The difference between these rates was used to calculate "excess deaths."
Of the 629 deaths reported, 87 percent occurred after the invasion. A little more than 75 percent of the dead were men, with a greater male preponderance after the invasion. For violent post-invasion deaths, the male-to-female ratio was 10-to-1, with most victims between 15 and 44 years old.
Gunshot wounds caused 56 percent of violent deaths, with car bombs and other explosions causing 14 percent, according to the survey results. Of the violent deaths that occurred after the invasion, 31 percent were caused by coalition forces or airstrikes, the respondents said.
Burnham said that the estimate of Iraq's pre-invasion death rate - 5.5 deaths per 1,000 people - found in both of the Hopkins surveys was roughly the same estimate used by the CIA and the U.S. Census Bureau. He said he believes that attests to the accuracy of his team's results.
He thinks further evidence of the survey's robustness is that the steepness of the upward trend it found in excess deaths in the last two years is roughly the same tendency found by other groups - even though the actual numbers differ greatly.
An independent group of researchers and biostatisticians based in England produces the Iraq Body Count. It estimates that there have been 44,000 to 49,000 civilian deaths since the invasion. An Iraqi nongovernmental organization estimated 128,000 deaths between the invasion and July 2005.
The survey cost about $50,000 and was paid for by Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for International Studies.

Invitations to demonstrate in protest of the charges offensive to the prophet Mohammad peace be upon him

Demonstrations in Egypt in protest against the charges of abusive first Baldanmark (French-Archive)

The banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, all Muslims to demonstrate against countries that allow the abuse of Islam and the economic boycott, and in the wake of a videotape broadcast on television Danish government last Friday for a ceremony to draw abusive images of the Prophet Mohamed's blessings and peace be upon him. The statement expressed the condemnation of the Muslim Brotherhood, condemned to repeat the humiliations of the Muslims, He called on all "individuals and groups, organizations, governments and the holy month to supporting their religion and to show their anger wise and prudent." It also called on Muslims to express their disapproval of what happened through the peaceful expression of the demonstration and protest letters, and others, and to the economic boycott of countries that wiping out those abuses. The Muslim Brotherhood, the repetition of the abuses evidence of the depth of hostility that much of certain sectors in the West against Islam and the Prophet and Muslims. The statement said : "While the Muslims Ejreeton humiliated because of the statements of the Vatican Pope attacking Islam and the prophet, and before that Cartoons (Danish) bumped insulting Muslims were also new from Denmark and the Youth Committee of the Danish People's Party participating in the coalition government. " Danish Muslims " In Denmark, Muslim leaders condemn new charges of abusive Prophet Mohamed, but they stressed they would not prevent action against " Muslim leaders have condemned what Baldanmark came in the video clip of the abuse of the Prophet Mohamed, they stressed that they would not prevent action against. He said Ahmed Abu gum in front of a mosque in Copenhagen that "in view of the previous problems we must be careful." Clear Abu-gum, which has helped to organize a trip to Egypt and Lebanon last year for the mobilization of Muslim leaders to protest the charges - that the situation was different this time. pointing to the position of the People's Party against Islam and Muslims, and it was not publish these photographs. Men also expressed regrets the decision of the Danish television introduced the pictures, saying that it raises ethical questions. For its part, expressed 137-142 Akdoujan spokeswoman for the Muslim community, the Democrats are pro-integration and community - which was formed in the wake of protests against the charges last February-happy to condemn parties Danmarkeh what happened. They ruled out the possibility that the events - which are described Balgbeh and ridiculous-demonstrations or other actions by Muslims. But they acknowledged that the new charges were prejudicial to Prophet Mohamed will increase the difficulty of the process of rapprochement. He criticized members of Youth wings of other Danish parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party and the people. saying they Sihatjon to refrain from participating in any political events attended by the People's Party. Adoption fees Fears that the outbreak of the crisis, the new wave of anger new Islamic States The build-Søren Espersen, who believed the second man-drawings offending people by the participants filed with the Youth Committee of his party, in a ceremony Samar summer camp on the fifth of August last year. Espersen said that these fees are only joke between friends and the poor, saying that "we do not have anything sacred. not Christ and Buddha and Mohammed, and President Biya Kiasco our party, will Nazl whom no one can decide our lives in Denmark. " The president of the Youth Kenneth Christiansen in a statement on the island of the Net that was not present during the presentation of the commemoration of the charges, He described the charges and that the big error does not accept this work if it never existed inauguration. Kritiansen refused to address the question of an apology directly from the fees and simply refusing, He called on Muslims to recognize that the Messiah is the son of God, and they must form the tariff books on the Prophet (Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) "to improve its image in the West and the definition of it." Youth Organization, and established the People's Party held to draw what they described as the "worst form" of the holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And before the second national channel and the newspaper Avisen tape the concert, and showed the abusive images. According to the competition that losing wears the kind of Barga more cynical and mocking Islam. It is noteworthy that, in the ninth and 10th of this month. the trial will begin lifting Muslims Baldanmark chairman of the cultural section sheet Iolands Boston for his charges cartoons abusive Quran to the prophet peace be upon him about a year ago.
Posted by Aljazeera.net

Israeli researcher tells the story of ethnic cleansing in Palestine

A prominent Israeli researcher of a new book, Israel in 1948 out ethnic cleansing in accordance with a detailed plan and they continue to do so even today against Palestinians in other ways. And Dr. Ilan door, a lecturer at Haifa University and peace activist, have a book in the English language issued in London entitled "ethnic cleansing in Palestine," when the involvement of Israel's crime against humanity in 1948, according to the documents and internal correspondence from the archives of Zionism open for the first time.
While the door between the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the same process in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. stressing that the only possible way to end the conflict lies in the return of refugees and the establishment of a binational state with the intention of genuine democracy in the territory of historic Palestine.
According to new research, Zionism developed a written plan for the ethnic cleansing in Palestine before the Nakba years have been developed gradually to the final form in what is known as the Medium "d".
Israel continues the policy of isolation and exile against the Palestinians since 1948 (French-Archive) The expulsion of Arabs The book mentions a letter written by David Ben-Gurion to his son in 1937 in which he stressed his vision that the expulsion of Arabs from Palestine by force when the right moment like the war waiting for her example.
The plan is "d", which elaborated the final at the hands of David Ben Gurion and 11 Zionist alliance leader in the distribution of 48 included the country into geographical areas entrusted to the leaders "Alhjanah" cleansing process there.
The researcher, the idea of ethnic cleansing born with the emergence of Zionism, which turned it into a plan when it became Jews constitute one third of the country's population, He pointed out that the Zionist used the 1948 war as a means of applying the plan of ethnic cleansing in addition to research new Israeli historians who believed that the result of the ethnic war.
The plan is to encircle the Arab cities and villages from three directions and the four left open to enable people to displacement and the shooting of civilians and the demolition of houses with explosives and the systematic theft of property.
The plan also included the massacres committed against the Palestinian civilians in the countryside to terrorize the population and pushed them to drain, He pointed out that the Zionist massacre carried out in some villages such as occupation of the major cities, as happened in Tiberias (massacre Nasser Eddin) and Haifa (massacre Tira), Jerusalem (Deir Yassin). Children were not spared cleansing by Israel for decades (French-Archive) The destruction and displacement He d. The door to the Zionist planned for its application within six months, but they were able to so often in far less, pointing out that it destroyed 530 villages and 11 cities emptied of their inhabitants.
He added that the plan was based primarily on intelligence information on the Palestinians since the huge 1930s on the number of the population and ages, names and the number of guns, trees and cattle and chickens, but returns every tree in the Palestinian villages, This will be in the thousands of "files" villages, which were part of the preparation for the purge.
Replying to a question, "Al Jazeera Net," explained researcher door to the Zionist expelled 750 thousand Palestinians from the territories with 48 remaining 10% of the population after the survivors of the displacement for several reasons. the decision to field commanders of violating orders and mediate some of the dignitaries of the villages close to Zionism as happened in the villages of Marj Bin Amer, in addition to some Christian towns.
He pointed out that the door motives in writing this search linked to enrich the knowledge and write a historical study of the professional and ethical position and added, "I can not write coolly on particular ethnic cleansing that continue even today through tightening the noose on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the economic blockade on the population of the West Bank and Gaza."
Noted writer to the role of the assignment in iron and the destruction of Arab leaders in the great revolution in 1936 and persuading that the Zionist state is not established settlements and fattening but by force of arms.

Posted by aljazeera.net

What is Ramadan?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The month in which the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, received his first divine revelation from the Angel Gabriel. For this reason it was chosen by the Prophet as a month of fasting, a time in which every the Muslim could "cultivate piety". Every day during this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete fast.A. During the blessed month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours. As a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice self-sacrifice, Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking.Muslims are called upon to use this month to re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance. We are to make peace with those who have wronged us, strengthen ties with family and friends, do away with bad habits -- essentially to clean up our lives, our thoughts, and our feelings. The Arabic word for "fasting" (sawm)literally means "to refrain" - and it means not only refraining from food and drink, but from evil actions, thoughts, and words.During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restrained.The tongue must be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves from looking at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast.Therefore, fasting is not merely physical, but is rather the total commitment of the person's body and soul to the spirit of the fast. Ramadan is a time to practice self-restraint; a time to cleanse the body and soul from impurities and re-focus one's self on the worship of God.

Fasting wonderful opportunity to renal failure patients

Fasting is a blessing from God Uncle which Anamha us, Vachiam works Kalmsfah which settles and refine the body and make it devoid of sediment body and satisfy existing members of the body and gives them the opportunity to renew their activities. The director of the National Institute for kidneys, urinary tract that the patient stable renal failure and dialysis, which is regularly informing him of fasting, through lower liquids and food covered, which is divided into two meals if committed by reducing animal protein. Director of the Institute, noted that the period of fasting ranging between 14 to 15 hours of fasting during a drought cells to the body if it did not take into account the rights of compensation through which fluids lost to evaporation during the fasting and avoid drinks that generate much of urine such as tea, coffee, Abrksos especially after meal. He emphasized that the person who has the willingness to form rubble should consult a doctor before fasting, because most of these patients Aisthassan Somhm because they have an imbalance in the representation of food in one of the types of body salts and if the patient left himself without consulting a doctor, decided fasting motu it with the end of the holy month would come with a stone in the volume the chickpea.
He added that the need to review the doctor's orders for the waves of sound the event of any unusual symptoms and noted that for the patient who kidney transplant if it did not pass on the total planted a year or more he can not fasting because the body had not yet on the sound and adequate dose of immune suppressants not even say the body of the total cultivated after the year first on agriculture must go to the doctor treating him for a series of tests to control the doses of medicine and the follow-up condition to determine the feasibility of Soumah, as stated in the newspaper "Oman today." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In all circumstances changed outlook than ever, We were telling old, and if yellow to 20 must change the blood of a newborn, But now, after splits the American Academy of Pediatrics if the child is healthy and weighs more than 3 km, while the yellow 30 of the Syrian forces can only under the light, Now there are many divisions such as children in general, birth dates before or not, all of these factors affecting him and ultimately be judged by the doctor .

Yogurt food magic

Yogurt is said that originally came from Turkey in the early 1900s. He said : "Lucky Binshkov" winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace : that the living cent over the year are fruit yogurt. The yogurt is milk Akhtmer by bacterial interactions, and the process of fermentation techniques that separates him fats, materials Alzlalih converted to wet emulsion digestible, sugar and acidifies Allbenik like acid.
The major benefit of yogurt concentrated in a lactose Bachels, the microbe-sized microscopic organisms attacking the unwanted through the formation of an acid counter it, They cleanse the intestines and eliminate 85% of harmful germs out; Valzbadi restore storage lactose Bachels intestine in time where the organisms or microbes peoples in the region had fallen due to illness or antibiotics.
Yogurt and digestible food and Moisturizes the body, which is easier on the digestion of milk; Valtvaelat that occur during enteric affect the sugar found in milk and protein where it is, so the new product more easily in the digestion of milk, The bacterial interactions that occur in the sugar is quick fix for those who suffer from stomach cramps or diarrhea due to drinking milk.
The yogurt is of a high nutritional value; because the process of fermentation techniques do not lose milk only a minimal amount of material available by the sugary, Which is what makes milk yogurt participate in the high nutritional value, which contains vitamin "A. d, "and a large proportion of calcium, The protein in yogurt better than the protein found in meat, because the latter has the proportion of fats.
Accordingly, the Vallben cans of food appropriate for the Elderly and the ladies who needed over the age of 45 years, and who suffer from weakness of bones, loss of teeth. , Yogurt, and milk replacement body from the lack of materials that cause these symptoms. The yogurt than in milk-interest; because milk goes Balcolistrol, and it is advisable for the elderly less milk and more milk yogurt; where gives the body benefits in the milk without the fat and cholesterol.
The yogurt was not a great benefit food only, but could be considered to be of therapeutic benefit to many diseases and illnesses. and it is a valuable preventive; because it increases the ability of immune and endurance, and works to strengthen the digestive system and the circulatory system.
The yogurt has a close relationship to delay the symptoms of aging is an ongoing diet, and by increasing the resistance of the body and the prevention of infection Bhamyat, infectious diseases and exterminate harmful microbes Channel bad, by adding a strong defensive line leads to the suspension of the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of arteries, and particularly that feed the heart and brain. Thus outlive those who regularly deal with cans and enjoy health, strength and activity lasting and renewed youth and vitality excess.
The yogurt helps to get rid of harmful blood fat, cholesterol and foremost, This helps not deposited on the walls of arteries. And cans of calming nerves, and concludes rights of insomnia, Colic and cleanse the intestines, and he will be able to eliminate pathogenic bacteria. In addition to mineral salts and acids it contains yogurt, it also contains vitamin "a, b, d," dealing with food and constantly push pollution damage from the incident, water, food and air.

McDonald's Bans Arabic?

posted by AkherKhabar.Com

American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's had a presence all over the world - but in some places, it has some strange policies. In Israel, for example, it has apparently banned the use of Arabic - in order to keep customers and employees from feeling uncomfortable.Conal Urquhart writes :It has banned the use of Arabic, which is an official language of Israel spoken by 20% of the population. Russian, which is not an official language but spoken by 20% of the population, is also banned. The rules emerged after one worker, Abeer Zinaty, 20, claimed she was dismissed from the branch of McDonald's in Ramle, near Tel Aviv.Mossawa claims the problem at McDonald's is common throughout Israel where Arabs are banned by some companies from speaking their mother tongue. Many Israeli Arabs and Palestinians from East Jerusalem suppress their language and identity in order to work in Israeli establishments.In a letter to Mossawa, Talila Yodfat, the human resources director for McDonald's, wrote: "There is an instruction known to all the workers of the branches that they speak between themselves and clients just in Hebrew. This is to prevent uncomfortable situations for workers and clients who mostly speak Hebrew."Unfortunately for McDonald's, this admitted policy is probably illegal. The Israeli supreme court has ruled that Arab have a right to use Arabic under the Basic Laws of Israel. If they have a right to use Arabic, then McDonald's probably can't prevent them from speaking in Arabic from each other. Perhaps they can require that they only speak Hebrew to customers, but not when speaking privately with one another.

Report details US 'intelligence failures'

By Rob Broomby BBC correspondent in Berlin

The American intelligence agency, the CIA, could have prevented the 11 September attacks if it were not for systematic failures, according to the German newspaper Die Zeit.
Just a month before the deadly attacks, the paper said, Mossad handed over to the Americans a detailed report naming several suspects they believe were preparing an attack on the United States The paper has uncovered details of a major Israeli spy ring involving some a 120 agents for the intelligence service Mossad operating across America and some masquerading as arts students.
The ring was reportedly hard on the heels of at least four members of the hijack gang, including its leader Mohammed Atta.
But the Israeli agents were detected by their American counterparts and thrown out of the country, it says.
The US authorities said then that they were students whose visas had expired.
Report dismissed
Just a month before the deadly attacks, the paper said, Mossad handed over to the Americans a detailed report naming several suspects they believe were preparing an attack on the United States.
But it contained no specific indications as to the objective and it was not treated seriously.
The paper also claims that the CIA failed to inform the German authorities that Ramzi Binalshibh, a key logistics man for the attacks, had attended a high level meeting of al-Qaeda activists in Malaysia over 18 months before 11 September.
Without that information the Germans could not prevent him re-entering the country and contacting the Hamburg cell that was planning the hijackings.

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud

48 , self made
Source: investmentsNet Worth: $23.7 bil
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Residence: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Industry: Investments
Marital Status: married , 2 children Menlo College, Bachelor of Arts / ScienceSyracuse University, Master of Science

This savvy global investor and nephew of the Saudi king continues to thrive on deal-making—in addition to a dash of pro-American political crusading. His fortune, anchored by a $10 billion stake in Citigroup, was lifted in part by a 116% rise in the Saudi stock market in 2004. Last year he unloaded his half of New York's Plaza Hotel and plowed the profits into buying stakes in London's Savoy Hotel and Monaco's Monte Carlo Grand. In January he helped bail out an ailing Disneyland-Paris with a $30 million cash injection. A vocal supporter of women's rights, he hired the first female airplane pilot in Saudi Arabia, a country where women still can't legally drive. Clearly pleased with his stock picking prowess, he took out ads on CNN touting his holdings. "We're telling the market all these companies are number one in their field," crows Alwaleed.

Posted By http://www.forbes.com/

Hezbollah leader appears in public

Published by Aljazeera.net
Friday 22 September 2006, 21:10 Makka Time, 18:10 GMT


Speaking at a victory rally in south Beirut in his first public appearance since the war with Israel, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his group still had over 20,000 rockets available.
Nasrallah joined hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters who filled the devastated southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday with a sea of yellow flags to celebrate "divine victory" in their month-long war against Israel.
"The resistance today has more than 20,000 rockets. The resistance is today stronger than on July 12 [the outbreak of the hostiltities] ... and stronger than ever before," he said.
One of Israel's stated aims in the offensive was to eliminate Hezbollah's capacity to fire rockets, thousands of which were fired at the country during the conflict.
Nasrallah last appeared in public at a news conference on July 12 when he announced the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah fighters, an act which led to the Israeli attacks.
The assembled crowd, which Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said was in the hundreds of thousands, was swollen by Amal supporters waving the green flags of the sometime rival but more recently allied movement.
Supporters arrived from across Lebanon, with many setting off for the capital on Thursday by car and on foot from Shia villages in the south of the country, an area badly damaged in the Israeli offensive.
No weapon handover
Nasrallah said his fighters will give up their weapons only when "Israel's threats" end and the Lebanese government is strong enough to protect the country.
"We will not give up our arms in a weak Lebanese state incapable of defending itself from the threat of Israel," Aljazeera quoted him as saying on Friday.
"There is no army in the world that can [force us] to drop our weapons from our hands, from our grip.
Friday's rally was supposed tocoincide with Israel's full pulloul"We will not release the two captured Israeli soldiers except in an exchange for Lebanese prisoners.
"We do not want to keep our arms for ever. We do not say that our arms are forever, and this is not logical. It has to end.
"But any word on disarming the resistance under this state, this authority, this regime and this current situation means keeping Lebanon under the risk of having Israel killing and bombarding at will."
'Strong, just state'
Aljazeera further quoted Nasrallah as saying "let us build a strong and just state", and calling for a new Lebanese government of national union.
"We are sticking to and calling for establishing a state but we will never let anyone to insult us.
"The time of victory has begun and the time of defeats has gone."
The Hezbollah chief strongly criticised, albeit indirectly, the anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who is a key government ally, and demanded that he apologise for his past statements.
Festive atmosphere
Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister, was absent from the event and Aljazeera's Beirut correspondent said many people shouted anti-Siniora slogans, urging him to resign.
The atmosphere at the rally was said to be happy and festive.
Muhammed Hajj Hussein, 50, said: "Today is a holiday for Lebanon and I have never felt more happy. I am very happy for the victory of the resistance."
Hasan Slyman said: "This is a victory for Lebanon and the Islamic world. I'm very proud and hope the international community will now act against Israeli violations and incursions into our airspace."
Ali Sahhar said: "Everyone thought the Israeli army was unbeatable, this wasn't true and today we are declaring the victory the resistance achieved."
Long walk
The rally had been expected to coincide with the final withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from southern Lebanon, but Israel's army chief said on Wednesday there were "a few issues to be wrapped up" before the pullout could be completed.
Israeli forces have been gradually pulling out from territory they captured in fighting which killed nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis.
Hezbollah has declared victory in the war, during which it fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel.Border patrolEarlier, Nasrallah said on the group's Al-Manar Television: "I call on you all to participate in a victory rally, your victory ... in the southern suburb, the suburb of honour, glory, faith, steadfastness and victory for the whole country.
"Let us renew our covenant and declare our joy at the divine victory to the whole world."
Lebanese youths wave flags in support of HezbollahUnder the terms of a truce which ended the fighting last month, UN and Lebanese army forces are deploying in the south to monitor the ceasefire and try to assert the authority of the Beirut government.
But Nasrallah has said his fighters remain on the border with Israel and Hezbollah has dismissed demands that it disarm.
Earlier, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, declined to say if the Hezbollah leader would be attacked if he appeared at the rally.
"And you think, that if he was, I would tell you - and tell him?" he told Israel's Channel 10 television on Thursday.

www.newsclock.com

Iran could suspend nuclear activities

Published by Aljazeera.net
Friday 22 September 2006, 6:25 Makka Time, 3:25 GMT

The Iranian president has said the country would be prepared to suspend some of its nuclear activities if negotiations take place "under fair conditions".
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a UN news conference in New York that talks with the European Union on Iran's nuclear programme were on the right track.
In the most explicit indication by the Iranian leader that Tehran is seriously considering complying with the key condition for broader talks on the issue, he said: "We have said that under fair conditions and just conditions we will negotiate about it."
In an apparent reference to the US, he said: "We believe those negotiations are moving on the right path. Hopefully others will not disrupt the work."
'No bomb'
Repeatedly questioned about the programme that Washington and its allies say hides efforts to build a nuclear weapon, Ahmadinejad said: "The bottom line is, we do not need a bomb, not like what others think."
He later added: "We are not seeking a nuclear bomb, let me make that clear."
The Iranian leader spoke during his three-day visit to New York to address the UN General Assembly where he also defended his country's uranium enrichment and attacked US policy.
Iran ignored a UN Security Council demand that it suspend uranium enrichment by August 31.
According to diplomats, the US and its European allies have decided to give Iran until early October to make progress in nuclear talks before they start discussing UN sanctions against Tehran.
Guarantees
Britain, France and Germany drew up a package of economic and political incentives hoping to persuade Iran to give up uranium enrichment. But Iran has not given a firm response.
Margaret Beckett, the British foreign secretary, said on Wednesday: "What we are looking for is a clear and concrete signal that Iran wishes to negotiate.
"If things drag on as they have been, then there are concerns and consequences about how that can continue."
Regarding the documents and access to nuclear facilities that Iran has already given the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ahmadinejad said: "I am at a loss in understanding what else we need to do to provide guarantees."

http://www.newsclock.com/

Tancredo tells Pope to stand ground

By DenverPost.com

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. (AP)

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo wrote a letter to Pope Benedict XVI today, asking him to resist calls to apologize for his recent remarks about Islam that offended many Muslims around the world.
"It is not surprising that your statements prompted such a visceral reaction in much of the Islamic world, where the free exercise of religion is largely proscribed," said Tancredo, R-Littleton, in his letter.
"Whether we want to admit it or not, the western world is locked in a struggle against radical Islam whose practitioners and adherents are inextricably linked to terrorism."
In a Sept. 12 address in Germany, the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who centuries ago described some teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman." The remarks were denounced across the Islamic world and by some U.S. Muslims.
The pontiff has since said that he did not mean to give offense to Muslims or their faith, but he has not directly apologized as asked by some Muslim leaders.
Tancredo, who was raised a Roman Catholic, now attends Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch when he's not in Washington.

www.newsclock.com