World News Post: May 21, 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Seven killed in separate attacks in northern Iraq

Baghdad .- At least seven people died in the last hours in Iraq and eleven were wounded in bombings and attacks in various parts of the north, reported Saturday the Iraqi police sources. According to sources, a policeman and his brother were killed today by unknown assailants who broke into his home in the northern city of Kirkuk, some 250 kilometers north of Baghdad.

It also said two Iraqi soldiers were killed last night and two others were injured by the explosion of a device to step from their vehicles about 30 miles south of Kirkuk. Also last night, two policemen were killed and eight wounded by the detonation of a bomb tried to defuse in the southern city of Mosul.

DSK released from prison after paying the deposit and find an apartment in Manhattan that will accept

After six nights sleeping in a cell, the former boss of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, under house arrest can expect his sexual assault trial. After posting bond Friday morning, the judge accepted the defense's proposed accommodation to house arrest. This is a temporary option, after his wife rent two apartments in the most luxurious of Manhattan (Upper East Side) and the building will rejected.

CAMBODIA-THAILAND - Negotiations about a cease-fire

"The Minister of Defense Tea Banh agrees to meet his Thai counterpart Prawit Wongsuwan 'soon' to discuss a possible cease-fire after fighting bloody border", says the Cambodian Daily. Prawit Wongsuwan was expected on April 27 in Cambodia, but his visit was canceled. At least 13 people were killed in recent days and tens of thousands of displaced civilians on both sides of the border between the two countries vying for the sovereignty of the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear [whose sovereignty has been recognized Cambodia in 1962].

A new bloody Friday left 44 dead in Syria

Cairo .- Forty-four people were killed Friday in Syria for the "systematic violence" and the use of live ammunition by the security forces to quell political protests against the regime, said Friday the National Organization for Human Rights. A statement from the organization provided the names of the 44 people killed in yesterday's police crackdown.

Of these, 26 died in the province of Edlib (north) and 13 in Homs (center), and the rest in other parts of northern, central and south. Syria protests began in mid-March and usually increase every Friday. The National Organization for Human Rights in Syria (NOHR-S, in English), is headed by Ammar Qurabi, who has lived the last few weeks in Cairo and is one of the few human rights activists has been imprisoned by the forces security regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The entrepreneur Daniel Gerard Rouzier is named prime minister of Haiti

Haitian President Michel Martelly, appointed on Friday the entrepreneur Daniel Gerard Rouzier, 51, as prime minister of Haiti, told AFP the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Saurel Jacynthe. "Mr. Rouzier has been appointed as prime minister," Jacynthe confirmed in a telephone interview. "President Martelly informed the presidents of both houses of Parliament to inform Rouzier's election as prime minister, had earlier said a cabinet member Martelly on condition of anonymity.

ITALY - Franco-Italian Summit: Berlusconi fooled

A "perfect scam", here is the summary of the meeting of 26 April in Rome between the Council President Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as the right-wing daily. On the issue of immigration, both men have agreed to temporarily strengthen identity checks at internal borders, involving a revision of the Schengen Treaty.

On the economic front, Silvio Berlusconi said he was not opposed to a takeover of the French group Lactalis the Italian Parmalat. Finally, Sarkozy has supported the candidacy of Italy's Mario Draghi as the ECB. "Parmalat and Draghi to France. And for us immigrants. What a deal!" Libero said.

Silvio Berlusconi (homepage) Silvio Berlusconi (wikipedia) Berlusconi: "Meglio appassionato di belle ragazze che gay" (youtube) Berlusconi Obama Suntanned - English Subtitles (youtube) Nichi Vendola - videolettera a Silvio Berlusconi - Il teatro della virilità (youtube)

New documents reveal the links between bin Laden and a terrorist cell in Manchester

London .- Osama bin Laden apparently had a terrorist cell in the city of Manchester in northern England, whose members had to leave the British authorities released for lack of evidence, reported today the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph. According to documents seized in the operation that killed Bin Laden hit by bullets in the head and chest in Abbottabad (Pakistan) and was informed by the said newspaper, the British intelligence service MI5 CIA received information that linked directly to the terrorist leader with a conspiracy to commit bombings called 'Easter Shopping'.

Kuwait enters the Council of Human Rights UN

Kuwait has been elected on Friday as a new member of the Council of Human Rights UN, provoking various reactions of humanitarian organizations in defense of human rights. The Persian Gulf monarchy is one of 15 new members - among which are India, Indonesia and Italy, too, of this organization which until then had 47 members.

"The balance of Kuwait in the field of human rights is undoubtedly better than Syria, but the barrier is set very low," said Peggy Hicks on behalf of Human Rights Watch. Other groups have released similar reactions. Syria last week resigned his candidacy, judged by an unwanted part of the international community over the violent repression of government opposition living in the country.

TIBET - Lobsang Sangay, a new political leader of Tibetans in exile

"Tibet in Exile elects a new political leader," reports the site daily after the official announcement of election results on March 20. Lobsang Sangay, a Harvard graduate, became the first prime minister elected by Tibetans in exile since the Dalai Lama announced in March his withdrawal from politics.

Elected with 55% of the vote, the lawyer intends to "end the suffering of Tibetans in Tibet and obtain recognition of the dignity and identity of Tibet by the Chinese government."

Strauss-Kahn moved to a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side of New York

New York. .- Under the supervision of armed guards and a security bracelet on the ankle, the former managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn was installed Friday in a temporary home on Broadway Avenue in New York but in the least glamorous of the streets of Manhattan.

The house is located near Wall Street and Ground Zero where the Twin Towers were within the ring of steel called the city, with surveillance cameras and increased police presence. Strauss-Kahn, who is accused of having attempted to rape a clerk at a hotel in New York last Saturday, was released on bail on Friday after spending four nights in a cell 3 by 4 meters at the Rikers Island prison , where he staked out for him not to commit suicide.

Strauss-Kahn charged a compensation of 175,000 euros and a pension

The former managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, following his abrupt departure will receive agency compensation of $ 250,000 (about 175,000 euros), plus an unspecified annuity. The IMF confirmed that, as some media had previously reported financial statements, the former managing director shall receive a lump sum compensation of $ 250,000.

The agency also acknowledges that the French economist, accused of several counts of sexual assault and attempted rape, receive a pension, but refuses to mention the amount of financial resources, and place it between 250,000 and 320,000 per year (between 175,000 and 225,000 euros). The figures have given the media on the annual pension and other emoluments of the Managing Director "has been greatly overestimated, apparently because the media has taken" wrong as a basis for calculating the compensation at one time the amount of 250,000 dollars, "the IMF said in a statement.

RUSSIA - Medvedev to strengthen nuclear safety

President Dmitry Medvedev made April 26 the first visit by a Russian head of state in Chernobyl, to mark the 25th anniversary of the disaster. He attended a ceremony commemorating the victims along with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, in which he supported the strengthening of nuclear safety measures in the world after the events in Fukushima, Japan.

The newspaper said Medvedev hopes weigh on the discussions on this topic at the upcoming G8 summit in Deauville late May.

At least six dead and 23 injured after a suicide bombing at a military hospital in Kabul

Kabul. .- At least six people were killed and 23 wounded in a suicide attack today in a military hospital in Kabul Sardar Mohammad Daud, said in a statement the Afghan Ministry of Defense. The press release states that all staff deaths were in the hospital service. The explosion occurred early in the afternoon at the medical center Sardar Mohammad Daud, where he often met daily to Afghan army soldiers who are injured in clashes with Taliban groups.

Killed 22 Sudanese soldiers in an attack by the SLA

At least 22 Sudanese soldiers were killed in an attack on Thursday night allegedly by troops from the autonomous region of southern Colombia, in a border area between north and south, said Friday the Sudanese army. The ambush, which was also lying against a contingent of UN peacekeepers, took place in the oil zone Ebei, whose sovereignty is disputed between northern and southern Sudan, said in remarks to reporters Deputy Chief of Staff Sudanese army, General Amer Sadiq.

SYRIA - Europeans raise their voices against Damascus

"The European Union is considering sanctions against Syria," the Berlin daily basis. Given the violence committed against civilians by the regime of Bashar Assad, the EU first issued April 26, the assumption of sanctions against Damascus, the newspaper reported. While France, followed by Great Britain and Italy, called for strong measures by the UN and the EU, Berlin wants the Security Council and the Commission on Human Rights of UN took over the Syrian question.

A bomb in a tanker NATO kills 15 in Pakistan

Islamabad. .- At least fifteen people were killed when fire scorched a tanker of NATO because of a bomb blast in Pakistan's Khyber tribal region bordering Afghanistan, Efe said one police source. The bomb exploded at dawn in Landi Kotal area in front of the tanker, which was engulfed in flames in a fire that also caused three injuries.

The police source added that other NATO tankers were attacked in the area, also Torkham area in Khyber, but said in this case have no information on casualties. In the northwestern Khyber demarcation runs the main land crossing into Afghanistan and most of the supplies for foreign troops from NATO deployed in the neighboring country.

At least 34 protesters dead, including a child, in further protests in Syria

At least 34 civilians, including a child, were killed Friday in the city of Homs and Sanamein, after security forces opened fire on demonstrators protesting a day, against the regime of Bashar Assad , according to AFP. Pro-democracy groups were mobilized in the streets of several Syrian regions. After a statement released by the opposition, the people came out with olive branches in their hands and bare-chested as a symbol of peace.

VENEZUELA - Chavez announces that it received Libyan delegation

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced April 26 that "a delegation sent by President Gaddafi" was currently in his country, with a mission to seek "a peaceful solution to the crisis." He did not elaborate on the composition of the delegation, nor on its agenda. Chavez believes that foreign intervention in Libya for the sole purpose of "seizing the oil" in this country, like Venezuela, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

AUSTRALIA - Canberra and Beijing to strengthen cooperation

On the occasion of his first visit to China on April 26, Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has assured his counterpart Wen Jiabao that Australia wanted to deepen its relations with China, rejecting any idea of "containing" the Superpower, tells the newspaper of Sydney. Ms Gillard has also ensured that Australia would remain a reliable supplier of energy resources including coal and liquefied gas to Beijing.

The IMF begins on Monday the first election of a managing director at odds

Washington. .- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Wednesday that next Monday will start a process "open and transparent merit-based" ending on 30 June with the election of new managing director of the institution, following the resignation of Dominique Strauss Kahn. The promise of transparency puts an end to the secrecy that has surrounded the designation of the agency, headed by a European since its inception in 1945, under a gentlemen's agreement that grants the President of the World Bank (WB) to an American.

At least 23 women accused in a case of child pornography in Sweden

A Swedish prosecutor charged on Friday with 23 women and one man for possession and distribution of child pornographic images, according to sources close to the court of Falun. The only man involved, Lars Skoglund (42 years) has been presented as the inductor of the network, the origin of Internet distribution to women in a large number of pornographic images depicting children.

The accused, between 38 and 70, are all Swedish citizens, according to the indictment to which he had access news agency AFP. Skoglund was arrested last September with 1181 photographs and more than 40 films described by the prosecution as child pornography. Among the material seized, "115 photos and 37 films show very young children who are victims of violence or coercion and subjected to particularly vicious practice", as can be read in the indictment.

Greece - "Debtocracy and the trial of the crisis

Everyone talks about the web Debtocracy, a documentary journalists and Katerina Kitidi Ari Hatzistefanou on the Greek crisis. Shot with their own money and donations from friends, it is freely distributed on debtocracy. gr. In less than ten days, nearly 600,000 visitors have viewed. Every day, supporters and opponents of the documentary exchange their views on Facebook, Twitter or blogs.

The main actors in this documentary (about 200 persons) sign a request to create a committee of international audit, which would aim to clarify the reasons for the creation of a sovereign debt and conviction of those responsible. In this case, Greece has the right to refuse repayment of its debt "unwarranted", that is to say the debt constituted by acts of corruption against the interests of society.

Al-Qaeda to attack oil tankers aimed to enhance the "economic crisis in the West"

Washington .- Al Qaeda was in his plans to attack oil tankers and various energy targets around the world to feed the "economic crisis in the West", as today revealed U.S. security agencies. Several media like the Washington Post or CNN refer to an internal newsletter of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security which indicates the interest of the network run by Osama Bin Laden in "oil tanker" as objectives.

The police burst into the headquarters of the German Pirate Party disconnects internet

There are only two days for the regional elections in Bremen and the Pirate Party was in full campaign when agents of the Office of Darmstadt have been presented today at its premises and all equipment have been disconnected. For several hours outside the network, the servers are seized and any Internet user who tries to enter piratenpartei.

to find a notice saying that this page is temporarily off the network until further order of the German police. A spokesman for the Prosecutor has reported tersely that the operation is not held against the party itself, but against "unknown individuals who are serving as tools, through their servers for hacker attacks." The prosecution also states that intervened at the request of judicial assistance of a French tax.

Afghanistan - The Great Escape

"This collective escape appears to be completely strange and unacceptable," said the daily Sobh Hasht Afghanistan after the spectacular escape of nearly 500 Taliban detainees from the prison in Kandahar on the night of Sunday 24 to Monday, April 25. "The inmates fled through a tunnel 320 meters long.

It is estimated that it took at least five months to dig. How did it nobody noticed anything during all this time? Besides the 500 prisoners housed not all in the same neighborhood. There was always suspicious gatherings to discuss this project, "the newspaper regrets Kabul, suggesting complicity within the prison.

The ugly statue angers papal Rome

Airs avant-garde art with the taste does not always meet citizen. This is the case, flagrant, the statue in honor of John Paul II just opened in front of Termini, Rome's central railway station. The criticism of the ugliness of the sculpture are almost unanimous. Given the reverence that the Roman people and many visitors from around the world feel for the Polish Pope and the new Blessed, the artistic nonsense bordering on sacrilege true category.

Sex and power, a dangerous combination

"Come back", Charlie Sheen. All is forgiven. Maybe the media circus has left behind this provocative adventures in Hollywood, but also, the last outbreak of wanton curiosity makes social Sheen's antics seem almost acceptable. Sheen was a famous and powerful long enjoyed a lifestyle based on sex, drugs and alcohol that led to a huge scandal, but who else was wounded himself.

Now, American society has to deal with the behavior of his "Terminator", who not only betrayed the trust of his family, but also presented to voters as a man of honor and integrity while hiding that he had had a child with his employee's home and never told his wife. But worse is the scandal surrounding the former managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn, after a hotel worker accused him of attempting to rape her while she cleaned her suite in New York.

UNITED KINGDOM - A princely marriage not very green

According to a calculation made by the institute Landcare Research, the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton, scheduled April 29, will generate 6,765 tons of CO2. This is twelve times the emissions of Buckingham Palace for a year or even 1230 times the annual carbon footprint of an average English household, says the Daily Telegraph.

Much of the carbon come from transport, including air, of the approximately 2,000 guests. The food, although the majority of the season and local, will also have a strong impact on energy expenditure.

Strauss-Kahn has trouble being accepted as a neighbor in Manhattan

Another life begins after Rikers Island. "Au revoir!" Said Dominique Strauss-Kahn yesterday, 62 years, the New York criminal. Occurred about four p.m. (ten at night in Spain) and it was not easy. We had to move to a temporary home in the Big Apple, under armed guard by the refusal to accept in their local community.

Account on your behalf with the judge's decision, which agreed on Thursday released on bail of one million dollars in cash and five guarantees, plus a strict house arrest. One lesson: not only wealth opens gates. Where once was welcome, now they close the door. According to judicial sources, an unexpected problem pledged their release.

Khmer Holocaust Route

The atlas of pain, in those places where human beings to be waived, where no turns, a notch of infamy and death Phnom Penh and halo defines the memory of Pol Pot (1925-1998). Born on a day like today 86 years ago, the architect of the Khmer Rouge miserable and ultimately responsible for atrocities committed between 1975 and 1979 by these "Nazis of Asia", in defining the reporter Sydney Schanberg, survives symbolically in the Cambodian capital encrypted on a journey of horror: the driving Museum at Tuol Sleng Genocide Memorial extermination camp of Choeung Ek.

FRANCE - CRS on the wagon

I never thought one day write in defense of the CRS. And yet, something truly horrible is happening to them. These men we hate so passionately just been banned by official decree as precious qu'ancestral pleasure: a small glass of wine (or cider or beer) to accompany the meal. On second thought, there are few pleasures as simple as a small glass of wine with dinner.

And the fact that the CRS had been accustomed to eat during service, does not change anything. This latter prohibition ("after the niqab, the red hue!") Is further evidence of the movement of moralization that takes in our society today. It is often said that alcohol, consumed in small quantities during the meal, does not prevent people from working, especially in the physical trades.

The merits Strauss-Kahn

There are some who believe that history will serve a predetermined purpose. Is what might be thinking now Nicolas Sarkozy, even though you had nothing to do with what happens to Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK, for the French) to be tried for attempted rape, criminal sexual act and unlawful restraint. But the story remains a mystery.

Detention of Strauss-Kahn, who on Thursday resigned as chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has precipitated the events in the process of diffusion of global power. The story should be more chance and necessity, as nature. In the early hours of Saturday, Strauss-Kahn was the IMF's managing director and, according to polls, also was Socialist candidate most likely to become the president of the French in the 2012 elections.

Brabo, began talking about the World Cup and finished accusing of spying

"As a movie" Manu Brabo lived his arrest on April 5, by Gaddafi's troops at the front line in Libya. Despite tough times happened, never lost hope of being free. Spanish photojournalist arrived this afternoon in Madrid after being released by the Libyan authorities on Wednesday afternoon. Flanked by his parents and with the warmth of his friends, wearing shirts in support of her devoted applause and congratulations, Brabo has told how she was his arrest and the days spent in the dungeons of the regime of Gaddafi.

YEMEN - A Saudi plan far from popular demands

The plan to end the crisis presented April 23 by the Gulf monarchies is actually intended to prevent the transition to democracy in Yemen. Indeed, it preempts the choice of the people in the form of the future regime, dedicated to advance the presidential system instead of the parliamentary system that would favor the demonstrators.

This plan would be perfectly capable of settling a crisis between the government and the opposition [the coalition of opposition parties, the Joint Meeting, which brings particular the Yemeni Socialist Party and the Islamic party Al-Islah-tribal, finally agreed that map]. But it is not a political crisis, it is a revolution.

Strauss-Kahn leaves the Rikers prison to go to a secure temporary

New York. .- A U.S. judge today ordered the former chief manager of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Dominique Strauss-Kahn is released from prison on Rikers Island and moved to a temporary detention center under surveillance, since it could not meet all the conditions his bail. Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn gave the U.S.

Justice cash bail of one million dollars and the bond secured by another 5 million to be under house arrest, but does not yet have a home in New York that meet the condition. "The judge has already signed receipt of the cash bond and the guaranteed bonus, but still does not meet the other requirements" due to the French politician can leave the prison on Rikers Island, Efe said a spokesman for the court takes the case.

Fidel Castro was asked whether NATO will bomb Spain by popular protests

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro was asked Friday if ironically, similar to the intervention in Libya, NATO also bombed Spain due to protests in Madrid and other Spanish cities to demand changes in the political and social model . "What happens in Spain where the masses protesting in the main cities of the country for up to 40% of young people are unemployed, to cite just one of the causes of the manifestations of that combative people? Could it be that they will start the bombing of that country of NATO? "Castro wrote in a new installment of his column" Reflections.