This EU also emphasises ASIC’s

"LandepNews"
The corporate regulator has accepted an enforceable undertaking from a Sydney-based financial adviser, following concerns of misconduct involving SMSF investors.
The EU permanently prevents Gabriel Nakhl from providing financial services, and he has also agreed to not manage a company for 15 years.
As part of an ongoing investigation into Mr Nakhl’s conduct over three years at SydFA Pty Limited, which is now in liquidation, ASIC is concerned Mr Nakhl “improperly used his position as a director to gain an advantage for himself,” the regulator stated.
Specifically, Mr Nakhl advised some clients, including those in SMSFs, to advance money to him so that he could invest it in a high interest rate account on their behalf and pay them a fixed return.
ASIC stated it is concerned Mr Nakhl instead spent the money, among other things, on his private sports car and motorbike hire business and himself.
“Mr Nakhl breached the trust many investors placed in him,” ASIC deputy chairman Peter Kell said.
“This EU also emphasises ASIC’s recent focus on targeting misconduct within the SMSF sector.”
“Setting up an SMSF is one of the most significant steps an investor can take, and where an individual or company’s conduct unlawfully puts that investment at risk, ASIC will take action,” Mr Kell said.

RUSSELL GOLDMAN (bitcoin, the digital "currency")

"LandepNews"

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN

Russell Goldman More from Russell »

via Nightline

An illustration of the virtual currency bitcoin is shown in Tokyo, April 25, 2013.

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Members of Congress today will get a crash course on bitcoin, the digital "currency" that allows users to conduct transactions online. In just five years the virtual currency has gone from being worth pennies to nearly $600 a piece. It has funded nascent democracy movements as well as a huge underground marketplace for illegal drugs and weapons.

We set out to answer the question: What Are Bitcoins?

Below is an attempt to answer that and many other questions surrounding the virtual currency. And we promise to speak really, really slowly.

When I was 4, I bit a coin, swallowed it, and had to go to the emergency room. I've had a fear of payphones and gumball machines ever since. Thank goodness Congress has finally gotten around to fixing the scourge of people biting coins. Wait... is this the same thing?

You never have to worry about choking on a bitcoin. Unlike U.S. quarters, Canadian loonies, or, for that matter, the currencies of every country in the world, bitcoins are completely virtual. They exist only online and are not controlled by a central authority like the Federal Reserve.

If hard currency is like a record, then a bitcoin is like an MP3.

That means you can't get them from a bank, or drop them in a wishing well. All transactions take place in an online marketplace, where users are untraceable.

If I can't hide it under my mattress, how can I know my stash is safe?

You hold bitcoins in an online "wallet." This is an account set up on a secure third-party website.

Unlike banks, wallet firms won't invest your money. Nor do they guarantee the same protections afforded banks by institutions like the FDIC.

FIRST BITCOIN ATM TO BE INSTALLED IN CANADA

If your wallet is hacked and your bitcoins are stolen, there is not much you can do about it.

This sounds a lot like the coins from Super Mario Brothers. Do I have to bang my head against a brick wall to get the money?

New bitcoins enter the market by a process called "mining." Available bitcoins are hidden amid a complex encrypted computer program. Users' computers are working round the clock to solve a complicated mathematical problem in order to release new coins.

The easiest-mined bitcoins have already been discovered. Finding new coins requires huge amounts of computing power. That has led some hackers to take over unsuspecting users' computers to harness their power to mine for more bitcoins.

The system is designed to require more work to get coins as time goes by, that makes the currency's growth rate, also known as inflation, steady and predictable.

About 11 million bitcoins have already been found. But only 21 million exist in total.

How do I use bitcoins? I have a feeling my kids won't be happy when I tell them they're getting virtual currency for Christmas.

You can use bitcoins to buy anything with which you would use any other kind of currency. There's just one huge hitch: the business has to accept bitcoins, and most don't.

LEADING ECONOMISTS PREDICT BITCOIN BACKLASH

When you want to buy something, you find out the anonymous identification number attached to the seller's wallet, and transfer coins from your wallet to his.

It's this anonymity that has made the currency popular with drug dealers.

Drug dealers? I knew this sounded sketchy. Are these things even legal?

Recently, Silk Road, an online marketplace for illicit drugs, which used bitcoins to facilitate transactions was shut down by the FBI.

Like cash, bitcoins are untraceable, which makes drug dealers like them. Unlike cash, however, bitcoins can easily be transferred anywhere in the world.

For now bitcoins are legal, so long as they're being used for legal purchases.

Tornados Level Homes In Illinois Towns

"LandepNews"

Several tornadoes ripped through parts of northern and central Illinois late Sunday morning to leave a trail of destruction that included leveled homes, overturned cars, several dozen injured and at least three fatalities.
Tornadoes were reported in Washington, Pekin, Peoria and other towns.
(Story continues below)

Washington's tornado was among the most devastating of the day touching down in the town 150 southwest of Chicago around 11 a.m. and lasting about 10 minutes, according to the Peoria Journal Star.
As of around 2:30 p.m., 37 tornado victims were reportedly being treated in Peoria, though it wasn't immediately clear which towns the victims were from.
The Washington County coroner later confirmed an elderly man and his sister died Sunday afternoon in their farmhouse in the town of New Minden, Ill. as a result of the tornado.

In Chicago, the severe weather temporarily halted the Bears-Ravens game at Soldier Field while residents in collar counties Tweeted photos of hail coming down. Meanwhile, several central and western Illinois towns including Beecher, Gifford and Pekin suffered similar damage to Washington:

Source:http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Tornado Outbreak

"LandepNews"
A major outbreak of tornadoes and damaging winds is underway across much of the Midwest. The storms will eventually roll into parts of the Northeast later tonight.
Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus (Ohio), Nashville, and Louisville, Ky. are among the major cities still at risk.
Our live blog below has the latest warnings, analysis, breaking news, photos and video. Most recent updates can be found at the top.
(MORE: Latest News on Outbreak Aftermath | Photos)
You'll see information from The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel and @TWCBreaking) and our digital meteorologists, Chris Dolce (@chrisdolcewx), Nick Wiltgen (@WxNick), Jon Erdman (@wxjerdman), and Alan Raymond (@AlanRaymondWX) and Chrissy Warrilow (@AtlantaWxGirl), as well as several of our on-camera meteorologists from The Weather Channel on cable.
For the full forecast details on this dangerous outbreak of severe weather, go to this link.
(MORE: Forecast | Radar, Watches, Warnings | TOR:CON)

Source:http://www.weather.com

Powerful thunderstorms approaching Midland

"LandepNews"
DETROIT, MI — The National Weather Service warns that a line of "strong thunderstorms" are rapidly approaching communities in Bay, Midland, Saginaw and Shiawassee counties.
According to a special weather statement issued at 3:35 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, National Weather Service Doppler radar shows the line of thunderstorms running north to south from near Clare to just north of Lansing.
The storms are capable of producing "winds up to 60 mph" and "heavy downpours," according to the statement from the NWS.
"Gust winds may causes branches to be blown down and loose objects  to blow around," the statement reads. "Seek shelter in a sturdy structure until these storms have passed."
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Bay, Saginaw and Midland counties until 5:15 p.m.
The storm system itself is approaching the area at about 65 mph, according to the NWS.
According to the NWS, the thunderstorms are expected to hit Coleman at 4:10 p.m., Sanford by 4:15 p.m., Midland by 4:20 p.m., Auburn by 4:30 p.m., Brant at 4:30 p.m., St. Charles at 4:35 p.m. and Swan Creek and the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge at about 4:40 p.m.
A tornado watch remains in effect for 45 Michigan counties, including Bay, Saginaw and Midland until 8 p.m. The storms will include high winds and heavy downpours and could spawn powerful, long-lasting tornadoes and hail storms, according to predictions.
Hazardous weather, including very high winds, is expected to continue through Sunday afternoon and evening in the area. Meteorologists expect high winds to continue into Monday.
Check out this online NWS preparedness guide to get ready for tornadoes and other severe weather.

Source:http://www.mlive.com

Alec Baldwin denounces media, public: Calls fixation on famous 'shameful’

"LandepNews"
“If quitting the television business, the movie business, the theater, any component of entertainment, is necessary in order to bring safety and peace to my family, then that is an easy choice,” Baldwin wrote in a long rant.
PHOTOS: STARS WHO ATTACK PAPARAZZI

David Wexler/For New York Daily News

“My friends who happen to be gay are baffled by this,” Alec Baldwin wrote in The Huffington Post. “They see me as one who has recently fought for marriage equality and has been a supporter of gay rights for many years.”

“This country’s obsession with the private lives of famous people is shameful,” Baldwin wrote Saturday after coming under fire for his homophobic denunciation of a photographer.
Baldwin also acknowledged that one part of his career was already approaching its end: His ratings-challenged MSNBC talk show.

Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News

“What word is said right after the other choice word I use is unclear,” he acknowledged.

“Whether the show comes back at all is at issue right now,” Baldwin acknowledged. “But if the show dies, its fate ends up being no different than the vast majority of start-up TV programming, and so be it.”

RELATED: STASI: STALKER FACING JAIL BECAUSE ALEC BALDWIN’S A CELEB

Richard Harbus/for New York Daily News

“Hey, you just assaulted me,” a reporter complained as Baldwin leaves court after a judge on Thursday found Genevieve Sabourin guilty of stalking. Baldwin smacked a smartphone from one reporter’s hands and shoved him against a car.

The show lost about 40% of its viewers over its first month on the air.
Baldwin, who reportedly denounced the media member on Thursday as a “c---s---ing f-g,” defended himself against charges of anti-gay bigotry.

Richard Harbus/for New York Daily news

This ruckus erupted with Baldwin  just minutes after Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria, insisted her husband didn’t have anger issues.

“My friends who happen to be gay are baffled by this,” he wrote. “They see me as one who has recently fought for marriage equality and has been a supporter of gay rights for many years.”
RELATED: ALEC BALDWIN STALKER FOUND GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

Richard Harbus/for New York Daily News

Baldwin, who reportedly denounced a media member on Thursday as a “c---s---ing f-g,” defended himself against charges of anti-gay bigotry.

Baldwin also insists that he never called the shutterbug a f----t — but acknowledges he’s unsure exactly what word he uttered during his screamfest with the photographer.
“What word is said right after the other choice word I use is unclear,” he acknowledged.

Richard Harbus/for New York Daily news

Alec Baldwin has had problems before with "pack journalists."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/alec-baldwin-denounces-media-privacy-concerns-article-1.1519180#ixzz2kr8B76pw

Pal Schmitt

"LandepNews"

Pal Schmitt

Embattled president of Hungary Pal Schmitt on Monday resigned his office after his doctorate title has been taken away from him as a result of the scandal involving accusations of plagiarism that were brought to him since January 2012. His resignation comes after he had hinted on March 30 at the Hungarian television that he was an honest man and would work toward restoring his stained reputation.
Schmitt said reminded that the president of Hungary was the one to unite the entire nation and to express this unity, according to the Constitution he had signed off on at the end of last year and took effect on January 1, 2012, a constitution that draws on the Christian ethics and moral standards and recognizes the Christian roots of the Hungarian nation, which has brought a wave of criticism from European Union.
The same kind of criticism was drawn by some economic stipulations referring to the central bank and to the deficit of the country. These provisions of laws that Schmitt signed off on have blocked the continuation of talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new loan.
The Hungarian Constitution was also criticized for what the European Union considers to be shrinking of democratic rights: the right of the embryonic life to be subject to law protection since the conception, which practically criminalizes abortion; the definition of the family as composed of man and woman, which bars the perspective of recognizing homosexual marriages; the control of judiciary and the new regulation for the media.
Pal Schmitt was elected as president of Hungary by the Fidesz party in August 2010, being largely a representative position. The president is elected by the parliament and is deposed by two thirds of the votes.
On March 30, Pal Schmitt said that there was no link between the doctorate and the office of president of Hungary, and added that 20 years ago, when he wrote the work, he had done it with all honesty.
Pal Schmitt becomes thus the first president to resign since the central European country has shifted from Communism to democracy. He was a deputy of the president Viktor Orban during his government. Businessweek says that Schmitt had promised to be a “motor” of the governmental policy as president.
Previous presidents of Hungary have returned laws to the parliament in the past, even though their office had no executive powers, which lie with the prime minister. Schmitt is the first president to have said that he did not want to block the agenda of the government.
The approval of the president went down to 30 percent after the scandal broke out, from 49 when he took office. The opposition parties have demanded that he resign, and even members of Fidesz alluded that he had lost support.
The leader of the Socialist party said that Schmitt had never been fit for the job, the leader of Jobbik warned that unless he resigned the “wrath of the people” would remove him from power, and a leader of the Fidesz said that the time for Schmitt to leave the office in dignity had passed.
Viktor Orban urged that the decision should be entirely of the president and did not pressure him to resign until the last minute. The office of president will be executed temporarily by parliament speaker Laszlo Kover, until a successor will be elected by the legislature’s majority.
The scandal erupted in January, when accusations were made that the thesis presented by Pal Schmitt at the Semmelweis University in Budapest was not entirely original. Subsequent investigations showed that the work had been copied by 197 out of 215 pages from the book of Bulgarian scientist Nicolay Grigoriev.
The case went as far as to establish that there was a conflict of interests while the thesis was being approved, given that members of the thesis committee were also in the Hungarian Olympic Committed which was being chaired by Schmitt at the time.
Pal Schmitt said that he did not copy from the Bulgarian scientist and that he showed his good faith by mentioning Grigoriev work in the references of his work. He added that this kind of work required an amount of common core knowledge, which could not be construed as plagiarism.
Schmitt used to be an Olympic fencer, with two gold medals won in the Olympics. His work was on the history of the Olympics. The fact-finding panel cleared  the president of plagiarizing his work, but recommended the university to withdraw the work, based on the inquiries into the allegations. The university withdrew his doctorate title on March 27. Sky News says that Schmitt had said on Sunday that only the courts have the right to lift his title, not the university.
The plagiarism scandal led the rector of Ignaz Simmelweis University in Budapest, Tivadar Tulassay, to resign his commission, motivating that he had lost the trust of senior politicians, especially the Ministry of National Resources, and was left alone to handle the case of the president.

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Sergei Lavrov

"LandepNews"

Sergei Lavrov

Russian foreign minister on Monday refused to accept the idea of imposing a deadline on the implementation of the six-point plan put forward by Kofi Annan, a move that was demanded by the 83 member states of the group “Friends of Syria” during the meeting last weekend.

Speaking during a visit in Armenia, Lavrov said that ultimata and deadlines rarely produce any effects. He added that only the United Nations Security Council was entitled to put time restrictions on Bashar al-Assad’s implementation of the plan. Russia holds a veto in the UNSC, which it already used twice, in October last year and in February 2012.

He explained that Annan has a mandate and that only the UNSC can determine who and how complies with the demand to implement the plan. The Friends of Syria group, which gathered in Istanbul over the weekend decided to recognize the Syrian National Council as the only representative of the Syrian people, thus considering formally that the Syrian incumbent government was no longer considered legitimate.

The group also focused on making sure that the people of Syria receive the message that the Friends of Syria does not abandon them and supports financially the Free Syrian Army of defectors from the regular army.

The Friends of Syria announced that they would pay the salaries of the soldiers in the Free Syrian Army, a move that is expected to convince others to join the troops of the rebels.

The group, which comprises France, the United States, France and Britain from the West, and the Arab states, also demanded that Bashar al-Assad be offered a deadline to implement this plan, which shows that the assurances of the president of Syria carry little value in the eyes of the nations that support the people in Syria, which have been fighting against the regime for more than a year.

The demand is supported by factions of the opposition, which do not believe the commitment for peace of Bashar al-Assad, considering that he is only stalling for time so that he may put down the rebellion in the meantime.

The Syrian government announced over the weekend that the attacks on Syrian state has ended and that the pullback of the troops from the cities and towns can begin in accordance to the agreement with Kofi Annan.

But on Monday news surfaced about fresh clashes in Syria, the death toll being announced to be of 80 people killed over the weekend.

Lavrov urged the international community to impose the same demand on both the government and the rebels to hold fire and end violence. Lavrov said that Russia wanted to be friends of both sides in the country, referring to past support for the regime in Damascus.

He also criticized the decision to support logistically and financially the rebels in Syria, saying that this decision contradicts the goals of peace settlement in Syria. The United States and Turkey announced that they would offer Syrian rebels “non-lethal” communications and medical support. Later in the week, Britain agreed to offer 500,000 euros to the rebels in “non-lethal aids.”

Russia has been a staunch supporter of the Syrian regime and vetoed two UNSC resolutions on the grounds that they were demanding that the president Assad step down and end violence.

Russia opposed the pressure on the regime and demanded that the rebels receive the same kind of ultimata as the regime, and be treated as responsible for what had happened in the country over the past year.

The United Nations estimates that more than 9,000 people were killed and about a million people were displaced by the violent action of the Syrian army.

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Iraqi Kurdistan Capital Arbil

"LandepNews"

Iraqi Kurdistan Capital Arbil

Iraqi deputy prime minister Hussain al-Shahristani on Monday demanded in a press conference that the Iraqi fugitive Sunni vice president Tariq al-Hashemi be surrendered by Qatari authorities to stay on trial under terror charges. The move, that is expected to strain the ties between Iraq’s Shiite government and the Sunni countries in the Arab world, was called by the deputy prime minister of Iraq “unacceptable.”

Hashemi arrived in Qatar from the Kurdish region in Iraq, where he ran in order to avoid an arrest warrant issued in his name in December. Iraqi government accused Hashemi of running death squads against Shiite pilgrims, government officials and security forces. Hashemi says that he is innocent and that the accusations are political fabrications.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, Hashemi was totally out of reach of the central government, because the province has its own security forces. Kurdistan refused more than one requests to surrender him to Baghdad.

Iraqi interior minister demanded last month that the Kurdish leaders arrest Hashemi before he could flee the country. The refusal of the Kurdish authorities to turn him to the central authorities is a point of contention between the central government and the oil-rich province.

The deputy prime minister lashed out at the Kurdish authorities, saying that their refusal to serve an arrest warrant which is legally binding nationwide was a clear defiance of the law of Iraq.

In a statement from Hashemi’s office it is said that the vice president of Iraq and the Sunni monarchies in the Persian Gulf. Qatar has criticized the marginalization of the Sunni Iraqis. Qatar and the other monarchies in the Middle East are also irritated by the powerful ties between al-Maliki’s Shiite government and Iran, which is an economic competitor on the oil market and a supporter of the Shiite Islam.

Iran is also a supporter of the regime in Syria, whose leadership belongs to the Alawite sect, an offshoot of the Shiite Islam. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that have supported the idea of arming the Syrian rebels in order to topple Bashar al-Assad and free the Sunni majority in Syria from the Alawite rule.

The divide between the Shiite Iraqi government and the Sunni Gulf monarchies was made clear during the Arab League summit in Baghdad, Iraq, on which occasion Iraq wanted to demonstrate its return to the international arena.

The Gulf monarchies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates snubbed Iraq by sending lower-level officials in the place of the leaders.

The conflict between Iraq and the regional government of Kurdistan sharpened and gained momentum as the regional government ceased its exports of oil to the central government, drawing bitter criticism from Baghdad.

According to an agreement between Arbil and Baghdad the Kurds must export its oil to the central government in Baghdad, which is selling it and then returns half of the revenue to the Kurdish authorities.

The Kurdish officials accuse the government in Baghdad for not having paid the revenues since May 2011. The Ministry of Natural Resources said that Kurdistan “reluctantly” stopped the delivery of oil until further notice. The region used to ship some 50,000 barrels per day to Baghdad.

Iraqi minister of finance said last week that Baghdad has approved the payment of $560 million to Kurdistan. He added that a final audit was pending. The vice president Shahristani said that Kurdistan has been holding back on its oil output instead of delivering it all to the central government as the agreement demanded.

He said that they smuggle oil into Iran and Turkey, and urged both countries to monitor their borders so that this kind of smuggling be prevented. He added that the Iraqi oil must go through two legal pipelines only, via Basra and the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The vice president said that the withholding of the oil exports by Kurdistan is going to cause a budget deficit of the Iraqi central government. He said that Iraq has lost some $3.5 billion in 2011 because of the oil produced in Kurdistan and never delivered to Iraq.

Another source of dispute with Kurdistan sparked last November over the oil exploration deal with Exxon Mobil. In spite of its problems with the Kurdish region, Iraq is reporting its highest exports since 1989, with 2.3 million barrels a day.

Iraqi Kurdistan has been an autonomous region inside Iraq since the 1970s, when the first agreement was signed by the regime in Baghdad and the Kurdish officials. In 2005, following the second war on Iraq of the American-led coalition, a new constitution was drafted and the region of Kurdistan was defined as a federal entity of Iraq, with the Arabic and Kurdish as Iraq’s languages.

The country is a parliamentary democracy with an elected parliament and president. The region has representation in the central government and has even the president of the republic, Jalal Talabani. The region has a degree of oversight and is allowed to have foreign relations to some degree. There are many consulates, embassies and trade offices in the capital of the region.

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U.S. Sergeant R. Bales

"LandepNews"

U.S. Sergeant R. Bales

The lawyer of the U.S. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 17 in a killing spree in Afghanistan, on Friday said that the United States forces have prevented his team from investigating the circumstances of the incident that involved his client.
The lawyer John Henry Browne said that the U.S. forces were “hiding evidence” from defense team as the U.S. government has not turned over files to the defense team. He added that the injured in the incident created by their client were supposed to be interrogated but that they were released before the team of lawyers got to them.
Browne said that when the team of defense wanted to talk to the injured in the Kandahar Hospital, they were denied access and were told to coordinate with the prosecution team. He said they were informed that the prosecution had spoken to the injured soon after that happened, and that they were released from the hospital and that there was no way to contact them.
The lawyer said that the government was withholding evidence while the potential witnesses are scattering, and the prosecution will not even show defense the surveillance images captured by a camera at the base, that is said to show how the man surrendered to the authorities after the killing. The only reason, the lawyer speculated, why the state is doing this is because it has no evidence to convict his client.
An army spokesman said that the prosecution would provide defense with evidence in accordance with court-martial and military rules of evidence. Within these guidelines, he added, the prosecution has been communicating with the defense.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that these were the procedures to be followed and that Robert Bales will have access to the evidence he is entitled to under these procedures.
At a news conference on Friday Browne said that the state was under no legal obligation to provide him with any information for the time being, but that he had been led to believe he would receive more assistance.
He added that being provided with evidence at a later date would not work, especially in a case like this, when talking to the witnesses is very important. He said he had been promised more cooperation than he was already enjoying.
The lawyer disclosed that the military wants to conduct a comprehensible mental health evaluation of the sergeant at the Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas. He said that the evaluation is already under way and that it would take place within next two months, which would delay the overall procedures.
Robert Bales has been charged on March 24 with 17 counts of premeditated murder, six counts of aggravated assault and a number of violations of the military regulations. He was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The 17th murder charge is believed to be caused by the fact that he killed an unborn child in the womb of his mother.
No date has been set for the trial, and American prosecution is preparing its case, while John Henry Browne and his team is preparing defense. The military justice requires a preliminary hearing called the “Article 32” hearing, which would determine whether there is a strong case to proceed to the court martial. If found guilty, Robert Bales could face death penalty.
The defense team has people working in the field in Kandahar, where they are facing “almost complete information blackout” from the government, which has a devastating effect on the defense.
Browne said that a reliable account of what happened that night has not emerged yet, and that the people in the villages had said that Bales had not acted alone. There were speculations that he had left the base twice.
The lawyer said that neither story can be confirmed or infirmed as long as there is no possibility to investigate. He said that the investigators spoke to some of the U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but that they did not get to talk to the people in the villages where the tragedy happened.
Robert Bales is accused that on the night of March 11 he went out of his base into a village where he killed six people in their sleep. He is said to have come to base and then return to another village where he killed 11. Nine of the people he killed were children. He dragged some of the bodies outside and burnt them. After that he is said to have returned to base and surrendered.
WorldNews MSNBC reports that one of his journalists, Yalda Hakim, a journalist that was born in Afghanistan and immigrated in Australia, was the first to interview the surviving witnesses.
She said she was not allowed by the American authorities to interview children on the grounds that this could traumatize her. Hakim is said to have appealed to the village elders who arranged a meeting.
She took a video record in which the children told her that there were other Americans present the night of the rampage, and that they were holding flashlights in the yard.
A girl said that the shooter first shot her father’s dog then he shot her father in the foot and dragged her mother by the hair. When her father started screaming, he shot her father, then he turned his gone on the girl and shot her in the leg.
She said that one man entered the house and the others were standing in the yard. A brother of one victim said that the children of the victim said that there was more than one soldiers. The number advanced by the children were 15-20.
There were also speculations that the man acted alone, and that he was extracted by other soldiers, when the base realized that he was missing. The American army has denied the participation of other soldiers, emphasizing that he acted alone.
MSNBC also reports that the killing spree occurred one day after an American soldier was victim to a roadside mine which cost him a leg. Villagers told reporters that U.S. troops lined up men against a wall and told them they would pay a price for it. the American army denies such allegations.
An Afghan general assigned by president Hamid Karzai to investigate the situation and the circumstances of the killings told Hakim that he was wondering too whether there was one shooter or more than one.
Karimi told Hakim that the village elders told him that there were more soldiers and that there were even boot prints to back their claim. He said that they had told him that they had seen three or four soldiers kneeling and that helicopters were there all the time.
When asked whether the helicopters had come to extract him, he said that they had been present since the beginning of the rampage. The same skepticism was manifested by members of the parliament in Kabul, who demanded that Bales be judged in a public trial on Afghan territory.
The lawmakers have conditioned the negotiation over the future of the American presence on Afghan territory after the scheduled withdrawal that will be completed by 2014 on the trial of Robert Bales in Afghanistan, as the families of the victims have demanded.
The shocking even having 38-year-old American sergeant as perpetrator has produced a wave of rage throughout Afghanistan and compelled the American army to take extreme precautions.
Hamid Karzai, who said that the event would not be forgotten, was successful in curving the public outrage and preventing the further escalation of tension between Americans and Afghans, which had been fueled by an incidental burn of Quran copies a few weeks before at a military base at Bagram.
Still, the American military had to introduce special regulations at the bases with mixed personnel, as the Afghan soldiers were turning against their American comrades and killing them.
“Guardian angels” were assigned by general John Allen, the commander of the coalition in Afghanistan, to all U.S. soldiers working with Afghans. They were to watch over their colleagues while they were sleeping, training or working. The Americans working in offices of the Afghan government were allowed to carry guns and were instructed not to have offices facing the door.
The Afghan forces also took precautions, especially in regards to recruiting the new officers, since it has been noted that many Taliban infiltrated their ranks, some of them being responsible for what happened to the American soldiers.
On Friday, a member of the Afghan Local Police shot nine of his colleagues as they were asleep and then took their guns and went away. The Taliban claimed that the man had been one of them.

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Friends of Syria Meeting

"LandepNews"

Friends of Syria Meeting

A Syrian official on Friday said that the regime of Bashar al-Assad would not leave the cities and towns where it has cracked down on the unrest until the life returned to normal and the rebels withdrew. A spokesman for the Syrian foreign ministry said that the military in the restive cities is in a state of self defense and protecting the lives of the civilians. The words of the Syrian official came hours after the appeal of the U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, who had demanded the Syrian troops to withdraw from the restive cities in a sign of good faith, and because the governmental troops are considered the stronger part.

Annan asked this as part of a six-point peace plan he presented to the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and was agreed by Damascus and backed by the Western and Arab countries, as well as by the Syrian allies Russia and Syria.

Russia backed the proposal of the United Nations and the Arab League because it did not imply a condemnation of the Syrian regime and did not demand the resignation of the president Assad.

In a position on the matter, the outgoing Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that the political destiny of the president al-Assad should be decided by the people in Syria, not the Western countries.

Russia has always insisted that the Western countries were taking sides in Syria and were only condemning the government, and never the rebels, and for that matter it vetoed two United Nations Security Council resolutions on Syria, on the grounds that they may have imply the right of the international community to intervene in the restive country the way they did it in the north African Libya.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that Bashar al-Assad had made some mistakes in Syria at the beginning of the conflict, when he cracked down on peaceful protesters, but said that he must be judged for his actions by the people.

Kofi Annan’s plan to bring peace to Syria implies the ceasefire on both sides, the government and the rebels, the resumption of the humanitarian relief aid to the people in need and the dialogue between the government and the opposition to bring a transitional period.

Annan said he acknowledged the right of the Syrian government to defend itself, and that Syria would work with the United Nations toward eliminating any excuses to pressure the government in Damascus.

The foreign ministry spokesman said that “the battle to topple the state is over” and that now it was time to create a perspective for reform and development in Syria, and to prevent others from sabotaging the path of the reform.

The spokesman said that one condition for Annan’s plan to be accepted was that Syria’s sovereignty be recognized and the right to security be preserved. He added that when security is in place and the civilians are protected, the troops would leave the cities.

Syrian leadership has always stated that the unrest in the country was the work of a “terrorist conspiracy” aimed at destabilizing the country. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went as far as to say that Syria was destabilized by a conspiracy, so that Israel may take advantage of the situation in the region and project themselves as a regional power.

Assad earlier this week said that his regime would not spare any effort to implement Annan’s plan but only after the “terrorist attacks” stopped. Annan has insisted over the last few days that Syria ceasefire and that the “deadline is now.”

Western diplomats said that implementation of a ceasefire depends on the sequencing of the army pullback and the ending of the armed attacks. It would however be unpractical to think that a complete withdrawal will be made very soon.

About 30 people died over the last few days as a result of the crackdown of the troops on the restive cities of Idlib and Hama. This fuels the concern voiced by the Syrian opposition, and to some extent even by the Western allies, over the fact that Bashar al-Assad was actually stalling and using Annan’s plan to buy some more time to put the rebellion down.

The American State Secretary Hillary Clinton said that the Syrian leader must prove his commitment to the six-point plan, because he has promised to heed to similar plans in the past and did not.

One of the allies Syria has lost because of this inconsistency with its promises was Turkey, whose foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited Damascus last year to demand of president Assad to end violence in Syria.

Assad promised Turkey that it would only take two more weeks to make sure that the situation was under control and that the people can return to their normal lives. He never made good on his word, and thus turned Turkey in one of the staunch critics of the regime.

Turkey announced it was ready to impose a “buffer zone” in the border zone with Syria, in Syrian territory, in order to protect the lives of the Syrian civilians who pour into Turkey after the tanks and armored vehicles have invaded the streets of the cities that rebelled against the president.

Turkey needs a solid reason to make this move or at least an international mandate to act on behalf of the international community. The plan to impose humanitarian corridors has been supported by the French presidency, and made public by foreign minister Alain Juppe.
A Syrian National Council, the umbrella that groups the main opposition factions, was hosted in Istanbul earlier this week, and a meeting of the “Friends of Syria” is to be hosted over the weekend.

The SNC discussions proved once more that the Syrian opposition was deeply divided, reflecting the situation in the country, where sectarian and ethnical divide has practically kept Assad in power.

On that occasion the Kurdish leaders left the meeting after their demands related to the self-rule rights were overlooked. The Kurds said that they feared that an Arab-dominated regime could inflict more pain in their community than the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a fear that is shared by Christian communities in the country.

Turkey is said to be ready to deal with SNC as the only representative of the Syrian people, the same way the Transitional National Council in Libya was proclaimed by the “Friends of Libya” last year. The only important message the meeting between the opposition factions conveyed was that more help is needed to fight Assad’s regime.

The United States and Turkey offered to help the Syrian rebels with “non-lethal” help, consisting in communications devises and medical aid, and Britain announced earlier this week that 500,000 pounds would be delivered to the rebels for “non-lethal” purposes.

The invitation to meet in Istanbul to talk about ways to help the opposition was refused by both Russia and China, while one of the steadfast supporters of the regime in Damascus, Iran, wasn’t invited at all.

The friends of Syria have different visions on how to end this conflict. Thus, the United States considers that the military force should be the last resort, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar consider that they should be arm the rebel forces, a plan which does not enjoy the support of the French, who say that there are enough guns in Syria already.

Turkey has manifested little expectation of Annan’s plan, saying that Assad would continue to kill until someone stops him. The position of the Turkish PM seems to have some supporters amid the Western allies.

Erdogan’s visit to Iran has a component dedicated to the different views on Syria. Some Israeli analysts advanced the idea that Erdogan wanted to press Iran into choosing between shifting position on Syria or face nuclear inspection or even international sanctions on the nuclear case.

Turkish daily Zaman says that at the joint press conference in Tehran between Erdogan and Iranian vice president Mohammed-Reza Rahimi there was no talk about Syria, but that the topic was approached in the meetings with the president and the supreme leader of Iran.

In a conference in Ankara, after the visit, Erdogan said that the ayatollah asked him to work with Iran to do something about Syria. The same request, he said was made by the Russian outgoing president Medvedev during the meeting in Seoul.

In front of the Iranian media, Erdogan said that the will of the Syrian nation should be respected and that Iran and Turkey should work together on this matter.

The Turkish foreign minister Davutoglu said that the relations with Iran would not be spoiled by the differences over Syria, and added that the fate of the president Assad should not be cause of disagreement. Even though an agreement were reached for Assad to continue in office, Davutoglu said, it is highly unlikely that the people in Syria would back such an idea.

On Wednesday, Iranian foreign minister Ali Akhbar Salehi said that Iran supported Kofi Annan’s plan because it called for the withdrawal of the troops but not for the withdrawal of president Assad.

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Malian Troops

"LandepNews"

Malian Troops

The Malian rebels on Saturday entered the northern town of Gao, capitalizing on the chaos installed in the country after the coup that ousted former president Amadou Teumani Toure and replaced him with a military junta who promised to intensify the fight with the northern Tuareg rebels.

The move comes after the Tuareg entered the town of Kidal on Friday and the historic trading city of Timbuktu. On Friday the people said that the Tuareg entered the city without any opposition from the military troops, which were completely overwhelmed by the force of the rebels.

The Tuareg were associated with some Islamist radical movement that was fighting the government as well, and are said to have been reinforced by the people who came to the country after the showdown in Libya last year, where many Tuareg fought on the side of the deposed and killed president Muammar al-Qaddafi.

Tuareg have separatist goals, desiring to establish a Tuareg state in the north of Mali and in Niger, while the Islamists want to install shariah law on the Malian territory.

The former president Toure was associated with the idea of stability of the country and with the development of democracy, but was also accused of turning a blind eye on corruption and having offered a very weak response to the Tuareg rebellion.

The new junta installed after the deposing of the president announced on Saturday, after the meeting with the president of Burkina Faso that they are confident that the situation would be resolved.

Captain Amadou Sanogo, the leader of the junta, has traveled to Burkina Faso, where he spoke to the president, who, at the end of discussions said that solutions would be found in the briefest period possible to restore the institutions of the state in a way that would be acceptable to the world.

Burkina Faso President Blaise Campaore, himself former putschist turned democratic leader, is one of the regional leaders actively involved in the solution of the Malian crisis.

Malian junta is under a 72-hour deadline from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to vacate the office and restore the democratic and constitutional order.

ECOWAS demanded that the junta step down and reinstate president Toure, threatening that failing to do that within 72 hours would trigger an economic embargo, which is expected to bring the Malian frail economy down its knees in weeks.

ECOWAS has also promised that, if necessary, they would remove the junta by military means. ECOWAS suspended Mali from its ranks earlier this week, a move following the suspension by the African Union, which was made public last week.

The United States and the European Union have decided to stop the financial aid of Mali, which is a very important move considering that Mali is depending on it for its economy to survive.

On Tuesday the junta has proclaimed a new constitution, instituting a committee to lead the country until new elections. The committee will be composed of 25 military members and 16 civilians and its members will not be allowed to run in the next elections. The constitution is also upholding many of the freedoms the old constitution was granting.

The leader of rotating presidency of ECOWAS, Ivorian Alassane Ouattara, said that Sanogo must understand that the time for coups in Africa has passed and that the constitutional order in Mali must be restored immediately, otherwise the two decades of democracy would have been lost for nothing.

Alassane Ouattara was in the position of needing international help as the former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down and leave after he was defeated by Ouattara in the presidential runoff in December 2010.

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Jumphel Yeshi's Funeral

"LandepNews"

Jumphel Yeshi's Funeral

Thousands of people on Friday attended the funeral of the Tibetan man who had set himself on fire on Monday in the capital of India, New Delhi, days before a summit of the BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, Indian, China and South Africa, which is attended by the Chinese president Hu Jintao.

Jamphel Yeshi’s coffin was placed on a specially designed state outside a temple in the northern city of Dharmsala, the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile. A Tibetan flag was covering the coffin and people threw traditional silk scarves on it.

The funeral began with the Tibetan national anthem, and was followed by prayers. Then his body was carried to a crematorium, where Tibetan rituals were performed. The people who accompanied the coffin chanted and shouted “May Martyr Jamphel Yeshi’s name be immortal.”

At the crematorium people chanted prayers as the body was being placed on a platform, and clarified butter and aromatic herbs were poured on the body, which was then covered with a white sheet. The fire was lit by a member of the Tibetan Youth Congress.

Yeshi set himself on fire on Monday and was taken to the hospital after the Tibetans who were present at the moment of his protest attempted to put the fire out. He died on Wednesday in an hospital in New Delhi, as a result of the extended 98 percent of the body burnt.

He left behind a letter in which he was explaining that he had protested for the freedom of Tibet and urged the Tibetan to continue the fight for freedom, and the international community to become aware of the Tibetan suffering in the provinces that are governed by China.

30 self-immolations were executed over the last year, most of the people who chose to protest this way dying as a result of the extended burns. The government in Beijing accuses the protesters of disturbing peace and harmony in the society, and blame Dalai Lama directly for being the instigator of such actions, even though the spiritual leader of Tibet has expressed on many occasion his attitude toward this form of protest, which he considers an act of irreverence toward the sanctity of life.

A smear campaign is being conducted by Beijing against him as the tension escalates in the provinces with majority Tibetan population, Dalai Lama being accused among other things that he wants to expel the Han Chinese from Tibet, a practice deemed by the pro-governmental media as Nazi-inspired.

Tibetans complain that the Han Chinese are being brought to their land to colonize and change the ethnic balance of the province. They also claim that their freedom to follow the teachings of their religion is being suppressed and the access to their own culture is being blocked.

But the most important claim the Tibetans have is that their leadership must stay in exile, as the Communist regime does not appreciate the cooperation with Dalai Lama, whom they see as the most dangerous man for the territorial integrity of China.

A large unrest occurred in Tibet in 2008, as a series of riots, demonstrations and protests started in the capital of Tibet, Lhasa and spread throughout the zones inhabited by Tibetans, including outside Tibet proper.

The protest then began as a observance day of Tibetan Uprising Day, which is annually observed on March 10, and commemorates the uprising in Tibet in 1959, which triggered the response of the Chinese authorities and the necessity for Dalai Lama to flee the country.

In 2008, Tibetan Uprising Day escalated in a series of riots and protests of the monks, burning, looting and killing by March 14. The protests were directed against the Han Chinese, and were put down by the police, which intervened. The protest erupted all over the world, and 18 Chinese embassies were attacked on that occasion.

The Chinese authorities blamed the riots on Dalai Lama and said that the reason for them was separatism. Dalai Lama and China held talks on the subject in May and July the same year. As many as 38 people were said to have lost their lives during the protest. A violent crackdown was unleashed by authorities, who feared that the protest would affect the Olympics, hosted that year by China.

The protests in March 2008 were the most serious ones since 1959, and the surge of unrest in the territories in 2011 is a reason for the Chinese authorities to be very sensitive about it.

They have focused their attention on the Dalai Lama, and spent a lot of resources to make friendly-media outlets like China Tibet Online convince the Chinese and the world that Dalai Lama is being loathed by the entire world, which is hardly the case, considering that the iconic leader received the Nobel Prize in 1989, and the Templeton annual Prize in 2012, being honored by other international community in many ways.

Dalai Lama is considered one of the most referential men of the century, a supporter of peace and compassion, a passionate for science and technology, a democratic leader that fostered the democratic rule of his people.

In 2011, Dalai Lama relinquished his political power to an elected government and dedicated himself to spiritual matters. The move was not enough for the Chinese authorities, which announced that they would not recognize a new Dalai Lama, when this one dies.

This has compelled Dalai Lama to even take into account the idea of ending the tradition of Dalai Lamas with him. He did say he would leave very clear instructions about his next reincarnation, if he decided to have one.

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Japanese Self-Defense System

"LandepNews"

Japanese Self-Defense System

Japanese defense ministry on Friday ordered the missile units to intercept NKorean rocket that is expected to carry the satellite that is to be launched into orbit in mid-April and destroy it, if it comes over the territory of Japan. The order made by defense minister Naoki Takana came at a meeting of the country’s national security council. The order follows the move earlier the week to prepare the missile units to stand by and intercept the rocket, if the NKoreans decide to go on with the project.
The rocket is expected to fly over Japan’s western territory after it is launched by the NKoreans sometime between April 13 and 14. Earlier this week, the Japanese newspaper Shimbun published the information that the NKorean scientists have already fueled the rocket that is supposed to be fired in April.
The news placed South Korean and Japanese military on alert, both countries pledging to shoot it down if it passed over their territories. According to the trajectory presented by the NKorean leadership, the first stage of the rocket would sink somewhere in the sea between Korea and China, and the next stage would fall into the waters near the Philippines.
The South Korean and Japanese authorities fear that the launch could fail, or that a stage of the rocket that carries it could fall and destroy and or property, or even endanger lives.
The Japanese defense ministry announced that Japan would deploy destroyers equipped with Aegis missile defense systems to the Pacific and East China Sea, and mobile Patriot missile launchers to the island of Okinawa.
An interceptor missile unit will be deployed in Tokyo, even though the capital is far away from the area where the rocket is expected to fly. The destroyers would serve as first line of defense, while land-based Patriot missiles would be backup systems. Japan has never tested its interceptor missiles in real-world situation.
Japan has threatened the NKorean authorities with intercepting the rocket in 2009, when the Communist regime also launched a satellite into orbit. On that occasion, Japan did not follow through.
The satellite launch came as a huge turnaround in the NKorean stance after the regime in Pyongyang had manifested its openness toward discussing the nuclear program of the country. In February, NKorea went as far as to impose a moratorium on nuclear activity and even to allow international inspections to it.
NKorea says that the satellite has nothing to do with the nuclear program, and asserts that it is a satellite that must scan the natural resources of the country, transmit weather data and chart the forest of NKorea. They also say that its launching now is independent from any nuclear talks and has to do with the 100th anniversary of the founder of the republic, Kim Il-sung, the father of the deceased Kim Jong-il, and grandfather of the incumbent leader Kim Jong-eun. It is also meant to build the aura around the head of the new leader, who took office a few months ago and is very young and probably very inexperienced.
The United States and the other countries in the zone did not believe the explanations of the leaders in Pyongyang, and demanded that the operation be stopped, warning that otherwise sanctions would be applied.
America fears that the NKoreans would use the launch of the satellite as a pretext to test new nuclear weapons. The same fear was expressed in 2009, when the United Nations imposed sanctions on the regime, which in turn led to the testing of nuclear weapons.
The United States raised the question during the meeting in Seoul, on the occasion of the summit on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Barack Obama warned NKorea that moving on would put in danger the food program the United States were going to offer the regime.
In the meantime, the food program has already been stopped by the United States. It had been agreed on when the NKorean and American delegations met to discuss the possibility to resume the six-party negotiations on Korean nuclear file.
The negotiations were launched last year by the former NKorean president and were promising. NKorea is going through a food shortage and is using the nuclear program as a leverage to alleviate the situation in the country.

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Pal Schmitt

"LandepNews"

Pal Schmitt

Hungarian president Schmitt Pal on Friday cancelled all public engagements and is expected to make an announcement about a possible resignation in an address to the Hungarian radio and television, a move that is anticipated by many people in the central European country.

The move comes after the president of Hungary was accused by a special committee of his alma mater, the Semmelweis University, of having copied large chunks of the thesis he held in 1992 on Olympics history. The university said that he copied “word for word” important parts of the paper and added that this was a violation of the scientific norms.

The pubic humiliation of the president, who is expected to set a moral standard in his country, has prompted the Hungarian parties to set their differences aside and demand his resignation.

The leader of the Socialist party, Mesterhazy Atilla, said that Pal Schmitt was not worthy to hold the office of president, and the spokesperson of the nationalist party Jobbik said that the “wrath of the people” would remove him from office, if he wants to remain in the office.

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, a close ally of the president, was more circumspect, saying that the problem lies with the president, and he is the only one who should make the decision to resign or stay in power.

However, a member of the cabinet, from the Fidesz party in power, said that the president should have resigned much earlier. He added that the time to walk away with dignity has passed. This comment, made on conditions of anonymity, was interpreted as a sign that the Fidesz no longer supports the president.

The 69-year president went to a sport university, and published in 1992 a doctorate thesis called An analysis of the programme of the modern Olympics, which is said to have been taken from the work of Bulgarian sports researcher Nikolay Georgiev.

The scandal broke in January 2012, when Hungarian news organizations accused him of having copied 197 out of the 215-page work without giving the appropriate credit to the Bulgarian scholars. Grigoriev’s daughter said she was not aware her departed father had any cooperation with the Hungarian president.

The scandal went to a next level when it was made clear that members of the thesis committee were also members of the Hungarian Olympic Academy and of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, which Pal Schmitt was heading at the time the thesis was presented, which would be a conflict of interests.

Schmitt made his first comments after the first report, saying that there was no case of plagiarism, since he had cited Grigoriev’s work at the references. He refused to make any more comments, until he spoke at the radio and said that in theses like this it was normal to use “a common core material.”

On March 27 the Semmelweis University finding committee recommended that the doctorate title be revoked. Pal Schmitt was withdrawn the title on March 29.

Pal Schmitt was a successful Hungarian fencer in his youth, winning two gold medals at the Summer Olympic Games. In the 1990s, he was an ambassador of his country, and in 2004 he became member of the European Parliament, running for Fidesz.

In 2010, when he completed his term as a member of the parliament, he was elected president of Hungary on August 6, 2010, by a 263 to 59 votes by the parliament. In the 1980s, he was the general secretary of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, and became president of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, a job he held until 2010.

Plagiarism ended last year the career of Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German foreign minister, considered by many the future chancellor of the country. Parallels were drawn between the two statesmen.

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French Police Making the Arrests

"LandepNews"

French Police Making the Arrests

French police on Friday raided hideouts of suspected Islamist extremists arresting 19 in a campaign promised by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the wake of the Toulouse shooting at a Jewish school, as a result of which 3 children and a rabbi were killed last week.

The suspected killer, Mohammed Merah, a French citizen of Algerian descent, was buried on Thursday in France, after Algeria rejected the demand made by the family to have him buried in the family village Bezzaz fearing that the grave would be desecrated if he were buried in France.

Algerian authorities refused to allow that the 23-year-old murdered be buried in Algerian land. A source by the Grand Mosque in Paris, which has ties with Algeria, said that the mayor in Bezzaz made this decision for “security reasons.”

Less than two hours before the funeral the mayor of Toulouse, where emotions are running high after the killing spree, said that burying him within the city walls was “inappropriate.” He said he had asked the local prefect to delay the burial by 24 hours.

The representative of the Grand Mosque in Paris said the mayor had no right to refuse the burial, threatening with a complaint in case the decision was not reverted.

The scandal was ended by French president who said that the man should be buried in France because he was a French citizen. His far-right contender Marie Le Pen retorted that the president was guilty of a “undignified capitulation” to the Algerian authorities.

Mohammed Merah was killed by elite police force in Toulouse after 30 hours of standoff. The man jumped through the window as the troops were surrendering him. His father said he would file a complaint against the French state, which preferred to kill his son rather than take him prisoner. The French president denounced such a move as “disgraceful and indecent.”

Soon after the incident, which came to be considered some sort of French 9/11, the president of France promised to crack down on the Islamic extremism in France.

He said that the French law will be adopted so that the repeated visit of Islamists websites that instigate to violence would be punished by the law. France has already imposed some restrictions for personalities of the Muslim world, known as Islamist extremist.

Several clerics of Palestinian, Egyptian and Saudi origin were banned from coming to France, where they were expected at a meeting of the Union of Islamic Conferences in France.

The foreign minister said that the theologians in question were calling for hatred and that they were seriously violating the principles of the republic. They were deemed as a serious risk for the society under the circumstances.

Sarkozy had said that the clerics would not be welcome because their views were not in accordance to the French values. Far-right Marie Le Pen went as far as to say that the Union of Islamic Conferences in France should be disbanded altogether. She said that drastic measures should be taken against radical Islam.

Union of Islamic Conferences in France responded to the allegations of the far-right presidential candidate saying that they deeply hurt the Muslim community, and reinforce the blending between the moderate Muslims and extremists. They added that they combine the status of French citizens with the practice of their religion.

One of the clerics who were banned from France was Egyptian-born Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a 86-year-old very respected man in the Middle East, who was banned from the United States and Britain under the suspicion of links with terrorists, even though he is also accused in the Muslim world for allowing men and women to work together, encouraging Western Muslims to participate in their democracy and condemning 9/11.

The raids on Friday are part of the policy toward Islamic extremism Sarkozy announced. The French interior minister said that no connection has been established yet between the 19 people who were arrested today and Mohammed Merah.

Sarkozy offered no details about the reasons for the arrests, limiting himself to saying that the 19 were arrested in connection to a form of Islamist radicalism. He made the statement on Radio Europe 1.

He said that other arrests would follow and that some of the people in the country would have to be expelled because they have no business in France.

According to the Associated Press, the Criminal Brigade detained five men in Paris under the suspicion of being in connection to some Islamist movement. The rest of the people arrested were from Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes and Lyon.

Nicolas Sarkozy is in the middle of his presidential election campaign as he seek reelection and is running against Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, credited to win in the runoff, in May.

He took a very serious stance on the killing in Toulouse, and said that it was the duty of the authorities to protect the security of the French citizens and that this was what the authority were about to do.

As part of the campaign, the French authorities urged the people not to equate Islam to terrorism, in a bid to protect the Muslim community in France, about 10 percent of the population, which feared the backlash after the attacks perpetrated by Mohammed Merah.

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Jamphel Yeshi

"LandepNews"

Jamphel Yeshi

The Tibetan who set himself ablaze in New Delhi two days ago on Wednesday died, straining tension among the community of exile Tibetans in India, who protested against the visit of the Chinese president Hun Jintao to India, where he is expected to attend a summit of the BRICS, the organization that comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Thousands of Tibetan exiles live in the Indian capital New Delhi, and are determined to use the visit of the Chinese leader to focus the attention on the problem of Tibetans in China. At least 100 activists were arrested on Wednesday on the same spot where Jamphel Yeshi set himself on fire and ran shouting across the place where a demonstration was already being in progress. Residential neighborhoods of the Tibetans in the capital were said to have been flooded with police on the eve of the Chinese leader’s visit, and some Tibetan students complained that they were not allowed to leave campus.

Police expressed that the Tibetans were not placed under arrest in New Delhi, but that they had been instructed to refrain from rallying anywhere in the city during the summit. The self-immolated Tibetan was declared dead on Wednesday morning by a New Delhi hospital. His heart stopped as a result of the severe burns, which had covered 98 percent of his body. The fire that engulfed him after he doused with kerosene and set himself alight had been put out by the Tibetans that were protesting at that moment, and then was taken by the police to a hospital, after they were able to extract him from among the protesters.

Students complained that they had been locked up in their rooms for two days, and that the police was afraid they may do the same as the man that immolated himself on Monday. Yeshi is the first Tibetan to set himself on fire and die outside the territory of the Tibetan provinces in China.

Since last March, when a spate of self-immolations were produced in Tibet, Sichuan and Gansu, 29 people set themselves on fire, many of them loosing their lives. Among the protesters there were monks, nuns, and even teenagers. They all demanded that Tibetan culture and religion be protected and that the spiritual leader of Tibet, Dalai Lama, return to his country.

China accused on many times Dalai Lama of instigating people in Tibet to set themselves on fire. Even the last self-immolation was pinned on Dalai Lama, in spite of the fact that the spiritual leader said on various occasions that he condemned this form of protest as one that goes against the sanctity of life.

In a posting on a pro-governmental website called China Tibet Online, Dalai Lama was invited to kill himself, if he so wanted, but not to instigate the Tibetans to do this, because the self-immolations were disturbing the peace and harmony of the country.

A member of the Free Tibet India organization said that Hu Jintao was the “architect of the Tibetan crisis” and it was the duty of the Tibetan students to hold him accountable at the international level.

Jamphel Yeshi’s friends said that he was a 27-year-old bookish young man, who had a normal behavior and was performing his duties by the monastery where he was hired. He is said to have left China and his mother behind, and arrived in India via Nepal. They confessed that he had been tortured before leaving China.

He is said to have been dedicated to the cause of Tibetan freedom, and that he was very involved in it. His demise is considered by those who support the Tibetan cause a great loss.

On Wednesday, China Daily website page announced that China has rejected the Tibet-related resolution approved a day before by the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In a press conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that his country was committed to protecting the rights of people of all nationalities and their freedom of religious belief.

The spokesman said that some U.S. Senators confuse right and wrong and urged them to recognize facts, abandon prejudice and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs. He told them that they should do more things in the interest of increasing the U.S.-China relations, not the other way around.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Tuesday approved a resolution calling on China to stop what they called “a repressive policy targeting Tibet.” The resolution also demanded the Chinese government to release the prisoners arrested during the anti-governmental protests, and mourned the demise of 19 Tibetans who protested against Chinese rule in Tibet by setting themselves on fire. The resolution is not binding and will not go on the Senate’s plenary session for approval.

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