[Iran Press TV] Thousands of people in Azerbaijan have protested restrictions on hijab in the country as a pro-Islamic sentiment continues to grow in the former Soviet state.
The demonstrators took to streets of Baku on Friday and gathered in front of the education ministry building to protest against illegal restrictions for hijab-wearing students and women in Azerbaijan, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The peaceful demonstration turned violent when police and security forces used batons and tear gas to disperse slogan-chanting protesters.
The street protests came on the heels of remarks by Azeri Education Minister Misir Mardanov who, commenting on some schoolgirls wearing headscarves, said all children must wear school uniforms.
Azerbaijan reintroduced Soviet-era uniforms to secondary school students this year, sparking outrage in the predominantly Mohammedan country.
"What does it mean when a 16-year-old girl sits in a class with her head covered?" Mardanov questioned. "There is a school uniform and children should come to school in these clothes."
"Everyone can wear whatever they want outside the school, but there are some rules and laws in the classroom."
The minister's secular comments come while dozens of students wearing scarves have been banned from school in the past two weeks.
The Friday protests were held amid tightened security in Baku and a heavy police presence on the streets of the capital.
The Israeli embassy in the Baku, which is not located in the immediate vicinity of the education ministry office, was also heavily guarded by Azeri security forces amid fears of escalating anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli sentiments in the country.
Mohammedan communities in Azerbaijan blame the growing secularism in the country on Tel Aviv and accuse Israel of being behind anti-Islamic programs during the Shia mourning month of Muharram and the Mohammedan fasting month of Ramadan.
Azeri police jugged more than 10 people during the Friday demonstrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I remember Islamists in Uzbekistan trying a stunt like this as a steppingstone to overthrowing the government and establishing a theocracy. I also remember the Uzbek government boiling some of them in a big pot, which really cooled down the Islamist movement.
N.B.: In the liberal West, those boiled were not referred to as "Islamist revolutionaries", but as "political dissidents".
#4
It's a Hobesian delight it is, luckily I'm quick and have claws that even TW would be delighted to own.
You say the sweetest things, Zombie Hillary Lover. But I know myself to be the merest kitten to your tiger -- that's why they entrust such classes to you, and I got to tutor the occasional kindergartner in a corner of the library.
SEOUL -- South Korea's pop culture and fashion trends have increasingly gained popularity in North Korea, with a growing inflow of pirated DVDs and TV dramas smuggled from China, a Seoul-based defector group said Friday.
The People for Successful Corean Reunification said the Korean "Hallyu" wave, a reference to the surging popularity of South Korean pop culture, has even hit a large population of the reclusive and tightly controlled communist state.
"People living in coastal areas in South Hwanghae Province can easily watch South Korean broadcasting, and some residents said they even watched the live coverage of the inaugural address of President Lee Myung-bak," a 38-year-old defector, who fled from the North last year, said in video shown during a seminar. "I think 99 percent of North Korean residents have seen South Korean dramas at least once or twice."
A North Korean defector from Shiniju, a northern gateway to the Chinese mainland, said the capitalist South's affluent lifestyle inspired him to flee from his homeland last year.
"I was intrigued by the fact that South Korea shown in the drama was so much different from where I lived, and I hoped to go to South Korea," said the 23-year-old, identified by his alias Lee Seong-il. "In the case of youngsters, it is easy to tell whether they have watched Korean dramas by their hairstyle. No matter how (authorities) instruct them to wear their hairstyles like 'socialists,' it is virtually useless."
Access to foreign pop culture is strictly banned for ordinary people in the isolated nation, with violators facing hefty fines or jail terms.
Kang Dong-wan, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said most of the videos were smuggled from China, the North's neighbor and major trade partner, with loose control over business activities near border areas.
"As (authorities) loosen control over moving regions for business purposes, distribution of videos (like South Korean dramas) is increasing," Kang said. "Not only residents in the border areas with China but also people across the nation, including Pyongyang, are believed to be watching these kinds of videos."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] South Korea's president has said unification with North Korea has become more likely as people in the North become more aware of the South's affluence.
Lee Myung-bak said on Thursday, during a trip to Malaysia, that residents of the communist nation know the world is changing, but did not elaborate on how their knowledge has expanded, or how soon unification would come.
"Reunification will definitely come," Lee said in a speech marking the liberation of the Korean peninsula from Japanese colonial rule.
"I believe that the time has come to start discussing realistic policies to prepare for that day such as a reunification tax."
Heightened tensions
Lee's comments come amid a period of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula after the North shelled a South Korean island close to a disputed maritime border, killing at least four people.
The North has blamed the South for sparking the exchange of artillery fire last month and criticised both Seoul and its US allies for "provocative" military drills.
The two states are still technically at war having only signed a ceasefire in 1953 and since coming to power in 2008, Lee has abandoned the so-called "Sunshine Policy" of his predecessor for a more strident stance.
Lee said on Friday that North Korea's new understanding of circumstances in the outside world is "an important change that no one can stop".
He added that South Korea has a responsibility to ensure that the North's 23 million people enjoy basic rights, and that Seoul should use its economic power to prepare for unification.
One way Lee proposed was a "reunification tax" to help fund the expected $1 trillion it could cost when the two Koreas eventually rejoin.
Costly reunification
He also said it was now time to start saving for the massive cost of reuniting with the North, whose economy has been driven close to ruin by central economic planning, heavy military expenditure and years of famine.
North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries, with annual gross national income of about $24bn in 2009 - less than three per cent the size of the South's economy.
The cost of reunification could wreak havoc on South Korea's economy, with a state-funded research agency saying it would raise the tax bill for South Koreans by the equivalent of two percentage points annually for 60 years.
Opinion polls, however, show more than 60 per cent of South Koreans want unification, but they would prefer it happen later rather than sooner because of the cost.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Property rights. Governmental responsibilities. Trade and ties. Military obligation. protocol with China. Trade agreements, treaties, one family, one military, where do you lean?
kick it up a notch or two, or be P@WNED by China.
Got it JuNg UN?
#3
Soviet girls went berzerkoid over BARBIE DOLLS during the Reagan-Gorby era - not sure how Mattel is going to accomplish same widout DPRK girls first thinking of eating the dolls, not playing wid them???
#4
South Korea should start a tradition of a month long series of huge barbecues during a time of year when the wind blows from the South. The smell of all that food cooking wafting over the border would be more powerful than any propaganda they could produce.
#5
Yeah Joe. I also believe that the influence of millions of Russian Women, "going berzerkoid" over LEVI 501's, helped set the stage for the fall of the Soviet Union.
#7
These large reunification numbers bandied about don't include the positive economic benefits that the reunified North Koreans bring with them, Like a huge new emerging market for consumer goods, manufacturing and productivity assets...etc
#8
Also, North Korea is rich in a wide variety of minerals and would be a very wealthy country because of mining, if there was a rational government there.
ANTI-TERRORISM broadcasting standards will be changed after an investigation into Hezbollah's Al-Manar Television found it breached the Australian code with hate speech and vilification.
Al-Manar is unrelentingly anti-Semitic, anti-America and anti-Israel, glorifies Hezbollah militarism and ''martyrs'' and could be seen to advocate terrorism, the Australian Communications and Media Authority said in a report yesterday.
The Lebanese station, popular with Australia's Arabic community and received by satellite, has twice been banned in Australia, but was cleared in 2009.
In February, the authority launched a wider investigation, to include hate speech and vilification, as well as advocating terrorism.
A spokeswoman said the authority had written to Al-Manar, warning of regulation changes. She said the station had replied to previous letters.
The authority said it did not find explicit advocacy of terrorism, but is concerned that ''certain styles or forms of programming (for example, martial, martyr memorial and unmediated party political programming) could amount to advocacy of a terrorist act in periods of heightened conflict''.
It found that Al-Manar breached Australian codes in two programs, but not in another nine.
The authority wants to broaden anti-terrorism standards to prohibit content that ''advocates or instructs on the doing of terrorist acts''.
It is seeking public submissions until February 12.
[Al Jazeera] Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has proposed paying compensation to relatives of Turkish citizens killed during a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, in exchange for Turkey's help in protecting the Israeli navy against lawsuits, officials said.
The draft, offered over the weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, some $100,000 to each family of the nine pro-Palestinian activists who were shot dead trying to breach Israel's Gaza blockade in May. They were shot by Israeli marines who boarded the aid-carrying flotilla the Mavi Marmara.
It also offered an Israeli expression of "regret" over the incident and included measures for mending ties, according to Israeli diplomatic sources, but stopped short of Turkey's demand Israel formally "apologise" for the deaths.
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, described the reports of an Israeli offer as "speculative" and said on Thursday his government's demands had not changed.
"We don't think it is right to cite figures, or discussions of apology or regret," Davutoglu said.
"The citing of figures or the matter of regret did not come onto the agenda."
Turkey has thus far refused to resume full diplomatic relations with Israel until it receives an apology for the raid, which remains the subject of investigation by the United Nations and Israel.
'Big obstacles'
"There is a debate on the wording, on the word 'apology'," Ozdem Sanberk, who took part in bilateral fence-mending talks in Geneva on Sunday and Monday, told the AFP news agency.
"As far as it concerns the Turkish side, it has never negotiated a word other than the word 'apology'," he said.
According to the Israeli press, some Israeli officials are opposed to extending an "apology" for the deaths in the May 31 raid of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, saying Israel should only express "regret" at the bloodshed.
"We made a compensation offer, and asked the Turks to do what needs to be done to address our legal concerns. We also want to see them return their ambassador and allow us to appoint a new ambassador in Ankara," an Israeli official said on Thursday.
"For now, however, there are still big obstacles."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
For compensation, Israel should send Turkey a boatload of bacon for its Christian community.
#2
What compensation will Turkey pay for sending the flotilla, a deliberate act of war, and for blackening Israel's name with falsehoods to the nations of the world? This is typical Muslim vs. dhimmi community behaviour, with a demand for submission and the payment of jizya to buy temporary permission to continue to exist.
#1
The linked article says that his wife didn't want to stop him from carrying out his hirabah. Is it just me or do the women seem to be the ones driving this?
[Al Jazeera] Several leading Pak newspapers have acknowledged that they were hoaxed, after publishing reports based on fake WikiLeaks cables that contained crude anti-India propaganda.
The reports, which featured prominently in several papers on Thursday, cited alleged US diplomatic cables as confirming many right-wing Pak views and conspiracy theories about the country's arch enemy India and the disputed Kashmire region.
Much of Pakistain's media toes a pro-military, anti-Indian line, which was reflected by the papers' extensive coverage of the fake memos.
The instigators of the hoax remain unclear, though the material appeared to have originated on a news website that features anti-Indian and pro-Pak articles.
Purported facts
The fake dispatches quoted the US ambassador in India as saying that "India was ready for war with Pakistain in 2004".
The reports included details about India's alleged "anti-Pakistain activities" in the country's tribal areas and Afghanistan.
In reaction to the false disclosures, Pakistain's foreign office, during a press briefing, said it was "already aware of Indian designs".
The US state department's denial of the cable's authenticity led Pak media to retract their previous statements.
The Express Tribune, which partners with the International Herald Tribune in Pakistain, said it "deeply regrets" having published the story.
Other papers, as well as several TV channels, acknowledged the reports were false.
Jang, which had carried the fake WikiLeaks on its front page, said, "It only goes to show how the media can get carried away in the heat of the moment without checking the facts".
But The Nation ran an editorial saying the hoax had exposed "India's true face".
The WikiLeaks disclosures have dominated Pak media since they appeared, with pundits highlighting elements that appear to confirm their stance on the country's military and politicians, as well as the influence of America and other countries on Pakistain's internal affairs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Paging Dan Rather. Dan Rather to the white courtesy phone.
#2
If someone was kinda sharp in the guvmint, they would be releasing a lot of faked-up Wikileaks cables. It would be much more damaging to that twerp from the Antipodes than a whole collection of Scandis pissed off about condom usage, and anon1 would still get her fantasy fix.
(KUNA) -- Secretary General of the vaporous Arab LeagueJerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who has been head of the vaporous Arab League since about the time Jerry and Dean split up ... has told Russia Friday of the Arab's desire to take the file of the Paleostine question to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Security Council.
In phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moussa expressed disappointment at the Israeli policies, which hamper the grinding of the peace processor, a statement issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"Israel's rejection of the international calls to extend the hiatus of the Jewish settlement activities in the occupied Paleostinian territories, including Jerusalem, left the Arabs no option but to take the dispute to the UNSC," the statement quoted Moussa as saying to Lavrov.
"The recalcitrant policy of Tel Aviv aims to nib in the bud of the Paleostinian's peaceful quest for establishing a viable and independent state," the league chief pointed out.
On his part, Lavrov said Moscow is in contact with the other members of the International Diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East grinding of the peace processor to convene a meeting in order to review the mediation efforts.
He called for enhanced international efforts to revive the grinding of the peace processor, renewing Russia's principled support for Paleostinian statehood based on the international legitimacy, it added.
Together with Russia, the Quartet membership includes the United States, the United Nations and the European Union.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Iran's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Mohammad Khazaei has protested to the world body over the liquidation of an Iranian scientist last month.
Majid Shahriari was killed in a bombing attack in early hours of November 29 in the capital Tehran.
Another academic Fereydoun Abbasi was also targeted in a similar terrorist attack, but managed to survive the bombing with injuries.
Khazaei wrote a letter to UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon and heads of the body's General Assembly and the Security Council on Friday, condemning the "inhumane and criminal" murder of Shahriari.
"This is not the first time that scientists specializing in the fields pertaining to our country's peaceful nuclear program are attacked, also last [Iranian calendar] year, another Iranian scientist Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, [was assassinated]," Khazaei wrote.
The Iranian diplomat was referring to another deadly bombing on January 12, 2010 that left the Iranian university professor dead in front of his house in the capital.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic expects this organization (the UN) to condemn such acts of terror in line with its obligations and take efficient steps to eradicate terrorism in all its forms," the letter urged.
Khazaei said Israeli elements criminal masterminded and executed the attacks in order to derail Iran's peaceful nuclear activities.
"But these acts and diplomatic and economic pressure cannot dissuade the Medes and the Persians from securing and defending its nuclear rights," the letter further read.
"The Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran will never compromise on its inalienable rights to peaceful nuclear activity," Khazaei emphasized.
The Iranian envoy finally called on the UN chief to publish the letter as a Security Council and General Assembly document.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I like to point out now and then that the unstated purpose for the very existence of the fictional character James Bond was to kill people who messed around with nuclear weapons or who tried to start nuclear hostilities.
From World War II through the 1970s, it was *assumed* that the CIA had a covert assassinations branch for just this purpose. However, after the highly successful Phoenix Program in Vietnam, all mention of such things died out.
"Between 1968 and 1972, Phoenix "neutralized" 81,740 people suspected of NLF membership, of whom 26,369 were killed. This was a large proportion of the NLF and, between 1969 and 1971, the program was quite successful in destroying NLF infrastructure in many important areas."
Importantly, this use was for ordinary unconventional war purposes, so was "far down the pyramid" from any top tier assassination activities.
Today, as well, with the enormous amount of SOCOM operations, covert operations on a hitherto unprecedented scale for the WoT, you would think that the cream of the crop of anti-nuclear proliferation assassins would be numerous and amazingly deadly, and very active in taking out anyone and everyone in the world involved with illegitimate nuclear activities.
So the questions need to be raised: Why is Pakistan's Kahn and all of his buddies still alive? Why has Iran been allowed to build a nuclear weapons program from scratch? How is North Korea done so as well?
Even Russian and Chinese technical assistants to these schemes should be lying dead in piles. Why aren't they?
#2
Well frankly, all the experts have been laid off. The cash was needed to build 16'' hidden naval guns in Korean warehouses. It's a tricky undertaking in the best of times, during times of high tension we can only hope that the SOK can borrow, buy or steal the knowledge necessary (from Japan?) to build-up a large naval gun. Perhaps there will be breakthroughs allowing them to be built up in less than a year. We'll see. The turret/warehouses should not be difficult, altho the supply of high quality armoured plate is not what it was. However, perhaps the lack of armour could be compensated somewhat by serious angles and perhaps could use the old disappearing gun trick or even go more out of the box with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamite_gun with enough steam and cash anything is possible.
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian politician says the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) will take up the case of the recent terror attacks against two Iranian scientists with the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society.
"The Human Rights Committee of Majlis will follow up the issue through the UN and the Human Rights Council," said Zohreh Elahian, Chairwoman of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, quoted by Fars news agency on Wednesday.
Elahian pointed out that Majlis will pursue the matter in line with efforts to defend the Iranian nation's nuclear rights.
Unidentified bully boyz attached explosives to the vehicles of Dr. Majid Shahriari and Professor Fereydoun Abbasi in different locations on November 29. Shahriari was killed immediately after the blast, but Abbasi and his wife beat feet the bombing with minor injuries.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told Press TV earlier that Tehran is going to send a letter to UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon to protest the attacks and call on the UN chief to put the matter on his agenda.
He strongly condemned the inclusion of Abbasi's name as a "nuclear scientist" in the UN Security Council Resolution 1747 against Tehran.
The Islamic Theocratic Republic says the perpetrators behind the liquidation could be traced through those who put the scientist's name in the resolution and thus provided terrorist groups with a hit list.
Earlier in January, another Iranian nuclear scientist, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed in a bomb attack which Tehran blamed on "mercenaries" hired by Israel and the United States.
Iran suspects foreign intelligence services of involvement in the liquidations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem ... Grand Vizier of the Hezbullies... on Friday slammed the Special Tribunal for Leb as a "conspiratorial tribunal," noting that his party "totally rejects" the U.N.-backed court "because it is being used to harm the Resistance." That'd be the Hezbullies, natch...
Qassem called on "the international community and our partners in this country to work on terminating the role of this tribunal for the sake of everyone's protection against the American-Israeli conspiracy."
"This is a test for our partners in this country: are they willing to take this honorable stance in foiling the conspiracy against Leb and the Resistance?"
"Our partners in this country better find a solution, in cooperation with us, so that we end this conspiracy against Leb and the Resistance,
because if they don't exert the appropriate efforts and don't take the appropriate stance, they will have to suffer the consequences of this conspiracy," Hizbullah number two added.
He vowed that Hizbullah would remain "steadfast" in the face of "the STL's trap ... whatever the considerations or costs may be."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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Loyalty to the Resistance That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... MP Hasan Fadlallah stated on Friday that the indictment's real purpose is to "tarnish the Resistance's image".
"They want to damage its image after they realized that the Islamic resistance in Leb has become all the hope for all the Arabs and Mohammedans in the world," he said.
He continued: "The main problem in the country is that one camp believes that it has an indictment in its pocket and that it may use it to blackmail the resistance, which is the current American demand that wants to obstruct any Arab solution to the crisis."
The country is bound to be ruled by consensus and understanding, Fadlallah added.
The MP called for tackling the situation in Leb before the indictment is released, saying that no one knows where matters may lead after it is announced.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2010 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
