Colui Che Dubita

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità.
Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge n. 62 del 7.03.2001.


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Elsewhere today (217)

 Aljazeera:
 Iran stalls over Russian nuclear offer

Monday 26 December 2005, 16:45 Makka Time, 13:45 GMT 

Russia is said to be still awaiting Tehran's reply to a proposal to move Iranian uranium enrichment facilities to Russian soil to resolve the stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran denied on Sunday that it had received a proposal from Russia, which announced on Saturday that it had sent the formal plan to Tehran.

But a Russian diplomat on Monday again said that a formal plan had been sent.

According to Interfax, Vyacheslav Moshkalo, a diplomat at the Russian embassy in Tehran, said: "We presented an official memo to Iran on Saturday. We are waiting for a reply."

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow declined to comment but said in a statement that a meeting took place on Monday between Gholamreza Ansari, the Iranian ambassador, and Alexander Alexeyev, Russia's deputy foreign minister.

Conflicting statements

The two nations' contradictory statements may be the result of an Iranian attempt to gain time without directly rejecting a proposal from Moscow, a long-standing ally.

Uranium enrichment is a key step in the nuclear process that produces either fuel for a reactor or the material needed for a warhead.

The United States has accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says that its programme is directed only at generating electricity.

Negotiators from Germany, France and Britain want to solve the dispute by having enrichment moved to Russia to ensure that Iran cannot divert uranium to a weapons programme. But Tehran has said it will not agree to moving enrichment abroad.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that its formal proposal represented a "Russian contribution into the search for mutually acceptable solutions in the context of settling the situation around the Iranian nuclear programme by political and diplomatic means".

Washington is pushing for Tehran to be brought before the UN Security Council, where it could face economic sanctions over the dispute.

But Russia and China, which have vetoes on the council, oppose referral, and the West has stopped short of forcing the matter.

Russia is building a nuclear power plant in Iran in a deal that has drawn strong US criticism.

AP

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E817D12D-6CB5-4F49-961D-CC256A329FE0.htm

 


 Aljazeera:
 Asia marks tsunami anniversary

Indonesia: 131,338 dead; 25,016 missing
Sri Lanka: 31,229 dead; 4093 missing
India: 10,749 dead; 5640 missing
Thailand: 5395 dead; 2817 missing
Somalia: 289 dead and missing
Myanmar: 90 dead; 10 missing
Maldives: 82 dead; 26 missing
Malaysia: 68 dead
Tanzania: 11 dead
Bangladesh: 2 dead
Seychelles: 2 dead
Kenya: 1 dead

Sources: Government agencies, United Nations

Mourners have marked the anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated coastal communities and killed at least 216,000 people on 26 December last year.

From worst-hit Aceh province in Indonesia to the tourist beaches of Thailand and tropical Sri Lanka, thousands of survivors, victims' relatives and officials held on Monday a minute's silence at the time the waves hit, as part of commemoration ceremonies.

On 26 December 2004, a magnitude-9 earthquake ruptured the sea floor off Indonesia's Sumatra island, sending 10-metre-high waves roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds that crashed into seaside communities in a dozen countries.

The disaster's scale was overwhelming.

At least 216,000 people were killed or disappeared in the waves, with the UN putting the number of the dead at 223,000, although it says some countries are still updating their figures.

The true toll will probably never be known - many bodies were lost at sea, and in some cases the populations of places struck were not accurately recorded.

Prayers

The day's solemn commemorations began in Indonesia, where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono led an emotional ceremony with a minute's silence to remember the 168,000 people killed in his country's ravaged Aceh province.

"Let us now bow our heads in silence to pray for the souls of hundreds of thousands who lost their lives," he said on the outskirts of Banda Aceh near the Ulee Lheu mosque, the only building left standing in the obliterated area.

People prayed at mass graves for children swept away by the tsunami, walked on beaches battered by the waves and attended prayers at mosques, temples and churches.

Lives destroyed

Darmawati, 39, who lost her husband, two daughters and both her parents in the disaster, said:  "It is important for me to come here to pray for my family, may they rest in peace.

"I pray that God will give me strength to raise my only son that survived," she added, breaking down in tears at a mass prayer in the Acehnese village of Kajhu.

Thousands of homes and livelihoods were destroyed - entire villages and parts of the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh were wiped off the map - and more than two million people left as refugees.

In southern Thailand, where about 5400 Thais and foreign holidaymakers were killed, mourners signed books of remembrance, or tossed flowers into the sea as they gathered along the battered beaches where their loved ones died.

In Bang Nieng, hundreds mourned in the shadow of a police patrol boat that was washed one kilometre inland by the waves, and now stands as a memorial to the catastrophe.

"One year has passed, we continue the rebuilding process. Much progress has been made but we have more to do still. Our work is not over," said Somkid Jatusripitak, the Thai deputy prime minister.

India, Sri Lanka

In India, where more than 10,700 people were killed and 5600 others are listed as missing, survivors also offered tearful tributes.

The worst-hit district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where almost 6000 people died, observed a minute's silence at the moment the waves slammed into the shore there.

In some villages trees were planted for each of the dead, while in others lamps and candles were lit and religious services and beachside ceremonies were held.

On the palm-fringed island of Car Nicobar, India's military unveiled a memorial while women thronged Nicobar's once-fabulous beaches to pray to their gods for the sea to remain calm. Priests called on villagers to gather at the still-standing churches in remembrance of those who died.

Sri Lanka will pay tribute to an estimated 31,000 people killed there by the tsunami with a two-minute silence and coast-to-coast candlelight vigils.

Response

The tsunami generated one of the most generous outpourings of foreign aid.

Some $13 billion was pledged to relief and recovery efforts, the UN says, of which 75% has already been secured.

But the pace of relief and reconstruction has been criticised, and frustration has grown among some of the 80% of refugees who are still living in tents, plywood barracks or the homes of family and friends.

The tsunami resulted in a ceasefire between the government and fighters in Aceh that ended a decades-old separatist conflict.

But hopes of a similar end to Sri Lanka's long-running civil conflict were dashed in an atmosphere of bickering over aid delivery and an upsurge in violence since the disaster.

Agencies

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F22542E0-37D7-48D1-819C-C26B00FACF6A.htm

 


 Clarín:
 Miles de personas recuerdan a las víctimas del tsunami

A UN AÑO DE LA TRAGEDIA

Las primeras ceremonias comenzaron en la provincia indonesia de Banda Aceh, una de las zonas más golpeadas. Los actos se realizaron bajo un cielo azul y ante un mar en calma.

Clarín.com, 26.12.2005

Decenas de miles de personas en diversos puntos del océano Indico recordaron con minutos de silencio y oraciones a las víctimas del tsunami que un año atrás golpeó las costas de once países de la región y dejó tras su paso más de 231.000 muertos y 1,8 millón de personas sin hogar. Los distintos actos se celebraron bajo un cielo claro y ante un mar en calma.

Los habitantes de la provincia indonesia de Banda Aceh, una de las más afectadas, guardaron un minuto de silencio a las 08:16 (22:16 de ayer en Argentina), la hora exacta en la que hace un año una ola gigantesca alcanzó sus costas.

El presidente de Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, hizo sonar una sirena, y, tras presidir el minuto de silencio y una ceremonia en la que agradeció la cooperación internacional al tiempo que pidió que no se acabe la “buena voluntad”, visitó una fosa común donde fueron enterradas casi 47.000 víctimas del tsunami.

También se guardó silencio en los actos que se hicieron en Tailandia y Sri Lanka, con banderas a media asta en señal de luto. En toda la zona afectada se celebraron servicios religiosos islámicos, cristianos, budistas e hindúes.

En los actos de Tailandia participaron miles de ciudadanos locales y extranjeros, tanto supervivientes de la tragedia como familiares de las víctimas. Las ceremonias comenzaron con un minuto de silencio y la deposición de orquídeas blancas en seis playas afectadas por la tragedia y ante el muro del Recuerdo en Phuket, situado en el exterior de uno de los centros de identificación de las víctimas.

Sri Lanka decretó dos minutos de silencio y también celebró numerosas ceremonias religiosas. La ceremonia nacional central fue realizada en el lugar donde murieron las alrededor de 1.200 personas que viajaban en un tren arrasado por las grandes olas en Peraliya, 110 kilómetros al sur de la capital.

Hace un año, un terremoto de 9 grados en la escala de Richter rompió el lecho marino ante la isla de Sumatra, desplazando miles de millones de toneladas de agua y generando olas de 10 metros de altura que se difundieron por todo el Océano Indico destruyendo decenas de miles de hogares y haciendo desaparecer del mapa incluso comunidades enteras.

Copyright 1996-2005 Clarín.com - All rights reserved

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/12/26/um/m-01113956.htm


 CNN.com:
 Nigeria says it will provide free AIDS drugs

Sunday, December 25, 2005 Posted: 1311 GMT (2111 HKT)

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria will start providing AIDS drugs for free next year, the government agency in charge of fighting AIDS said, scrapping fees that aid workers say deny access to treatment for poor patients.

Nigeria has 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, the third-highest number in the world after India and South Africa, and at the moment it has an estimated 40,000 people on subsidized anti-retroviral drugs, or ARVs.

"Up until now we provided ARVs at a subsidized rate, and patients had to pay 1,000 naira [$8] per month. They will not have to pay that anymore," said Babatunde Osotimehin, chairman of the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS, on Saturday.

Nigeria's goal is to get 250,000 people on ARVs by the end of next year, and Osotimehin said providing the drugs for free would help meet that target by encouraging more people to come forward for treatment.

Funding for the free drugs will come from extra government money approved by President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as from major donors, including the World Bank, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and the U.S. government.

Two-thirds of Nigeria's 140 million people live on less than a dollar a day, and aid groups say many HIV-positive people are too poor to pay for drugs.

Relief organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has campaigned for Nigeria to provide free AIDS treatment, said the announcement of free ARVs was a step in the right direction but it did not go far enough.

Francois Giddey, head of mission in Nigeria for the Dutch section of MSF that runs an HIV/AIDS clinic in Lagos, said medical care for HIV victims does not consist only of ARVs.

He said patients have to treat frequent opportunistic infections and take a battery of medical tests monthly for ARVs to be administered correctly. The cost of these treatments, which patients have to pay for themselves, is 3,000 to 7,000 naira per month in addition to the cost of ARVs, he said.

Asked about this, Osotimehin said Nigeria would provide tests and treatment at a subsidized rate for adult patients, but details were still being worked out.

Medecins Sans Frontieres said earlier this month that it was dangerous to require HIV victims to pay for care because the cost meant they often interrupted treatment or took insufficient doses of drugs. This enables the virus to build up resistance to ARVs.

Osotimehin said all care would be free for HIV-positive pregnant women and children.

The U.N. Children's Fund warned in November that Nigerian children were increasingly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and called for ARVs to be given to more pregnant women to avoid a catastrophic rise in infections.

UNICEF said fewer than 1 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women in Nigeria were getting proper drugs.

Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/12/25/nigeria.aids.reut/index.html


 GlobalResearch:
 Bombing Al Jazeera: It's No Joke

By Eli Stephens

December 25, 2005
afterdowningstreet.org/

Tony Blair has said it's a "conspiracy theory," the White House called it "outlandish" and "absurd." But now a British FOIA request (from FOIA Blog via Blair Watch with a major hat tip to Bob at Politics in the Zeros) comes back with this response:

    Thank you for your email of 24 November in which you request a copy of any memos or notes that record President Bush's discussions with the Prime Minister about the bombing of the al-Jazeera television station in Qatar. Your request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

    I can confirm that the cabinet Office holds information which is relevant to your request.

The request is then denied on the grounds that "disclosure of information would or would be likely to predudice relations between the United Kingdom and any other State" (i.e., that it would embarrass George Bush). But, as Blair Watch points out, they key is in that second paragraph. Previous "non-denial denials" referred to in the first sentence of this post have tried to pretend that this never happened. But now the British government, in the process of denying a FOIA request, has absolutely confirmed that "memos or notes that record President Bush's discussions with the Prime Minister about the bombing of the al-Jazeera television station in Qatar" do exist. The ball is now in your court, American media.

By the way, it goes without saying that the charge itself (that Bush did seriously propose this) is entirely believable.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

© Copyright Eli Stephens, afterdowningstreet.org/, 2005

© Copyright 2005 GlobalResearch.ca

The url address of this article is:
www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=1636


 Jeune Afrique:
 Nouveau procès pour les cinq infirmières bulgares

LIBYE - 25 décembre 2005 – AFP

La cour suprême libyenne a redonné espoir à cinq infirmières bulgares et un médecin palestinien, condamnés à mort après avoir été accusés d'avoir inoculé le virus du sida à des enfants libyens, en ordonnant dimanche un nouveau procès dans cette affaire.

La plus haute juridiction libyenne qui a siégé pendant une heure "a accepté le recours des infirmières bulgares et ordonné qu'un nouveau procès se tienne devant la cour pénale de Benghazi", a annoncé son président, Ali al-Alous, annulant la condamnation à mort qui pèse depuis 2004 sur les six accusés.

Le dossier devra être de nouveau examiné à Benghazi (au nord est de Tripoli), là où cette affaire a commencé le 16 fév 1999. C'est aussi devant un tribunal de cette ville que les infirmières et le médecin avaient été condamnés à mort le 6 mai 2004 après avoir été accusés d'avoir inoculé le sida à 426 enfants libyens, dont 51 sont morts.

Ils avaient aussi été condamnés à verser près d'un million de dollars pour indemniser les familles des victimes.

Le ministre libyen de la Justice, Ali Hasnaoui, a indiqué à l'AFP que le nouveau procès se tiendra "dans un mois" et que les juges ne seraient pas ceux qui avaient prononcé la peine de mort. "Il y aura de nouveaux juges", a-t-il assuré.

Emprisonnés depuis près de sept ans, les six accusés clament leur innocence et ont obtenu le soutien de l'Union européenne et des Etats-Unis.

"Nous sommes fiers de notre justice", a commenté l'avocat libyen des accusés, Me Othmane al-Bizanti qui s'est félicité que la cour libyenne ait reconnu des "violations de procédures" et que la défense ait reçu le soutien du parquet pour annuler la peine de mort contre les six accusés.

L'avocat libyen des cinq infirmières bulgares et du médecin palestinien va demander leur libération, le mois prochain, devant le tribunal de Benghazi

Peu après l'annonce de la décision de la cour, les familles ont manifesté leur hostilité devant le tribunal. "C'est de l'injustice, c'est de l'injustice", ont crié les manifestants contenus par un strict service d'ordre.

Elles ont ensuite manifesté dans le centre de Tripoli, sur la place verte, brandissant des pancartes demandant la pendaison des infirmières et montrant des portraits d'enfants morts du sida.

A Sofia, les autorités bulgares ont estimé que la tenue d'un nouveau procès, donnait "de nouvelles chances" d'obtenir leur libération.

"Cette décision donne de nouvelles chances d'obtenir ce que tous les Bulgares désirent", la libération des infirmières, a déclaré le porte-parole du ministère bulgare des Affaires étrangères Dimitar Tsantchev soulignant que la cour libyenne a "reconnu des violations de procédures".

Cette affaire a pris un nouveau tournant vendredi avec l'annonce d'un accord entre Tripoli et Sofia pour la création d'un fonds de compensation international au bénéfice des enfants libyens atteints du sida et des familles des enfants morts de cette maladie, en partenariat avec l'Union Européenne, les Etats-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne.

Selon Sofia, le fonds dont le montant n'a pas été précisé, doit permettre d'"assurer des soins médicaux permanents pour les patients contaminés par le virus du sida, contribuer à la mise aux normes internationales de l'hôpital de Benghazi et fournir une aide financière aux familles des enfants malades et décédés".

L'accord a été conclu après des négociations menées les 12 et 18 décembre à Tripoli entre l'Association pour la promotion des relations d'amitié entre la Libye et la Bulgarie et l'Association de défense des enfants libyens victimes du sida de l'hôpital de Benghazi, selon le ministère bulgare des Affaires étrangères.

"Les peines de mort injustes ont été annulées. Nous espérons que la rapidité et l'efficacité dont a fait preuve la justice libyenne au cours des derniers jours permettra un aboutissement du procès aussitôt que possible", a déclaré à Sofia le président bulgare, Gueorgui Parvanov.

"Ce nouveau procès permettra de mener à bien les initiatives internationales d'aide aux victimes de cette tragédie à Benghazi et de rétablir les bonnes relations traditionnelles entre les deux pays", a-t-il ajouté.

© Jeuneafrique.com 2005

http://www.jeuneafrique.com/jeune_afrique/article_depeche.asp?
art_cle=AFP15835nouveseragl0

 


 L’Unità:
 L’uomo del Luna Park

di Antonio Padellaro

Debbo riconoscere di essere rimasto a osservare incantato Silvio Berlusconi mentre, rivolto a Marcella Ciarnelli, accusava la nostra collega, e dunque l’Unità tutta, di complicità in cento milioni di omicidi. Occasione di così memorabile denuncia è stata, ieri mattina, la tradizionale conferenza stampa di Natale. Evento di una certa ampollosa seriosità fino a quando, esattamente dal 2001, si è trasformato in un luna park di periferia, con un animatore multiforme perfettamente in grado di assumere le sembianze dell’illusionista, della donna cannone e, naturalmente, del clown sui trampoli. Fino al momento della rivelazione sulla immane ecatombe di vite umane di cui saremmo i responsabili morali, l’uomo del parco giochi era apparso piuttosto giù di corda. La maschera di stucco sul punto di creparsi ad ogni falso sorriso. La zazzera ricoperta da una sorta di tintal bituminoso. L’eloquio interminabile accolto dal silenzio assonnato dei presenti. Fino a quando Marcella rammentandogli il contenuto delle cortesie che periodicamente ci dedica non gli ha domandato se non ritenesse più corretto spiegare, e spiegarci, in una sede a sua scelta, perché mai saremmo, come lui insiste a dire, il giornale dell’odio e della menzogna. Come rivitalizzato da una flebo di gerovital il cerone ha avuto un fremito e il premier ha estratto dal cilindro il suo sensazionale coniglio.

Che era poi la prima pagina dell’Unità che oltre mezzo secolo fa annunciava, come tutti i giornali del pianeta, la morte di Stalin. Quindi, la solita tirata sui comunisti che mangiano i bambini, accompagnata da una strampalata dissertazione su collettivismo e pianificazione, degna di un comizio del ‘48. Comica finale con l’Unità complice di cento milioni di omicidi stalinisti.

Inutile starci a girare attorno: Berlusconi è cotto. La disperazione per la sconfitta elettorale, che perfino i suoi alleati considerano quasi certa gli ha tolto lucidità e cancellato ogni residua traccia di senso del ridicolo. Già l’altra sera, in quel di Porta a Porta, lo avevamo visto barcollare incredulo, dopo che per tutta la trasmissione era stato irriso, umiliato, quasi maltrattato da industriali e giornalisti. Stufi dei suoi mirabolanti foglietti zeppi di cifre inventate. Ma a noi che per cinque anni abbiamo scritto, pressoché da soli, le cose che oggi cominciano a dirgli tutti, vederlo azzannare da chi fino a poco tempo fa lo ascoltava nel silenzio più deferente, ci ha fatto quasi pena. Non tanto per lui ma per tutto quello che gli italiani hanno dovuto sopportare nei cinque anni trascorsi. Con questo non vogliamo dire che il pericolo di un Berlusconi bis o tris possa considerarsi sventato. Anzi, come si sa, dagli eserciti in fuga, e dai comandanti fuori di testa è lecito aspettarsi sempre il peggio. Come, del resto, ci ha insegnato il devastante colpo di mano sulla legge elettorale.

No, non ce l’abbiamo con Berlusconi perché quella frase sui cento milioni di omicidi è il segno più evidente di una crisi inarrestabile. Ci sentiamo imbarazzati, piuttosto, per essere diventati gli involontari protagonisti di una situazione grottesca, subito ripresa dalle agenzie di stampa internazionali come esempio del casino italiano. Ci dispiace, poi, che il presidente del Consiglio abbia così poca considerazione del suo ruolo, e così poca stima del suo stesso elettorato. Rispolverando il vecchio anticomunismo viscerale il cavaliere è sicuro di poter scuotere quella destra che, da parecchio tempo, piuttosto che votare per Forza Italia preferisce restarsene a casa. Ma se gli argomenti decisivi per convincere gli indecisi della Cdl sono i gulag e i soviet viene da chiedersi come mai i vari Fini e Casini lo sentano straparlare restando rigorosamente zitti. Che questo silenzio sia un modo per lasciare Berlusconi a cuocere nel suo brodo, è probabile. Ma per fare cosa, dopo?

Con un Berlusconi ridotto così perdere le elezioni sarà difficile, ma l’Unione può riuscirci. Lo diciamo senza alcuna ironia osservando i vari tentativi di autogol che si vanno perpetrando nella nostra coalizione. L’idea, per esempio, che la sinistra possa essersi impigliata nella questione morale (dopo aver fatto la morale alla destra) a causa di scalate e tesoretti vari, potrebbe essere deleteria. Occorre stare attenti perché su temi del genere si gioca la credibiltà del prossimo governo. Guai a diffondere la sensazione che, in quanto a certi comportamenti illeciti, destra e sinistra sono la stessa cosa. Non è così, ma la gente comincia a essere disorientata da ciò che quotidianamente legge sui giornali. I leader dell’Unione lo prendano come un campanello d’allarme. Perdere con l’uomo del luna park non si può proprio.

apadellaro@unita.it

http://www.unita.it/index.asp?SEZIONE_COD=EDITO&TOPIC_TIPO=E&TOPIC_ID=46434

 


 Libération:
 Tsunami : le monde se recueille

D'Indonésie au Sri Lanka, de la Thaïlande aux côtes de l'Inde, les pays riverains de l'océan Indien ont rendu hommage lundi aux 230 000 victimes du raz-de-marée qui le 26 décembre 2004 a dévasté la région.

lundi 26 décembre 2005 (Liberation.fr - 14:03)

une partie de l'Asie s'est figée dans le recueillement lundi pour marquer le premier anniversaire du tsunami. Le 26 décembre 2004, un séisme de plus de 9 degrés sur l'échelle de Richter au large de Sumatra avait provoqué un raz-de-marée géant qui avait touché plus de dix pays du pourtour de l'océan Indien. Le cataclysme a anéanti plus de 220 000 vies et affecté des millions de rescapés. Les pays les plus touchés (Indonésie, Thaïlande, Sri Lanka et Inde) ont commémoré la tragédie par une série d'offices de prières, de minutes de silence et de pélerinages sur les sépultures des morts.

En Indonésie. Une minute de silence a été observée à 8h16 (01h16 GMT), l'heure précise où le raz-de-marée a frappé il y a un an son premier pays, l'Indonésie. La province d'Aceh, la plus meurtrie car située à proximité immédiate de l'épicentre, a commémoré la mémoire des 168 000 morts ou disparus dans l'archipel. Le président indonésien Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono s'est joint à l'hommage silencieux à la mosquée de Baiturrahman, dans un faubourg de la ville côtière de Banda Aceh rasé par la muraille d'eau il y a un an. Face à un parterre d'environ 500 personnes, parmi lesquelles des représentants de dizaines de pays étrangers, il a salué «la force et le courage» des rescapés. Le président a symboliquement activé une sirène d'alerte au tsunami, dont les pays riverains de l'océan Indien s'équipent progressivement. Il s'est ensuite rendu auprès d'une fosse commune à Lhok Nga afin de prier pour les victimes qui n'ont pas pu être identifiées. «La visite de M. le président à Lhok Nga nous a rendus fier et nous a remonté le moral», a expliqué Muhammad Jaelani, 40 ans, qui a perdu trois membres de sa famille.

Dans une déclaration pré-enregistrée et diffusée par vidéoconférence à Aceh, le président américain George W. Bush a évoqué la «fierté» provoquée par l'assistance humanitaire massive et insisté sur l'aide apportée par son pays. De son côté, le secrétaire général de l'Onu Kofi Annan a estimé dans son message que les plus grands défis restaient à relever. «Les soutiens de famille ont terriblement besoin de retrouver leur gagne-pain. Des centaines de milliers de familles ont besoin de s'installer à nouveau dans un foyer permanent et les villages doivent être reconstruits.»
Sur le terrain, des centaines de milliers de personnes sont toujours sans abri ou ne peuvent compter que sur des logements de fortune tandis qu'une partie de l'aide (10 milliards de dollars) peine à parvenir aux bénéficaires. Les Etats-Unis, qui avaient promis 350 millions de dollars, en avaient versé 137 millions au 22 décembre, selon des chiffres des Nations unies. Intervenant sur la BBC, le ministre britannique des Affaires étrangères Jack Straw a jugé le rythme de la reconstruction «décevant» dans les zones détruites. «La responsabilité incombe d'abord aux gouvernements des pays concernés, (et) ils font tous un travail formidable. Mais il y a un problème de capacité physique, humaine du secteur du bâtiment, et dans certains cas, des autorités et des organisations locales», a-t-il estimé.

En Thaïlande, les cérémonies ont aussi débuté par une minute de silence à 10h10 (03h10 GMT) et des dépôts de fleurs sur six plages où les vagues meurtrières avaient déferlé. Des milliers de Thaïlandais et d'étrangers, rescapés et familles de victimes, ont honoré la mémoire des quelque 5 400 défunts dans ce pays parmi lesquels 2 248 étrangers de 37 nationalités différentes. «Le tsunami a affecté d'innombrables vies ici et à l'étranger», a déclaré Somkid Jatusripitak, vice-Premier ministre et ministre thaïlandais du Commerce, en ouvrant les cérémonies officielles à Bang Nieng, au sud de la plage de Khao Lak. En fin d'après-midi, le Premier ministre Thaksin Shinawatra a posé la première pierre d'un mémorial dédié aux victimes de la catastrophe. «Peu importe notre pays ou notre nationalité, considérons ce (projet) comme quelque chose qui nous appartient à nous tous, citoyens du monde», a-t-il déclaré lors d'une cérémonie au parc national Lam-Ru de Khao Lak (sud). Pour la construction du mémorial, cinq finalistes de Finlande, des Etats-Unis, d'Espagne, de Chine et d'Australie ont été sélectionnés parmi 379 candidats de 43 pays. Le nom du créateur sera annoncé en mai.

A Bang Nieng, des centaines de visiteurs ont fait la queue pour signer des registres de condoléances à l'ombre d'un navire de patrouille de la police thaïlandaise devenu un monument-symbole après avoir été pulvérisé et rejeté par le tsunami à deux kilomètres à l'intérieur des terres. «Tu nous manques chaque jour», indique l'un des messages tandis qu'un autre demande simplement : «Pourquoi?». A Koh Phi Phi, c'est au pied d'un banyan géant que les proches des victimes ont déposé les fleurs et des colombes en papier, symbole de paix. «Nous avons simplement voulu venir, pour les voir», dit Jaysar Gül, 49 ans, venue d'Istanbul avec son mari, Ali, pour pleurer leur fille Seda et son fiancé britannique, Justin.
Certaines familles attendent encore confirmation de l'identité de disparus. Selon les responsables des équipes chargées de l'identification, 805 corps ou parties de corps n'ont toujours pas de noms. Les dégâts gigantesques provoqués par le tsunami ont été largement réparés en Thaïlande, en particulier à Phuket et Krabi, mais, ailleurs, la reconstruction se poursuit, notamment sur les plages de Phi Phi et de Khao Lak.

Au Sri Lanka, le président Mahinda Rajapakse en poste depuis le 17 novembre a présidé les commémorations dans le village de Peraliya (sud de Colombo) où plus de 1 000 passagers d'un train avaient été engloutis par les eaux en quelques secondes. Des moines bouddhistes, suivis par des religieux chrétiens, hindous et musulmans, ont dit des bénédictions pour les quelque 31 000 morts sri-lankais, après quoi deux minutes de silence ont été observées en leur mémoire. Au cours de la cérémonie organisée sous haute surveillance dans la crainte d'attaques de la rébellion tamoule, Mahinda Rajapakse a promis d'accélérer les travaux de reconstruction deux jours après que son gouvernement eut reconnu que seul un cinquième des maisons endommagées avaient été reconstruites depuis un an. «Avons-nous été capables de faire honneur (à) ceux qui ont sacrifié leur vie comme victime de cette tragédie? Avons-nous été capables de préserver la force énorme dont notre peuple a fait preuve juste après la tragédie?», a-t-il demandé. «C'est mon sentiment que nous sommes incapables de répondre à ces deux questions de façon satisfaisante», a-t-il dit.

En Inde, des milliers de personnes ont rendu hommage lundi matin aux quelque 16 000 morts et disparus. Sur l'île de Car Nicobar, dans les archipels des Andaman et Nicobar, des milliers de rescapés, pour la majorité membres de tribus, ont marché à l'aube pour se recueillir à la mémoire des victimes. Les femmes ont afflué vers les plages en priant les dieux de maintenir la mer calme, tandis que les prêtres ont appelé les villageois à se réunir dans les temples ayant résisté aux vagues géantes. L'armée a inauguré un monument aux morts, haut de 6,5 mètres en hommage aux membres de la base aérienne décédés il y a un an.

A Nagapattinam, le district le plus détruit dans l'état du Tamil Nadu (sud), la population a observé une minute de silence à 9h17 (03h47 GMT), heure exacte à laquelle le raz-de-marée a frappé et un parc avec 6 065 pousses d'arbres - une pour chaque mort - a été inauguré en présence de milliers de personnes. Dans certains villages aussi, un arbre a été planté à la mémoire de chaque mort ou disparu.

De nombreux groupes d'étrangers ont prévu leurs propres cérémonies religieuses. Certains services ont déjà eu lieu dimanche. Pour les pays occidentaux, les deux nations à avoir enregistré le plus grand nombre de morts sont la Suède (543) et l'Allemagne (537). La Finlande a déploré 167 tués, la Suisse 91 et la France 90, dont 5 restent à identifier. En Suède, à Stockholm, à Göteborg (côte ouest) et à Malmö (sud), trois cérémonies officielles étaient prévues à partir de 14h30 (13h30 GMT) ou de 15h00, selon le lieu. Une minute de silence sera observée et 543 bougies - une pour chaque mort ou disparu Suédois dans le raz-de marée - sera allumée lors de chacune des cérémonies. A Stockholm, le roi Carl XVI Gustaf de Suède, la reine Silvia, la princesse héritière Victoria et le Premier ministre Göran Persson prendront part à l'évènement qui doit se dérouler à Skansen, un musée en plein air situé sur l'une des nombreuses îles de la capitale. Une exposition intitulée «Après le tsunami» présentant des récits de jeunes survivants d'Asie et de Suède, ouvrira ses portes au public au musée de l'Asie de l'Est (Östasiatiska Museet).

© Libération

 http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=347419

 
 Libération:
 Intoxication suspecte à Saint-Pétersbourg

Près de 80 personnes ont inhalé un gaz mystérieux, lundi dans un magasin de la deuxième ville russe • Plusieurs dizaines d'entre elles auraient été hospitalisées •

lundi 26 décembre 2005 (Liberation.fr - 14:04)

près de 80 personnes ont inhalé lundi un gaz inconnu dans un magasin de Saint-Pétersbourg, a indiqué à l'AFP un porte-parole de l'antenne régionale du ministère des Situations d'urgence. «Ce matin, 78 personnes ont demandé de l'aide après avoir inhalé un gaz inconnu dans un magasin de Saint-Pétersbourg», a déclaré Andreï Alabiev, porte-parole de l'antenne régionale du ministère des Situations d'urgence, en refusant de préciser si certaines d'entre elles avaient été hospitalisées. Selon l'agence Interfax et la chaîne de télévision russe Pervy Kanal, des dizaines de personnes ont été hospitalisées.

Reuters, qui cite Alabiev, assure que des boîtes métalliques avec des tuyaux ont été retrouvées dans deux magasins de la chaîne Maksidom. Dans un de ces magasins, un gaz inconnu s'est évaporé conduisant à l'évacuation des clients et l'hospitalisation de certains d'entre eux. Des médias russes, toujours cités par Reuters, affirment que les conteneurs étaient reliés à des mécanismes à retardement.

Avec AFP et Reuters

© Libération

 http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=347425

 


 Mail & Guardian:
 How tsunami aid worked - and failed - in Aceh

Tim Sullivan | Banda Aceh, Indonesia   
26 December 2005

A year after the tsunami laid waste to Aceh, tens of thousands of people still live in a vast archipelago of townships made of scrap wood spit back by the sea.

Along the coast of the Indonesian province, little remains of villagers but swampland and ankle-high rubble. In hurriedly built plywood barracks, survivors are jammed together in windowless rooms.

Billions of dollars were pledged to help the survivors of the tsunami, which left at least 216 000 people dead or missing and displaced more than two million more. But many people remain desperately frustrated.

"We know a lot of money is going to Aceh, but where is it? Where are the buildings? Where is the construction?" demanded Zoelfitri, a 32-year-old man who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

He lives in a homemade shanty on the fringes of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, and cares for nearly a dozen relatives who lost parents, children and siblings in the tsunami.

But to see only the destruction is to miss what else has come to Aceh since the disaster: the villages slowly rebuilding with workers' help; the kilometres of new sewage pipes and hospital emergency rooms.

One year later, Aceh is testament both to the successes and the failures that can come from billions of dollars in aid money.

Aceh suffered most from the killer waves spawned by the massive undersea earthquake last December 26. Eleven other Indian Ocean rim countries were hit - Sri Lanka, India and Thailand suffered thousands of deaths.

Within hours of the waves striking shore, as the world watched on TV, the international aid community began one of the biggest emergency assistance programmes in history.

Indonesia estimated it needed at least $5-billion and received pledges totalling $6,5-billion.

Nearly $4,5-billion has been collected, according to the United Nations.

Where has the money gone?
# By the end of the year, the World Food Programme estimates it will have spent more than $125-million in Aceh, including nearly $20-million on helicopters and airplanes that have ferried 40 000 passengers and 1 000 tonnes of cargo and $26-million on 72 000 tons of food aid.

# Britain's Oxfam has spent $11,5-million on public health, water and sanitation programmes in Aceh.

# Save the Children spent more than $1-million buying textbooks and school supplies.

# Billions, though, remain unspent, now earmarked for the years of work ahead.

# Save the Children, for instance, still has nearly two-thirds of its $157-million budget for Indonesia, now planned for use through 2009.

The tasks remaining are immense: rebuilding the road on the battered western coast; building tens of thousands of homes; and digging pipe networks to bring clean water.

Aid officials insist reconstruction must be viewed in the long-term, despite pressure to get things done faster.

"We don't want the situation where the pressure to spend money makes us do things so quickly," said John Sparrow, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

In the first few days, aid workers were stunned by what they found. Corpses filled the streets of Banda Aceh. Entire villages had disappeared. Hunger and disease threatened to kill still more people. The local government had basically ceased to exist. Officials were dead, hospitals destroyed, power and phone services were gone.

The result was an invasion of good intentions and almost no oversight. The early days were chaotic as planes and helicopters quickly began ferrying in everything from surgeons to high-calorie food bars.

Soon, at least 200 aid agencies were working in Aceh. Intense competition quickly built among aid agencies eager to "plant the flag".

"The result was a messy relief operation," according to a recent Red Cross report.

Aid-coordination meetings were barely controlled chaos. Workers laid claim to villages they'd "discovered", and made promises that often went unfulfilled. As the meetings became known for their disorganisation, many people began avoiding them, making coordination even more difficult.

Money was part of the problem.

In major humanitarian emergencies, the UN is often the biggest financial player, doling out funding to agencies for particular projects. This time the roles were reversed, as aid agencies arrived in the tsunami-hit regions with enormous financial resources.

$1,4-billion was pledged to the UN for tsunami work but nearly four times that much - $5,5-billion - was pledged to other organisations, the UN says.

When Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a former minister famous for remaining untainted by corruption, took over as head of Aceh's reconstruction agency, he was shocked at the chaos.

"There are no roads being built, there are no bridges being built, there are no harbours being built," he said in May.

He cast aside much the government's massive reconstruction plan, brought in outside consultants and auditors, asked for community input and pushed problems into the open.

Problems such as land titles and timber shortages quickly mounted. When Sumatra's brutal heat gave way to the rainy season, thousands were still leaving in makeshift accommodation.

"For the survivors who are in the tents, the conditions are unacceptable. There is no other word for it," Eric Morris, the UN recovery coordinator for Aceh, said recently.

Villagers living in shacks fashioned from plastic sheeting and scrap wood are told houses are on the way. But for now, they must wait.

Sapa-AP

All material copyright Mail&Guardian.

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?
articleid=260004&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/#


 Mother Jones:
 Bush's Game of Fiscal "Chicken"

Drive straight for a head-on collision and let liberals get out of the way.

Bernard Wasow
December 23 , 2005

Article created by The Century Foundation.

The year is ending with an honest touch. After the administration failed to get Congress to cut future Social Security benefits (in the guise of reforming the system), and after it chose to ignore the recommendations of its tax reform panel, the legislative year is ending with a flurry of tax and spending cuts which aim at, well, cutting taxes and spending.

In the end, that is what this government has come to stand for: cutting taxes and non-military spending while waging war. The spending binge since 2001 is winding down. Military spending will level off, perhaps even decline. Legislators from Utah to Alaska are sated with pork (although they slipped a provision to permit oil drilling in wilderness areas into the defense appropriation bill). And the president has no more elections to win. So the administration can turn to its long term vision: to starve government of revenues and thereby force it to shrink.

In a show of indifference not only to the distributional consequences of its fiscal policy but to the laws of arithmetic, the government continues to thumb its nose at fiscal orthodoxy.

The move is deliberate. Most citizens do not follow number crunching anyway. The damaging consequences of throwing the budget wildly out of balance may not come home to roost for years. By then, The President and Vice President, Mr. DeLay and the other architects of our fiscal mess will be long gone, stone-walling any responsibility.

It took ten years of tough policy to move the federal budget from the deficits of the Reagan-Bush I years to the surpluses of the late 1990s. The Clinton administration cut federal spending as a share of GDP by 3.7 percentage points while increasing revenues as a share of GDP by 3.3 percentage points, for a net effect on the deficit of 7 percent of GDP. All those effort to restrain spending and raise revenues have been torn up and tossed aside as the Bush administration has added to spending while eviscerating revenues: so far, the Bush administration has raised the share of spending in GDP by 2 percent while slashing taxes by 4.1 percent. The ten-year-long uphill struggle to set the federal fiscal house in order has been undone in less than half that time.

The tax and spending cuts of December 2005 are entirely consistent with the politics of fiscal “chicken” that the administration is playing: drive straight for a head-on collision and let liberals get out of the way.

The spending cuts in the reconciliation bill will hit Medicaid and other health benefits, child care, student loans, and Food Stamps. The total effect of the spending cuts over five years is expected to be $42 billion. Against this, the tax cuts nearing final approval are expected to cost $90 billion over five years, principally by offering tax relief on dividends and capital gains.

For the budget, the policy continues to be cut and run. As for the poor, the policy seems to be to let them eat cake.

Bernard Wasow is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation.

This article has been made possible by the Foundation for National Progress, the Investigative Fund of Mother Jones, and gifts from generous readers like you.

© 2005 The Foundation for National Progress

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/12/fiscal_chicken.html


 Mother Jones:
 How Latins View the US

Latin Americans are increasingly suspicious of their northern neighbor.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa
December 22 , 2005

Article created by the Independent Institute.

Many readers will be familiar with the dictum “poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States,” uttered by Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz at the turn of the 20th century. The latest in-depth survey of attitudes and values across the hemisphere conducted by Latinobarómetro, a prestigious research organization, indicates that Latin Americans are now a lot closer to God and farther from the U.S. than in Porfirio Díaz's time.

There has been a gradual erosion of support for the Catholic Church in Latin America. Rather than a move away from religion, this signifies the consolidation of a phenomenon that has been quietly taking place for some years: the rise of evangelical churches. An overwhelming 85 percent of the population of Latin America declares itself religious. The novelty is that 15 percent of the population now declares itself Protestant rather than Catholic.

The second important finding has to do with attitudes toward the United States. Around 40 percent of Latin Americans have a favorable opinion of the U. S., a much smaller figure than 10 years ago. In Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Bolivia, the figure is lower. Despite the fact that more Latin Americans than ever want to migrate to the U.S. (it is estimated that one million illegal immigrants came into the country last year) and that many families depend on cash remittances from migrants based in the U.S., a majority of Latin Americans continue to view their northern neighbor with suspicion.

There is a subtle connection between these two findings that is worth noting.

The spectacular growth of Protestantism in countries like Brazil, Guatemala, Peru and, to a lesser extent, Mexico, is one of the ways in which ordinary Latin Americans have revolted against centralized power. Unlike the Catholic Church, which has always been associated with the status quo, the various evangelical cults that have gained strength among the poor speak to a more flexible, decentralized and less hierarchic form of religion. More importantly, the Catholic Church is perceived as being attached to the elites. Since only one quarter of respondents said citizens are equal before the law in their countries, it is hardly surprising that an institution perceived as part and parcel of a discriminatory system is losing support to religious groups that have penetrated the shantytowns with a message of spiritual revolt against the status quo, emphasizing self-help and social cooperation as substitutes for state action.

How does this relate to continuing skepticism toward the United States? When people respond to surveys, they tend to associate “the United States” with the U.S. government rather than with a set of values.  The interesting question is why the growth in spiritual alternatives to Catholicism across Latin America coincides with a distrust, at least among large chunks of the population, of the U.S. The obvious explanations have to do with Washington's interventionist foreign policy, the anti-U.S. rhetoric of certain leaders, and the stern tone of some U.S. representatives who tour Latin America, including military officers and diplomats. While there is no question that a country like Mexico still reels from the humiliating Hidalgo-Guadalupe treaty of 1848, by which that country lost half its territory to the U.S., and leaders like Hugo Chávez and the “Peronistas” in Argentina whip up anti-U.S. sentiment in the region, I would suggest a more important reason needs to be taken into account.

Among many Latin Americans, there is the perception that the U.S. is too closely allied with political and business elite groups. These are the very groups that ordinary Latin American citizens have been revolting against for decades, by moving to a different church, by supporting “outsiders” in various Presidential elections against traditional parties or by creating substitutes for state services at the grassroots level. Among some Latin Americans, the U.S. is perceived as another pillar—like the Catholic Church, traditional parties, or the military—of the prevailing system. Although nothing in the survey specifically connects the two, there is an interesting consonance between the level of dissatisfaction with the main official institutions in various Latin American countries and the level of skepticism toward the U.S.

Understanding why this is so is not rocket science. For ordinary Latin Americans, the obvious attraction of the U.S. as a land of opportunity is somewhat overshadowed by the most immediate face of the U.S. in the region, namely the various representatives who tend to associate themselves with the prevailing Latin American governments, perceived as favoring their cronies (except in extreme cases like Chávez in Venezuela). There is, moreover, a very loose perception of who constitutes a “U.S. representative” because in people's imaginations that notion includes frequent visitors from the International Monetary Fund even if they are not U.S. citizens!

How does one rectify this? Apart from the obvious way—lending less support to measures seen to reinforce the prevailing system based on legal discrimination between those who are close to government and those who are not, I can think of only one way: a massive increase in exchanges that do not pass through official institutions of any kind. In other words, a greater communication between civil societies rather than between governments or entities perceived as being part of the status quo.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa is a Senior Fellow and director of The Center on Global Prosperity at the Independent Institute. He is the author of Liberty for Latin America.

This article has been made possible by the Foundation for National Progress, the Investigative Fund of Mother Jones, and gifts from generous readers like you.

© 2005 The Foundation for National Progress

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2005/12/how_latins_view_the_us.html

 


 The Independent:
 One year on from the tsunami, and the cruel sea is calm

Survivors remember the dead on the anniversary of the devastating wave that killed 250,000 people

By Stephen Khan in Peraliya, Sri Lanka
Published: 26 December 2005

The 50 Matara Express came to a halt just before 9.30am, outside the village of Peraliya on Sri Lanka's southern coast. The chief engineer had been told to expect a signal change. It never came.

A year later, the train's last three rusty carriages have only just been taken away, and Peraliya is once again the focal point for the nation's grief. For Sri Lankans, Peraliya means the train, and the train means the tsunami.

Until last week the carriages stood like tombstones in the centre of the village, torn clothing in them serving as a reminder of the desperation of the last minutes of those on board. Outside, there were always people. Standing. Looking.

At first, it was mainly the families of the more than 1,200 passengers who died when the ocean rose on to the rails. Then, other Sri Lankans found that visiting helped them come to terms with the collective pain of 26 December 2004. Aid workers and politicians followed. Members of the media became regular visitors. Most recently, tourists have joined them, snapping away with digital cameras.

Across the Palk Strait in India, communities are gathering for services conducted by leaders of all religious groups in Chennai, the former Madras.

In Thailand, a recent influx of Westerners who lost loved ones a year ago, have returned for a series of services. And in Aceh, Indonesia, entire families are being remembered.

In all 12 of the countries struck by the wave that killed around 250,000 people, candles are being prepared for floating out to sea this evening. Each flickering light will recall a life lost.

At 9.30 this morning, President Mahinda Rajapakse will lead Sri Lanka in two minutes of silence. He will introduce two new commemorative stamps and address the nation. Flags will be at half-mast. His message will seem simple: the country must unite and go forward.

Many events have been organised by the army of independent volunteers who altered their lives to help others a year ago. Most view this anniversary as the time to leave. Some will head for other charity projects, encouraged by what they have achieved. Others will go back to the lives they left behind a year ago.

Behind them, though, are left those for who moving on is much more than a lifestyle choice. After some of the worst monsoon conditions in recent years, in temporary homes it is the living who sleep with the fishes, and the mosquitoes.

For all that Peraliya has been in the spotlight, its problems are manifold. "Every time it rains, we are taken back to tsunami day," said Alappu Darunadasa, chief of Peraliya, which now has a population 40 per cent of what it was a year ago. "Last week there were two downpours; the temporary houses and remains of old houses that some of us live in filled up with water."

Aid agencies estimate that fewer than 20 per cent of the 1.8 million people made homeless by the tsunami are in permanent housing. Driving down Sri Lanka's east coast from Colombo, the crumbling remains of homes cling to their foundations like rotting teeth desperately in need of extraction.

Of the 78,000 replacement houses it was estimated Sri Lankans would need after the tsunami, only 5,000 have been constructed. That compares with more than 18,000 in Indonesia, where the government has set a target of 80,000.

"We are disappointed but not surprised. The coastal economy has been set back a few decades. We knew from the outset that this would be a long haul," said Bijay Kumar, from British Charity ActionAid.

And something else is happening in Aceh, which Sri Lankans are comparing to their own situation. After decades of civil strife in the Indonesian province, a fragile peace deal appears to be holding between independence-seeking rebels and government forces.

Sri Lanka, however, is careering back towards the civil war that has already claimed more than 60,000 lives. The influx of aid cash only exacerbated tensions between leaders of the Tamil Tigers - who have been demanding a majority homeland since 1983 - and majority Sinhalese leaders.

The arrival of Christmas was marked in Batticaloa, one of the worst-hit tsunami areas, by the assassination of a pro-Tamil Tiger politician during Midnight Mass. Joseph Pararajasingham, 71, was shot at close range in a crowded church.

Political murders have become a fact of life in the multi-religious east, with bodies from both sides often dumped with their hands tied behind their heads on the main road into Batticaloa.

The Tigers threatened in November to resume their armed struggle in the new year unless the new Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, whose Marxist and Buddhist allies hate the rebels, agrees to give them wide political powers and a Tamil homeland in the north and east. Mr Rajapakse has ruled this out.

The two sides have been unable to even agree a venue for talks. Earlier in the week, Norway, Japan, the United States and European Union - which are co-chairs of a Sri Lankan peace conference - called on the rebels to stop what they called a campaign of violence or face unspecified serious consequences.

Naval incidents over the last few days have claimed the lives of 16 government sailors. "Sri Lanka faces a crucial choice today between mounting violence and reinvigorating peace," said a statement issued by peace-brokers late on Saturday night.

"The Sri Lankan people clearly want peace. It would be a tragic step backwards if their desire was not heeded."

Among those who would suffer from fresh conflict is Indika Fonseka, who lives in a tsunami refugee camp in Trincomalee, which is likely to be the main target for Tamil forces in any new war.

As Western volunteers prepared to float thousands of candles off into the Indian ocean last night, Ms Fonseka was having to look after five children on less than £2-worth of government rations a week.

"If the war starts again, then who's going to help us?" she asked. "We're in a worse position than just after the tsunami. We have nothing to celebrate here."

Remembrance across the region

* Indonesia: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will lead early morning prayer near Ulee Lheue beach, Aceh, one of the first places to be hit. Sirens will ring out around Banda Aceh; the official ceremony will be at 1pm, followed by evening prayer at Masjid Raya Baiturrahman, one of few buildings there that remained intact.

* Thailand: President Thaksin Shinawatra is to lay a Tsunami Memorial Foundation stone at Khao Lak-Lamroo National Park, Phang-nga. Other memorials will be held in seven different venues. Thai princess Ubol Ratana, who lost her son at Khao Lak, will also speak.

* India: 300 attended an interfaith service of Hindu, Christian and Muslim prayers yesterday at Nagapattinam, where thousands were washed away.

* Sri Lanka: Flags will fly at half mast. The President and Prime Minister will lay floral tributes and candles at Peraliya, where 800 people died when a train was engulfed. The Tourist Board will conduct a service at Bentota; 137 foreigners died. The Tamil Tigers have not announced plans to hold commemorations.

* Sweden: 543 Swedes were killed. King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prime Minister Goran Persson and several ministers will attend a ceremony in Stockholm today (Monday).

* Malaysia: At least 69 died, with five still missing. The National Security Department is holding a National Disaster Awareness Day.

* The Maldives: 82 died and 26 are still missing. It has not planned commemorations but has declared 2005 a year of national unity.

Additional reporting by Tom Parker

© 2005 Independent News and Media Limited

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article335059.ece


 The Independent: Scores sickened
 after release of gas in St. Petersburg store

AP
Published: 26 December 2005

More than 70 people were sickened after gas was released Monday in a chain store and boxes with glass containers attached to wires were found in three other outlets of the same store. Police said they believed a commercial dispute or blackmail attempt was behind the incidents.

A spokesman for the Emergency Situations Ministry, Viktor Beltsov, said 78 people sought medical care and 66 of them were hospitalized. None of them were assessed as being in life-threatening condition, he said.

A spokesman for the St. Petersburg police, Vyacheslav Stepchenko, later said 15 people were hospitalized. It was not immediately clear if the discrepancy meant that some people had been released.

Stepchenko said the gas was preliminarily determined to be methyl mercaptan. The U.S. Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says methyl mercaptan is a gas smelling like rotten cabbage that is both naturally occurring and manufactured for use in plastics and pesticides.

The agency's Web site said little is known about the gas's potential health effects. One person exposed to very high concentrations of the gas went into a coma and died, the Web site says.

Stepchenko said that a custodian at a branch of the Maksidom home-supplies chain found a suspicious box before the store's opening and when she opened the box, she found ampoules attached to wires and a timer. The woman inadvertently broke one of the ampoules and noticed a repulsive smell, but apparently was not sickened, he said.

All those who sought medical care were from another branch of the chain, Stepchenko said. Boxes with glass containers attached to timers were found in two other stores by employees, who carried them outside and covered them with buckets; police explosives experts defused them, he said.

Officials of the store chain, which has outlets only in St. Petersburg and sells furnishings, home-repair material and other domestic articles, had told police that they had received threatening letters in recent weeks, Stepchenko said.

The letters threatened to disrupt the company's sales during the holiday gift-buying period, the managers said, according to Stepchenko. New Year's Eve is a traditional gift-giving day in Russia, the equivalent of Western celebrations of Christmas.

Police initially are considering the incidents as "hooliganism."

© 2005 Independent News and Media Limited

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article335135.ece

 


 The Jakarta Post:
 Minute of silence marks one year after Asian tsunami

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (AFP): One minute's silence was observed Monday to mark the exact moment a year ago that the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami smashed ashore in Indonesia's Aceh province. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us now bow our heads in silence to pray for the souls of hundreds of thousands who lost their lives as a result of the tsunami of Dec. 26 last year," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.

"May they rest in peace by God's sight. The moment of silence begins," he said at a ceremony at the Ulee Lheu mosque on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, an area totally destroyed except for its mosque.

The president turned on a wailing siren, which activated an early warning system that is in the process of being set up to prevent a repeat of the tragedy that saw some 220,000 lives taken from Indian Ocean nations.

Of that toll, 168,000 were Indonesians and most died in the westernmost province of Aceh.

Susilo listed the numbers of dead and missing across the 12 countries where people died when the waves crashed ashore after they were unleashed by one of the world's largest ever recorded earthquakes.

"We stand here together today in remembrance of that suffering, paying respect once again to the good men and women and all the children lost to the sea," he told the gathered crowd of about 500, including representatives from dozens of foreign countries.

"We bow our heads in deep prayers so that the souls of the loved ones, found or not found, at land or at sea, have a proper resting place at God's side... We are here to also honor those who survived.

"These sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, parents, they all want to regain their lives."

At Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, hundreds of white-clad Acehnese gathered simultaneously and held a mass prayer led by top preacher Muhammad Arifin Ilham.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailevent.asp?fileid=20051226144909&irec=6

Postato da: attilaV a 26/12/2005 22:49 | link | commenti |
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