BAGHDAD: More than 10,000 supporters of the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad's Firdos Square on Friday to protest the Iraqi government plan to sign a security agreement which would maintain American troops in the country for up to three years. With powerful symbolism, demonstrators hanged an effigy of President George W. Bush from the plinth that once supported the statue of Saddam Hussein that was toppled after Baghdad to U.S. troops on April 9, 2003. Preachers and political leaders supporting Sadr erected their podium in the same colonnaded traffic circle. The Iraqi crowd applauded the downfall of Hussein's regime. To drive home their point, the cleric's supporters placed a black hood over the effigy of President Bush. They put a whip in his right hand and, in his left, a briefcase on which were written the words "the security agreement is shame and dishonor." The black hood was a reference to the execution of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 30, 2006.
BAGHDAD: More than 10,000 supporters of the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr gathered in Baghdad's Firdos Square on Friday to protest the Iraqi government plan to sign a security agreement which would maintain American troops in the country for up to three years.
With powerful symbolism, demonstrators hanged an effigy of President George W. Bush from the plinth that once supported the statue of Saddam Hussein that was toppled after Baghdad to U.S. troops on April 9, 2003.
Preachers and political leaders supporting Sadr erected their podium in the same colonnaded traffic circle. The Iraqi crowd applauded the downfall of Hussein's regime. To drive home their point, the cleric's supporters placed a black hood over the effigy of President Bush. They put a whip in his right hand and, in his left, a briefcase on which were written the words "the security agreement is shame and dishonor."
The black hood was a reference to the execution of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 30, 2006.
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday. Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait. Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession. The daily said the United States plans to use the funds to help the ailing automobile industry , banks and other companies suffering from the global financial turmoil. The four nations, all members of OPEC, produce together 14 million barrels of oil per day, around half of the cartel's production and about 17 percent of world supplies.
KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - The United States has asked four oil-rich Gulf states for close to 300 billion dollars to help it curb the global financial meltdown, Kuwait's daily Al-Seyassah reported Thursday.
Quoting "highly informed" sources, the daily said Washington has asked Saudi Arabia for 120 billion dollars, the United Arab Emirates for 70 billion dollars, Qatar for 60 billion dollars and was seeking 40 billion dollars from Kuwait.
Al-Seyassah said Washington sought the amount as "financial aid" to face the fallout of the financial crisis and help prevent its economy from sliding into a painful recession.
The daily said the United States plans to use the funds to help the ailing automobile industry , banks and other companies suffering from the global financial turmoil.
The four nations, all members of OPEC, produce together 14 million barrels of oil per day, around half of the cartel's production and about 17 percent of world supplies.
THE leading US intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of Western-style democracy cannot be taken for granted, and the US will no longer be able to "call the shots" alone.Powers such as China and India, as well as independent entities including tribes and criminal networks, will grow in influence, it predicts.The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council every four years, makes sobering reading for Barack Obama as he prepares to take office as president in January.It marks a dramatic shift from the review in 2004, which confidently predicted "continued US dominance" and said "most major powers have forsaken the idea of balancing the US".
THE leading US intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of Western-style democracy cannot be taken for granted, and the US will no longer be able to "call the shots" alone.
Powers such as China and India, as well as independent entities including tribes and criminal networks, will grow in influence, it predicts.
The global trends review, produced by the National Intelligence Council every four years, makes sobering reading for Barack Obama as he prepares to take office as president in January.
It marks a dramatic shift from the review in 2004, which confidently predicted "continued US dominance" and said "most major powers have forsaken the idea of balancing the US".
Jewish settlers in Hebron spray-painted insults to the Prophet Muhammad on a mosque and defaced Muslim gravestones with the Star of David yesterday as they defied a court order to leave a disputed building. The graffiti was the most recent in a spate of attacks by the town's settlers, considered the most hardline in the West Bank, as they prepared for potential clashes with security forces. Israel is nervously waiting an all-out battle similar to the eviction of settlers from the Gaza Strip three years ago. "We will not leave. We cannot leave. If we give up this house, it will next be Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, our whole country they ask us to leave," said Ruth Hizmi, 50, a mother of seven, who moved her family into the building two years ago. Earlier yesterday a soldier was lightly injured when a chemical substance was sprayed at him near the building, the army said. Government officials have described a "drastic rise" in incidents of vandalism while dozens of Palestinians have filed complaints of verbal and physical harassment in recent months. There was a semblance of normality in the building; mothers with young children on their hips and fathers pushing strollers calmly made their way inside carrying supplies to set up a new home. "We are not here for days or weeks. We are not here until the Government kicks us out. This is our home," said one young woman stacking soda bottles into a cabinet.
Jewish settlers in Hebron spray-painted insults to the Prophet Muhammad on a mosque and defaced Muslim gravestones with the Star of David yesterday as they defied a court order to leave a disputed building.
The graffiti was the most recent in a spate of attacks by the town's settlers, considered the most hardline in the West Bank, as they prepared for potential clashes with security forces. Israel is nervously waiting an all-out battle similar to the eviction of settlers from the Gaza Strip three years ago.
"We will not leave. We cannot leave. If we give up this house, it will next be Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, our whole country they ask us to leave," said Ruth Hizmi, 50, a mother of seven, who moved her family into the building two years ago.
Earlier yesterday a soldier was lightly injured when a chemical substance was sprayed at him near the building, the army said. Government officials have described a "drastic rise" in incidents of vandalism while dozens of Palestinians have filed complaints of verbal and physical harassment in recent months. There was a semblance of normality in the building; mothers with young children on their hips and fathers pushing strollers calmly made their way inside carrying supplies to set up a new home. "We are not here for days or weeks. We are not here until the Government kicks us out. This is our home," said one young woman stacking soda bottles into a cabinet.
DHARAMSALA, India: In this Himalayan hill town, where Tibetan prayer flags flutter and red-robed monks study Buddha's call for forbearance, talk is brewing of kicking off the world's next separatist movement. Posters around town advertise the word "rangzen" -- Tibetan for "independence." Not in years has it been heard so much in the streets here, falling from the lips of members of the Tibetan diaspora whose frustration runs as deep as the mountain ravines of their homeland. Decades of dialog with the Chinese government, they say, have failed. "Support for independence will definitely increase," Dhondup Dorjee, 30, said, as he took a break from heated discussion with fellow exiles to grab lunch in the cafeteria of the Tibetan medicine hospital. "What are the pressures we can put on the Chinese? The pressures will come in any form." The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, has called hundreds of representatives from the world's 150,000 Tibetan exiles to a crisis meeting here this week so people like Dorjee can speak their mind. Dorjee is vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, an exile organization that wants independence from China. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, based here in Dharamsala, have long advocated autonomy under Chinese rule, not outright independence.
DHARAMSALA, India: In this Himalayan hill town, where Tibetan prayer flags flutter and red-robed monks study Buddha's call for forbearance, talk is brewing of kicking off the world's next separatist movement.
Posters around town advertise the word "rangzen" -- Tibetan for "independence." Not in years has it been heard so much in the streets here, falling from the lips of members of the Tibetan diaspora whose frustration runs as deep as the mountain ravines of their homeland. Decades of dialog with the Chinese government, they say, have failed.
"Support for independence will definitely increase," Dhondup Dorjee, 30, said, as he took a break from heated discussion with fellow exiles to grab lunch in the cafeteria of the Tibetan medicine hospital. "What are the pressures we can put on the Chinese? The pressures will come in any form."
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetans, has called hundreds of representatives from the world's 150,000 Tibetan exiles to a crisis meeting here this week so people like Dorjee can speak their mind. Dorjee is vice-president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, an exile organization that wants independence from China. The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, based here in Dharamsala, have long advocated autonomy under Chinese rule, not outright independence.
There is currently a meeting of Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala, India, to discuss the future of their movement. In March several Han Chinese were killed by violent Tibetan protesters in Lhasa. As the 'western' media misrepresented the issue, I wrote a small piece on the history of the Tibet conflict:After he won control over most of China Mao Tse Tung in 1950 reasserted Chinese rule over Tibet, but allowed the local religious aristocracy and government to carry on. Then most of the Tibetan people were still working as serfs for the big land owners. These were the thousands of monasteries controlled by various lama lineages, feudal religious ruler clans. Despite the peaceful image of Buddhism the various lamas and monasteries regularly fought over territory and economic benefits. ... During the 1950s the Chinese implemented land reform and secular schooling in Tibet. The lamas fought against the loss of their economic, social and political power by sending their monks into the streets. With the active help of the CIA the lamas had some success against the communists, but the movement was crushed when in 1959 the Chinese again occupied the capital and the seat of the Dalai Lama, Lhasa. Financed by the CIA, the Dalai Lama fled to India to set up an exile government.
There is currently a meeting of Tibetan exiles in Dharamsala, India, to discuss the future of their movement.
In March several Han Chinese were killed by violent Tibetan protesters in Lhasa. As the 'western' media misrepresented the issue, I wrote a small piece on the history of the Tibet conflict:
After he won control over most of China Mao Tse Tung in 1950 reasserted Chinese rule over Tibet, but allowed the local religious aristocracy and government to carry on. Then most of the Tibetan people were still working as serfs for the big land owners. These were the thousands of monasteries controlled by various lama lineages, feudal religious ruler clans. Despite the peaceful image of Buddhism the various lamas and monasteries regularly fought over territory and economic benefits. ... During the 1950s the Chinese implemented land reform and secular schooling in Tibet. The lamas fought against the loss of their economic, social and political power by sending their monks into the streets. With the active help of the CIA the lamas had some success against the communists, but the movement was crushed when in 1959 the Chinese again occupied the capital and the seat of the Dalai Lama, Lhasa. Financed by the CIA, the Dalai Lama fled to India to set up an exile government.
After he won control over most of China Mao Tse Tung in 1950 reasserted Chinese rule over Tibet, but allowed the local religious aristocracy and government to carry on.
Then most of the Tibetan people were still working as serfs for the big land owners. These were the thousands of monasteries controlled by various lama lineages, feudal religious ruler clans. Despite the peaceful image of Buddhism the various lamas and monasteries regularly fought over territory and economic benefits. ... During the 1950s the Chinese implemented land reform and secular schooling in Tibet. The lamas fought against the loss of their economic, social and political power by sending their monks into the streets. With the active help of the CIA the lamas had some success against the communists, but the movement was crushed when in 1959 the Chinese again occupied the capital and the seat of the Dalai Lama, Lhasa. Financed by the CIA, the Dalai Lama fled to India to set up an exile government.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday. Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. Mr. Obama's office told reporters Thursday that the nomination is "on track" but Clinton associates only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided. "She's ready," said the confidant. Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week "was so general," the confidant said. The purpose of the follow-up talk, he added, was not to extract particular concessions but "just getting comfortable" with the idea of working together. A second Clinton associate confirmed that her camp believes they have a done deal. Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement will be made until after Thanksgiving. But they said they were convinced that the nascent alliance was now ready to be sealed.
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.
Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. Mr. Obama's office told reporters Thursday that the nomination is "on track" but Clinton associates only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided.
"She's ready," said the confidant. Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week "was so general," the confidant said. The purpose of the follow-up talk, he added, was not to extract particular concessions but "just getting comfortable" with the idea of working together.
A second Clinton associate confirmed that her camp believes they have a done deal. Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement will be made until after Thanksgiving. But they said they were convinced that the nascent alliance was now ready to be sealed.
