North Korea has said it would begin a "sacred war" against the United States and South Korea at "any time necessary" in response to "reckless" military exercises by the allies. The threat on Saturday came a day ahead of joint naval and air drills planned by the US and South Korea. "All these war manoeuvres are nothing but outright provocations aimed to stifle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [DPRK] by force of arms to all intents and purposes," the National Defence Commission (NDC) chaired by Kim Jong-Il, the country's leader, said in a statement.
North Korea has said it would begin a "sacred war" against the United States and South Korea at "any time necessary" in response to "reckless" military exercises by the allies.
The threat on Saturday came a day ahead of joint naval and air drills planned by the US and South Korea.
"All these war manoeuvres are nothing but outright provocations aimed to stifle the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [DPRK] by force of arms to all intents and purposes," the National Defence Commission (NDC) chaired by Kim Jong-Il, the country's leader, said in a statement.
AFP - The United States called on North Korea Saturday to avoid "provocative words" after Pyongyang threatened a nuclear response to new US sanctions and joint US naval exercises with South Korea. "We are not interested in a war of words with North Korea," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley. "What we need from North Korea is fewer provocative words and more constructive action." North Korea said earlier Saturday it was ready for a "retaliatory sacred war" in response to ramped-up US pressure against Pyongyang, including joint US-South Korean naval exercises.
Civil society groups based in India sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to protest an upcoming state visit to the country by the head of Burma's ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe. The letter, submitted by the Burma Center Delhi (BCD) and signed by 38 civil society organizations and 71 individuals, says that "Than Shwe does not represent the people of Burma but only the military regime. India should not work freely with the military regime."
Civil society groups based in India sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday to protest an upcoming state visit to the country by the head of Burma's ruling junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
The letter, submitted by the Burma Center Delhi (BCD) and signed by 38 civil society organizations and 71 individuals, says that "Than Shwe does not represent the people of Burma but only the military regime. India should not work freely with the military regime."
The French Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that it provided logistical and technical support to a Mauritanian military operation to rescue a French citizen held captive by militants linked to Al Qaeda.
US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen has arrived in Pakistan. Before his arrival, a US drone killed at least 16 people in an attack on an alleged armed Islamist camp in the South Waziristan tribal area. The dead in the drone attack were all Islamist fighters, according to military official. South Waziristan, which is on the border with Afghanistan, was the scene of an anti-Taliban offensive last year. Mullen is to meet Pakistan's military head General Ashfaq Kayani - the 19th time the two have met, according to Mullen's aides - as well as US officers overseeing military work with the Pakistanis.
US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen has arrived in Pakistan. Before his arrival, a US drone killed at least 16 people in an attack on an alleged armed Islamist camp in the South Waziristan tribal area.
The dead in the drone attack were all Islamist fighters, according to military official. South Waziristan, which is on the border with Afghanistan, was the scene of an anti-Taliban offensive last year.
Mullen is to meet Pakistan's military head General Ashfaq Kayani - the 19th time the two have met, according to Mullen's aides - as well as US officers overseeing military work with the Pakistanis.
RAMALLAH, Jul 24, 2010 (IPS) - Anger has arisen in Palestinian areas over reports that millions of tax-exempt dollars from the U.S. are being funneled towards Israel's illegal settlement building in the Palestinian West Bank -- in flagrant violation of international law.This is happening under the nose of the U.S. administration despite its claims of support for a two-state solution and criticism of Israel's continued settlement building. The Palestinian Authority (PA) based in Ramallah has expressed outrage. "Adhering to international law is a big step towards holding Israel accountable for its actions," PA spokesman Ghassan Khatib told IPS from the Muqata (government) headquarters in Ramallah. "Settlements violate international law, and the United States is supposed to be sponsoring a two-state solution, yet it gives deductions for donation to the settlements," said Saeb Erekat the PA's chief negotiator. According to a recent report in The New York Times 40 U.S. groups have raised more than 200 million dollars in tax-deductable donations for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the last ten years. U.S. tax rules prohibit the use of charitable funds for political purposes at home or abroad.
HEBRON, Occupied West Bank, Jul 23, 2010 (IPS) - Beyond the pernicious well-documented aspects of the Israeli Occupation, all sorts of niggling fragments of Israeli control over Palestinian life, and individual petty cases of nastiness leave new Israeli talk of "gestures" towards peace hollow.No more confidence-building measures, no more easing up on the Palestinians until they demonstrate to us that they are genuine about peace, is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strident position. But when is a gesture a genuine confidence-building measure? And when does Israeli talk of "gestures" in fact mask blatant Israeli insensitivity, total lack of responsibility of occupier vis-à-vis occupied?
Beijing municipal people's congress revealed this week that the Chinese capital now has 19.72 million inhabitants, growing by over 3% in the past 2 years. Previous estimates had predicted that the city's population would swell to that level a decade later than it has. According to the guidelines regarding Beijing's development between 2004 and 2020 set by the State Council, the number of permanent residents living in capital should have been capped below 18 million until the end of 2020. However, a recently released report from the population investigation and research team within the people's congress shows that by the end of 2009, approximately 12.46 million people in the capital held a Beijing "hukou" (permanent residence). An additional 7.26 million inhabitants were migrant workers who had been living in the city for more than half a year and who are therefore also classified as permanent residents....Natural birth contributed 482,000 extra people during the past four years while the jump in the floating population accounted for 1.52 million additional inhabitants.
Previous estimates had predicted that the city's population would swell to that level a decade later than it has. According to the guidelines regarding Beijing's development between 2004 and 2020 set by the State Council, the number of permanent residents living in capital should have been capped below 18 million until the end of 2020.
However, a recently released report from the population investigation and research team within the people's congress shows that by the end of 2009, approximately 12.46 million people in the capital held a Beijing "hukou" (permanent residence). An additional 7.26 million inhabitants were migrant workers who had been living in the city for more than half a year and who are therefore also classified as permanent residents....Natural birth contributed 482,000 extra people during the past four years while the jump in the floating population accounted for 1.52 million additional inhabitants.
Agencias Bogotá- The Colombian Minister of Defense, Gabriel Silva, assured Saturday that the number of FARC guerillas has been reduced to 8,000 members from the 20,000 it had in the year 2002.
Venezuela - On Saturday President Hugo Chavez read a letter from a highly credible source within his government which warns that "events were about to unfold" within the country. The missive, which contained some encrypted details, speaks of initial plans of execution together with a military operation that has accelerated. "Mauricio is the objective, and the other is the defeat of the government." They will pursue this from the north in a combined operation with two objectives but they have been unable to enter Caracas, hence they are hunting outside of Caracas. They are trying to neutralize the Armed Forces and are incorporating retired military people within their ranks. Tell Mauricio to take this information seriously, read Chavez.
Most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries are seeing growth this year, with an unexpected expansion of 5.2 percent on average, but in 2011 the forecast is just 3.9 percent, according to figures released by ECLAC, a United Nations regional agency, Wednesday in the Chilean capital. This year's growth will help unemployment in the region shrink from 2009's 8.2 percent of the economically active population to 7.8 percent.
From his prison cell in Bizerte (65km north of Tunis), The Tunisian prisoner Ramzi Bettibi managed to smuggle a very alarming letter that found its way on to the Internet (available in French). Ramzi is serving a four-year sentence at Bizerte for copying, onto a forum board he moderated, an online statement from a group threatening terror attacks if former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon attended the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that was held in Tunisia in 2005. Ramzi Bettibi was arrested on 15 March 2005 at the internet café where he worked. In prison he is frequently subjected to torture, which the authorities hope will make him collaborate with the State Security services. "Bettibi should be freed because the government never proved that he had a criminal intent to threaten others or to incite violence," said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch in a statement published last year. "Under these circumstances, cutting and pasting on the Internet should not be a crime," she added.
