americas: Tourists finally exit storm-stricken Acapulco

Search for survivors of deadly Mexico storms continues, as thousands line up for aid and tourists begin journey home.

Thousands of Mexicans have lined up for food and shelter following deadly storms, as many tourists finally left flood-stricken Acapulco by road after being stranded for days. 
Rescuers continued to search for survivors of a deadly mudslide in mountains near the holiday resort, as tourists trapped in the city for almost a week packed into cars and buses after authorities reopened the road link to Mexico City on Friday.
The highway department told travellers that the trip north on the Sun Highway, which usually takes about four hours, would last nine to 10 hours, with only a single lane open in some stretches.
Two tropical storms, Ingrid and  Manuel, have left a trail of destruction across the country, damaging 35,000 homes, flooding cities and killing about 100 people.
After regenerating into a hurricane and hitting the northwestern state of  Sinaloa late on Thursday, affecting 100,000 people and killing three, Manuel  finally dissipated over the mountains.
The government said on Friday at least 165 people were dead or missing across the country.
The southwestern state of Guerrero was the hardest hit, with at least 65 deaths.
While rescuers dug through mud in La Pintada, authorities were searching for a police helicopter that disappeared while conducting relief missions in the same mountain region of Guerrero.
Authorities said 68 people had been reported missing and two bodies were pulled out for now, but villagers fear that scores have perished.
Local farmer Diego Zeron said many were believed to be dead.
"A lot of my relatives died, they're buried and we can't do anything," he said.
Local farmer Diego Zeron said many were believed to be dead.
"A lot of my relatives died, they're buried and we can't do anything," he said.
Villagers evacuated
The mud collapsed on the village of 400 people during independence day celebrations on Monday, swallowing homes, the school and church before crashing into the river.
Soldiers and civil protection workers, many wearing surgical masks, removed pieces of broken homes and chopped up fallen trees with machetes.
Helicopters evacuated more than 330 villagers to Acapulco, but a few families decided to stay back, waiting for news on the missing.
Traffic piled up in Acapulco as police allowed cars to leave in groups of 50 to avoid huge backups on the Sun Highway.
Waiting to board a bus, Alejandro Tubias, a Mexico City resident, said it was high time to leave after his wife contracted a stomach bug that they blamed on the lack of drinking water.
"We are more than happy. We are in a hurry to go because my wife is sick and because we don't have any money to pay the hotel room," he said.
                       
                                          news aljazeera

 

Baghdad bombings target Shia funeral

At least 65 people killed after three explosion strike near funeral tent in Sadr City neighbourhood of Iraqi capital.



                                                                                                                                                                    
At least 65 people have been killed in car bombings targeting a funeral in the Iraqi capital, officials said.
Police said a first car bomb went off near a funeral tent for a Shia man in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City on Saturday afternoon. A suicide bomber driving a car then blew himself up near the tent, and a third explosion came as police, ambulances and firefighters were gathering at the scene.
The officials said women and children were among the dead, and that at least 60 people were wounded.
The first explosion set several nearby cars on fire, sending a towering plume of thick black smoke over the city.
Earlier in the day a suicide assault on a police headquarters and other attacks in northern Iraq killed 11 members of the security forces.
Police officials said four suicide bombers stormed a headquarters for police commandos in the city of Beiji, killing seven policemen and wounding 21 others.
Guards killed one suicide bomber while the three other bombers were able to set off their explosive belts inside the compound, they said.
Beiji, a centre for oil refining, is 250km north of Baghdad.
Soldiers killed
In other violence, gunmen shot and killed two prison guards after storming their houses in a village near the city of Mosul early on Saturday.
Also in Mosul, two soldiers were killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their convoy.
Saturday's violence comes as voters in the northern Kurdish autonomous region cast ballots in local elections for the Kurdistan Regional Government's 111-seat legislature.
Iraqi Kurds are looking to bolster their autonomy while insulating their increasingly prosperous enclave from the growing violence roiling the rest of the country.
Violence has surged this year to levels not seen since 2008, when Iraq was emerging from a sectarian conflict that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed thousands of people.
With the latest incidents, more than 500 people have been killed so far this month and more than 4,300 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP news agency figures based on security and medical sources.

Pope urges more understanding for gays

Francis calls to end 'obsession' with doctrine in interview on the church's stance on homosexuality, abortion and women.

 

Pope Francis has said the Catholic church must shake off an obsession with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice "like a house of cards".
Signalling a dramatic shift in Vatican tone, Francis said in an interview with an Italian Jesuit journal, published on Thursday, that the church had "locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules" and should not be so prone to condemn.
Its priests should be more welcoming and not cold, dogmatic bureaucrats. The confessional, he said, "is not a torture chamber but the place in which the Lord's mercy motivates us to do better".
His comments were welcomed by liberal Catholics; but theology commentators said they were likely to be viewed with concern by conservatives who have already expressed concern over Francis' failure to address publicly the issues stressed by his predecessor, Benedict.
Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, the first from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope, did not hold out the prospect of any changes soon to such moral teachings.
But, in the 12,000-word interview with Civilta Cattolica, he said the church must find a new balance between upholding rules and demonstrating mercy.
The pope told the magazine he envisioned a greater role for women in the 1.2 bn-member church but suggested it would not include a change in the current  ban on a female priesthood.
In a remarkable change from his predecessor Benedict, who said homosexuality was an intrinsic disorder, Francis said that when homosexuals told him they were  always condemned by the church and felt "socially wounded", he told them "the church does not want to do this".
He re-stated his comments first made on a plane returning from a visit to Brazil in July that he was not in a position to judge homosexuals who are of good will and in search of God.
"Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free," Francis said.
"It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person."
American Jesuit and author of several books on the Vatican, John Gehring, said Francis was "rescuing the church from those who think that condemning gay people and opposing contraception define what it means to be a real Catholic.
"It's a remarkable and refreshing change," Gehring said.
Abortion repremand
However, Francis alluded to criticism of him within the conservative Catholic establishment.
"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible." he said.
"I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that."
Last week, US Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, spoke for many conservative Catholics when he said he was disappointed that the pope had not addressed "the evil of abortion" more directly to encourage anti-abortion activists.
US bishops were also behind Benedict's crackdown on American nuns, who were accused of letting doctrine take a backseat to their social justice work caring for the poor - a priority that Francis is endorsing.
The pope said the church's pastoral ministry could not be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
"We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards," he said.
However, the comments contained no change in church teaching, and the pope said reform should not happen quickly.
                               
                                news aljazeera

maroc: ABDELILAH BENKIRANE PRIS DANS SES PROPRES PIÈGES

Pour l'anecdote, la symbolique et pour commencer par le premier, relatons l'incident récent quand le premier ministre qui se rendait chez son photographe au centre de la capitale, lieu de rassemblement connu des diplômés chômeurs a vu sa voiture et lui-même encerclés par plusieurs d'entres eux l'ayant reconnu. Le ton est vite monté entre les deux parties, les manifestants très remontés contre le chef du gouvernement pour son refus de les engager dans la fonction publique, ont usage d'insultes et de propos déplacés à son encontre, certains allant même jusqu'à piétiner son véhicule avant qu'un cordon de policiers en civil ne l'entoure pour lui épargner d'autres agressions jusqu'à l'arrivée en nombre important de membres des forces auxiliaires pour disperser les manifestants et permettre au chef du gouvernement de se sortir de ce guêpier.
Plus concrètement et sur le plan politique, ce dernier doit regretter de s'être vu entrer dans des négociations longues et ardues pour la formation d'un nouveau gouvernement et aurait peut-être préféré garder son intenable ancien allié de l'istiqlal pour lui éviter de se trouver dans une situation aussi inconfortable comme celle d'aujourd'hui.
En effet, le voilà pris au piège d'un blocage pour avoir trop cédé devant les demandes devant son nouveau partenaire au sein de la majorité , le RNI, ce qui lui vaut d'être pris entre les feux de l'aile gauche de son parti, le PJD, qui lui reproche de l'avoir sacrifié dans les tractations en vue de la formation du nouveau gouvernement, et ceux de ses alliés de la majorité, peu satisfaits de la part belle faite au niveau venu qui les dépasserait en nombre de ministères accordés dans la future configuration.
Enfin il y a ces derniers  jours , sans doute une coïncidence avec l'annonce imminente de la formation d'une nouvelle équipe gouvernementale, cette tension sociale qui se dessine avec acuité et ces mouvements de grève en cascade  annoncés pour les prochains jours dans différents secteurs vitaux pour protester contre les différentes augmentations entrées déjà en vigueur ou à venir et qui placent le premier ministre et son gouvernement sortant ou futur dans une zone d'instabilité qui aura un impact négatif sur le climat général du pays et surtout sur l'économie.
L'impression générale de ce fait est que l’exécutif ne semble pas être en mesure de gérer son planning ni d'avoir la main sur la situation afin de se sortir des pièges qu'il s'est lui-même et à son corps défendant placés sur son chemin.

Jalil Nouri pour Actu-maroc.com

Pope urges more understanding for gays

Francis calls to end 'obsession' with doctrine in interview on the church's stance on homosexuality, abortion and women.

 

Pope Francis has said the Catholic church must shake off an obsession with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice "like a house of cards".
Signalling a dramatic shift in Vatican tone, Francis said in an interview with an Italian Jesuit journal, published on Thursday, that the church had "locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules" and should not be so prone to condemn.
Its priests should be more welcoming and not cold, dogmatic bureaucrats. The confessional, he said, "is not a torture chamber but the place in which the Lord's mercy motivates us to do better".
His comments were welcomed by liberal Catholics; but theology commentators said they were likely to be viewed with concern by conservatives who have already expressed concern over Francis' failure to address publicly the issues stressed by his predecessor, Benedict.
Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, the first from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope, did not hold out the prospect of any changes soon to such moral teachings.
But, in the 12,000-word interview with Civilta Cattolica, he said the church must find a new balance between upholding rules and demonstrating mercy.
The pope told the magazine he envisioned a greater role for women in the 1.2 bn-member church but suggested it would not include a change in the current  ban on a female priesthood.
In a remarkable change from his predecessor Benedict, who said homosexuality was an intrinsic disorder, Francis said that when homosexuals told him they were  always condemned by the church and felt "socially wounded", he told them "the church does not want to do this".
He re-stated his comments first made on a plane returning from a visit to Brazil in July that he was not in a position to judge homosexuals who are of good will and in search of God.
"Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free," Francis said.
"It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person."
American Jesuit and author of several books on the Vatican, John Gehring, said Francis was "rescuing the church from those who think that condemning gay people and opposing contraception define what it means to be a real Catholic.
"It's a remarkable and refreshing change," Gehring said.
Abortion repremand
However, Francis alluded to criticism of him within the conservative Catholic establishment.
"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible." he said.
"I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that."
Last week, US Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, spoke for many conservative Catholics when he said he was disappointed that the pope had not addressed "the evil of abortion" more directly to encourage anti-abortion activists.
US bishops were also behind Benedict's crackdown on American nuns, who were accused of letting doctrine take a backseat to their social justice work caring for the poor - a priority that Francis is endorsing.
The pope said the church's pastoral ministry could not be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
"We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards," he said.
However, the comments contained no change in church teaching, and the pope said reform should not happen quickly.
                                 
                                news aljazeera

 

Syrie: une 1ère liste d'armes chimiques, pas d'accord sur une résolution

Damas - La Syrie a fourni une première liste d'armes chimiques à l'Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques (OIAC), au moment où d'intenses tractations diplomatiques sont en cours en vue de l'adoption d'une résolution à l'ONU sur le désarmement chimique de Damas.
La remise de cette liste est un premier pas dans l'application de l'accord russo-américain sur le démantèlement de l'arsenal chimique syrien signé à Genève le 14 septembre, mais les diplomates se heurtent toujours aux désaccords sur le projet de résolution à présenter au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies.
L'OIAC, qui devait se réunir dimanche pour étudier le début de ce programme de destruction, et la demande d'adhésion de la Syrie à la Convention de 1993 sur l'interdiction des armes chimiques, a reporté la réunion sine die.
Selon des sources diplomatiques, le texte devant servir de base de travail à la réunion, qui fait l'objet de discussions entre Américains et Russes, n'est pas encore prêt.
Et tant que la réunion de l'OIAC n'a pas lieu, il semble exclu que le Conseil de sécurité puisse sortir sa résolution.
Le secrétaire d'Etat américain John Kerry et le chef de la diplomatie russe Sergueï Lavrov se sont pourtant longuement entretenus vendredi à ce sujet.
Au cours d'une «longue conversation» téléphonique, ils ont parlé de leur «coopération, non seulement pour adopter les règles de l'OIAC mais aussi pour une résolution ferme et forte au sein des Nations unies», a déclaré M. Kerry en recevant au département d'Etat son homologue néerlandais Frans Timmermans.
Les cinq membres du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU ne parviennent pas à se mettre d'accord sur un projet de résolution malgré plusieurs réunions sur le sujet. L'inscription ou non d'une telle résolution sous le chapitre VII de la Charte des Nations unies, qui prévoit des «mesures coercitives» allant de sanctions économiques à l'usage de la force, cristallise les positions des uns et des autres.
Selon des diplomates à l'ONU, les Occidentaux cherchent à convaincre la Russie, opposée à toute mention d'un éventuel recours à la force, que leur projet de texte n'implique pas la menace d'une action militaire immédiate.
D'après son entourage, le président français François Hollande défendra mardi à l'Assemblée générale de l'ONU «une résolution aussi contraignante que possible».
Trêve à Azaz
Une équipe d'enquêteurs mandatés par l'ONU, dont neuf experts de l'OIAC, affirme avoir trouvé des «preuves flagrantes et convaincantes» de l'utilisation de gaz sarin lors d'un massacre le 21 août près de Damas ayant fait des centaines de morts, selon leur rapport, publié lundi.
Les pays occidentaux accusent le régime syrien d'avoir mené cette attaque ainsi que 13 autres à l'arme chimique depuis le début de la guerre civile en Syrie en mars 2011. Moscou, de son côté, a toujours cherché à dédouaner son allié syrien.
Sur le terrain, l'Armée syrienne libre (ASL) et un groupe de jihadistes lié à Al-Qaïda, qui se battaient pour la conquête de la ville d'Azaz, dans le nord, sont parvenus à une trêve.
Parrainé par la Brigade Tawhid, puissant groupe armé basé à Alep (nord) qui est sous commandement de l'ASL, cette accord ne stipule cependant pas qui va contrôler la ville, et ne met pas fin aux tensions entre les rebelles non jihadistes et l'Etat islamique d'Irak et du Levant (EIIl), lié à Al-Qaïda.
L'opposition syrienne a accusé les groupes jihadistes de privilégier leur projet d'instauration d'un Etat islamique au combat contre le régime, et d'avoir «renoncé à combattre le régime dans différentes zones et de s'employer à renforcer son emprise sur des zones libérées».
C'est la première fois que la Coalition de l'opposition, qui regroupe un large éventail de tendances, s'est élevée aussi fortement contre un groupe jihadiste.
Le régime de Damas ne cesse d'affirmer que la rébellion est sous l'emprise quasi-totale des jihadistes liés à Al-Qaïda.
L'allié iranien de la Syrie a quant à lui proposé de faciliter le dialogue entre Damas et la rébellion, pour favoriser une solution politique du conflit qui a fait depuis trente mois, plus de 110.000 morts.
Le président iranien Hassan Rohani a d'ailleurs demandé à rencontrer le président français mardi à New-York. La rencontre bilatérale, une première de ce niveau entre les deux pays depuis 2005, portera notamment sur la crise syrienne, a indiqué vendredi l'entourage de M. Hollande.
                   news; www.20minutes.fr

Qatar summer World Cup 'impossible'

Member countries of UEFA support moving 2022 World Cup in Qatar to winter, according to FIFA vice president.

 

European football federations have agreed it would be "impossible" to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in summer as planned and a task force will be set up to find an alternative.

"Obviously there are certain reservations regarding the World Cup in Qatar but everyone agrees that it would be impossible to play in the severe heat of Qatar in the summer," FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce told Sky television.

"It is very important that we get this right," he added, speaking in a phone interview after a meeting of the 54 European football federations in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

"They all agree that to play the World Cup, to take thousands of fans to the biggest sporting event in the middle of summer would be impossible."

Switch likely

FIFA is expected to agree in principle to the switch at its next executive committee meeting in October.

"I think what will happen is that they will probably agree for everyone, including the people in Qatar of course, to sit round a table and come up with a solution," said Boyce.

 "What has happened has happened. It is in Qatar and at the end of the day what has to happen here is that the best interests of football are sorted out and I am confident that will happen. It is purely a one-off."

Last week, the association representing European clubs said they would not be opposed to a re-scheduling of the tournament but added they wanted to be consulted about the new timing.

Qatar has said, despite the searing temperatures, it can stage the World Cup in the summer by building air-conditioned stadiums using newly environmentally-friendly technology.

Stadiums would be cooled to around 28 Celsius.

However, there are still worries about how fans will deal with the heat away from the stadiums.

In recent interviews, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that his organisation had never specially stated that the World Cup had to be held in summer when it awarded the hosting of the tournament in 2010.

His comments came after suggestions that the other countries bidding for the tournament could take legal action, or call for a re-vote, if the timing of the tournament was changed.

Warning

On Tuesday, Australia's football chief Frank Lowy warned FIFA not to rush a decision on switching the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to the northern hemisphere winter and said other bidders should be compensated if the move goes ahead.

Japan, South Korea and the United States, which itself suffers from scorching summer weather in many parts of the country, lost out in the race to host the event.

Re-scheduling would force a change of the European domestic calendar and clubs and leagues fear they could lose out financially.

UEFA president Michel Platini, who has publicly said he voted for Qatar, is among those in favour of a change, suggesting that January-February would be the best time.

However, this could clash with the Winter Olympics, also to be staged in 2022.

SA report: Police lied about miners' killings:

Government panel investigating 2012 shootings in Marikana implicates force in withholding and doctoring of documents.

 

A government commission investigating the massacre of 34 striking miners by South African police says the force has lied, withheld documents and apparently doctored other papers.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Marikana commission also said it had to search computer hard drives of officers to discover documents relating to the 2012 shootings that recalled the worst excesses of South Africa's apartheid era.
The Marikana massacre was the most deadly police action since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
The commission, which was appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the deaths, said documents show the police version of events at the platinum mine "is in material respects not the truth".

The statement said the thousands of pages of new evidence include documents the police had previously said did not exist and material which should have been disclosed earlier by police.
Police acknowledged "over-reacting" at Marikana during an inquiry held in October last year.
In an opening statement to the inquiry, police officials said that "the response of some police officers may have been disproportionate to the danger they faced from the group of more than 200 armed protesters".
The Marikana commission adjourned until Wednesday to study the new evidence.
                                                          "news aljazeera "

JPMorgan agrees to pay $920m in penalties (news aljazeera)

Investment bank admits to wrongdoing and agrees to settle trading-losses case with US and British regulators.

JPMorgan Chase, the US investment bank, has agreed to pay $920m in penalties in the US and Britain after admitting wrongdoing.
Settlements with four US and British regulators - made public on Thursday - resolve the biggest civil probes of the bank's $6.2bn of derivatives trading losses last year.
Citations against JPMorgan include poor risk controls and failure to inform regulators about deficiencies in risk management identified by bank management.
JPMorgan called the settlements "a major step in the firm's ongoing efforts to put these issues behind it".
The case came to light after Bruno Iksil, a trader, made huge losses, earning him the nickname the London Whale.
Iksil has signed a cooperation agreement with prosecutors and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Two other traders who worked with Iksil in London, Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout, have been criminally charged by US prosecutors over their role in the scandal, accused of trying to hide the mounting losses.
The penalties announced on Thursday include $300m to be paid to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, $200m to the Federal Reserve, $200m to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and $219.74m to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.
US regulators also ordered the company to refund about $309m to credit-card customers who were billed for identity-theft protection services that they did not receive.
Besides, the bank must pay a $20m penalty to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60m to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

 

aljazeera: Bangladesh strike enters second day

Jamaat-e-Islami supporters stage protests against death sentence handed to one of its top leaders for 1971 war crimes.

 

A nationwide strike in Bangladesh has entered a second day after a senior Islamist leader was handed the death sentence for crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
Thursday's strike was the latest to hit Bangladesh, which has been reeling from deadly violence over the sentences given to Jamaat-e-Islami party members for atrocities committed during the independence war.
Protests erupted across the country on Wednesday leaving one person dead, police said.
Supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami hurled bricks and small, home-made bombs during protests in southern and northern Bangladesh, while police retaliated with rubber bullets and tear gas, officers said.
A police officer was shot and seriously wounded by activists who attacked a police camp near the port city of Chittagong, a senior police officer said.
Molla death sentence
The violence came as towns and cities shut down for the strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami party over the death sentence handed on Tuesday to Abdul Quader Molla for mass murder during the war of independence.
An auto-rickshaw driver died after being hit with stones in the southern coastal district of Noakhali as Jamaat activists protested Molla's sentence, which they say is politically motivated.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court enhanced the sentence originally given to Molla by the country's war crimes tribunal, and rejected an appeal for acquittal by his defence lawyers.
Molla, 65, the fourth-highest leader of Jamaat, had been given a life sentence in February by the tribunal.
Molla was convicted of rape, murder and mass murder including the killing of more than 350 unarmed Bengali civilians, a poet and a top journalist during the war, when he was a physics student at Dhaka University.
Prosecutors described him as the "Butcher of Mirpur", a Dhaka suburb where he committed most of the atrocities.
The tribunal has since January convicted six Islamists of crimes related to the 1971 war, in which pro-independence fighters battled Pakistani forces.
Jamaat sided with Pakistan during the liberation struggle, but denies any role in the atrocities.
The opposition has criticised the trials as a politically motivated exercise aimed at settling old scores rather than meting out justice.
An estimated 300,000 people were killed and 250,000 women raped during the nine-month-old liberation war.

France in bid to ban child beauty contests -news aljazeera

Senate approves proposal to ban pageants for girls under 16 to prevent "hyper-sexualisation" of children.

The French senate has approved a proposal to ban beauty contests for girls under 16 to prevent what a parliamentary report called the "hyper-sexualisation" of children.
The proposal was backed by MPs 196 to 146. It will now become law after being passed in the National Assembly.
The measure follows a parliamentary report "Against Hyper-Sexualisation: A New Fight For Equality" which called for a ban on child-size adult clothing, such as padded bras and high-heeled shoes, and an end to beauty competitions for the under-16s.
"Let us not make our girls believe from a very young age that their worth is only judged by their appearance," said the author of the report, the former sports minister Chantal Jouanno.
According to the proposal, organisers of such beauty pageants could face up to two years in prison and a 30,000-euro ($40,000) fine.
The measure was prompted by controversy over a Vogue magazine photographic shoot featuring provocative images of a 10-year-old French girl in December 2010.
The girl and two others were photographed with heavy make-up and wearing tight dresses, high heels and expensive jewellery.
Vogue defended the pictures, saying it merely portrayed a common fantasy among young girls to dress like their mother.

 

Singapore police arrest 14 over match-fixing "aljazeera"

Interpol praises raids against members of alleged crime ring, in latest match-fixing scandal to hit sport of football.

 

Police in Singapore have arrested 14 people suspected of being members of an organised crime ring, in the latest match-fixing scandal to hit football. A joint statement issued late on Wednesday by the Singapore Police Force and the Corrupt Practises Investigation Bureau said 12 men and two women had been detained after an operation lasting 12 hours. "Police confirm that the suspected leader and several other individuals who are the subject of ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions for match fixing were among the persons arrested," the statement said. It said the 14 people are being investigated for offences related to match-fixing activites under the city-state's Prevention of Corruption Act, as well as for their involvement in "organised crime activities". Interpol, the France-based international police cooperation organisation, commended the arrests, which come after   Europol said in February that it had smashed a network rigging hundreds of games, including in the Champions League and World Cup qualifiers. Europol, the European police agency, said at that time that a five-country investigation had identified 380 suspicious matches targeted by a Singapore-based betting cartel, whose illegal activities stretched to players, referees and officials across the world. In April, three Lebanese officials were dropped from refereeing an Asian Football Confederation Cup match in Singapore, hours before kickoff. Referee Ali Sabbagh was jailed for six months in Singapore for accepting sexual favours to fix the game between Singapore's Tampines Rovers and India's East Bengal. FIFA also issued global bans on players from Estonia and Tunisia as well as match officials from Armenia in connection with attempts to manipulate games. World governing body FIFA has warned that match-fixing is threatening football on a global scale and has handed down heavy punishments to players and officials found guilty. Suspected ringleader arrested Singapore authorites did not give the nationalities of those arrested on Wednesday, who were said to be aged between 38 and 60. Five of the 14, including the suspected leader, have been detained for further investigations, while the rest will be released on police bail, the joint statement said. Police would not comment if Dan Tan, a suspected Singaporean boss of a major football match-fixing ring, was one of those arrested because they said investigations were still underway. Tan, whose full name is Tan Seet Eng, has been assisting investigators in Singapore since Europol announced its findings in February. He was charged in May in Hungary in relation to the alleged manipulation of 32 games in three countries. Tan is also wanted in Italy in connection with the wide-ranging "calcioscommesse" scandal. The statement said Singapore is "committed to eradicate match-fixing as a transnational crime and protect the integrity of the sport". "We appreciate the assistance rendered by the Interpol Global Anti-Match-fixing Taskforce thus far, and will continue to work with the Taskforce and the global community in our fight against global match-fixing," it said. Interpol Secretary General Ronald K Noble said: "Singaporean authorities have taken an important step in cracking down on an international match-fixing syndicate by arresting the main suspects in the case, including the suspected mastermind; no person should doubt Singapore's commitment to fighting match-fixing."

aljazeera: Egypt army storms area near Cairo

Fighting between security forces and armed groups in Kerdassah district leaves one policeman dead, state TV reports.

Egyptian troops and police have stormed the Kerdassah district in the outskirts of Cairo to clear it of "terrorist elements", security officials said, triggering clashes with armed groups based in the area. Vehicles carrying armed personnel were sent into the village on Thursday while army helicopters hovered above. The clashes have so far left one policeman dead, state TV reported. It said police forces took control of the area and imposed a curfew. Security troops launched an operation in the area to arrest people accused of torching police stations and killing about 11 security officers in clashes that erupted following the army's ouster of President Mohamed Morsi last July. Police forces had not been allowed in Kerdassah since then. Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from Cairo, said the operation began at about 3:00am and was still ongoing. "Security forces has gone into the area heavily armoured in order to 'root out and arrest terrorists', according to the army". Islamist stronghold Kerdassah, known for producing and selling fancy fabrics is 14km from the Egyptian capital and known to be an Islamist stronghold. Residents of the area said on Wednesday they were not in control of the area but do not want police there. Morsi's removal in a military coup on July 3 led to nation-wide protests by his supporters. Violence between his backers and security forces included massive attacks on police stations, security officers and churches. At least 1,000 people have died in the violence with most deaths coming during the security forces' dispersal of two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo on August 14. About 100 police officers also died in the clashes. The latest raid is part of concerted efforts by the authorities to retake areas that have been off limit for the police since weeks. On Monday, security forces stormed the town of Delga in Minya province, about 300km south of Cairo, and arrested 56 residents. "What is happening today echoes what happened in Delga. There were similar circumstances. It was also off limits for police for weeks," our correspondent said.

 

Tunisian journalists strike over restrictions "aljazeera"

Journalists are protesting against press restrictions imposed by the Islamist-led government.

Journalists in Tunisia have gone on strike to protest against press restrictions imposed by the Islamist-led government.
Tuesday's strike, called by the National Union of Tunisian journalists, comes a day after a journalist whose arrest caused an outcry, was freed on bail.
"It's a victory for everyone who supports freedom of expression over those who, with the help of the judiciary, would like to suspend this freedom and settle their scores with people not willing to give it up," Zied el-Heni told AFP news agency after bail was paid for his release.
Heni was placed in pre-trial detention on Friday for accusing the public prosecutor of fabricating evidence implicating cameraman Mourad Meherzi in an egg-throwing attack on a minister.
The cameraman spent three weeks in prison before his release on bail on Monday, while the egg-thrower - a film-maker - remains in custody.
On Friday evening, after Heni was detained, a judge agreed to grant him bail, but it was not possible to pay the bail money until Monday morning, so the reporter spent the weekend in jail.
"The file must now go back to the judge who must listen to our arguments. In my opinion this case should be dismissed," said Heni's lawyer Abdelaziz Essid.
His comments were echoed by Reporters Without Borders, which called his pre-trial detention "totally unjustified" and designed to silence any criticism.
'Sacred principles'
Ennahda, the Islamist party that heads Tunisia's ruling coalition, said the accusations were wrong and formed part of a slander campaign against it.
The journalist's detention has been preceded by other cases that have stoked fears in Tunisia that Ennahda, the judiciary and the police are trying to stifle freedom of expression, seen as a key achievement of the 2011 revolution that triggered the so-called Arab Spring.
Two rappers were convicted at the end of August and sentenced to 21-month jail terms over songs deemed to be defamatory towards the police force.
The singers - who are on the run - had not been told there were charges against them, let alone that there was a trial.
However, the Tunisian presidency on Monday reaffirmed its commitment to "the sacred principles of freedom of expression and opinion".
Media rights in Tunisia are theoretically governed by two decrees adopted after the revolution, designed to guarantee press freedom and regulate audio-visual media.
But the public prosecution continues to rely extensively on the penal code inherited from the ousted regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, under which press offences can be punished by jail terms.

Deaths reported in standoff in Austria "aljazeera"

Police storm building searching for armed man who shot and killed three police officers and an ambulance driver.

Police in Austria are searching for an armed man who killed an ambulance driver and three police officers before barricading himself in a farm building.
After a 12-hour standoff, police on Tuesday stormed the building on the outskirts of Melk, 70km west of Vienna, but had not found the man, Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundbock said.
The killings began shortly after midnight on Monday when police stopped the man on a road near a wilderness area west of Vienna, where frequent poaching incidents occur.
The gunman fled in his car, before crashing it into a ditch in the nearby town of Annaberg. He then shot and wounded a member of Cobra armed police team at a police checkpoint.
The gunman then shot and killed an ambulance driver who was trying to aid the wounded policeman, who later died. The gunman also shot and wounded another officer at the scene.
He then shot and killed another police officer while stealing his patrol car. The vehicle and the officer's body were found on Tuesday.
The attacker then fatally shot another police officer at a roadblock before barricading himself in the farm building.
State broadcaster ORF reported that the suspect was a 55-year-old poacher. Police identified him only as Alois H, in keeping with Austrian law allows suspects anonymity.

Obama open to Iran nuclear talks (aljaeera)

President pledges to 'test' Rouhani's interest in diaglogue, but Israel PM vows to press US to stop Tehran programme.

Barack Obama has said he is willing to open dialogue with Iran on its nuclear programme, after concillitory signs from the country's new President Hassan Rouhani.
However, the US President said on Tuesday that Iran would have to demonstrate its own seriousness by agreeing not to "weaponise nuclear power".
"There is an opportunity here for diplomacy," Obama said in an interview with the Spanish language television network Telemundo.
"I hope the Iranians take advantage of it. There are indications that Rouhani, the new president, is somebody who is looking to open dialogue with  the West and with the United States, in a way that we haven't seen in the past. And so we should test it."
The interview came as the US confirmed that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would visit the White House on September 30 to consult Obama on Iran's nuclear challenge, Syria and Palestinian peace talks.
Netanyahu said he was keen to discuss Iran's nuclear programme with Obama, ahead of expected new talks between Tehran and world powers.
Increased pressure
"I intend to focus on the issue of stopping Iran's nuclear programme," a written statement from the Israeli leader's office said.
Israel has accused the Islamic Republic of trying to develop and build nuclear weapons. Iran denies the allegations.
Netanyahu said Israel would demand that Iran halt all uranium enrichment, remove all enriched uranium from its territory, close its underground nuclear facility in Qom and stop building a plutonium reactor.
"Only a combination of these four steps will constitute an actual stopping of the nuclear program, and until all four of these measures are achieved, the pressure on Iran must be increased and not relaxed, and certainly not eased,"
Netanyahu said.
However, Obama's interview was the latest indication that the president would like to jump from the crisis over Syria's chemical weapons to a new search for a diplomatic deal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
Obama revealed last weekend that he and Rouhani had exchanged letters about the US-Iran standoff.
UN meeting 
Both leaders will be at the UN General Assembly in New York next week, although White House officials say they are no plans for them to meet.
Hopes for a new round of nuclear talks between Iran and world powers expected to resume soon were boosted earlier on Tuesday by cryptic remarks by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader.
Khamenei said that sometimes flexibility was necessary in diplomacy.
On September 11, Rouhani said he had the tacit support of Khamenei for "flexibility" in nuclear talks.
Rouhani has said he wants to allay Western concerns but that he will not renounce Iran's goal of an independent civil nuclear programme.
Washington and its allies say Iran's nuclear programme is designed to produce weapons and is unacceptable. Obama has refused to rule out US military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Iran insists that its nuclear ambitions are directed towards civilian energy generation.
Obama ran for president in 2008 in part by vowing to open a dialogue with Iran. But there has been no breakthrough and sanctions by Washington and the UN to weaken Iran's economy have gradually been increased to try to pressure Tehran to give up a nuclear programme that it denies is aimed at building a weapon.
Since the surprise election in June of Rouhani, a moderate, officials from both countries have made increasing hints that they are open to direct talks to seek an end to the decade-long nuclear dispute.

Child abuse inquiry opens in Australia (news aljazeera)

"Shocking" allegations to be heard against places of worship, orphanages, community groups and schools, official says.

An unprecedented Australian inquiry into church and institutional child abuse has begun, with warnings that widespread and "shocking" allegations would be heard against places of worship, orphanages, community groups and schools.

Justice Peter McClellan, the Chair of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, launched public hearings on Monday, as the panel said more than 4,000 victims had come forward.

"It is now well known that the sexual abuse of children has been widespread in the Australian community, however the full range of institutions in which it has occurred is not generally understood," McClellan said in his opening address.

"Many of the stories we are hearing will shock many people."

'Systemic issues'

The inquiry was established in November by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in response to a series of child sex abuse scandals involving paedophile priests, though she insisted the probe would be much broader than the Catholic Church.

A hotline set up for survivors of abuse to contact the commission had so far received 4,301 relevant calls, McClellan said.
Of these, 398 people had given a private briefing to the commission, 449 were awaiting their session and another 1,178 were yet to be assessed.

"Many people who have come to the commission have suffered greatly, both at the time that the abuse occurred and subsequently through their lives," he told the commission hearing in Sydney.

"Many have received counselling at various stages of their lives, many have thought of suicide and some have attempted it.

"Many people including those who suffered abuse 30 or 40 years ago break down in the course of telling their story and require the assistance of support persons to be able to continue."

McClellan said the commission faced an immense task and would have to be selective in the matters it took to a public hearing, limiting them to "systemic issues and policy matters" or where a "significant cluster of abused individuals" was uncovered.
McClellan said some "preliminary themes have already emerged".

In residential institutions such as orphanages and boarding schools, for example, he said the commission had established that "sexual abuse is almost always accompanied by almost unbelievable levels of physical violence inflicted on the children by the adults who have responsibility for their welfare".

The events would often set off a domino effect, with a victim's schoolwork suffering, limiting their future employment prospects, and their ability to trust others and form relationships damaged beyond repair.

"The damage to an individual, be it a boy or girl, who was abused at a time when, because of their age, they are unable to resist an abuser or report the abuse to others, may be life-changing," he said.

 

 

Inter-Korean industrial zone reopens "aljazeera"

Efforts to improve North-South ties culminate in arrival of South Korean businessmen at Kaesong after five-month gap.

South Korean businessmen have crossed into North Korea as the joint Kaesong industrial zone reopened five months after it was closed by military tensions and threats of war.
The highly symbolic outcome of recent efforts to improve inter-Korean relations saw dozens of cars, lorries and factory managers cross the border shortly after 8:30am local time (2330 GMT on Sunday).
The South's Unification Ministry said 820 South Korean managers and workers planned to cross the border into Kaesong on Monday, with more than 400 to stay overnight to oversee production operations.
The optimistic mood at the Kaesong border checkpoint contrasted sharply with the sense of impending disaster that had loomed over the closure of Kaesong back in April.
Months of heightened military tensions, with Pyongyang issuing daily apocalyptic threats of nuclear strikes, resulted in North Korea withdrawing its 53,000-strong workforce from the join industrial zone.
As military tensions eased, the two Koreas agreed last month to work together to resume operations.
As part of the deal, the North accepted the South's demand that Kaesong be opened to foreign investors - a move seen by Seoul as a guarantee against the North shutting the complex down again in the future.
Born out of the Sunshine reconciliation policy initiated in the late 1990s by then-South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, Kaesong was established in 2004 as a rare symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
It provided an important hard currency source for the impoverished North through taxes, other revenues, and its cut of workers' wages.
It had appeared immune to previous downward movements in North-South relations, but finally fell victim to the months of tensions that followed the North's nuclear test in February.
North Korea initially barred South Korean entry to the park in early April and shortly afterwards withdrew its workers - effectively closing down the complex, which houses production lines for 123 South Korean firms.
Each side blamed the other, with the North insisting its hand was forced by hostile South Korean actions - in particular, a series of joint military exercises with the US.

 

Damascus calls arms deal 'victory for Syria' (news aljazeera)

Syrian minister says abolishing chemical arms will help country emerge from crisis, in first reaction to US-Russia deal.

A US-Russian plan to remove Syria's chemical weapons is a "victory" that averts war, a Syrian minister said, as Washington warned that the threat of US force "remains real".
"On one hand, it helps the Syrians emerge from the crisis and on the other it has allowed for averting war against Syria...," Ali Haidar, minister of state for National Reconciliation, told Russian news agency Ria Novosti on Sunday.
"It's a victory for Syria that was achieved thanks to our Russian friends."
Damascus said it will commit to the plan to eradicate its chemical weapons once it has United Nations approval, Omran al-Zoubi, Syria's information minister, told ITN on Sunday, adding that the regime had already begun preparing relevant documents.
"Syria is committing itself to whatever comes from the UN," al-Zoubi said. "We accept the Russian plan to get rid of our chemical weapons. In fact we've started preparing our list."
His remarks came after US Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to brief him on the plan to eradicate the chemical weapons.
Kerry came out of the talks with a word of warning for Damascus.
"The threat of force remains, the threat is real," he said at a joint news conference in Jerusalem with Netanyahu.
Washington is seeking to bolster international support for the agreement inked in Geneva on Saturday, which demands action from Damascus within days.
The plan to dismantle and destroy Syria's chemical arms stockpile - believed to be one of the largest in the world - by mid-2014 was thrashed out over three days of talks in Geneva between Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
It gives Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a week to hand over details of his regime's arsenal of the internationally banned arms in order to avert unspecified sanctions and the threat of US-led military strikes.
It also specifies there must be immediate access for arms control experts and that inspections of what the US says is about 45 sites linked to the Syrian chemical weapons programme must be completed by November.
A high-ranking official in Syria told AFP news agency that the chemical deal could put Damascus back on the road to peace if it is coupled with an accord to cut off the supply of weapons to foreign-backed rebels.
"In parallel with the question of chemical arms, the whole world must work together to halt the influx of arms and mercenaries to Syria," he said.
International support
The deal won the backing of China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, which like Russia has vetoed several UN resolutions on Syria.
"This agreement will enable tensions in Syria to be eased," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his visiting French counterpart Laurent Fabius who will meet Lavrov on Tuesday in Moscow.
It was also welcomed by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who cautioned: "It is important, however, that it be put into practice."
Arab League chief Nabil El-Araby called the deal "a step closer to a political solution" to the civil war in Syria that has cost more than 110,000 lives since March 2011.
Ahead of Kerry's talks with the leader of Syria's neighbour Israel, Netanyahu said he hoped the accord would see the complete destruction of the Damascus regime's chemical weapons.
The Syrian rebels fighting to oust Assad have rejected the deal, warning it would not halt the conflict.
"Are we Syrians supposed to wait until mid-2014, to continue being killed every day and to accept [the deal] just because the chemical arms will be destroyed in 2014?" asked Free Syrian Army chief General Selim Idriss.
Experts said the deal would be difficult - if not impossible - to implement.
Olivier Lepick of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris said he thought it would be impossible for Syrian stockpiles to be destroyed by mid-2014.
The deadline "seems to be a complete fantasy," he told AFP. "Given the civil war, I don't think it can happen... In peacetime it would take years to dismantle Syria's chemical arsenal."
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Sweden, Tilman Bruck, director of the Stockholm International Peace Institute, said he believed the deal could work.
"There is a real chance that this will succeed. At the same time it will not achieve regime change, and that is of course what the West had
contemplated. So from that point of view it is not a very ambitious goal but still a step in the right direction."

Kerry was to fly on to Paris for Monday talks with Fabius, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and their Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.
Also on Monday, the United Nations is due to release its investigation of an August 21 attack near Damascus.
Washington says Assad's forces unleashed sarin gas on eastern suburbs, killing about 1,400 people.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has accused Assad of multiple crimes against humanity and said the UN inspectors' report would provide "overwhelming" confirmation chemical weapons were used.
news(aljazeera)