Sunday, June 12, 2011

Suicide attack at a market in Pakistan leaves dozens dead

.- Dozens of people died in a suicide attack at dawn in a military area market in Peshawar, in the troubled northwestern Pakistan, the area most affected by the attacks after the death of Osama bin Laden. Speaking to EFE, a spokesman for the control of the police in Peshawar, Mohsen Khan, placed the death toll at 70 and the number of injured at 104, of which he said-25 are in critical condition.

Worse health of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

.- The health of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has worsened considerably in recent days, following a colon cancer metastasis suffering, today unveiled the daily Al Rai. In its Sunday edition, the Egyptian daily said the former president could undergo surgery in the next few hours in the International Hospital Sarm el-Sheikh, where he is hospitalized since last April.

Medical sources consulted by Al Rai, explained that given the situation faced by Mubarak, would be impossible to submit to chemotherapy and the choice is involved in the operating room. The health of former Egyptian president, who resigned on February 11 last, after 18 days of demonstrations against him in the Tahir Plaza, "has deteriorated, and reached into a coma, said the report daily.

Turkish general elections took place in a calm environment

.- The general elections in Turkey today passed a general atmosphere of calm, but very few irregularities were reported at the close of the polls, at 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT). In Kecioren district of Ankara province, a group tried to lynch five militants of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP, the moderate Islamist) after reporting for carrying false documents to vote.

The police had to intervene and disperse the attackers with tear gas to release the five activists of the AKP trapped. In the western city of Denizli, the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP, social) reported that members of the AKP was voted in place of other people. A total of 27 people were also detained in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman and Van for voting with false documentation.

Taliban bombing left 34 deaths in supermarket

At least 34 people were killed and 80 were wounded when two bombs in a crowded supermarket in the Pakistani city of Peshawar (North West), police said. The explosions occurred in the Khyber supermarket, surrounded by student apartments, shops, a juice outlet and a hotel. Over four thousand 400 people have died across Pakistan in attacks blamed on the Taliban and other Islamic extremists, to feud in the tribal regions of northwest China, from which the security forces stormed Islamabad in 2007 in a mosque frequented by radicals.

Hague says the Gadhafi regime weakens

.- The British Foreign Minister, William Hague, said today that the NATO campaign in Libya is constantly weakening the regime of Moammar Gadhafi, but vainly sought his ouster. "Time is on our side, not yours. The position of the Gadhafi regime is weakening all the time," said Foreign Secretary to the Sky News television.

Hague said that government troops "have lost major battles," but considered that the international community "must be patient and persistent to achieve success, and remember that time pressure is on the Gadhafi regime." Asked for their preferences on the future of the Libyan leader, when the interviewer gave him the choice between the options of death, exile or surrender, Hague said: "I would like to see him clearly accountable to the International Criminal Court." "But if you escape to a country not party to the ICC, we do not prevent," the British minister.

Forces attack Syrian border town, residents flee

Syrian tanks and helicopters raided on Sunday in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, residents said, and state television reported heavy fighting between soldiers and gunmen who are opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. A senior Turkish diplomat said four thousand 300 Syrian refugees had crossed the border and were being treated in hospitals and camps, but a Western envoy said the number was higher and witnesses said some 10 000 people were near the border.

Japan marks three months of the tsunami

Japan commemorated the three months of the disaster of March 11 with anti-nuclear demonstrations and a minute's silence in memory of the nearly 23 thousand 500 people, the balance of the earthquake and tsunami in the Northeast. Survivors of the towns and villages devastated the coast of the Tohoku (Northeast) observed a minute of silence at the exact time that the quake was magnitude 9 on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean after the tsunami triggered giant.

Al Qaeda loses another leader

The alleged leader of Al Qaeda in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the authors of the 1988 anti-American attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, died last Wednesday during a confrontation at a roadblock, Somali officials said. Confirming the news, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed as a "significant setback" for the Islamist group.

Brazil .- Rousseff support increases despite the crisis in his Cabinet

RIO DE JANEIRO, 12 June (Reuters) - The popularity of Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, rose to 49 percent in June, suggesting that it has withstood the first major crisis of his government, as emerges from a survey of the firm Datafolha posted Saturday on the website of the newspaper "Folha de Sao Paulo." In a consultation conducted in March, Rousseff had obtained a 47 percent approval.

The survey was conducted between 9 and 10 June, after the influential chief of staff Rousseff, Antonio Palocci, resigned amid suspicions by his inordinate enrichment. The survey was conducted among 2,188 people across Brazil, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points. Palocci, an advocate of fiscal discipline and inflation fighting, denied any wrongdoing, but decided to abandon the view that the scandal was damaging the government.

Dies the alleged perpetrator of the attacks against U.S. embassies

.- Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, an alleged member of Al Qaeda and accused of being the organizer of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was killed south of Mogadishu for four days in a shootout with police , authorities said Monday. The commander of the Somali Armed Forces, General Abdikarin Dhegabadan Yusuf confirmed that Mohamed was killed on Tuesday and his body was handed over to the U.S.

Clinton arrives in Tanzania on a tour dedicated to strengthening trade with Africa

.- The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, arrived in Dar es Salaam, in a tour designed to strengthen U.S. commercial ties with Africa, which began yesterday in Zambia and Ethiopia will continue on Monday. The head of U.S. diplomacy, which was received at the airport "Julius Nyerere" in Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian foreign minister, Bernard Membe, will meet with Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, and other members of the Government.

The Turkish AKP hopes a new plebiscite

Istanbul Correspondence - "Target 2023", proclaim the giant portraits of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plastered all over the country for parliamentary elections on June 12 The Turkish prime minister is already facing the centenary of the Republic founded by Mustafa Kemal and cares little about the outcome of Sunday.

The renewal of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in power since 2002, is already acquired. Pollsters make it a formality: the AKP is expected to harvest at least 45% of the vote and achieve a score close to that of the 2007 legislative (46.6%). Enough to guarantee a majority of seats for the third consecutive time.

Libya: The United States asked its allies to invest more in NATO

The U.S. defense secretary, Robert Gates, lamented, Friday, June 10, lack of military investment and political allies of the United States within NATO. These "gaps" could "undermine" the effectiveness of the mission in Libya. "Regarding the NATO operation in Libya, it became painfully obvious that the gaps - in resources and will - potentially undermining the alliance's ability to conduct an integrated campaign, effective and sustainable in the air and sea "said Secretary of State to be a think tank in Brussels, following a meeting with his counterparts of twenty-eight member countries of NATO.

"Erdogan is seen as the leader of Turkey, but also the whole region"

The AKP has embraced economic liberalism, he supported the accession to the EU, while Turkish Islamist parties opposed it. In this sense we can say that it is a party "post-Islamist". There are three million Turks in Germany, is an electorate that the AKP should take into account. But I'm not sure that the German model is an argument for Turks living in Germany.

It seems that indeed the model that seeks to promote the AKP is a cocktail of religious conservatism and economic liberalism. But the comparison stops there. Today, since the last legislative elections, the authoritarian tendencies of the Prime Minister took over, and the Kemalist opposition began its renovation.

Troops surround Gadhafi Libyan city after fighting with rebels

.- Troops loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi on Saturday surrounded Zliten City, about 160 kilometers east of Tripoli, said rebels emerged after fighting in the area that could open the coastal road towards the capital. Sporadic clashes between forces and rebels continued Gadhafi in Zliten, said a spokesman for the insurgents after they took control of parts of the city.

He said the situation was calmer on Friday and that the figure stood at 22 dead fighters. "Zliten is still surrounded by the troops of Gadhafi and they are threatening to residents, telling them that if they do not give their women are raped," said the spokesman Ahmed Bani. It was not possible to independently verify the claims of the rebels.

Battisti: Italy recalls its ambassador to Brazil

Italy has decided to recall its ambassador for consultation in Brasilia after Brazil's decision not to extradite and to release the former left-wing Italian activist Cesare Battisti. Minister Franco Frattini has decided "the temporary recall to Rome for consultation," the ambassador Gherardo La Francesca, said Friday the department.

The recall was decided "to deepen, together with other relevant agencies, technical and legal aspects relating to the implementation of existing bilateral agreements for initiatives and appeals to international judicial bodies," the statement said . Italy announced on Thursday, hours after Brazil's decision to release Cesare Battisti, its intention to appeal to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, called to settle disputes between states.