I can only smile while I’m watching you shout
there’s too many people moving in the
frame they don’t know about
A Kurdish Society of Soldiers
In Rugged N. Iraq, Guerrillas Forge a Unity Based on Hardship and Defiance
ZAP VALLEY, Iraq — On the day the Turkish soldiers withdrew from Iraq, 40 Kurdish guerrillas convened to bury five of their dead
The corpses were wrapped in black plastic and camouflage tarp, lashed to stretchers fashioned from branches, and draped in the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. In silence the guerrillas stacked large rocks into five piles, resting the stretchers end-to-end on the cairns. They stood in two rows with machine guns pointed above the mountains that surrounded them and waited for their leader to speak.
Last surviving U.S. World War I vet honored by president
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Frank Woodruff Buckles was just 15 years old when he joined the U.S. Army. Soon, he was deployed to war and headed overseas on the Carpathia — the same ship used in the rescue mission of the Titanic.
He drove ambulances in Britain and France for soldiers wounded during World War I.A few decades later, Buckles was in the Philippines as a civilian, on December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was taken as a prisoner of war for 39 months in Manila, eating his meals out of a single tin cup.
More than 60 years later, he still clings to that cup, the one that sustained his life. Weathered with age, the cup has flecks of white paint chipped off. He keeps it as a reminder of his sacrifice for the country he so loves. He also still has his dog tags.
USA
Sharp Drop in Jobs Adds to Grim Picture of U.S. Economy
WASHINGTON – The worst fears of consumers, investors and Washington officials were confirmed on Friday, as deepening paralysis on Wall Street collided with stark new evidence of falling employment and a likely recession
In a report that was far worse than most analysts had expected, the Labor Department estimated that the nation lost 63,000 jobs in February. It was the second consecutive monthly decline, and the third straight drop for private-sector jobs.
Depopulation Boom
How Long Would the World Turn Without Us? We’re Dying to Know.
It turns out that the world will be such a swell place without any humans around — better sunsets, cleaner water, less traffic — that we can’t wait to see it. Even if, you know, we’re all dead.Since last summer, when Alan Weisman’s “The World Without Us” became a surprise bestseller by imagining what would happen to the planet if all 6.5 billion humans instantly disappeared, the idea has taken hold in the popular imagination.
Latin America
Chavez urges unity after summit
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said the “happy” end to the regional crisis with Colombia should boost unity in Latin America.“This summit was a gift from God,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying after shaking hands with his Colombian and Ecuadorean counterparts at a summit.
The crisis began after Colombian troops killed Raul Reyes – the Farc rebels’ second most important man – in Ecuador.
It has now emerged that four Mexicans may have been killed in the raid.
Mexico has ordered an investigation, and Ecuador has yet to confirm the identify of those killed last Saturday.
Wal-Mart plants seeds of alliance with Latin farmers
SAN PEDRO SACATEPEQUEZ, GUATEMALA — Perched on less than an acre of land off an unpaved road in a hardscrabble rural area, farmer Gumercindo Ajanel would hardly seem like a Wal-Mart regular. But in fact, he’s working for the American retail giant.On a recent morning, he proudly displayed fresh-picked cilantro and parsley he ships to the chain’s local stores. A company agronomist taught him to grow greens that are hygienic and visually appealing. Best of all, he said, Wal-Mart buys frequently and pays promptly. “That helps a lot,” said Ajanel, who employs 30 farmhands in this area about 35 miles northeast of the capital, Guatemala City.
Europe
Spain cancels election rallies after murder
· Eta blamed for daytime shooting of ex-councillor
· Killing is condemned as ‘vile and cowardly’
Spain’s political parties suspended campaigning in advance of tomorrow’s general election after a former town councillor was shot dead yesterday by suspected Basque separatists.Isaias Carrasco, 42, was killed when he left the home he shared with his wife and three children in the Basque town of Mondragón at about 1.30pm.
His wife and daughter came running out when they heard the shots. Carrasco was rushed to a local hospital, but died shortly after. He had been shot several times, twice in the back of his head, by a lone gunman, who witnesses said was wearing a false beard, while a driver waited in a getaway car
Anxious moments as Europe’s freighter makes maiden flight to space station
· Robotic craft to find its own way to outpost
· Mission to deliver supplies 200 miles overhead
The largest, most complex spacecraft Europe has built is being readied for its maiden flight early tomorrow from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.The 20-tonne robotic space freighter, crammed with fuel, food and spare parts is due to blast off at 4.03am GMT on a mission to deliver much-needed supplies to the international space station more than 200 miles overhead.
The automated transfer vehicle (ATV) is the first spacecraft with a built-in homing system that allows it to find its own way to the space station, without being directed from the ground or by astronauts on board the orbiting station. Once docked, it will be able to re-boost the outpost, which loses altitude over time, or lift it out of the way of dangerous space debris.
Asia
Lawyer missing after criticising China’s human rights record
· Campaigner had been told not to talk to foreign press
· Fear of detention amid pre-Olympic crackdown
A prominent human rights lawyer has gone missing, presumed detained by the authorities, amid a crackdown on dissent ahead of the Beijing Olympics.Teng Biao – who has defended Aids activists, Falun Gong practitioners and farmers fighting for their land – was last seen on Thursday, being bundled into a black car outside his home in Beijing.
He had recently been warned by police that he would be detained unless he stopped talking to the foreign media and writing about human rights abuses in the runup to the Olympics.
Shortly before he went missing, Teng told the Guardian that his passport had been seized, his phone bugged and his emails checked by the authorities.
He was warned that he also faced the sack from his job as a lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law and risked detention.
Malaysia voters vow to bring change despite fears of poll fraud
Saiful makes a final check of his tyre pressure and curses a radio traffic report that gives warning of “appalling congestion” on all Malaysia’s roads this weekend.Later that night, when the 33-year-old mechanic finishes his shift, he and his cousin will brave the 500km (300-mile) drive from Kuala Lumpur to his home town of Kota Bahru in the far northeast of the country to vote in the election today.
Saiful has never felt such a strong sense of mission; it is an election, he says, whose result could stop the Prime Minister ever sleeping again.
Middle East
Tearful funeral for slain Israeli religious students in Jerusalem
They carried the body of Avraham David Moses, 16 years old, on a small stretcher down the slope of the vibrant green cemetery here, shaded by tall pines, overlooking a valley, in utter silence.The boy was wrapped in a black-and-white prayer shawl, and as the pallbearers slipped him into the grave Friday, the long silence was broken by quiet weeping and occasional sobs.
Men recited psalms, and Naftali Moses, the boy’s father, his garments torn in grief, said the Hebrew prayer for the dead, his voice breaking, before moving back up the slope to the parking lot, through a somber line of mourners, men on one side, women on the other.
His stepmother, Leah, described Avraham David, as he was known, as “a really good kid – he would come home and unload the dishwasher without being asked.” And if the adults started gossiping at the table, she said, he would start reciting mishnayot, or oral teachings. “He was just an incredible blessing,” she said.
Arab leaders threaten to boycott Damascus summit
Several Arab leaders say they may boycott the annual Arab summit meeting scheduled for this month in Damascus because of anger at Syria over its role in Lebanon and ongoing links to Iran.The measures are part of an intensified campaign against Syria that comes alongside similar moves by the United States, which recently added several new financial sanctions on Syria and sent warships to cruise off the Lebanese coast – a gesture aimed directly at the Syrian government.
“There’s a new initiative to completely isolate Syria and weaken its destructive influence in Lebanon,” said an adviser to the Saudi government who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Africa
‘They made me chant Robert Mugabe is always right, while I was being beaten’
Takavafira Zhou is a teacher who was tortured in Zimbabwe. Now he is in London for a rally demanding change.
One of Zimbabwe’s leading human rights campaigners has issued the world with a startling reminder of the horrific abuse and torture being suffered under Robert Mugabe’s regime ahead of the country’s elections in three weeks’ time.Takavafira Zhou, a trade union activist, was seized by government police two weeks ago and, while imprisoned, did not know if he would make it out of the torture chamber alive. Beaten to within an inch of his life, Mr Zhou was told to repeat the slogan “Robert Mugabe is always right”, and now he has come to Britain to preach the reverse.
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The Contract: John Cusak and Morgan Freeman