Docudharma Times Monday May 25

Will The Worlds Governments

Cave To North Koreas

Demands?

Probably Without A

Whimper    

North Korea Claims to Conduct 2nd Nuclear Test



By CHOE SANG-HUN

Published: May 25, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea announced on Monday that it had successfully conducted its second nuclear test, defying international warnings and dramatically raising the stakes in a global effort to persuade the recalcitrant Communist state to give up its weapons program.The North’s official news agency, KCNA, said, “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defense in every way as requested by its scientists and technicians.”

Horror for civilians trapped in Sri Lanka’s ‘no-fire zone’

From The Times

May 25, 2009

Catherine Philp in Colombo

From the air, the battle zone reveals itself one clue at a time – the scorched patches of earth, the blasted palm trees, the burnt-out skeletal houses.

Then the helicopter banks sharp right over the green lagoon and a blaze of white sand appears – to the gasps of the first outsiders to glimpse the beach where the Tamil Tigers made their last stand.

Sri Lanka’s no-fire zone is a scene of such utter devastation it mocks its very name. It is a glimpse of hell unleashed in paradise. A glistening white beach packed with home-made bunkers where civilians huddled to protect themselves from the shells that the government denies launching in the final weeks of the offensive. The craters in the white sand; the charcoal coloured scorch marks and bombed-out dwellings; the abandoned bus, its forlorn white flag still flying, and the human detritus tell a very different story.

USA

Threats to Judges, Prosecutors Soaring

Worried Court Personnel Resort To Guards, Identity Shields, Weapons

By Jerry Markon

Washington Post Staff Writer

Monday, May 25, 2009

Threats against the nation’s judges and prosecutors have sharply increased, prompting hundreds to get 24-hour protection from armed U.S. marshals. Many federal judges are altering their routes to work, installing security systems at home, shielding their addresses by paying bills at the courthouse or refraining from registering to vote. Some even pack weapons on the bench.

The problem has become so pronounced that a high-tech “threat management” center recently opened in Crystal City, where a staff of about 25 marshals and analysts monitor a 24-hour number for reporting threats, use sophisticated mapping software to track those being threatened and tap into a classified database linked to the FBI and CIA.

Commentary: A day to remember the price of freedom



By Joseph L. Galloway | McClatchy Newspapers

Memorial Day is upon us, and for most Americans that means the first holiday weekend of a new summer. For most, it’s time to dust off the barbecue pit or head to the nearest beach or hit the mall for the big sales.

For those who wear, or have worn, the uniform and those who love them, however, it means something different: It’s a time to remember those who’ve fallen in defense of our country in the 234 years since the first American soldier died in a rebellion against a king.

During this time, some 43 million Americans have served under arms in our wars, 655,000 have died in battle and more than 1.4 million have been wounded in combat.

Our two ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of 4,963 American troops, and 34,000 others have been wounded in combat.

Asia

India’s new ruling caste

Most ministers in the ruling alliance will be unfit to hold office because family connections are more important than ability

Appu K Soman

guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 May 2009 10.00 BST

The largest election in history, involving more than 700 million voters, has resulted in the victory of India’s ruling alliance, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Indian National Congress. The verdict disproved gloomy predictions of a hung parliament and the further strengthening of regional parties. The new government will be far more stable than many of its predecessors, so the election results have elicited profound relief.

But the fact remains that, like previous governments, the new administration will consist mostly of politicians unfit to hold ministerial office. While several provincial satraps have been cut down to size, new, aspiring ones have garnered significant support. Despite the manifest success of Indian democracy, its parliamentary system is not succeeding in giving India good governance.

South Korea mourns ex-president’s suicide

Supporters blame government for hounding Roh Moo-hyun to his death

By Young-Soon Ahn in Bongha

Monday, 25 May 2009

Bowing deeply and laying white chrysanthemums before his portrait, tens of thousands of South Korean mourners journeyed yesterday to the southern village where former president Roh Moo-hyun killed himself by jumping off a rocky cliff overlooking his home.

Braving a downpour, nearly 80,000 people trekked to Bongha, the village 280 miles south of Seoul where Mr Roh had lived since leaving office, to pay their respects at mourning tents erected at the community centre. Hundreds of Buddhist monks in gray robes and wide-brimmed hats held a solemn prayer service.

But several top officials, including the Prime Minister, were turned away from the mourning rites for the liberal ex-leader, who had a fractious relationship with conservative opponents his supporters accuse of driving Mr Roh to his death. They pelted a bus carrying conservative politicians with eggs and doused lawmakers with water.

Middle East

Iran and Israel are not worlds apart

Ahmadinejad would have us believe that Iran’s main enemy is Israel, but the countries have more in common than he admits



Meir Javedanfar

guardian.co.uk, Monday 25 May 2009 08.00 BST

My name is Meir Javedanfar, and I live in “oonja”. Meaning “there” in Persian, this word is used by some Iranians to refer to Israel, during telephone conversations with friends or relatives living in the Jewish state. Their fear is that if they mention the word Israel, Iranian intelligence may pick up on the conversation, and arrest them. And in most cases, the party based in Israel fully participates, by using the other code word, which is “inja”. Meaning “here” in Persian, this word is also used to refer to Israel, so that their friend or relative in Iran does not get into trouble.

On the surface, this fear is well founded. Iran has declared Israel as its main enemy and in theory no Iranian is allowed to visit Israel, or to communicate with an Israeli.

However, the reality is different. Every year, hundreds of Iranian Jews travel to Israel via Turkey, and then return home.

U.S. prepares to withdraw, Iraqi resistance prepares for battle

‘There will be a war in Baghdad,’ warns a leader. Insurgents are bitter about the lack of progress since laying down their arms. Their demands have been unmet, they say, and now the U.S. is leaving.

By Ned Parker

May 25, 2009

Reporting from Baghdad — Baghdad will burn, the resistance leader warns.

“If we hear from the Americans they are not capable of supporting us . . . within six hours we are going to establish our groups to fight against the corrupt government,” says the commander, a portly man with gold rings and lemon-colored robes who, perhaps understandably, spoke on condition of anonymity. “There will be a war in Baghdad.”

The commander and another insurgent leader interviewed for this story belong to the secret world of Sunni Muslim tribesmen and old military officers who laid down their arms and helped bring relative peace to Iraq in the last two years. They decided to try to fight the Shiite religious parties in control of the government through political channels instead — but they never renounced the insurgency.

Now the dormant insurgent groups, with men, weapons and networks intact, are approaching their moment of truth. If their efforts to enter the mainstream fail, it appears almost inevitable that they will take up arms again, either after national elections early next year or sooner.

Europe

Cold, hunger and job losses ignite dissent in Russian town

Impoverished workers resort to eating salads of weeds and nettle soup

By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Monday, 25 May 2009

The Kremlin’s worst fears are being played out in a small town outside St Petersburg, as angry residents of crisis-hit Pikalevo marched upon the offices of the local mayor and demanded improved living conditions.

The town, with a population of just over 20,000, has been suffering as its three major factories have hit hard times during the economic crisis. Two of them shut down several months ago, while the third has put its workers on shorter shifts. About half of the employees have been put on enforced leave and even those who are still working have not received their salaries for nearly three months.

Silvio Berlusconi may address Parliament about Noemi Letizia

From The Times

May 25, 2009

Richard Owen in Rome

Silvio Berlusconi, the embattled Italian Prime Minister, said yesterday that he was considering addressing parliament to explain his friendship with Noemi Letizia, the aspiring teenage model at the centre of his public divorce row.

Veronica Lario, his second wife, announced three weeks ago that she was seeking a divorce after Mr Berlusconi, 72, attended the 18th birthday party in Naples of Ms Letizia, who calls him “Papi”.

Ms Lario said that she could not stay with a man “who frequents minors”.

When he was asked if he might outline the nature of his relationship with Ms Letizia officially, he told a local television station in Rome: “Explain to parliament my relationship with Noemi Letizia? I’m thinking about it.”

Africa

Nigeria: War in Niger Delta – Military Extends Offensive to Rivers State



Tunke-Aye Bisina, Emma Gbemudu and Harris-Okon Emmanuel25 May 2009

Nine hostages were on Sunday rescued by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Gbaramatu community, one of the main theatres of battle between troops and militants in Delta State, in addition to the three Filipinos freed in the area on Saturday.

The incursion has extended to Abonnema in Rivers State, where militant leader Nana Sele was shot dead. His cohorts fled with wounds after an exchange of gunfire.

Residents of Odi in neighbouring Bayelsa have also taken to their heels in fear of being overrun by soldiers.

Four of the hostages were rescued in Camp Five, two in Okerenkoko, and three in Oporoza.

JTF Spokesman, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, said the ‘Cordon and Rescue Operation’ would be intensified until all hostages – including military men and foreign nationals – are freed.

Latin America

For a City in Gridlock, a Lifeline and a Scourge

CARACAS JOURNAL

By SIMON ROMERO

Published: May 24, 2009

CARACAS, Venezuela – Motorists despise them. Pedestrians fear them. Highway bandits lie in wait for them. Leftist leaders call them unsung heroes.

And this anarchic city, its love affair with the car notwithstanding, would collapse if not for them: the thousands of daring motorbike couriers who make life here treacherous and viable at the same time.

Known as motorizados, they carry passengers and deliver packages, zipping between the lanes of shiny Jeep Cherokees and dilapidated Ford Country Squires that guzzle subsidized gasoline and clog roads in monumental traffic jams.

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