Ridiculous Idol Excuses (Compiled)

If there is an entertainment trend ripe for satire, it is the begging-for-attention smut routines at nationally televised music awards shows. How low can these "artists" go? Sadly, there is always another frontier. "American Idol" runner-up Adam Lambert was the latest offender at the Nov. 22 American Music Awards on ABC, with a routine complete with S&M bondage slaves, deep male-on-male kissing and simulated fellatio on stage.

All in front of millions upon millions of impressionable youngsters. It was another in-your-face Janet Jackson moment.

There's only one thing that makes this funny. It's the idea that somehow none of this was planned, that it was just a spontaneous eruption. ABC was embarrassed enough by Lambert to cancel a planned performance on "Good Morning America." If they expected cheers for that, they're sadly mistaken. ABC clearly wanted to avoid making its news division question the entertainment division's horrendous decision-making.

Every piece of evidence we have suggests ABC and Lambert knew exactly what they were going to do. Lambert told MTV to expect something really sexy. "I was looking for a certain sensuality," he explained about choosing his dancers, and said the S&M wardrobe was "amazing." MTV reported it would feature the sensibility of his music video for the song he performed: "Adam Lambert is fully embracing the S&M lyrics featured in his single. Greased up dancers are dolled up in leather, dog collars, nipple clamps (zoinks!) and platform boots."

The rough-sex lyrics of the song ABC approved for national consumption are very clear: "I'ma hold ya down until you're amazed/Give it to ya till your screaming my name." And this: "Baby, I'm in control/Take the pain/Take the pleasure/I'm the master of both."

For their part, ABC repeatedly told viewers to stick around for Lambert's routine. They scheduled it at the very end of show so they could suggest it was irresponsible for parents if their children caught this porny show right before the late news.

It is clearly offensive to watch ABC and Dick Clark Productions now play dumb in their official statement: "Due to the live nature of the show we did not expect the impromptu moment in question," they jointly declared after the edited West Coast version. There was no "impromptu moment" that was in question. It was the entire disgusting performance, approved and promoted by ABC and Dick Clark Productions.

CBS News jumped in to promote Lambert where ABC left off. How dumb did Adam Lambert think America was? Let's survey his comical answers.

1. Did you have any idea your performance at the AMAs would ignite this firestorm? Lambert said: "No clue. No clue at all."

2. Did you plan those sexually charged moves in the rehearsal? Lambert: "Those kind of came from more of a impromptu place. No, those were not rehearsed."

3. This was the best question from CBS interviewer Maggie Rodriguez: Now that you have had time to think about the children, your child fans, do you feel that you need to apologize to them? Lambert's absolutely classic answer: "I think it's up to the parents to -- to discern what their child's watching on television."

4. Rodriguez followed up: "Well, but they had no idea they were about to see something like that on network TV." That's where Lambert started sounding like a lawyer: "Well, you know -- and you know, just to play devil's advocate with you, Lady Gaga smashing whiskey bottles. Janet Jackson grabbing a male dancer's crotch. Eminem talked about how Slim Shady has '17 rapes under his belt.' There's a lot of very adult material on the AMAs this year and I know I wasn't the only one. I'm not using that as an excuse and I don't have any -- I didn't take any offense with those performers' choices, I'm just saying I think it's up to a parent to watch the television. It was almost 11 at night. If they're concerned with certain material, maybe TiVo it and preview it before your small child is watching it."

Oh, shut up. Rodriguez summed up Lambert's lack of regret:

5. So you don't feel that it's your responsibility to issue an apology? Lambert unfurled what could be a motto for the entertainment world in general: "I'm not a baby sitter. I'm a performer."

So we can blame Lambert, we can blame ABC, and for starting this all, we can blame Fox and "American Idol." They took up Lambert and made him a gender-bending crusader for gay liberation in entertainment. Sexual politics trumped his screechy (and let's face it, lack of) talent. Lambert's honesty about his absolute, leather-bound mission to offend came out at the CBS interview's end. He was asked if he had to do it over again, what would he do differently? "I would sing it a little bit better."

Ridiculous Idol Excuses (Compiled)

Muslim world celebrates Eid al-Adha(Compiled)

Celebrated by Muslims throughout the world on the first day of Eid al-Adha amid mixed with joy, and not April tragedies experienced by their brethren in many countries, and praying to God Almighty to bring together the nation.
وأدى المسلمون بالفلبين صلاة العيد في أجواء من السرور والبهجة، وشارك النساء والأطفال بالصلاة بأحد ضواحي العاصمة مانيلا في تجمع مهيب طغت عليه الألوان فظهر كأنه مهرجان. The Philippine Muslim Eid prayer in an atmosphere of happiness and joy, and co women and children to pray in a suburb of the capital Manila, a grand gathering was overshadowed by the colors appeared like a festival.
وفي إندونيسيا -أكبر دولة إسلامية من حيث تعداد السكان- شارك الملايين في صلاة عيد الأضحى بأنحاء البلاد، وظهر ذلك التجمع جليا بالعاصمة جاكرتا. In Indonesia - the largest Muslim country in terms of population - participated in the prayers of millions across the country, Eid al-Adha, the back of that grouping evident in the capital Jakarta.
وشهدت العاصمة القديمة لكزاخستان آلماتا صلاة العيد أداها ملايين المسلمين وسط أجواء من الفرح، انطلقوا بعدها لذبح الأضاحي. And saw the old capital of Almaty, Kazakhstan Eid prayer is performed by millions of Muslims in an atmosphere of joy, then set off for the slaughter of sacrificial animals.
Also led the Muslim masses in most Arab countries, the Eid prayer, and praying to God to collect pieces of the nation and to relieve stress and restore them to their owners, the occupied territories in Palestine, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque and free from Israeli occupation.
وشاركت جموع المسلمين حجاج بيت الله الحرام في أداء صلاة العيد في المسجد الحرام بمكة المكرمة. Participated the Muslim masses of pilgrims in the Eid prayers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. وتوافد الآلاف من المقدسيين والمواطنين الفلسطينيين القادمين من داخل الخط الأخضر إلى الحرم القدسي الشريف لأداء صلاة العيد، وسط انتشار لقوات الاحتلال على البوابات المؤدية إلى البلدة القديمة. The influx of thousands of Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem and from inside the Green Line to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the Eid prayer, amid the spreading of the occupation forces at the gates leading to the old town.
وفي حي الشيخ جراح بالبلدة القديمة أقيمت الصلاة في خيمة الاعتصام التي نصبتها عائلتا غاوي وحنون بعد طردهما من منازلهما واستيلاء المستوطنين عليها، حيث خطب بالمصلين رئيس الحركة الإسلامية الشيخ رائد صلاح الذي تمنعه سلطات الاحتلال من دخول المسجد الأقصى. In the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood prayer was held in the Old City in the protest tent erected by families of Ghawi and affectionate Mnazlhma after the expulsion of the settlers and the capture of them, as worshipers speeches Islamic Movement head Sheikh Raed Salah, the occupation authorities prevented him from entering the Al Aqsa Mosque.
وفي قطاع غزة المحاصر أدى الأهالي صلاة العيد، ورغم المآسي وما يشهده القطاع لم تغب الفرحة عن أطفاله حيث يشعر مشردو القطاع جراء الحرب الإسرائيلية الأخيرة وتدمير منازلهم، بوطأة العيد أكثر من غيرهم. In the besieged Gaza Strip residents led the Eid prayer, and despite the tragedies witnessed by the sector have not lost the joy of the children can feel Mushardo sector due to the recent Israeli war and the destruction of homes, holiday pinch more than others.

وتأبى فرحة العيد إلا أن تزاحم مشاعر الخوف والحزن على وجوه سكان بعض الدول الإسلامية ومنها باكستان التي تقيد المخاوف الأمنية فرحة العيد عندهم وكذلك أفغانستان وفي الأراضي الفلسطينية المحتلة والعراق والصومال. And avoids the joy of the feast, to vie with the feelings of fear and sadness on the faces of residents in some Islamic countries, including Pakistan, which restrict the security concerns have the joy of Eid, as well as Afghanistan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Iraq and Somalia.

Muslim world celebrates Eid al-Adha(Compiled)

Wall Street prepares to plunge (Compiled)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set to plunge Friday in tandem with worldwide markets, as Dubai World and its debt woes threatened Wall Street's confidence.

Dow Jones industrial average, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures plummeted, by nearly 300 points on the pre-market Dow alone, hinting that stocks could take a dive during their abbreviated session on Black Friday.

Futures measure current index values against the perceived future performance, though they're not always an accurate forecast of stock activity after the bell.

The problems stem from Dubai World, the finance arm of Dubai, which is considering a postponement of payments on nearly $60 billion in debt. The debt was used to fuel a construction boom over the last few years, including its palm-tree shaped island projects, but the Middle East nation was hit hard by a real estate crunch.

"We had a market that was pretty strong, that in one sense was looking increasingly able to shrug off bad news," said Philip Isherwood, equities strategist at Evolution Securities in London. "Suddenly, we've had a shock to the confidence."

Isherwood said the global impact from Dubai World's financial difficulties "is not so huge" and "not worth 300 points of the Dow." But it serves as a nasty "wake-up call" to investor confidence.

"There isn't an absence of risk," he said. "There is always risk. We've just been reminded of that."

Wall Street ended Wednesday on a positive note, with the Dow Jones rising 31 points to hit a fresh 13-month high.

Stocks were boosted by tumbling jobless claims, which the Labor Department said hit a 14-month low last week, and a rise in new home sales.

Retail: Retailers -- including Toys R Us, which opened its doors at midnight on Thanksgiving -- were welcoming shoppers taking advantage of "doorbuster" deals to mark Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500), the world's biggest retailer, stayed open Thanksgiving Day, but offered its specials beginning at 5 a.m.

While economists are calling an end to the recession, a record high jobless rate at 10.2% and a tight lending environment were likely to cause consumers to curb spending.

Companies: AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) announced late Wednesday it agreed to settle a long-standing legal battle with the insurance giant's former chairman, Maurice "Hank" Greenberg.

The parties agreed to release each other from all claims, including those filed by Greenberg against AIG for payments of future legal fees and other settlement costs.

They also agreed to submit past claims for AIG's payment of legal fees to a third party to determine how much AIG is legally obligated to pay up to $150 million.

World Markets: In Europe, London's FTSE 100, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 all fell by less than 1% in morning trading after big selloffs on Thursday. In Asia, the decline was much more dramatic. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell nearly 5% and Tokyo's Nikkei dropped almost 4%.

Money, oil and gold: The dollar gained Friday versus all major international currencies except the yen, after sliding to a 15-month low Wednesday.

Gold slipped in electronic trading, by $29.30 to $1,157.70 an ounce, after having hit a record high of $1,187 Wednesday.

The price of oil took a dive. Oil dropped $3.90 a barrel to $74.06 in electronic trading.

Wall Street prepares to plunge (Compiled)

Iran rebuked over nuclear 'cover-up' by UN watchdog (Compiled)

The UN nuclear watchdog's governing body has passed a resolution condemning Iran for developing a uranium enrichment site in secret.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also demanded that Iran freeze the project immediately.

The resolution, the first against Iran in nearly four years, was passed by a 25-3 margin with six abstentions.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes, but the US says it is seeking nuclear weapons.

In September, it emerged that as well as its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, Iran has a second such facility near the town of Qom. The revelation deepened Western fears about the country's nuclear ambitions.

The resolution was passed with rare Russian and Chinese backing, and the BBC's Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says it is a sign of Iran's growing isolation.

Tehran described the move as a "hasty and undue" step that could jeopardise talks on the issue.

Tehran has failed to agree to a US-backed plan under which its low-enriched uranium would be shipped overseas for processing into fuel.

This is seen as a way for Iran to get the fuel it wants, while giving guarantees to the West that it will not be used for nuclear weapons.

Iran rebuked over nuclear 'cover-up' by UN watchdog (Compiled)

Businesses in U.S. Brace for New Rules on Emissions (Compiled)

The nation’s corporations have long been bracing for the day when they would be required to carry out sharp cuts in the emissions that cause global warming. That day seemed to move a bit closer on Wednesday, when President Obama outlined a national target for such reductions.

Much of corporate America has already been thinking about how to comply. Many businesses concluded years ago that such limits were inevitable, and they have been calling on Congress to define the exact rules they will need to follow.

Already, many companies are recording their emissions and analyzing the results. Some have set voluntary targets for reductions and are claiming substantial progress in meeting them. Sustainability — a notion mostly heard in environmental circles only a decade ago — has become a mainstream idea to which some companies are committed and many are paying lip service.

Major corporations, including General Electric, the Ford Motor Company and PepsiCo, have teamed up with environmental groups to set up the United States Climate Action Partnership, a wide-ranging coalition trying to find ways to cut emissions throughout the economy.

Wal-Mart, the nation’s top retailer, has outlined strict goals to reduce energy consumption at its stores and has instructed hundreds of thousands of suppliers to report their energy usage and carbon dioxide emissions. In a speech at a summit meeting in China last year, H. Lee Scott Jr., Wal-Mart’s president and chief executive, said, “Sustainability can and should be a big part of the solution.”

In the energy sector, some corporations have also been vocal in demanding clarity on emissions. James E. Rogers, the chief executive of Duke Energy, a large power company and a major emitter of carbon dioxide, says that clear rules are needed to ensure that companies relying on coal-fired power plants can finance their transition to lower-carbon fuels, like natural gas or nuclear power. Coal accounts for half of the nation’s electric generation.

“A well-designed cap will provide a smooth transition to clean electricity,” Mr. Rogers said in an ad that ran over the summer.

Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, said, “Industry needs certainty, and without a very strong role played by the administration, they are not likely to get it.” She added, “Real leadership from the White House is the only way to get a bill through the Senate, and a bill is how we will get certainty.”

Until now, the United States had been the only industrialized economy to shun hard targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The nation has been overtaken by China as the top emitter of carbon dioxide, but Americans are bigger carbon polluters per person than citizens of other countries.

The White House said on Wednesday that the president would present a provisional target at the Copenhagen summit meeting on climate next month to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will be “in the range” of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent below by 2050, the White House said.

That target reflects the goals specified by legislation that was passed in the House in June. A similar bill is bogged down in the Senate, which would set cuts of 20 percent by 2020.

Limiting the growth in greenhouse gas emissions, let alone cutting them, will require a radical transformation of the nation’s energy consumption and fuels that will most likely take decades. It is bound to hurt some energy-intensive businesses, like petroleum refiners and coal-fired power plants, and some manufacturers, while bolstering the development of alternative power industries like solar and wind.

To reduce emissions, Congress has been looking at a mechanism called cap and trade, in which legislators would set a limit on the nation’s emissions and it would decline each year. They would also assign pollution permits that companies could then buy and sell depending on their needs.

Much of the legislative horse-trading in recent months centered on which sectors of the economy would receive these carbon allowances free, as a subsidy to switch to low-carbon fuels or to invest in carbon-abating technologies, and which industries must pay for them.

Corporate America is by no means unanimous in embracing the idea of emission limits. Larger corporations, especially those operating in both the United States and Europe, have gone furthest in tackling their emissions. By contrast, many small businesses and domestic manufacturers have made little headway, and they are worried about the higher energy costs that an attack on global warming would require.

Oil producers have opposed the current climate legislation being debated in Congress. Refiners and producers claim the bill would result in higher gasoline bills, lower domestic output and an increase in fuel imports.

“In the midst of a severe recession with 10.2 percent national unemployment, our economy, the creation of jobs and consumer impact should take much greater precedence over attempts to impress international bureaucrats during an annual convention,” Charles T. Drevna, the president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, wrote on a recent blog post, referring to the Copenhagen meeting.

Some of the nation’s biggest trade groups, including the powerful United States Chamber of Commerce and the American Farm Bureau Federation, have also been fighting the climate legislation through ads and a protracted lobbying battle on Capital Hill.

The National Association of Manufacturers said recently that a climate bill would result in job losses and slower economic growth. The Senate bill, it said, represents a “significant technological and economic challenge to manufacturers while resulting in little benefit to the environment.”

But the chamber’s attacks against climate policy have also led to a wave of well-publicized resignations from the trade group — by prominent companies like Apple and Nike, and the utilities Pacific Gas and Electric, Exelon and PNM Resources. All of them assailed the chamber’s climate policy as counterproductive.

“Nike believes that climate change is an urgent issue affecting the world today and that businesses and their representative associations need to take an active role to invest in sustainable business practices and innovative solutions to address the issue,” the company said after quitting the chamber in September.

Since coming into office, the Obama administration has encouraged the development of lower-carbon technologies and has sought to increase the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles. Venture capital firms have also been pouring billions of dollars into alternative energy projects, car companies are working on electric vehicles, and some power utilities have welcomed incentives to switch to low-carbon sources of energy.

Adam Sieminski, the chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank, said that setting a goal was a constructive step, but that much more work remains to map out ways the country can actually meet the president’s target. That includes increasing the use of natural gas to replace coal in the short term, in his view, and adding more nuclear power in the long run.

“We have a lot of ideas on the table,” he said. “But no one has actually agreed to the blueprint that would allow us to get to the goal that the president has outlined.”

Businesses in U.S. Brace for New Rules on Emissions (Compiled)

China Pulls Out Its Driver (compiled)

We're terribly sorry to report this, but there are some people on Earth who don't have the highest regard for golf. They say it's an elitist pastime for fancy people and garden-party intellectuals—more of a leisure pursuit than the sort of activity that cultivates one's muscles.

In China, where the sport hardly existed a quarter of a century ago, this stereotype has persisted. It was the nation's wealthiest classes that first adopted the game, building exclusive private courses like Shenzhen's sprawling Mission Hills Golf Club, which has 12 courses of 18 holes each, making it the world's largest golf club.
The popular ranks of the nation's athletes, however—the ones who are ambitious about leveraging their talent—don't pay the sport much attention. The government, which controls the sports scene here with its lavish spending on development programs, has anointed tennis, soccer, basketball and table tennis as the mandatory school sports. In the past four years alone, about 800,000 basketball courts have been built in China, pushing the estimated number of players to about 400 million.

But what the promise of a green jacket can't accomplish, a gold medal just might.

After last month's announcement by the International Olympic Committee that golf will be a medal sport starting in 2016, China's golf leaders are bursting with optimism. They have started pushing Beijing to begin building public driving ranges and courses in hopes of incubating talent.

Earlier this month, Mission Hills wrapped up its first-ever Asian Amateur Championship tournament—which was held in conjunction with Augusta National Golf Club and Scotland's Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Thanks to those relationships, the winner was given an automatic invitation to next year's Masters.

Mission Hills also announced plans to launch its own Chinese junior tour in January, with bi-weekly 18-hole tournaments and an affordable annual membership fee of 500 Chinese yuan, or about $73.

"These stepping stones are crucial to our mission of nurturing the next Tiger Woods," says Tenniel Chu, Mission Hills' executive director. After the Olympics announcement, Mr. Chu said, "golf is no longer an elitist sport—it's an official sport in the Chinese world."
Prior to the IOC's announcement, one of the most ambitious things the China Golf Association had said was that the country could have 20 million recreational golfers by 2020 (the U.S. has about 26 million).

But since the Olympic vote, the sport's backers in China seem to have raised their sights a bit. At the announcement of the Chinese junior tour, Xu Deli, chairman of the provincial-level Guangdong Golf Association, said, "We want to produce not just one Tiger Woods, but many Tiger Woods. In 2016, I hope that some of these golfers will be part of that competition."

For golf to prosper here, it will need more public facilities and a stronger amateur circuit to cultivate young talent. Mr. Chu says China still has less than 100 amateur tournaments a year, compared to the U.S.'s 600-plus tournaments each year. China will also need more and better golf instruction (Mission Hills has three golf academies) and, eventually, some domestic stars. "All we need is a local hero—a Yao Ming of golf would be tremendous for the sport," Mr. Chu says.

One of the great hopes so far in Chinese golf is a 21-year-old named Han Ren, who shot a few holes with Tiger Woods when the U.S. star visited in 2001. Without an ecosystem to thrive in back home, Mr. Han was sent overseas to take his game to the next level—first to Canada in 2003 and then to Indiana University, where he is a junior.

Last month, Mr. Han returned to Shenzhen for the Asian amateur tournament. After shooting a 65, he took a quick lead ahead of his South Korean and Australian rivals, only to cede his position on day two. In the end, the top Chinese finisher placed 11th in the tournament, with competitors from Australia, New Zealand and golf-crazy South Korea sweeping the top six spots

China Pulls Out Its Driver (compiled)

Obama speaks on Afghanistan Tuesday; goes to climate summit Dec. 9 (Copiled)

Two key scheduling matters:

President Obama will make his case for a new strategy in Afghanistan on Tuesday at 8 p.m., from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point .

Obama will attend the Copenhagen global warming summit on Dec. 9, a day before he accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

In his Afghanistan speech, Obama will lay out his plans for troop increases along with an exit strategy for the war now in its ninth year, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

"We're not going to be there another eight or nine years," Gibbs said, adding that Obama had not told him how many additional troops he plans to deploy to the region.

Gibbs said the president will also discuss the financial costs of the war.

"It's very, very, very expensive," Gibbs said.

As for the big international climate summit in Copenhagen, White House environmental adivser Carol Browner said the president will offer to reduce U.S. greenhouse emissions to 17% below their 2005 levels over the next decade.

Obama speaks on Afghanistan Tuesday; goes to climate summit Dec. 9 (Copiled)

Philippines' key suspect surrenders (Compiled)

The lead suspect accused of masterminding the massacre of at least 57 people in the Philippines has turned himself in to police, officials have said.

Andal Ampatuan Jr is a local mayor and member of a powerful political clan in Maguindanao province on the southern island of Mindanao.

He has denied any responsibility for the killings.

Ampatuan Jr gave himself up to Jesus Dureza, a presidential adviser, in the provincial capital on Thursday and was expected to be flown to Manila for formal questioning, officials said.
"The family voluntarily surrendered him and they agreed that he will be investigated," military commander Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said.

Ampatuan Jr has been fingered as the lead suspect in what is believed to be the Philippines' worst ever politically-linked killings.

His father, Andal Ampatuan Sr, is the provincial governor who has been grooming his son to succeed him in elections due next year.

The family also has close political ties to the Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo, although on Thursday officials in Arroyo's party said Ampatuan Jr, his father and a brother had been expelled following an emergency meeting of the party leadership.
'Not guilty'
Following his surrender, Ampatuan Jr was taken into military custody and flown out of the provincial capital in an army helicopter.

Asked by reporters if he was involved in the killings, Ampatuan Jr, who tried to hide his face with a scarf, replied: "There is no truth to that. The reason I came out is to prove that I am not hiding and that I am not guilty."

Ronaldo Puno, the Philippines interior secretary, said he had warned the family they risked a military attack unless Ampatuan Jr gave himself up by midday on Thursday.
His surrender comes as a man who says he was a witness to Monday's killings told Al Jazeera that Ampatuan Jr had directly ordered the massacre, targeting a political rival for the provincial governorship.

The witness, who identified himself only as "Boy", said he was among more than 100 armed men who held up a convoy of political campaigners and journalists before taking them to a remote mountainous area.

He said Ampatuan Jr had ordered the gunmen to kill all the members of a rival political clan, including women and children, and to make sure no evidence was left behind.

"Datu Andal himself said… anyone from the Mangudadatu clan - women or children - should be killed," he told Al Jazeera.

"We don't ask why, we just follow orders."

"Boy", who is now in hiding fearing his life is in danger, said all of the women in the group had been raped before being killed and their bodies dumped in mass graves that had already been dug out using an excavator.

Arrests

On Thursday security forces said they had arrested 20 people in connection with Monday's massacre.
The arrests come after police at the scene of the massacre discovered another 11 bodies buried in shallow graves, taking the death toll to at least 57.

The first funerals of some of the victims also took place on Thursday, more than three days after the massacre, although the bodies of several others have yet to be identified.

The killings occurred after about 100 suspected Ampatuan gunmen allegedly ambushed a convoy of aides and relatives of a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, as well as a group of accompanying journalists.

The victims were snatched as they were travelling to file election papers nominating Mangudadatu as a candidate for provincial governor in next year's poll.

According to investigators, the victims were shot at close range, some with their hands tied behind their backs, before being dumped or buried in shallow graves on a remote hillside.

Death threats

Mangudadatu, the rival candidate for governor, was not himself in the convoy because he had received death threats and said he thought the women he sent in his place would be safe.
He has pressed senior Philippine government officials to immediately arrest and prosecute those behind the killings.

Mangudadatu said four witnesses in his protection had told him the convoy was stopped by armed men loyal to Ampatuan Jr, to prevent his family from filing election papers.

"It was really planned because they had already dug a huge hole [for the bodies]," he told reporters earlier this week, adding that there were reports from the area that the militia had been blocking the road for a few days.

Among those killed were at least 20 journalists accompanying the convoy, in what media monitoring groups have labelled as the worst-ever single attack on journalists anywhere in the world.

The massacre has put intense pressure on the government of Gloria Arroyo, the Philippine president, to take decisive action against the Ampatuan clan.

She has vowed an all-out effort to bring those responsible for the killings to justice, saying that no one would be seen to be above the law.

In the wake of the massacre Arroyo declared a state of emergency in Maguindanao and a neighbouring province, ordering hundreds of extra troops to the area.

Philippines' key suspect surrenders (Compiled)

Obama to announce Afghanistan troop strategy Tuesday (Compiled)

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama will announce the U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan in a speech at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

In the speech, Obama will explain why the United States is in Afghanistan, its interests there and his decision-making process, Gibbs said, but "the president does not see this as an open-ended engagement.

"Our time there will be limited, and I think that's important for people to understand," he said.

"We are in year nine" in Afghanistan, Gibbs told reporters. "We're not going to be there another eight or nine years."

Obama will meet with members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday afternoon before the speech.
Video: More troops to Afghanistan
Video: More troops in Afghanistan?
Video: Debating Afghanistan strategy

Cost issues are among the topics the president will address, Gibbs said.

"It's a million dollars a troop for a year," he said. "Ten thousand troops is $10 billion. That's in addition to what we already spend in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That also does not include training, and it doesn't include the maintaining of a security force. It's very, very, very expensive."

But, Gibbs added, "I think the president, throughout this process, has talked about the cost in terms of American lives and in terms of the cost to our treasury, and I think he'll continue to talk about it."

The president ordered more than 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, reportedly has called for up to 40,000 more to wage a counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban, the Islamic militia originally ousted by U.S. military action in 2001.

Obama has weighed several options for bolstering the American contingent, ranging from sending a few thousand troops to the 40,000 McChrystal requested.

A defense official told CNN earlier this week the Pentagon is making detailed plans to send about 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan in anticipation of Obama's decision on the 8-year-old war.

There had been no final word on Obama's decision as of Tuesday, said the Defense Department official, who has direct knowledge of the process. But the official said planners have been tasked with preparing to send 34,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan with the expectation that Obama was leaning toward approving that many.

Obama to announce Afghanistan troop strategy Tuesday (Compiled)

Germany's top soldier quits over Afghanistan raid (Compiled)

Germany's top soldier has resigned over a Nato air strike in Afghanistan in which civilians are thought to have died, the defence minister said.

Wolfgang Schneiderhan stood down over the 4 September attack in Kunduz on fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban.

His decision followed reports that information about the strike - ordered by a German commander - was withheld, the defence minister said.

The strike is thought to have killed dozens of civilians collecting fuel.

Taliban fighters had seized the two tankers while they were being driven from Tajikistan to supply Nato forces in Kabul.

Reports said that villagers were taking fuel from the tankers when the strike happened.

According to the independent Afghanistan Rights Monitor group, up to 70 civilians died.

Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told parliament that Gen Schneiderhan had failed to provide proper information about the incident.

Germany's top soldier quits over Afghanistan raid (Compiled)

President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach

STRASBOURG (Reuters) - President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach to Afghanistan but his European allies stopped short of offering long-term troop deployments for the war effort.

Leaders of the 28-nation military alliance pledged at a summit to send 3,000 more troops on short-term assignments to boost security for August 20 elections in Afghanistan, and some 2,000 more personnel to train Afghan security forces.

They also promised to send 300 paramilitary police trainers and provide $600 million to finance the Afghan army and civilian assistance, Obama said.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said allies were united in support for the strategy championed by Obama, who favors a regional approach to Afghanistan with a stepped-up civilian effort and training of Afghan security forces.

He said more than 10 countries announced new contributions.

"We will be supporting the elections; we will be improving training for the Afghan soldiers," he told a news conference. "Many allies have stepped up to the plate this morning and the concrete results of this summit are very, very good indeed."

Obama, who has sought to use his popularity in Europe to wring concessions from allies, said he was pleased by the pledges and that "a substantial step forward" had been taken.

But he added: "We will need more resources and a sustained effort to achieve our ultimate goals."

Source: uk.reuters.com

President Barack Obama won NATO backing on Saturday for his new approach

U.S. President Barack Obama Outlines Nuclear Disarmament Plan

PRAGUE -- Under a hazy spring sky, before a swelling Czech crowd, U.S. President Barack Obama called for an international effort to lock down nuclear weapons materials within four years, one of a host of steps he said would move the globe to nuclear disarmament.

Speaking just hours after North Korea launched a controversial multistage rocket, the U.S. president took to the stage in Castle Square here, testifying "clearly and with conviction" to an audience of at least 20,000 of "America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."

"We have to insist, 'Yes, we can,'" he said, reprising a battle theme recognizable to a crowd a continent away from his campaign victory.

It was the first public, set-piece speech on the fifth day of his first major trip abroad, but the promise of renewed arms-control efforts may have been overshadowed by the reality of North Korea's launch. Mr. Obama said he would consult with Japan, South Korea and other Asian neighbors before seeking sanctions at the United Nations Security Council, which was to convene in New York Sunday afternoon for an emergency session.

"Rules must be minded. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," the president told the crowd, calling the launch a provocative act that violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. "The world must stand together to stop the spread of these weapons."

Mr. Obama's European tour has become increasingly ambitious as he has proceeded eastward. He has vowed to help end the global recession and remake the world's financial architecture, ramp up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's war on Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan and now secure nuclear material and work toward "a nuclear-free world."

A foreign-policy agenda that grows fuller by the day comes on top of an already jam-packed domestic agenda that includes a national health plan, financial restructuring and rescue, a new alternative-energy economy and an aggressive federal intervention in education.

Specifically, Mr. Obama called for an international convention to draft a treaty abolishing the production of fissile materials that can be used to create nuclear weapons. An international "nuclear fuel bank" -- stocked in part by scrapped nuclear warheads -- could be accessed by nations seeking to develop and sustain peaceful nuclear-energy programs. That way, they wouldn't have to develop their own nuclear-enrichment programs.

He also called for new steps to secure existing nuclear materials and warheads, especially in Russia, before it leaches onto a black market where terrorists could acquire it. He vowed to lock down such weapons and materials within four years, calling for a global summit in the U.S. within a year.

Lamenting "the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War," Mr. Obama said, "In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up."

He reiterated the pledge he made Wednesday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to conclude a new bilateral treaty reducing the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals below the 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads agreed on in 2002. The treaty is to be concluded by the end of the year, with progress assessed at a July summit in Moscow.

He will also "immediately and aggressively pursue" Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, concluded by President Bill Clinton in 1996, then abandoned by President George W. Bush after a Republican-controlled Senate voted it down.

North Korea's missile launch put new urgency into the arms control agenda, Mr. Obama said before a morning meeting with the Czech leadership.

But it also threatened to overshadow the message. The White House received confirmation just after 4:30 a.m. Prague time. Shortly afterwards, staff woke the president up for consultations with Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Defense Secretary Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones and his NSC staff.

The Prague speech was billed as a sober, serious policy address, but the White House disregarded the advice of some in the Czech government and opened it to the public on a large square behind the castle that overlooks what Mr. Obama called "this golden city, both ancient and youthful."

Rock music from the Obama campaign pulsated, while Czechs waved small American flags. A camera swept over the crowd on a boom that extended over the square, flanked by baroque government buildings. Mr. Obama ascended the stage with First Lady Michelle Obama to the symphonic strains of the Moldau, by Czech composer Bedric Smetna. Under a temperate April sky, he evoked the Prague Spring of 1968, when the city tried to rise up against communist oppression, and the Velvet Revolution of 1989, when the city finally and peacefully overcame communism.

A Jumbotron beaming his English speech in Czech was invisible to all but a few of the crowd, a fact that likely subdued the crowd.

The site was chosen carefully. Czechs have been deeply divided over the efforts by former President George W. Bush to deploy elements of an antimissile system in their country, a move Russia angrily opposes but which Washington insists is targeted as Teheran, not Moscow.

Applause rose up in only part of the crowd when Mr. Obama vowed to pursue the missile shield as long as Iran pursued its nuclear ambitions. Another part of the audience cheered when he suggested he could drop the effort if Iran is deemed no longer a threat.

White House aides said the Kremlin was one of the target audiences of the speech, but so were North Korea and Iran.

Ahead of a review conference next year of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Mr. Obama wants to take concrete steps to make good on the nuclear nations' side of the bargain in the treaty: In exchange for nonnuclear nations' promises to forgo nuclear weapons development, the nuclear club was supposed to work toward disarmament while aiding the spread of peaceful nuclear technology.

White House national security aides hope Mr. Obama's efforts will isolate Teheran and Pyongyang.

"We're trying to seize the moral high ground," said Gary Samore, White House coordinator for weapons of mass destruction, security and arms control.

Source:online.wsj.com

U.S. President Barack Obama Outlines Nuclear Disarmament Plan

North Korea's KCNA news agency on Sunday saying the communist state had successfully put a satellite into orbit:

SEOUL, April 5 (Reuters) - Following is a full text of the English-language report on North Korea's KCNA news agency on Sunday saying the communist state had successfully put a satellite into orbit:

"Scientists and technicians of the DPRK (North Korea) have succeeded in putting satellite Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, into orbit by means of carrier rocket Unha-2 under the state's long-term plan for the development of outer space.

"Unha-2, which was launched at the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province at 11:20 (0220 GMT) on April 5, accurately put Kwangmyongsong-2 into its orbit at 11:29:02, nine minutes and two seconds after its launch.

"The satellite is going round the earth along its elliptic orbit at the angle of inclination of 40.6 degrees at 490 km perigee and 1,426 km apogee. Its cycle is 104 minutes and 12 seconds.

"Mounted on the satellite are necessary measuring devices and communications apparatuses.

"The satellite is going round on its routine orbit.

"It is sending to the earth the melodies of the immortal revolutionary paeans 'Song of General Kim Il-sung' and 'Song of General Kim Jong-il' and measured information at 470 MHz. By the use of the satellite the relay communications is now underway by UHF frequency band.

"The satellite is of decisive significance in promoting the scientific researches into the peaceful use of outer space and solving scientific and technological problems for the launch of practical satellites in the future.

"Carrier rocket Unha-2 has three stages.

"The carrier rocket and the satellite developed by the indigenous wisdom and technology are the shining results gained in the efforts to develop the nation's space science and technology on a higher level.

"The successful satellite launch is symbolic of the leaping advance made in the nation's space science and technology was conducted against the background of the stirring period when a high-pitched drive for bringing about a fresh great revolutionary surge is under way throughout the country to open the gate to a great prosperous and powerful nation without fail by 2012, the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il-sung, under the far-reaching plan of leader Kim Jong-il.

"This is powerfully encouraging the Korean people all out in the general advance."

Source: reuters.com

North Korea's KCNA news agency on Sunday saying the communist state had successfully put a satellite into orbit:

A gunman barricaded the back door blocks NY center's door, kills 13

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – A gunman barricaded the back door of a community center with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class Friday, killing 13 people before apparently committing suicide, officials said.

Investigators said they had yet to establish a motive for the massacre, which was at least the fifth deadly mass shooting in the U.S. in the past month alone.

The attack came just after 10 a.m. at the American Civic Association, an organization that helps immigrants settle in this country. Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said the gunman parked his car against the back door, "making sure nobody could escape," then stormed through the front, shooting two receptionists, apparently without a word.

The killer, believed to be a Vietnamese immigrant, then entered a room just off the reception area and fired on a citizenship class.

"The people were trying to better themselves, trying to become citizens," the police chief said.

One receptionist was killed, while the other, shot in the abdomen, pretended to be dead and then crawled under a desk and called 911, he said.

Police said they arrived within two minutes.

The rest of those killed were shot in the classroom. Four people were critically wounded.

The man believed to have carried out the attack was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an office, a satchel containing ammunition slung around his neck, authorities said. Police found two handguns — a 9 mm and a .45-caliber — and a hunting knife.

Thirty-seven people in all made it out of the building, including 26 who hid in the boiler room in the basement, cowering there for three hours while police methodically searched the building and tried to determine whether the gunman was still alive and whether he was holding any hostages, Zikuski said.

Those in the basement stayed in contact with police by cell phone, switching from one phone to another when their batteries ran out, Zikuski said. Others hid in closets and under desks.

Police heard no gunfire after they arrived but waited for about an hour before entering the building to make sure it was safe for officers. They then spent two hours searching the building.

They led a number of men out of the building in plastic handcuffs while they tried to sort out the victims from the killer or killers.

Most of the people brought out couldn't speak English, the chief said.

Alex Galkin, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, said he was taking English classes when he heard a shot and quickly went to the basement with about 20 other people.

"It was just panic," Galkin said.

Zhanar Tokhtabayeva, a 30-year-old from Kazakhstan, said she was in an English class when she heard a shot and her teacher screamed for everyone to go to the storage room.

"I heard the shots, every shot. I heard no screams, just silence, shooting," she said. "I heard shooting, very long time, and I was thinking, when will this stop? I was thinking that my life was finished."

Dr. Jeffrey King, speaking at a Catholic Charities office where counseling was being offered Friday night, said he was certain his mother, 72-year-old Roberta King, who taught English at the community center, was among the dead.

Authorities read a list of survivors and his mother's name wasn't on it, he said.

King, one of 10 children, described his mother as a woman brimming with interests ranging from the opera to the preservation society to collecting thousands of dolls. He recollected a recent conversation in which he told her to enjoy her retirement.

"I said, 'Mom you're in your 70s,'" King said. "She said, 'What? You don't think I enjoy working?'"

President Barack Obama, who was traveling in Europe, said he was shocked and saddened by the shooting, which he called an "act of senseless violence." He said he and his wife, Michelle Obama, were praying for the victims, their families and the people of Binghamton, about 140 miles northwest of New York City.

Gov. David Paterson said the massacre was probably "the worst tragedy and senseless crime in the history of this city." Noting mass killings in Alabama and Oakland, Calif., last month, he said: "When are we going to be able to curb the kind of violence that is so fraught and so rapid that we can't even keep track of the incidents?"

The community center was holding class "for those who want to become citizens of the United States of America, who wanted to be part of the American Dream, and so tragically may have had that hope thwarted today," the governor said. "But there still is an American dream, and all of us who are Americans will try to heal this very, very deep wound in the city of Binghamton."

Center officials issued a statement Friday night saying they were "stricken with grief about today's horrific assault and share this grief with the victims' families, our community and the entire nation."

The suspected gunman carried ID with the name of 42-year-old Jiverly Voong, of nearby Johnson City, N.Y., but that was believed to be an alias, said a law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two handguns were registered to Jiverly Wong, another name the man used. Both officials were not authorized to speak publicly.

Initial reports suggested Voong had recently been let go from IBM. But a person at IBM said there was no record of a Jiverly Voong ever working there.

The police chief would not confirm the name of the dead man with the ammunition satchel, saying authorities were still trying to establish with certainty that he was the gunman.

"We have no idea what the motive is," Zikuski said.

He said the suspected gunman "was no stranger" to the community center and may have gone there to take a class.

A woman who answered the phone at a listing for Henry D. Voong said she was Jiverly Voong's sister but would not give her name. She said her brother had been in the country for 28 years and had citizenship.

"I think there's a misunderstanding over here because I want to know, too," she said.

Friday evening, police searched Voong's house and carried out three computer hard drives, a brown canvas rifle case, a briefcase, a small suitcase and several paper bags.

Police left the Voong home shortly before 8 p.m., soon after four people arrived by car and went into the house. It wasn't clear who they were, but they promptly turned out the lights.

Crime scene tape was stretched across the street about 20 yards from the house, and a steady rain fell as two state troopers stood guard to keep anyone but neighborhood residents from entering the dead-end street.

Waiting outside a Catholic Charities office where counselors were tending to relatives of victims, Omri Yigal said his wife, Delores, was taking English lessons when the gunman attacked. He had no word on what happened to her.

He finally left the center feeling sullen shortly before 8 p.m.

"They told me they don't have much hope for me," the Filipino immigrant said before going home to wait for a telephone call.

The American Civic Association helps immigrants in the Binghamton area with citizenship, resettlement and family reunification. The shootings took place in a neighborhood of homes and small businesses in downtown Binghamton, a city of about 47,000 residents.

The Binghamton area was the home to Endicott-Johnson shoe company and the birthplace of IBM, which between them employed tens of thousands of workers before the shoe company closed a decade ago and IBM downsized in recent years.

A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month left 44 people dead in all.

A gunman killed 10 people and himself in Samson, Ala.; shootings that began with a traffic stop in Oakland, Calif., left four police officers and the gunman dead; an apparent murder-suicide in Santa Clara, Calif., left six dead; and a gunman went on a rampage at a nursing home Sunday, killing seven elderly residents and a nurse who cared for them.

A gunman barricaded the back door blocks NY center's door, kills 13

Pop Singer Madonna ‘to adopt second child from Malawi’

Madonna is expected in Malawi this weekend to try to adopt a second child from the impoverished southern African country, government sources have told The Times.

The pop singer, who divorced Guy Ritchie, the film director, recently, will take her Malawian son David with her to visit his natural father as part of the controversial deal that allowed his adoption to be fast tracked.

“We expect her over the weekend or even earlier than that . . . but without a doubt she is coming,” said an official at the Ministry of Child Development, which deals with foreign adoptions.
Sources also confirmed that Madonna may attend a procedural hearing at the High Court on a second adoption on Monday. However, child rights activists noted that as a single parent the singer could face a bigger legal battle second time round, as Malawian law strongly favours adoptions by married couples.

“She will have to prove that as a single parent she still has the abilities to raise another child alone,” said John Phiri, a local activist who strongly criticised the Government over the previous adoption for apparently bending the regulations.

Malawi does not approve adoptions for single or divorced people as a rule, but the official at the country’s welfare department said that each case was considered on merit.

In an interview with the daily Nation newspaper this month Madonna was quoted as saying that Malawian friends had advised her that David needed a brother or sister. She admitted wanting to adopt again but “only with the support of the Malawian people”.

Writing in response to e-mailed questions from readers last week, Madonna said: “It’s something I have been considering.” Critics had accused the Malawian Government of sidestepping laws banning foreign adoptions simply because Madonna, 50, was a wealthy celebrity.

The singer was accused of “buying” the child after she set up a charity called Raising Malawi, which is about to start building a multimillion-pound school for girls. Madonna took David Banda, then 13 months old, to Britain in 2006, but the adoption was declared official only last year. Normally, children have to stay in the country until the adoption is legalised. Supporters said that David, who had been left in an orphanage by his father, would receive an education and have a life of far greater opportunity. He now lives in a sumptuous flat in New York and already has a lifestyle unimaginable in his native village of Lipunga, where people eke out a living eating maize cooked on open fires, and a wealthy person is someone who earns £1 a day.

After David’s adoption was legalised, Madonna said that the difficulties had arisen because “this adoption essentially was the beginning of the creation of adoption laws in Malawi”. She said she hoped that it would make it easier for others to adopt from the country, adding: “I am the template or the role model, so to speak, for future adoptions.”

The star has two biological children – Rocco, her son with Guy Ritchie, and Lourdes, whose father is Carlos Leon. Madonna’s divorce was finalised in November. David’s father, Yohane Banda, a peasant farmer, said that he had been told he might see his son next week. “Someone from Raising Malawi visited me last week and told me that my son may be visiting me sometime next week. I am delighted. I want to see my son,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.


News Sourc: women.timesonline.co.uk

Pop Singer Madonna ‘to adopt second child from Malawi’

Teen Miley Cyrus Doesn't Want A 'Hannah Montana' Sequel

The teen says one movie is enough for her popular TV character.

Although the film hasn't even opened yet, Miley Cyrus is already pretty sure there will be only be one "Hannah Montana" movie in her life. The Kids' Choice Award-winning 16-year-old, who is currently promoting "Hannah Montana: The Movie," doesn't feel it's necessary to bring the character back to the big screen for a sequel.

"I feel like this is a TV show, and we got really lucky with having the material to make one movie," the actress/singer said Monday, reports UsMagazine.com. "To do another one, I feel like it takes away the reality of it all."

Cyrus isn't ruling out the possibility to continue the role on the small screen, however. In fact, once season three ends, she said she hopes that show will go on, if all the stars align.

"We are continuing to do season three, and we all wish to do a season four, and I would love to do that if the time is right and if that's what everyone agrees on," she said. "I don't know if I would do another film, but I would love to do another season. I think that would be what we would all agree on."

Just because Cyrus doesn't want to return to the big screen as the double-life-leading Hannah doesn't mean she's through with movies. In fact, Cyrus is already gearing up to film a Nicholas Sparks movie this summer. Sparks specifically wrote the screenplay and a novel with Miley in mind.

"You never really hear that the movie was written before the book," Cyrus said. "It's kind of a weird way to do that. But he wrote the movie before he wrote the book, and he wrote it with me in mind."






Though very little details have been revealed about the film, we do know that it revolves around love and family, topics Cyrus knows a little something about.

"I've always been lucky to play parts that relate to me — and this doesn't at all," Cyrus said of her upcoming role. "I have my issues, but not as bad as this chick! I am happy to play someone who is just kind of out there and not someone that I am like."








News Source : mtv.com

Teen Miley Cyrus Doesn't Want A 'Hannah Montana' Sequel

Head to head: Pop Star Madonna adoption

Pop star Madonna is in Malawi awaiting the result of a court bid to adopt an orphan, four-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. Her case has sparked a wider debate over inter-country adoption.

Should parents in affluent countries be encouraged to adopt children from different cultures in the developing world?
Sarah Jacobs is the Africa spokeswoman for the charity Save the Children.

No doubt Madonna is looking to adopt Mercy with the best of intentions.

But such a high-profile adoption risks sending out the wrong message to families around the world.

And far from helping, it could make the situation worse for some of the world's poorest children.

The fact is that the vast majority of children living in orphanages aren't orphans. Most have at least one parent.

And those that don't almost always have extended family that could give them the loving home they need - with the right support.

In most cases it is poverty, and the ensuing hunger and lack of opportunity, that forces parents to give their children up in the hope of giving them a better future. A hope that usually proves a damaging myth.

The problem

No child should have to grow up in an orphanage. They can be dangerous and unregulated places where children are subject to abuse and neglect.
International adoption is trumpeted as a solution, yet the world remains unaware that it can actually fuel the problem.

International adoption has become big business in some countries. Orphanage workers go out into communities to recruit children, luring parents to give up their youngsters with promises of education and three meals a day.

These children, taken from the protection of their families, can be left vulnerable to unscrupulous adoption agencies, who profit from the sale of children without ensuring the child is eligible for adoption, or adequately vetting the adoptive parents.

Releasing children from these conditions should be a global priority. But the answer is not to whisk children away to a new life thousands of miles from where they were born, unless as a very last resort.

'The answer'

The answer is far simpler. Families need help to get themselves out of poverty, so they can feed, educate and protect their children in a loving, family environment.
This is the message that needs to be heard around the world - a message to which high-profile celebrities like Madonna could give enormous weight.

Investment is needed, and needed now. World leaders at the G20 must prioritise developing countries at this week's summit to ensure the global financial crisis doesn't push more parents into abandoning their children.

Families in the affluent world wanting to make a real difference to the lives of orphans can support aid agencies, such as Save the Children, that are working on the ground to get children out of institutions and support their families so they can live safely and well at home.

Celebrities are trend-setters and influence decision-makers.

By promoting the message that children are best looked after by their own families or in their own communities, they can change the lives of not just one, but thousands of orphans across the globe.

Julia Fleming works for the Overseas Adoption Support and Information Service (Oasis), a voluntary support group for people in the UK who wish to adopt a child from overseas.

Oasis looks forward to the day when no child needs inter-country adoption (ICA).

The day when no orphanages exist and those who cannot live with birth families are cared for adequately in their birth countries.

Until then, it is desirable that those children who need a second chance (and whose governments have decided that ICA is in the child's best interests) be welcomed by families in other countries.

Many readers would expect Oasis to rally to the defence of all adopters.

However, as an extremely knowledgeable organisation who have been involved in ICA for decades, we are more aware than most that there are ethical problems in some countries and with some placing agencies.

'Sweeping generalisations'

Save the Children's sweeping generalisations are unacceptable, though.

It is wrong to condemn all ICA because of one case.

Here in the UK, all children being adopted from abroad are afforded the same status as UK children.

That means that any parent wishing to adopt from overseas is assessed in exactly the same way as a family planning to adopt from the UK.

They undergo the same training and in no way is the procedure less time consuming or "easier."

Madonna's case could never happen here. A recently divorced mother of three would never be approved in the UK to adopt domestically or internationally.

Parenthood impulse

Save the Children states that families wanting to make a real difference to the lives of orphans "can support aid agencies... that are working on the ground to get children out of institutions and support their families".

But adoption and charity are not synonymous. They arise from completely different impulses.

Families adopt because they wish to experience parenthood, or in some cases, because they have loved being parents so much that they want to do it all over again.

People don't adopt because they feel sorry for children.

Anyone expressing such a desire to a social worker would not be approved as a prospective adopter.

That said, many ICA adopters are generous supporters of charities working within their children's birth countries.

But no charity can care for all children. Not all children can be reunited with birth families or placed in local foster families.

There will always be cases of children who need new families.

News Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Head to head: Pop Star Madonna adoption

New Zealand family watches Khmer Rouge trial very closely with personal interest

ELEANOR HALL: One person watching the trial in Phnom Penh very closely is New Zealand Olympic rowing great Rob Hamill, whose brother was among those killed by the Khmer Rouge at Tuol Sleng prison.

Rob Hamill told our New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie that his brother Kerry was captured when he sailed close to Cambodia in the late 1970s.

ROB HAMILL: My brother was sailing his yacht, taking a charter from Singapore up to Bangkok and got blown off course and ended up in Cambodian waters, got captured by a Khmer Rouge gunboat.

One of the guys on the boat, there were three of them, one was killed at that time and my brother and another charter, a guy from England were taken back to Tuol Sleng.

KERRI RITCHIE: And what happened then. I mean, what do you know happened to your brother?

ROB HAMILL: Well, we didn't know for a long time what had happened. He was a regular letter writer to us when he was in his travels and his adventures and enjoying life and living it to its fullest and they just stopped.

We didn't know what happened for a long time. It was a good year wondering, hoping, wondering you know, before we found out what happened.

KERRI RITCHIE: How do you know that your brother was in that Khmer Rouge torture prison?

ROB HAMILL: We were contacted, we weren't contacted by anyone actually. We found out through the media - reading an article in a paper and it was on a radio station that particular day and information had been sourced through Interpol and that a confession; all the prisoners, there were about a dozen or so Westerners that were captured during that three-year period, and all were made to sign confessions that they were CIA agents and Interpol had some documents that were confirmed as my brother's handwriting.

KERRI RITCHIE: The trial is underway of the prison boss and he has asked for people to forgive him. When you heard that, how did that make you feel?

ROB HAMILL: It rings a little hollow. I mean I think Duch was a person who, I mean he must have been an ambitious man. He didn't get to be commandant of that prison by accident and from what I, my understanding in the research I have conducted suggests that he was ruthless and clinical and cruel.

I am going through a process where our family haven't grieved properly. Personally I want to be able to forgive but I can't do that.

KERRI RITCHIE: Is it hard being here in New Zealand and watching it from here? Do you wish that you were there in Cambodia to see this first-hand?

ROB HAMILL: I feel I should be there. Right at this minute I almost, just circumstances don't allow.

KERRI RITCHIE: But you are going to go to Cambodia to give a statement in coming months?

ROB HAMILL: I don't know when. It depends on the court process but certainly I hope to face Duch and make a statement on behalf of our family and the effect he had on our family in the hope that it aids in some way the sentencing process.

KERRI RITCHIE: How will you convey how much it ripped apart a Kiwi family?

ROB HAMILL: Mmm, well I am just going to tell the story and will describe the pain, the anxiety, the hope, the desperate hope. I think that was really, really hard on my parents in particular and they paid for it too with their health.

KERRI RITCHIE: What punishment is fit for this man? What would you like to see? What would bring you and your family comfort?

ROB HAMILL: I don't know. Look, I don't know what to expect from this. If I could bring myself to believing Duch's words, you know, that he can somehow see the error in his ways and I can believe him, there may spring a strange comfort, I don't know. I don't know ultimately but it is going to be, it needs to be done.

ELEANOR HALL: That was Rob Hamill whose brother was killed by the Khmer Rouge. He was speaking to our New Zealand correspondent Kerri Ritchie.

News Source: abc.net.au

New Zealand family watches Khmer Rouge trial very closely with personal interest

Pakistan's Taliban threatens attack on Washington or even the White House

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's Taliban chief has claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on a police academy, saying he wanted to retaliate for U.S. missile attacks on the militant bases on the border with Afghanistan.

Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the United States, also vowed to "amaze everyone in the world" with an attack on Washington or even the White House.

The FBI, however, said he had made similar threats previously and there was no indication of anything imminent.

Mehsud, who gave a flurry of media interviews Tuesday, has no record of actually striking targets abroad although he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain.

Pakistan's former government and the CIA consider him the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. And Pakistani officials accuse him of harboring foreign fighters, including Central Asians linked to al-Qaida, and of training suicide bombers.

But analysts doubt that Taliban fighters carried off Monday's raid on the Lahore academy on their own, saying the group is likely working more closely than ever with militants based far from the Afghan frontier.

It's a constellation that includes al-Qaida, presenting a formidable challenge to the U.S. as it increases its troop presence in the region, not to mention nuclear-armed Pakistan's own stability.

Mehsud told The Associated Press the academy and other recent attacks were revenge for stepped-up American missile strikes into Pakistan's border badlands.

"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud said in a telephone interview with an Associated Press reporter. He offered few details, though in a separate recorded conversation with local Dewa radio station, he said the White House was a target.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the bureau was not aware of any imminent or specific threat to the U.S., despite what the Pakistani Taliban leader said.

"He has made similar threats to the U.S. in the past," said Kolko.

State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said he had not seen any reports of Mehsud's comments but he would "take the threat under consideration."

The ruthless attack on Lahore's outskirts Monday left at least 12 people dead, including seven police, and sparked an eight-hour standoff with security forces that ended when black-clad commandos stormed the compound. Some of the gunmen blew themselves up.

The siege-style approach using heavily armed militants came just weeks after the deadly ambush of Sri Lanka's visiting cricket team in the heart of Lahore. Both attacks were reminiscent of November's siege of Mumbai, India — also blamed on Pakistani militants.

A senior police investigator, Zulfikar Hameed, told Dawn News TV the men arrested for the attack have corroborated Mehsud's involvement.

Besides Mehsud, a little-known group believed linked to him also claimed credit. Mehsud declined to discuss the group, Fedayeen al-Islam, or any others who might have been involved.

Pakistan Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said one captured attacker was Afghan and the initial investigation suggested the conspiracy originated in South Waziristan tribal region, Mehsud's stronghold. But Malik also said the al-Qaida-linked group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi might have played a role. Officials have said three gunmen are in custody.

"In my view, it's not done by one group," said Mohammed Amir Rana, a Pakistani analyst well-versed in the intricacies of militant groups. "One group has the major role in providing the fighters or one group might be providing the logistics or intelligence. And one group provided the financing."

A variety of militant groups operate in Pakistan beyond al-Qaida and the Taliban, and officials and analysts say it appears the coordination among some of them is increasing. Of particular concern are violent groups based in Punjab, Pakistan's most populated province, which borders India.

Some Punjabi groups have their roots in the dispute with India over the Kashmir region. The Pakistani spy agency is believed to have helped set them up and maintain some links, a prospect that vexes U.S. officials.

Others have different origins.

Jhangvi, for instance, is a sectarian extremist group blamed for a stream of atrocities against minority Shiite Muslims. In recent years, it has evolved, Rana said, and is believed to provide foot-soldiers and suicide bombers for al-Qaida operations.

The groups' membership is fluid and overlapping. They are riven with feuds. But analysts say they are finding a common cause in striking America and its allies, while also focusing on spreading Taliban-style rule over more and more of Pakistan.

Interviews in recent months with three Afghan and Pakistani Taliban operatives, who demanded anonymity for security reasons, suggest a Pakistani crackdown on some groups following the Mumbai assault has prompted many operatives of Punjab-based groups to seek sanctuary in the northwest.

The Mumbai attacks were specifically blamed on Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Punjab-based group fighting in Kashmir.

The militant activity may also relate to American plans to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan, where the Taliban have roared back more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion ousted their regime, said Shaun Gregory, an analyst at Britain's University of Bradford.

With more allies, the Taliban may feel more capable of taking on grander assaults like that in Lahore as opposed to suicide bombings favored when their resources are more depleted, he said.

Mahmood Shah, a retired military officer, voiced concern that the Taliban were embarking on a campaign of terror in Punjab similar to that employed in the northwest, where hundreds of police were killed before militants turned their attention to political leaders.

While the pro-West ruling party has been trying to persuade a skeptical public to close ranks against an increasingly powerful nexus of militant groups, it has been largely preoccupied with squabbles over power and privileges with a key opposition party.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday he believes the Pakistani government is focused on the rising threat of extremist violence.

"They are responding and that's a tide that must be stemmed," he told reporters in Washington.

But doubts remain about whether the powerful Pakistani military is committed to sidelining extremist groups it has used as proxies against India and Afghanistan.

Defense analyst Ayesha Siddiqa said Pakistan must evaluate its own links to some of these groups if it is to survive.

"We have to dig this out of our past," she said. "Unless we do that, unless we have a consensus on our strategy ... we aren't going to go anywhere."


News Source: google.com

Pakistan's Taliban threatens attack on Washington or even the White House