Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Bangkok's shopping district on Saturday

Tens of thousands of protesters converged on Bangkok’s shopping district on Saturday, forcing major retailers to close while accusing authorities of neglecting the poor on the 21st day of a mass rally seeking snap elections.Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s embattled government deployed 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel in the city after caravans of the anti-government, red-shirted protesters travelled from rural areas to the Thai capital.At least half a dozen shopping malls including Central World — the second-largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia — shut their doors in response to protests and threats by the “red shirts” to stay overnight in the usually bustling area popular with tourists and Bangkok’s upper and middle classes.”We cannot let Mr. Abhisit rule the country any longer,” Jatuporn Prompan, a “red shirt” leader, told the crowd.

“It is time for the under-privileged to liberate themselves from the oppression made by the elite-backed government. It is time for the elite-supported government to dissolve parliament.

Thousands also rallied outside state-controlled broadcasters Radio Thailand and Channel 11, accusing them of bias.

Backed by Thailand’s powerful military and royalist establishment, Abhisit has said a peaceful poll now would be difficult given the tensions and has offered to dissolve parliament in December, a year early.The mostly rural and urban poor protesters are demanding immediate elections and threatening more protests in coming days, extending a mass street rally that began on March 14 when up to 150,000 “red shirts” converged on Bangkok’s old quarter.

Analysts say British-born Abhisit would likely lose an election if it were held now, raising investment risks in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy following a $1.6 billion surge of foreign investment in Thai stocks over the past month on expectations Abhisit will survive the showdown.Adding to the tension, more than 1,000 people who oppose the protesters held their own rally on Friday, donning pink shirts and saying the “red shirts” were unreasonable.

‘SEA CHANGE IN THAI POLITICS’

The “red shirts,” supporters of twice-elected and now fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, say Abhisit has no popular mandate and came to power illegitimately, heading a coalition the military cobbled together after courts dissolved a pro-Thaksin party that led the previous government.

Abhisit counters that he was voted into office by the same parliament that picked his two Thaksin-allied predecessors.Thaksin was widely seen as authoritarian and corrupt before his ouster in a 2006 coup, but remains a powerful symbol as the first Thai civilian leader to reach out to the poor in his 2001 election campaign with populist policies such as cheap loans.

The “red shirts” chafe at what they say is the unelected elite preventing Thaksin’s allies from returning to power.The 60-year-old former telecommunications tycoon is believed to be a big source of funds for the protests and has harnessed new technology from social networking site Twitter to web-cams — to rally supporters from self-imposed exile, mostly in Dubai.Convicted of corruption in 2008 and sentenced in absentia to prison, his status as fugitive restricts his travel. Some countries, including Britain and Germany, have banned him.

Analysts say regardless of the outcome, the mass rallies mark a turning point in a country where the richest 20 percent of the population earn about 55 percent of the income while the poorest fifth get 4 percent, according to November World Bank study.That income disparity is among Asia’s widest, it showed.”The fact that this many people were mobilized for so long shows the sea change in Thai politics,” said Chris Baker, a political analyst who has written several books on Thai politics.The “red shirts” have tapped an under-current of frustration, added prominent Thai political historian Charnvit Kasertsiri.

“What the leaders say strikes a chord, whether it be double-standard of treatment, problems with the justice system, or lack of access and opportunities for a better life,” he said.Analysts say both sides want to be in power in October for an annual military reshuffle and the passing of the national budget.The budget gives the government room to roll out welfare policies to court rural voters whose discontent is at the heart of the protests and who now back the Thaksin-allied opposition Puea Thai Party. It also gives whoever is in power a chance to allocate money to the powerful military and ministries.The military reshuffle allows the government to promote allies in an institution that yields tremendous influence in a country that has seen 24 coups and attempted coups since 1932.(Reuters)

U.S. sent two brothers Uighurs detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Switzerland

Beijing – China expressed anger and strong opposition Thursday after the U.S. sent two brothers Uighurs detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Switzerland. The announcement about the transfer of two Uighur men were delivered by the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday.

Beijing in the past demanded that the Uighurs held at Guantanamo were sent back to China. The U.S. government says can not do that because those people will face torture, and for several months to find countries willing to accept them. “We strongly reject U.S. measures to protect the suspects in a third country, and oppose any country that receives them,” said the spokesperson of China Foreign Ministry Qin Gang told a news conference.

“We have sent our strong protest to the countries concerned,” Qin added. The two people who moved to Switzerland it is Bahtiyar Arkin Mahmud and Mahmud, their lawyer said. The men were arrested by the U.S. government during the Afghanistan war, launched after the attacks, 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States.

Muslim Uighur people and a native of Xinjiang, far western China.

In the ethnic violence in July 2009, the Uighur people of China attacked the majority Han people in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s provincial capital, after falling to the streets to protest the attack on Uyghur workers at a factory in southern China in June that killed two Uighur men.

Beijing says, at least 197 people were killed in riots on July 5 in Urumqi between people and the Uighur minority group Enik dominant Han China. More than 1,600 people were also injured in the riot. Violence experienced by the Uighur people has led to a wave of protest marches in various cities of the world such as Ankara, Berlin, Canberra and Istanbul after the riots.

Uyghur people speak Turkish and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the most harsh criticism and calls asking what is happening in Xinjiang as “a kind of massacre”.

Uyghur people in exile claimed that China’s security forces to react too much for peaceful protest and to use deadly force. Eight million Uighur people, who have more contact with their neighbors in central Asia than with the Han people of China, amounted to less than half the population of Xinjiang. Together Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most vulnerable areas of politics and the two regions, the government of China tried to control religious life and culture growing promising economy and prosperity.

Beijing does not want to lose control of the region, which borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, and has large oil reserves and is the largest natural gas producer in China. However, the minority population has long complained that China’s Han majority rake profits from government subsidies, while making local residents feel like outsiders in their own country.

Beijing says that the riots, the worst in the region in recent years, the work of separatist groups abroad, who want to create an independent region for the Muslim Uighur minority. The groups deny these violent and manage to say, the riots are the result of accumulated anger against the government policies and economic domination of Han China.(Reuters)

1.500 anti-government protest as part of a series of demonstrations began done by the opposition in the city of Vladivostok

Vladivostok  Russian citizens approximately 1.500 anti-government protest as part of a series of demonstrations began done by the opposition in the city of Vladivostok. The plan will be protests across the whole of Russia today. The critics of this government declared a national protest against the Russian government failed to overcome the worst economic crisis experienced for a decade. Meanwhile, it also triggered a protest election results that show the area of government support decline.

In action, the protest leader read out the demands addressed to the government. Among those demands is to ask Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to resign from office. They also demanded direct election of governors, which is removed by the government in 2004. Similarly Reuters reported on Saturday (20/3/2010).

Some of the demands in these protests can not be separated from the citizens that the government wants President Dimitry Medvedev is more serious in its economic policy. Demands that include lowering the cost of public services, increasing pensions and cut taxes for the import of used cars that became the main industry in Vladivostok.

“People’s lives more difficult and they blame the government’s performance,” said one protest leader Alexander Krinitsky. “They (the people) there is no other option to voice their desires through protest,” continued Krinitsky.

Opposition parties continue to protest mushroomed in recent months, following the economic crisis experienced by Russia. Russia’s economic crisis was caused Russia’s economic growth rate continued to soar stalled over the last 10 years. In addition the unemployment rate continues to increase to nine percent.

While the protest that followed before approximately 1.500 people, the organizer of this action criticized the security effort to thwart protests. They accused the authorities have been preaching to the media if the protest this time is prohibited and confiscated leaflets call for this protest followed.

Police had not seen too much action this time guarding. Only a few members of the police watched the demonstrators that the action did not lead to the anarchists. (faj) – approximately 1.500 Russian citizens anti-government protest as part of a series of demonstrations began done by the opposition. The plan will be protests across the whole of Russia today.

The critics of this government declared a national protest against the Russian government failed to overcome the worst economic crisis experienced for a decade. Meanwhile, it also triggered a protest election results that show the area of government support decline.

In action, the protest leader read out the demands addressed to the government. Among those demands is to ask Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to resign from office. In addition they also asked for direct gubernatorial elections, which removed by the government in 2004. Similarly Reuters reported on Saturday (20/3/2010).

Some of the demands in these protests can not be separated from the citizens that the government wants President Dimitry Medvedev is more serious in its economic policy. Demands that include lowering the cost of public services, increasing pensions and cut taxes for the import of used cars that became the main industry in Vladivostok.

“People’s lives more difficult and they blame the government’s performance,” said one protest leader Alexander Krinitsky. “They (the people) there is no other option to voice their desires through protest,” continued Krinitsky.

Opposition parties continue to protest mushroomed in recent months, following the economic crisis experienced by Russia. Russia’s economic crisis was caused Russia’s economic growth rate continued to soar stalled over the last 10 years. In addition the unemployment rate continues to increase to nine percent.

While the protest that followed before approximately 1.500 people, the organizer of this action criticized the security effort to thwart protests. They accused the authorities have been preaching to the media if the protest this time is prohibited and confiscated leaflets call for this protest followed.

Police had not seen too much action this time guarding. Only a few members of the police watched the demonstrators that the action did not lead to the anarchists.

Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has died in Kathmandu

The former Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has died in Kathmandu, his aides and state TV say.Mr Koirala served four terms as prime minister with the Nepali Congress Party and led protests that brought down King Gyanendra’s authoritarian rule.

Thousands of supporters had gathered outside his daughter’s house where he was taken after being in hospital for several days. Mr Koirala’s aide Bal Krishna Khad confirmed the death at the age of 86.

British Airways (BA) strike affected the work of the crew. Thousands of BA cabin crew today began a strike which will last three days

London – British Airlines, British Airways (BA) strike affected the work of the crew. Thousands of BA cabin crew today began a strike which will last three days. The strike is to protest the planned reduction of operational costs that BA will have an impact on worker wages. BA plans to save the previous spending of £ 62.5 million to overcome the negative impacts that arise because of declining passenger, fuel price fluctuations and competition with other airlines. More than 1,000 BA flights will have a three-day cancellation of the strike. Strike was carried out after negotiations between the leadership of the UK’s largest trade union, Unite, Tony Woodley with BA chief executive Willie Walsh at a stalemate. “With great disappointment I have to say that all negotiations had failed,” said Woodley told reporters as quoted by AFP news agency on Saturday (20/3/2010).

“This company (BA) did not want to negotiate, these companies only want to fight with my members,” Woodley added. Total flight BA 1100 from approximately 1950 scheduled flights during the strike will be canceled. BA was determined to keep flying at least 60 percent of passengers who rely on the staff did not join the strike. BA also will use 22 aircraft with the pilot and crew of eight other European airlines. Prime Minister (PM) United Kingdom Gordon Brown called on BA management and the workers to return to talks as soon as possible.

Dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Tuesday on a "day of rage" Hamas Islamists declared in protest at Israel's consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city

Dozens of Palestinian stone-throwers clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem on Tuesday on a “day of rage” Hamas Islamists declared in protest at Israel’s consecration of an ancient synagogue in the city.The violence presented another challenge to U.S. efforts to revive Middle East peace talks after Israel angered Palestinians and touched off a dispute with Washington by announcing plans last week to build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem.Palestinians hurled stones at police and burned tires and trash bins in several areas of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in a 1967 war.

Police responded with tear gas and fired rubber bullets, witnesses said. Some 40 Palestinians were treated at East Jerusalem hospitals for minor injuries, medical officials said.A police spokesman said some 3,000 officers were put on high alert after Hamas, an Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip and wields influence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, called for anti-Israeli protests.”We call on the Palestinian people to regard Tuesday as a day of rage against the occupation’s (Israel’s) procedures in Jerusalem against al-Aqsa mosque,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas and Palestinian officials affiliated with its rival Fatah movement have said the restoration work at the ancient Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s walled Old City endangered al-Aqsa, situated some 400 meters (yards) away.Israel has denied the allegation.An inauguration ceremony was held Monday at the synagogue, which was blown up by Jordanian forces when they overran the Jewish Quarter in the 1948 Middle East war. Israel captured the area 19 years later.

Sporadic violence has erupted in recent weeks in Jerusalem after Israel decided to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan stoked Palestinian anger.Citing biblical and historical links, Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In Washington Monday, a State Department spokesman voiced concern about the tensions over the rededication of the synagogue and appealed for calm.”We’re deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions that we see,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

A crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations over the settlement housing project, opposed by Washington, deepened Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s said he would not curb construction of homes for Jews in and around Jerusalem.After Netanyahu’s defiant comments, U.S. officials said U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who had planned to leave Washington Monday for discussions with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on getting indirect negotiations under way, had put off his departure.Announcement of the housing plan during a visit last week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden embarrassed the White House and Palestinians, who had just agreed to begin indirect talks with Israel, demanded the project be scrapped first.U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in unusually blunt remarks, called Israel’s actions an insult.Clinton telephoned Netanyahu Friday to convey unspecified demands about the housing project as well as about demonstrating commitment to the U.S.-mediated peace talks, the State Department said, without elaborating.U.S. officials said they were still waiting for Israel’s formal response. Israeli media reports said Clinton had asked for the settlement plan to be scrapped and for Israel to agree to discuss core statehood issues with the Palestinians.(Reuters)

Israel's prime minister is urging calm following another stern rebuke from Washington over plans to build 1,600 apartments in contested east Jerusalem

JERUSALEM Israel’s prime minister is urging calm following another stern rebuke from Washington over plans to build 1,600 apartments in contested east Jerusalem.Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday “not to get carried away and to calm down” over the crisis with the U.S.News of the construction plan emerged during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last week.Biden condemned the plan, which enraged the Palestinians. He later appeared to try to put aside the row in the interest of advancing peacemaking.A day later, however, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the plans “a deeply negative signal.”Netanyahu has not indicated he would reverse the plans.(AP)

Iraqi prime minister's bloc says it has started laying the groundwork to form a coalition government after preliminary election results

The Iraqi prime minister’s bloc says it has started laying the groundwork to form a coalition government after preliminary election results showed it winning in at least two southern provinces.Friday’s announcement that Nouri al-Maliki’s alliance has created a committee to open talks with other groups signals growing optimism about a strong showing in the parliamentary balloting.

Partial tallies have only been released from only five of Iraq’s 18 provinces, excluding Baghdad. They show the prime minister and his secular rival, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, locked in a tight contest amid fraud allegations.

But Al-Maliki supporter Abbas al-Bayati says the alliance has already reached out to other parties and believes it will need at least two allies.
First results from Iraq’s parliamentary election showed the prime minister and his secular rival locked in an extremely tight contest Thursday amid fraud allegations by rival parties and a chaotic, unpredictable vote count.The partial tallies came from only five of Iraq’s 18 provinces. However, Iraqi officials who have seen results from across the country said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition appeared to have a narrow edge, though not an outright majority.

That foreshadows tough and lengthy negotiations to build a government and choose a prime minister.The partial results, posted on TV screens in Baghdad to crowds of reporters, were the first in an election that will determine who governs the country as U.S. troops go home – and whether Iraqis can put behind them deep sectarian tensions that once brought their nation to the brink of civil war.

The initial tallies from Sunday’s vote suggested an exceedingly tight contest between coalitions led by al-Maliki, who gained popularity as security improved, and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who sharply criticized the prime minister for failing to boost reconciliation efforts between Iraq’s factions.The emerging picture was a setback to hard-line religious Shiite political leaders who saw al-Maliki make gains in two southern provinces deep on their turf. Allawi appeared to be drawing on Sunni support north of Baghdad.Results did not include the race’s big prize – Baghdad – which accounts for 70 of the parliament’s 325 seats.

Thursday’s announcement set off a wave of fraud accusations, largely from Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition which said it uncovered dozens of violations. It said these included soldiers not being allowed to vote, interference in the electoral commission’s work and some polling stations failing to post results.In a statement, the group said it found “rigging to an extent that would render the elections useless for reflecting the voice of the Iraqis.”Election commission officials did not respond specifically to the allegations, but said the commission had received more than 1,000 complaints about potential violations, all of which would be investigated.

Al-Maliki gained ground against hard-line religious parties in two southern provinces. In Babil, where about a third of the ballots had been counted, the prime minister’s State of Law coalition won some 69,000 votes. He also came out on top in Najaf, where his bloc won some 56,000 votes.The tallies were a blow to al-Maliki’s main Shiite competition, the religious Iraqi National Alliance, which includes a party led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Since rising to prominence as part of a Shiite coalition that won the 2005 elections, al-Maliki has tried to recast himself as an inclusive leader for all Iraqis.Allawi’s non-sectarian Iraqiya list, which included Sunni candidates, fared better in central Iraq, where there are more Sunni voters. In Diyala province, Iraqiya received almost 43,000 votes, more than four time’s al-Maliki’s take. In Salahuddin, Allawi’s list had more than 34,000 votes, about five times that of al-Maliki.

Analyst Joost Hilterman of the International Crisis Group said the initial results were largely what he expected. He cautioned that final calls are hard to make without knowing about Baghdad.”Who gets Baghdad is still the most important thing,” he said.

Results from a fifth province, Irbil, showed the Kurdish Alliance, representing the two main Kurdish parties, defeating the upstart Kurdish party, Gorran, in the self-rule territory.Iraqi officials who have seen wider counts from across the country said al-Maliki’s coalition appeared to be coming out on top.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera TV, Ammar al-Hakim, who heads the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, said al-Maliki’s bloc was ahead “by some seats.” He said the assessment was based on information supplied by 40,000 observers from his alliance.Almost all Iraqi political parties and coalitions post observers at polling stations and counting centers across the country, serving as a check against fraud.Chaos reigned through much of the day before the first results were posted on large TV screens, with election officials offering different explanations of how much information would be released and when.

The officials said they had no deadline for releasing final results and were undecided about whether they would make public more results Friday.

Leaders from competing political parties visited the counting center during the day, which officials said helped ensure the count’s transparency. Others questioned the appropriateness of candidates getting so close to the counting process.Al-Maliki underwent surgery Wednesday but was quickly released from the hospital and back at work Thursday, according to a statement from his office. An adviser, Yassin Majid, said the surgery was “simple,” but refused to say what it entailed.

tsunami Hit Japan As high as 1.2 meter

Tokyo   Tsunami waves as tall as 120 centimeters hit the Pacific coast, the region Iwate, Japan, at around 13:46 pm. A total of 320 thousand Japanese residents were evacuated to safety. This was conveyed by Japan Meteorological Agency, as reported by AFP, Minggu (28/2/2010). Earlier Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning of major coastal areas of Japan are in direct contact with the Pacific. The wave height is expected to reach more than 3 meters.

As a result of this tsunami, the Japanese evacuated the 320 thousand residents in the eastern coastal areas in contact with the Pacific Ocean, as areas Aomori, Iwate, and Miyagi. In the meantime, a northern port in Nemuro, Japan, affected by flooding caused by the tsunami. “Please do not go near any coastal region,” appealed the Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, in particular national speech facing the threat of a tsunami caused by the earthquake Chile.

The first recorded tsunami waves as high as 10 centimeters Minamitori flicked a small island located 1.950 kilometers south of Tokyo. However, the height increasing until it reaches 120 centimeters. Japan Meteorological Agency warned that the wave height can be increased. The first wave may not be the biggest wave. Tsunami warning and seems to be valid for a long time. “The wave could reach the mainland, so for safety you must evacuate to higher ground from the estimated tsunami wave height,” says the Japan Meteorological Agency, Yasuo About a, warned citizens.

Greece must take further measures to reduce the deficit or it will face sanctions, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker

ATHENS Greece must take further measures to reduce the deficit or it will face sanctions, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying by a Greek newspaper.Greece has until March 16 to convince EU finance ministers and the executive European Commission that proposed measures to cut its budget shortfall this year to 8.7 percent of gross domestic product from 12.7 percent in 2009 are sufficient.”Greece must intensify its efforts and move to further actions to reduce its deficit,” Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, told Eleftherotypia newspaper.

“If it doesn’t convince us then it will possibly face sanctions. Greece must understand that the taxpayers in Germany, Belgium or Luxembourg are not ready to fix the mistakes of Greece’s fiscal policy,” Juncker said.”Euro zone finance ministers have agreed that more efforts are required from Greece,” he said.Juncker, who is also Luxembourg’s prime minister, said euro zone finance ministers had discussed ways to help Greece.”Luxembourg is also ready to help Greece on a bilateral level, if Athens asks for it. We must first be convinced that the measures are serious and tough. The Greek government must focus on further spending reduction and on the ways to increase revenues,” he said.(Reuters)