Palestinian factions look for the Government of national unity, elections - Bloomberg Plan

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Palestiniens du Fatah délégation chef Azzam al-Ahmad, droite, serre la main avec le leader adjoint du Hamas Musa Abu Marzouk après une conférence de presse conjointe au Caire. Photographe : Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Les groupes rivaux palestiniens du Hamas et du Fatah ont conclu une entente préliminaire pour mettre fin à leur fracture presque quatre ans et forme un gouvernement d'unité nationale.

L'accord appelle également pour les élections législatives et présidentielles en un an, Fatah officiel Azzam al-Ahmad, a déclaré dans une interview hier après une conférence de presse conjointe avec les négociateurs du Hamas.

L'égypte, qui a agi comme médiateur pendant les négociations secrètes, sera l'h?te d'une réunion des factions palestiniennes, la semaine prochaine pour une cérémonie de signature formelle, dit al-Ahmad.

? Aujourd'hui, nous ouvrons une nouvelle page de l'unité et de la Convention, de resserrer les rangs et qui luttent ensemble, ? le Hamas officiel Musa Abu Marzouk dit. La formation d'un gouvernement d'unité de technocrates débutera la semaine prochaine après la signature de l'accord, dit-il.

Isra?l a déclaré le deal tuerait toute chance pour les pourparlers de paix et de la U.S. dit que le Hamas ne peut pas jouer un ? r?le constructif ? tant que c'est pas disposé à accepter le droit d'Isra?l à exister. Le Hamas--considérée comme une organisation terroriste par les états-Unis, l'Union européenne et Isra?l--rejette les négociations de paix et refuse de reconna?tre l'état juif.

Le mouvement palestinien s'ensuit protestations en mars dans lequel des milliers de Palestiniens, inspirés par les soulèvements populaires en égypte, la Tunisie et la Libye, se rallient à l'appui de la réconciliation entre le Hamas, qui contr?le la bande de Gaza, et le Fatah autorité palestinienne, dont les règles de la Cisjordanie.

Gazaouis célébré hier dans les rues, Mkhaimar Abusada, politologue à l'Université Al-Azhar de Gaza, a déclaré dans une interview de téléphone.

? C'est une très importante pour le peuple palestinien ?, a déclaré Abusada.

L'annonce vient également comme responsables de l'autorité palestinienne faire pression sur les pays occidentaux à reconna?tre un état palestinien en septembre.

? Si nous pensons de l'autorité palestinienne étant sérieusement à la déclaration de l'état en septembre, il aurait été absurde avec deux autorités, ? dit Jonathan Spyer, politologue à l'Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, à l'extérieur de Tel-Aviv. ? Nous allons voir jusqu'à quel point ils obtiennent ?.

Le premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu, a déclaré qu'un accord l'unité mettrait fin à toute chance de pourparlers de paix, au point mort depuis septembre, entre Isra?l et l'autorité palestinienne.

? L'autorité palestinienne doit choisir entre la paix avec Isra?l et de la paix avec le Hamas, ? Netanyahu dit dans les commentaires envoyés par courrier électronique et de diffusion. ? L'idée même de rapprochements montre la faiblesse de l'autorité palestinienne ?.

états-Unis craintives

L'administration Obama sonne une note se méfie suite à l'annonce. "Comme nous l'avons dit, les états-Unis appuient la réconciliation palestinienne à des conditions qui favorisent la cause de la paix,", a déclaré le porte-parole du Conseil National de sécurité Tommy Vietor.

? Le Hamas, cependant, est une organisation terroriste qui cible des civils, ? il dit dans une déclaration de courriel. ? à jouer un r?le constructif dans la réalisation de la paix, tout gouvernement palestinien doit accepter les principes du Quartet et renoncer à la violence, se conformer aux accords passés et reconna?tre le droit d'Isra?l à exister. ?

Les responsables du Fatah et le Hamas a déclaré que les deux parties seraient former un Comité pour aborder la question de la sécurité sous un gouvernement d'unité.

La séparation entre la faction de Fatah du président de l'autorité palestinienne Mahmoud Abbas et le mouvement du Hamas islamique Date de 2007, lorsque le Hamas a évincé forces Abbas de la bande de Gaza, un an après avoir remporté les élections législatives. Qui a pris fin d'un gouvernement de coalition avec le Fatah et Abbas à gauche dans le contr?le de la Cisjordanie.

Le 16 mars, Abbas a déclaré qu'il souhaitait visiter Gaza dans une soumission de guérir le fossé qui a forcé les retards répétés dans les plans de tenir des élections.

L'armée israélienne et l'égypte deux scellées hors de ses frontières avec Gaza après que le Hamas a repris, coupant la plupart du trafic civil et restreindre les échanges avec le territoire. Isra?l a maintenu un blocus terrestres et maritimes autour de Gaza depuis lors.

Dirigeants de l'autorité palestinienne ont dit qu'ils chercheront des Nations Unies de reconnaissance d'un état en septembre si les négociations avec Isra?l ne sont pas repries.

Les pourparlers de paix entre Isra?l et l'autorité palestinienne est tombée en panne plusieurs semaines après que qu'ils ont commencé en septembre 2010, lorsque Netanyahu a refusé de prolonger une construction de 10 mois partielle geler en Cisjordanie et Abbas dit qu'il ne voulaient pas négocier jusqu'à ce que tous les construction a été interrompue.

Pour contacter les reporters sur cette histoire : Mariam Fam au Caire à mfam1@bloomberg.net ; Gwen Ackerman à Jérusalem au gackerman@bloomberg.net

Pour contacter l'éditeur responsable de cette histoire : Andrew J. Barden à barden@bloomberg.net

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9 UStrainers shot by driver Afghan Air Force - USA Today

The Afghan driver who killed nine U.S. trainers in Kabul on Wednesday came from the security force brought more closely than any other force supporters insurgents. By Musadeq Sadeq, AP

Patrol of Afghan soldiers outside a gateway into Kabul airport after an officer opened fire on foreign troops.

By Musadeq Sadeq, AP

Patrol of Afghan soldiers outside a gateway into Kabul airport after an officer opened fire on foreign troops.

More than nine to ten members of the Afghan air force had undergone criminal screening, drug and medical problems in the program to eliminate unfit recruits or Taliban infiltrators.Screening, led by Afghans with the help of NATO, aims to improve the quality of Afghan troops which will take on increasing responsibility for security in July beginning, when American troops are planned to begin to withdraw from the country.There are 100,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan and 284,000 Afghan troops and police. President Obama asked Congress for $ 12.8 billion to train and equip the Afghan security forces this upcoming fiscal year.The members of the Afghan security forces killed 39 troops of the coalition led by the United States since the beginning of 2009. Sixteen of the deaths occurred in the first four months of this year. Fifteen coalition soldiers were killed by Afghan soldiers and police in the whole of 2010, according to NATO.Infiltration is part of an effort by the Taliban to return to the losses suffered by the efforts conducted by the United States to erase parts of the South of the Afghanistan, said Seth Jones, an expert on the Afghanistan at the RAND Corp..a Washington think tank. The Taliban have intensified killings of Afghan Government officials and used other forms of intimidation, Jones said. He said infiltration is a common tactic of Afghan fighters known as the Mujahedeen who fought the Soviet occupiers in the 1980s. They planted agents in Afghan forces allied with the Soviets. "It's just pulling an old game manual muj," said Jones .l ' increase in such attacks shows that the Taliban adapts its tactics, said Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat and member of the Commission of the armed forces. " The Defence Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the shooter Ahmad Gul, 48, an officer who has served as a pilot in the Afghan army for 20 years. Gul opened fire at a meeting, in an operations room in the Afghan air corps at Kabul International Airport following a dispute with foreigners said Azimi. It was unknown what was the argument.Afghan officials have completed biometric screening on 4,036 4,241 Afghan airmen, according to figures of the NATO Training Mission, making the Afghan air force far ahead of other services in conducting the audits of history on its staff.Army lieutenant-general William Caldwell, said last week that he anticipated that the Taliban would attempt more attacks by infiltration of Afghan security forces, or by troops persuading in services of Afghan security to ignite their comrades in the coalition led by the United States. A review of the recent attacks by Afghan troops and police on the coalition forces showed that half were motivated by disagreements or combat stress, Caldwell told USA today.For more information on reprints & permissions, see our FAQ. To report corrections and clarifications, contact standards editor Brent Jones. Review of the publication in the journal, please send your comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include the name, telephone number, city and State for the purposes of verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We have updated the guidelines of Conversation. Changes include a brief review of moderation and an explanation on how to use the button "report abuse". To learn more.

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Thai soldier dies as violated the cease-fire with Cambodia - Reuters

Thais anti-explosive officers remove the shells with explosives found in Hua Ang village rubber plantation, in the province of Surin on the border between Cambodia and the Thailand on April 29, 2011. A Thai soldier is dead and four wounded in other clashes during the night on a disputed stretch of border between the Thailand and Cambodia, a Thai army spokesman, said Friday, as a ceasefire agreed the previous day did not have to take.

Credit: Reuters/Sukree SukplangBy Sukree Sukplang

SURIN, Thailand. Friday, April 29, 2011 2: 15 p.m. EDT

SURIN, Thailand (Reuters) - the Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire as early as Friday, breaking a ceasefire agreed the day before to end a week of border clashes that killed 16 people and injured scores in conflict of deadliest border of Asia over the years.

Each side blames the other for shooting first, but both said they still wanted to give the truce a chance.

Brief clashes with weapons fire and hand grenades small broke out two times per night, Thai regional commander of the army that thawatchai Samutsakorn said. The clash killed a Thai soldier and four others wounded. It was not step clear if there were losses on the Cambodian side.

The ceasefire was supposed to put an end to a week of sporadic and petit-rocket artillery inflamed nationalist passions in both countries, threatened to overshadow the elections in Thailand and reinforced doubts about the ambitions of Southeast Asia to form a community of style of the European Union by 2015.

The guns are silent since 3 o'clock in the morning but tension remained high with the troops still stationed nearby on two ancient temples in the Dongrak mountains poorly demarcated.

Thailand blamed the latest skirmish on a misunderstanding on the ground in Cambodia.

"On the side of Thailand, we understand the ceasefire but Cambodia agreement may have problems," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters. "But give us a chance and examine the situation positively - their communications can have problems and the chain of command may be ineffective."

Commander of Cambodia, Colonel Suos Sothea, denied the Cambodian troops had fired everything first.

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it was "regrettable" that Thai troops had attacked and said that the Cambodian army had always respected the ceasefire agreement.

Thursday, the two parties have agreed to keep troops in the region, but regular meetings between commanders on the ground and leave their territorial disputes long reach a joint boundary commission.

They also agreed to open border control points near two Hindu temples in the 12th century challenged at the heart of the fighting, although it was not clear, when the villagers would be allowed back permanently to their distance, ravaged cities.

More than 60,000 were evacuated during the fighting.

"STILL SAFE STEP."

The two parties remained at odds which controlled the Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples after fighting that killed at least eight Cambodian and Thailand eight.

"We have to remain vigilant in the coming days to ensure that everyone on the field includes the agreement," said the Thai regional commander Thawatchai Samutsakorn.

Thailand insists that the ruins stone-walled reside in the province of Surin as a map of 1947. In Cambodia, says that they are in the province of Oddar Meanchey. Sovereignty over three temples - Ta Moan and Ta Krabey border over Preah Vihear - and the jungle they been challenged since the retreat of the French in Cambodia in the 1950s.

Analysts have expressed their scepticism conflict - which erupted in February near Preah Vihear, the death of 11 persons - is really on sovereignty and say that it seems politically driven on both sides. Some say hawkish generals in Thailand is in collusion with the nationalists to foment a crisis that could force the cancellation of the elections, scheduled in July and to marginalize the powerful opposition to preserve the stranglehold of the royalist establishment power.

In the village of border Hua Ang, dozens of civilians returned with mistrust to check their houses and agricultural land.

"This ceasefire seems a little suspicious." Look at what happened last night, "said Pailin Naralit, a 49-year old village Chief Deputy that he walked through his damaged rubber plantation."

"I am to check on my house and dating safe soon." I do not think that it is safe here yet. ?

(Other reports by Ambika Ahuja and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok and Prak Chan Toul in Phnom Penh;) Written by Alan Raybould; (Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)

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Bahrain sentences 4 protesters to death - New York Times

Three other activists who were also the trial in the same case received sentences of life in prison.

The of Bahrain human rights activists expressed fears that the verdicts could generate a new wave of protests in the small Kingdom of the Persian Gulf. They also argued that the trial was rendered unfair by a series of legal abuse, including the arrest of one of the lawyers, defendants, Mohammed al-Tajer, one of the most prominent lawyers of the Bahrain. The suspects were also prohibited from meeting with their families, and the media were not allowed to cover the trial.

"These verdicts will have a considerable negative impact on the Bahraini society," said Mohamed Maskati, who leads a group of human rights in the Kingdom. "We fear brutal violence in the coming days." I am not optimistic at all - especially that might be more similar verdicts in the near future. ?

Other activists refused to talk, citing the wave of arrests that swept the country over the past two months.

Amnesty International urged the Bahrain to not make the verdict.

"They must respect the right to a fair trial and that they must step use the death penalty in all circumstances," he said in a statement published Thursday.

The defendants said Bahraini authorities had the right of appeal, although Amnesty International and local human rights groups said that the appeal would be negligible at this stage.

"The defendants received all legal rights under the international laws of human rights", the Bahraini Government said in a statement released Thursday. "The verdict is a clear indication of the absolute condemnation of the barbaric crimes and a deep commitment to the protection of life valuable community."

The Shiite majority of the Bahrain, which has long complained of marginalization by the ruling Sunni elite, the streets the month last in mass demonstrations and sit-ins demanding of reform, equal rights and freedoms. The King declares martial law and requested the assistance of the Saudi troops crackdown on protests and to crush the dissent.

At least 30 people were reported killed since the demonstrations began in March, among them four in custody. Activists of the human rights said that they are dead after that they were brutally tortured. The Bahraini authorities have recognized the death but no have not explained them.

Bahrain events have been inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian, uprisings in which the Presidents of both countries intervened under popular pressure after only a few weeks.

Seven leaders of the opposition in the Bahrain were accused of the premeditated murder of the employees of the Government. Military prosecutors introduced a video that has been suggested that the demonstrators had crushed the police with a car. Counsel for the accused denied the charges.

View the original article here

Thai soldier dies as violated the cease-fire with Cambodia - Reuters

Thais anti-explosive officers remove the shells with explosives found in Hua Ang village rubber plantation, in the province of Surin on the border between Cambodia and the Thailand on April 29, 2011. A Thai soldier is dead and four wounded in other clashes during the night on a disputed stretch of border between the Thailand and Cambodia, a Thai army spokesman, said Friday, as a ceasefire agreed the previous day did not have to take.

Credit: Reuters/Sukree SukplangBy Sukree Sukplang

SURIN, Thailand. Friday, April 29, 2011 2: 15 p.m. EDT

SURIN, Thailand (Reuters) - the Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire as early as Friday, breaking a ceasefire agreed the day before to end a week of border clashes that killed 16 people and injured scores in conflict of deadliest border of Asia over the years.

Each side blames the other for shooting first, but both said they still wanted to give the truce a chance.

Brief clashes with weapons fire and hand grenades small broke out two times per night, Thai regional commander of the army that thawatchai Samutsakorn said. The clash killed a Thai soldier and four others wounded. It was not step clear if there were losses on the Cambodian side.

The ceasefire was supposed to put an end to a week of sporadic and petit-rocket artillery inflamed nationalist passions in both countries, threatened to overshadow the elections in Thailand and reinforced doubts about the ambitions of Southeast Asia to form a community of style of the European Union by 2015.

The guns are silent since 3 o'clock in the morning but tension remained high with the troops still stationed nearby on two ancient temples in the Dongrak mountains poorly demarcated.

Thailand blamed the latest skirmish on a misunderstanding on the ground in Cambodia.

"On the side of Thailand, we understand the ceasefire but Cambodia agreement may have problems," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban told reporters. "But give us a chance and examine the situation positively - their communications can have problems and the chain of command may be ineffective."

Commander of Cambodia, Colonel Suos Sothea, denied the Cambodian troops had fired everything first.

The Cambodian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it was "regrettable" that Thai troops had attacked and said that the Cambodian army had always respected the ceasefire agreement.

Thursday, the two parties have agreed to keep troops in the region, but regular meetings between commanders on the ground and leave their territorial disputes long reach a joint boundary commission.

They also agreed to open border control points near two Hindu temples in the 12th century challenged at the heart of the fighting, although it was not clear, when the villagers would be allowed back permanently to their distance, ravaged cities.

More than 60,000 were evacuated during the fighting.

"STILL SAFE STEP."

The two parties remained at odds which controlled the Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples after fighting that killed at least eight Cambodian and Thailand eight.

"We have to remain vigilant in the coming days to ensure that everyone on the field includes the agreement," said the Thai regional commander Thawatchai Samutsakorn.

Thailand insists that the ruins stone-walled reside in the province of Surin as a map of 1947. In Cambodia, says that they are in the province of Oddar Meanchey. Sovereignty over three temples - Ta Moan and Ta Krabey border over Preah Vihear - and the jungle they been challenged since the retreat of the French in Cambodia in the 1950s.

Analysts have expressed their scepticism conflict - which erupted in February near Preah Vihear, the death of 11 persons - is really on sovereignty and say that it seems politically driven on both sides. Some say hawkish generals in Thailand is in collusion with the nationalists to foment a crisis that could force the cancellation of the elections, scheduled in July and to marginalize the powerful opposition to preserve the stranglehold of the royalist establishment power.

In the village of border Hua Ang, dozens of civilians returned with mistrust to check their houses and agricultural land.

"This ceasefire seems a little suspicious." Look at what happened last night, "said Pailin Naralit, a 49-year old village Chief Deputy that he walked through his damaged rubber plantation."

"I am to check on my house and dating safe soon." I do not think that it is safe here yet. ?

(Other reports by Ambika Ahuja and Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok and Prak Chan Toul in Phnom Penh;) Written by Alan Raybould; (Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)

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Israel rejects Palestinian Government with Hamas - Xinhua

(BEIJING, April 29, Xinhuanet.com)-, Israel warned that he will not negotiate with a Palestinian Government of national unity which Hamas. However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reported that the peace talks with the Jewish State would still be possible, despite a unified position from Fatah of his party with Hamas.

Israel has responded quickly to the Government to form single custodian of the Palestinians.

The country is even taking account of the sanctions, including restrictions on travel and revenue of the withholding tax against the new Government.

Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, said: "if Hamas will be elected with a Charter to destroy Israel, with permission to continue to be a terrorist organization, but... What is the Israel option?" What can we do but to defend our lives? ?

Benjamin Netanyahu said, "the Palestinian Authority must choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas." Peace with both is impossible with the goal of Hamas to destroy the State of Israel, he expresses openly. ?

In response, Hamas has insisted that its agreement with Fatah did not any recognition of Israel.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan said, "the practical answer is the implementation of all the points of agreement." "Israel has to realize that they should not intervene in internal Palestinian Affairs".

In his first remarks since the agreement unveiled, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reported negotiations with Israel would still be possible under the new interim Government.

He added that the Organization for the liberation of Palestine or P-L-O, which excludes Hamas, would be liable.

He has said, "the policy is the PLO, for the President, for the Executive Committee of the PLO, President, myself of the PLO." Therefore we will continue the policy of handling and negotiations, discussions, contacts with countries - around the world it is our duty to do so. ?

Between Israel and Abbas administration peace talks resumed in September in Washington. But they quickly collapsed on the continuation of the construction by Israel of the settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

(Source: CNTV)

Special report: Palestine-Israel conflict

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Nations United fails to agree on the Suppression of manifestations of Syria - Aljazeera.net

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Russia said it was concerned about violence on both sides of the unrest which has killed hundreds [AFP/SANA] Syrian

The UN Security Council has failed to agree on a statement condemning Syria's deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters.

Envoys attending a special open meeting on Syria in New York on Wednesday said Russia, China and Lebanon opposed the wording of a draft resolution distributed by European nations.

France called for "strong measures" if Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, rejects appeals to end violence which has killed hundreds.

The US said Assad must "change race now and heed the calls of his own people" for change.

"A real threat to regional security could come from outside interference." "such approaches lead to a never ending circle of violence"

Alexander Pankin, Russian deputy an envoy

Russia, after blocking a Security Council statement condemning the violence, however insisted that the Syrian crackdown did not amount to a threat to international peace and security, grounds that would justify international action.

"A real threat to regional security could come from outside interference," Alexander Pankin, the Russian deputy an ambassador, told the council.

"such approaches lead to a never ending circle of violence" and could set off civil war.

Bashar Ja 'Ja'afari, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, welcomed the Security Council's inaction, saying his government was carrying out an investigation into the violence and that there was no need for a A commission.

Al Jazeera's Kristin Saloomey reporting from the A said any hope for Security Council action is dead for the moment.
"The council was not able to agree on even the most basic form of the statement calling for calm and calling for an investigation."

Our one match said Russia offered the strongest opposition to the move saying they were concerned about violence in Syria, purpose on both sides.

"In the end there were isolated statements of concern from various countries, but no unified action by the council."

China and India called for political dialogue and peaceful resolution of the crisis, with no mention of condemnation.

Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese envoy, said his country shared a special relationship with Syria, and that "the hearts and minds" of the Lebanese people are with the Syrians, and are supporting Assad's lifting of the state of emergency and reforms.

UNSC Division

The Syrian violence has sparked global criticism in recent days.

France, Britain, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft media statement on Monday calling for the 15-member Security Council to reckless the violence.

Purpose during consultations on Wednesday afternoon, several members opposed the move.?The UN Security Council then moved into open the session to hear a briefing from the A political chief and statements from council members.

B. Lynn Pascoe, the under-secretary general for political affairs, told envoys that protesters who began with demands for greater freedom "are now increasingly calling for the downfall of the regime, echoing slogans that have been heard elsewhere in the region".

He told envoys that "a review of the reports of media, international human rights groups, UN agencies and diplomatic missions confirm that the overwhelming majority of protests have been peaceful and unarmed".

"However, there have been credible reports of a very few instances where protesters have used force, resulting in the deaths of members of the security forces."

Highlighted the "increasingly violent repression" and "siege-like conditions" in Deraa and other cities, Pascoe estimated the number of deaths to be between 350 and 400 people since mid-March.

Rights groups say at least 450 people have been killed.

European pressure

International pressure on Assad began to mount on Wednesday, with European governments urging Syria to end the violence.

"If nothing positive happens, France, with others, will study a series of options aiming to increase pressure on the Syrian regime so that it stops the repression and incurred on the path to reform," Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the UNsaid.

France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain told Syrian ambassadors in a co-ordinated effort that they condemned the recent crackdown and that Assad must change his ways, according to France's foreign ministry.

The ministry said France expressed its "firm condemnation of the escalation of the repression by Syrian authorities against the people" and called on Syria to respect its international obligations on human rights.

European Union governments will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions against Syria on Friday, with various measures being explored, a spokesman for the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.

"All options are on the table," he said.

The US is separately considering targeted sanctions, the country's ambassador has told the UN.

In a related development, the UN's main human-rights body, the Human Rights Council in Geneva, has agreed to hold a special session on Syria on Friday.

The meeting was requested by the US and endorsed by 16 member states including Britain, France, and Japan.

No Arab countries were among those requesting the session, which requires endorsement by one-third of the forum's membership to convene.

Emergency sessions in recent months have launched investigations into alleged human rights violations in Libya and Ivory Coast.

Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general, has called for an independent inquiry into the deaths of people he described as peaceful demonstrators.

Syrian response

Syria's an ambassador has said the country is perfectly capable of conducting its own transparent inquiry into the deaths.

Bashar Jaafari said on Tuesday, Assad had instructed the government "to establish a national commission of inquiry and investigation about all the casualties among civilians" and the envoy pledged "full transparency".

"we have nothing to hide," he said.

"We regret what's going on, but you should also acknowledge the fact that this unrest and riots in some of their aspects, have hidden agendas," he said.

Jaafari accused some foreign governments of trying to destabilise Syria.

His comments came as Syrian opposition figures warned that their "massive grassroots revolution" would break the regime unless Assad leads a transition to democracy.

The statement on Wednesday from an umbrella group of opposition activists in Syria and abroad, called the National Initiative for Change, said a democratic transition will "safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war".

"If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of this transition period, there is no alternative left for Syrians except to move forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans before them""," the statement said.

The opposition in Syria is getting more organised as anti-government protests gain strength, but it is still fragmented.

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Chinese President meets the President of the French Parliament - Xinhua

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Bernard Accoyer, President of the National Assembly French in Beijing, the capital of China, on April 29, 2011. (Xinhua / my Zhancheng)

(BEIJING, April 29, Xinhua) - Chinese President Hu Jintao met here Thursday with Bernard Accoyer, President of the French National Assembly.

During the half-hour meeting, President Hu is committed to improving the bilateral, regional and multinational cooperation with the France to address global challenges and promote the global strategic partnership.

"China and the France, as the two members of the Council of the United Nations and the Group of 20 security, share broad common interests and perspectives of cooperation as the world situation changes radically and with emerging global challenges""," he said.

The Chinese Government supports the two legislatures to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, he said, urging the legislative body to offer suggestions and build substantial cooperation and to further bilateral ties.

Accoyer, who is in his first visit to China, praised strengthen bilateral ties and friendship since both States established diplomatic relations in 1964.

He suggested that the two parties to extend cooperation in nuclear energy, aviation, production machinery and electronics, culture, education and health.

Prior to his stay in Beijing, Accoyer visited the ancient capital city of Xi' year, in the Northwest of China at the start of his six-day trip. He will also visit the autonomous region of southern China Guangxi Zhuang and the financial centre of the Shanghai China.

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Thousands line road to marriage as responsible of loans for the first arrivals - USA Today

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The prep work is about to pay off: Today is the day Kate Middleton gets a husband, the U.K. gets a new princess and the world watches what's being dubbed the wedding of the decade.

By Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

Police walk along the Mall ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.

By Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

Police walk along the Mall ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.

Months of carefully managed preparations conclude Friday when Prince William of Wales and his fiancé, Catherine "Kate" Middleton, wed in a ritual blending tradition, pageantry and modernity under the gaze of a billion eyes and millions of tweets.

Just three hours before the start time of the wedding, the Queen of England announced that she had confered a Dukedom on Prince William. His titles will be Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus. Middleton on marriage becomes Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.

It has been a little more than five months since the couple announced their long-awaited engagement — 22 weeks and three days for the PR-canny couple and the palace news operation to dribble out day by day the myriad details of a ceremonial state wedding. Add to that the tidbits British reporters wormed out of their sources, and the countdown to this wedding has driven the anticipation level to dizzying heights, especially in the American and British celebrity media, among the 7,000-strong mob prepared to invade London to cover the nuptials.

The worldwide public interest is understandable: He is a future king, she a future queen. For the British, that's enough.

Yet, Americans also are riveted despite only a handful of well-known-in-America celebrity guests, such as Elton John and Rowan "Mr. Bean" Atkinson.

More accurately, how could you avoid it?
All the major broadcast networks and cable news outlets, plus some less-traditional video venues, are providing coverage of the nuptials live, from London, following the official royal schedule:

? 3:15-4:45 a.m. Arrivals at Westminster Abbey.

? 5-6 a.m. Royal family, royal couple travel from Buckingham Palace to the abbey.

? 6 a.m. Service begins.

? 7:15-7:30 a.m. Carriage procession
back to Buckingham.

? 8:25 a.m. The bride and groom and their families make the traditional appearance on the balcony, give the royal wave.

? 8:30 a.m. Fly-by by the Royal Air Force
and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

And for those viewers who would rather not give up a minute of sleep for this romantic event, networks and cable channels will be reprising the royal doings throughout the day (Oprah Winfrey with live correspondents on the scene) and in prime-time specials.

William and Middleton acknowledged the outpouring of attention in a message posted to officialroyalwedding2011.com on Thursday. "We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives. The affection shown to us by so many people during our engagement has been incredibly moving, and has touched us both deeply."

The couple were seen ducking into Westminster Abbey Wednesday night for a 90-minute rehearsal. Middleton practiced walking down the aisle with her father, Michael Middleton, and bride and groom read through their vows, according to Sky News. Middleton is said to have "squealed" with delight when she saw the decorated Abbey.

There were more breathlessly documented sightings Thursday: Kate leaving Clarence House for another run-through at the Abbey (amid all the last-minute prep work, her groom got some down time in Tuesday when he followed a South London soccer match with pals with a Ducati ride back to St. James's Palace). Prince Harry waving through the window of his car to well-wishers on the street. Camilla Parker Bowles venturing out to The Mall to greet the camped-out crowds.

When asked how she was feeling, the Duchess of Cornwall replied: "We're all ready for tomorrow — it's wonderful and all very exciting! There's a great atmosphere out here, and it's so nice to meet people and see how the celebrations are getting underway," according to the official wedding website.

Reporters and commentators, such as Barbara Walters, have gone on endlessly about the "fairy-tale" aspects of this wedding and its potential to rival the grand 1981 nuptials of William's parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Still, what stands out about this multi-million-pound spectacle (paid for by the royal family and Middleton's millionaire parents) and $32 million security challenge (paid for by British taxpayers) is its unprecedented modernity, unlike any before in royal history. No longer are stuffy royal bureaucrats solely in charge; the couple themselves have taken significant control.

"Prince William and Miss Middleton are firmly at the helm. The wedding will reflect (their) wishes," Nick Loughran, a press officer for the prince, said in a statement.

"(They) have made it quite clear, right from the start, that they would like their wedding day to strike the right balance between intimacy and providing an occasion that can be enjoyed by everyone," he added.

To wit: The couple played a big role in choosing the music, a mix of trumpet fanfare, hymns and anthems, including one, This Is the Day Which the Lord Hath Made, written by British choral composer John Rutter as a wedding gift. They, too, mostly picked the flowers, which are all native to Britain. The design is a "very natural, romantic look," according to a flower arranger quoted on the official wedding website.

And speculation is growing about the hand the pair is having in crafting their vows after Middleton was photographed leaving her family home in Bucklebury Wednesday with a sheaf of paper visible in the back seat of the car that included the passage "With so much love within our hearts." While the passage could be from a separate reading, it opens the possibility that they might be writing their own vows.

There are only a few important secrets left to learn, probably Friday: What will she wear, where will they honeymoon, and what will the new royal couple be called? Will they be duke and duchess or Prince and Princess William of Wales? Queen Elizabeth II, if she grants a gift of a new title for her grandson, would likely do so Friday morning.

Same goes for the wedding dress designer, who will be revealed only when Middleton steps out of her Rolls Royce at the door to Westminster Abbey shortly before 11 a.m. local time. (On Wednesday, an 8-foot garment carrier spotted at the Goring Hotel, where the Middleton family is staying, was rumored to be carrying the gown.) The palace plans to issue a press release on the designer soon after the service starts. Knockoff artists are already planning to replicate the dress, with one available for purchase Monday for $698 at Nordstrom.

As for the honeymoon, reports on where they will go emerge daily. The latest, according to The Sunday Telegraph, is they're considering a tour of southern Jordan to see the famous ancient ruins of Petra, despite recent unrest in the country where Middleton spent a part of her childhood.

The prince and princess-to-be just might get their way, as they have throughout much of the planning of their wedding, whether it's the decoration on their cake, the choice of charities to benefit from donations in lieu of gifts, Middleton's choice of younger sister Pippa as her maid of honor, or the music and performers at the service.

Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to the queen who will be commentating on the wedding for Sky News, says Will & Kate are unlike previous royal couples. "They're running it and they're doing what they want to do within reason," he says. "They've been together for eight years, which is unprecedented, they've lived together on and off, which is unprecedented, they've both been to university — they are a very much their own people, a very modern couple."

Middleton decided on the cake and who would make it, choosing a classic English fruit cake by pastry chef Fiona Cairns, cakemaker to the likes of U2's Bono and Paul McCartney, whose concoctions had been enjoyed by the couple at other weddings. It will be multi-tiered, and the cream-and-white frosting will be decorated with a British floral theme using a traditional technique of intricate piping to create 3-D scrollwork, leaves and flowers.

"She is very much the inspiration behind the cake," says Cairns, who met with Middleton after she was chosen in February. "She gave us her ideas and pictures, drew the list of the flowers. She is in charge and has been guiding us. She's quite hands on and that's good."

William, who turns 29 on June 21, is a strong-minded young man. Middleton, 29, exudes self-confidence as the first middle-class commoner to marry a future king in more than three centuries and the first college-educated bride to marry a future king. According to Arbiter and scores of other royals watchers, the palace minders have relaxed, having learned lessons from the semi-arranged marriage of William's parents.

"He appears to have quite strong views about what he wants and how he thinks things should be done, and it appears to be that things should be more modern and open and accessible," says Rosalind Coward, a British academic and journalist, author of a Diana biography, and a visiting researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. "If he had chosen someone based on all the usual royal protocols, well, she's not from the usual gene pool."

Indeed, that is the biggest difference — and authentic fairy-tale aspect — between this wedding and Diana's wedding and so many other royal weddings dating back hundreds of years: He chose her, says Hugo Vickers, a royal historian (latest book: Behind Closed Doors, about the final years of the Duchess of Windsor) who will be commenting on the wedding for Associated Press TV. "He has complete freedom of choice about whom he marries. This is not a dynastic or arranged marriage, there's nothing arranged about it," Vickers says.

Another major difference, he says, is the palace media operation, which has embraced the digital world by opening Facebook and Flickr accounts and launching multiple royal websites filled with pictures, interviews, speeches, video, interactive maps and other details. The palace even plans to live-stream the wedding on YouTube.

"They've been Twittering!" Vickers says, amused. "What the palace has done since the Princess of Wales was killed (in a car crash in Paris in 1997), when they were (called) out on PR, is that now they are much better at releasing information, staging things, feeding the press. They're not covering anything up" as was done at some previous royal weddings.

And yet today's technology means that locals don't need to head to the (likely rainy) streets to soak up the pomp and circumstance: Every detail can be watched from the comfort of your recliner — which means that some are wondering if the assembled masses will be as big as they were in 1981.

Of course, the couple are not totally in charge — their wedding is a state event, after all, says Brian Hoey, a veteran royals correspondent and biographer (latest book: We Are Amused: A Royal Miscellany), who will be covering the wedding for BBC Radio. For instance, he says his royal household sources told him William wanted a semi-private wedding in the more intimate St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Prince Charles married in 2005.

"But the queen wants her grandson and future king to have a state-occasion wedding and William has gone along," Hoey says. "The queen has the final say in everything."

Politics is playing a role, too, including when it comes to the guest list. On Thursday, in response to mounting public complaints that a representative of Syria would be attending, Prime Minister David Cameron revoked the invitiation to the country, which has seen hundreds of its people killed during the last month in an uprising against the current authoritarian regime.

Among past prime ministers, there's grumbling that former Labor leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are not invited but that former Conservative PMs John Major and Margaret Thatcher are (Thatcher declined because of ill health). Palace officials said the move was not a snub but a matter of protocol: Brown and Blair are not Knights of the Garter (the highest order of chivalry), but Major and Thatcher are.

Still, Hoey says, the queen, too, has adapted to modern times, hosting the midday reception luncheon for about 650 at Buckingham Palace after the wedding. "Normally at a royal wedding, only about 60 people are invited back for what was called the wedding breakfast, just immediate family and other visiting royalty," Hoey says. "(This) is a much more democratic, informal wedding than they've ever had, far less stuffy."

One signal of the couple's approach: They invited leaders of some of the charities William is involved with, such as the Tusk Trust, to the wedding. Charlie Mayhew, founder and CEO of the trust, which aims to conserve African wildlife in a way that sustains local human communities, and his wife, Caroline, will be among the guests in the Abbey.

"It's a huge honor — it's the first time I've been to a royal wedding and probably my last," jokes Mayhew. He says the prince is genuinely passionate about his charity work, and about Africa. "He is hugely popular and rightly so," he adds. "He's got a wonderful sense of humor, a quick wit, he puts you at ease immediately. He engages in conversation completely effortlessly. He's a pleasure to work with, not stuffy at all."

He and Middleton also are aware of appearances in a time of economic distress in Britain. "One thing they need to do, which is incredibly difficult, is walk a fine line to being sensitive to (the economy) and displays of excess," says Leslie Carroll, an American author of books about royal history (Royal Pains). "But they're damned if they do and damned if they don't, plus pomp and pageantry is fabulous for tourism and morale."

The couple are following some traditions: He gave her Diana's sapphire engagement ring, and she will wear a wedding ring of Welsh gold, a royal family custom dating back nearly a century. He will not wear a ring, a custom among the men in his family, who prefer signet rings.

Another sign of the couple's personal touch: The groom's cake, which has not been customary in Britain. The chocolate biscuit (or cookie) cake, based on a royal recipe and a tea-time favorite of William's, will be made by Paul Courtney for McVitie's Cake Company, famous for its tea biscuits and wedding cakes for royals.

Also a departure from royal custom: An adult maid of honor. Usually royal brides choose young royal relatives as bridesmaids and page boys, as the couple have done, but Middleton also wanted sister Pippa to be part of the bridal party, opposite brother Prince Harry as William's supporter or best man.

"Her sister would have been part of the wedding if she had married anyone else in the country," says Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of TheKnot.com, a wedding website. "It's a wonderful balance, they're not rejecting tradition and they're embracing modern trends."

Modern it may be but this wedding won't lack pomp and circumstance. After all, tradition-minded Brits are acknowledged masters of pageantry.

So there will be antique coaches and hundreds of horses mounted with military riders in scarlet-and-gold uniforms, parading down The Mall as an estimated 1 million people line the street and millions more watch on giant screens set up in major parks.

The BBC's three dozen cameras inside the Abbey will capture every moment as the bride glides down the aisle with her father toward the high altar, as trumpets sound and boy choristers warble. The 75-minute ceremony will feature blessings, hymns and readings, and the couple will recite the traditional Anglican vows from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. (Their vows will be instantly available online for download.) Then they return to Buckingham Palace to wave from the balcony and (probably) exchange a kiss, as two formations of Royal Air Force aircraft roar overhead in what the British call a fly-past.

Then it's time to party: First, politely, at the reception hosted by the queen for about 650 at Buckingham Palace, and then "knees up," as the Brits say, at a dinner/dance gala hosted by Prince Charles at the palace for about 300 of the couple's younger friends and relatives.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

View the original article here

Thousands line road to marriage as responsible of loans for the first arrivals - USA Today

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The prep work is about to pay off: Today is the day Kate Middleton gets a husband, the U.K. gets a new princess and the world watches what's being dubbed the wedding of the decade.

By Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

Police walk along the Mall ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.

By Christopher Furlong, Getty Images

Police walk along the Mall ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.

Months of carefully managed preparations conclude Friday when Prince William of Wales and his fiancé, Catherine "Kate" Middleton, wed in a ritual blending tradition, pageantry and modernity under the gaze of a billion eyes and millions of tweets.

Just three hours before the start time of the wedding, the Queen of England announced that she had confered a Dukedom on Prince William. His titles will be Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus. Middleton on marriage becomes Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.

It has been a little more than five months since the couple announced their long-awaited engagement — 22 weeks and three days for the PR-canny couple and the palace news operation to dribble out day by day the myriad details of a ceremonial state wedding. Add to that the tidbits British reporters wormed out of their sources, and the countdown to this wedding has driven the anticipation level to dizzying heights, especially in the American and British celebrity media, among the 7,000-strong mob prepared to invade London to cover the nuptials.

The worldwide public interest is understandable: He is a future king, she a future queen. For the British, that's enough.

Yet, Americans also are riveted despite only a handful of well-known-in-America celebrity guests, such as Elton John and Rowan "Mr. Bean" Atkinson.

More accurately, how could you avoid it?
All the major broadcast networks and cable news outlets, plus some less-traditional video venues, are providing coverage of the nuptials live, from London, following the official royal schedule:

? 3:15-4:45 a.m. Arrivals at Westminster Abbey.

? 5-6 a.m. Royal family, royal couple travel from Buckingham Palace to the abbey.

? 6 a.m. Service begins.

? 7:15-7:30 a.m. Carriage procession
back to Buckingham.

? 8:25 a.m. The bride and groom and their families make the traditional appearance on the balcony, give the royal wave.

? 8:30 a.m. Fly-by by the Royal Air Force
and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

And for those viewers who would rather not give up a minute of sleep for this romantic event, networks and cable channels will be reprising the royal doings throughout the day (Oprah Winfrey with live correspondents on the scene) and in prime-time specials.

William and Middleton acknowledged the outpouring of attention in a message posted to officialroyalwedding2011.com on Thursday. "We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives. The affection shown to us by so many people during our engagement has been incredibly moving, and has touched us both deeply."

The couple were seen ducking into Westminster Abbey Wednesday night for a 90-minute rehearsal. Middleton practiced walking down the aisle with her father, Michael Middleton, and bride and groom read through their vows, according to Sky News. Middleton is said to have "squealed" with delight when she saw the decorated Abbey.

There were more breathlessly documented sightings Thursday: Kate leaving Clarence House for another run-through at the Abbey (amid all the last-minute prep work, her groom got some down time in Tuesday when he followed a South London soccer match with pals with a Ducati ride back to St. James's Palace). Prince Harry waving through the window of his car to well-wishers on the street. Camilla Parker Bowles venturing out to The Mall to greet the camped-out crowds.

When asked how she was feeling, the Duchess of Cornwall replied: "We're all ready for tomorrow — it's wonderful and all very exciting! There's a great atmosphere out here, and it's so nice to meet people and see how the celebrations are getting underway," according to the official wedding website.

Reporters and commentators, such as Barbara Walters, have gone on endlessly about the "fairy-tale" aspects of this wedding and its potential to rival the grand 1981 nuptials of William's parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.

Still, what stands out about this multi-million-pound spectacle (paid for by the royal family and Middleton's millionaire parents) and $32 million security challenge (paid for by British taxpayers) is its unprecedented modernity, unlike any before in royal history. No longer are stuffy royal bureaucrats solely in charge; the couple themselves have taken significant control.

"Prince William and Miss Middleton are firmly at the helm. The wedding will reflect (their) wishes," Nick Loughran, a press officer for the prince, said in a statement.

"(They) have made it quite clear, right from the start, that they would like their wedding day to strike the right balance between intimacy and providing an occasion that can be enjoyed by everyone," he added.

To wit: The couple played a big role in choosing the music, a mix of trumpet fanfare, hymns and anthems, including one, This Is the Day Which the Lord Hath Made, written by British choral composer John Rutter as a wedding gift. They, too, mostly picked the flowers, which are all native to Britain. The design is a "very natural, romantic look," according to a flower arranger quoted on the official wedding website.

And speculation is growing about the hand the pair is having in crafting their vows after Middleton was photographed leaving her family home in Bucklebury Wednesday with a sheaf of paper visible in the back seat of the car that included the passage "With so much love within our hearts." While the passage could be from a separate reading, it opens the possibility that they might be writing their own vows.

There are only a few important secrets left to learn, probably Friday: What will she wear, where will they honeymoon, and what will the new royal couple be called? Will they be duke and duchess or Prince and Princess William of Wales? Queen Elizabeth II, if she grants a gift of a new title for her grandson, would likely do so Friday morning.

Same goes for the wedding dress designer, who will be revealed only when Middleton steps out of her Rolls Royce at the door to Westminster Abbey shortly before 11 a.m. local time. (On Wednesday, an 8-foot garment carrier spotted at the Goring Hotel, where the Middleton family is staying, was rumored to be carrying the gown.) The palace plans to issue a press release on the designer soon after the service starts. Knockoff artists are already planning to replicate the dress, with one available for purchase Monday for $698 at Nordstrom.

As for the honeymoon, reports on where they will go emerge daily. The latest, according to The Sunday Telegraph, is they're considering a tour of southern Jordan to see the famous ancient ruins of Petra, despite recent unrest in the country where Middleton spent a part of her childhood.

The prince and princess-to-be just might get their way, as they have throughout much of the planning of their wedding, whether it's the decoration on their cake, the choice of charities to benefit from donations in lieu of gifts, Middleton's choice of younger sister Pippa as her maid of honor, or the music and performers at the service.

Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to the queen who will be commentating on the wedding for Sky News, says Will & Kate are unlike previous royal couples. "They're running it and they're doing what they want to do within reason," he says. "They've been together for eight years, which is unprecedented, they've lived together on and off, which is unprecedented, they've both been to university — they are a very much their own people, a very modern couple."

Middleton decided on the cake and who would make it, choosing a classic English fruit cake by pastry chef Fiona Cairns, cakemaker to the likes of U2's Bono and Paul McCartney, whose concoctions had been enjoyed by the couple at other weddings. It will be multi-tiered, and the cream-and-white frosting will be decorated with a British floral theme using a traditional technique of intricate piping to create 3-D scrollwork, leaves and flowers.

"She is very much the inspiration behind the cake," says Cairns, who met with Middleton after she was chosen in February. "She gave us her ideas and pictures, drew the list of the flowers. She is in charge and has been guiding us. She's quite hands on and that's good."

William, who turns 29 on June 21, is a strong-minded young man. Middleton, 29, exudes self-confidence as the first middle-class commoner to marry a future king in more than three centuries and the first college-educated bride to marry a future king. According to Arbiter and scores of other royals watchers, the palace minders have relaxed, having learned lessons from the semi-arranged marriage of William's parents.

"He appears to have quite strong views about what he wants and how he thinks things should be done, and it appears to be that things should be more modern and open and accessible," says Rosalind Coward, a British academic and journalist, author of a Diana biography, and a visiting researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. "If he had chosen someone based on all the usual royal protocols, well, she's not from the usual gene pool."

Indeed, that is the biggest difference — and authentic fairy-tale aspect — between this wedding and Diana's wedding and so many other royal weddings dating back hundreds of years: He chose her, says Hugo Vickers, a royal historian (latest book: Behind Closed Doors, about the final years of the Duchess of Windsor) who will be commenting on the wedding for Associated Press TV. "He has complete freedom of choice about whom he marries. This is not a dynastic or arranged marriage, there's nothing arranged about it," Vickers says.

Another major difference, he says, is the palace media operation, which has embraced the digital world by opening Facebook and Flickr accounts and launching multiple royal websites filled with pictures, interviews, speeches, video, interactive maps and other details. The palace even plans to live-stream the wedding on YouTube.

"They've been Twittering!" Vickers says, amused. "What the palace has done since the Princess of Wales was killed (in a car crash in Paris in 1997), when they were (called) out on PR, is that now they are much better at releasing information, staging things, feeding the press. They're not covering anything up" as was done at some previous royal weddings.

And yet today's technology means that locals don't need to head to the (likely rainy) streets to soak up the pomp and circumstance: Every detail can be watched from the comfort of your recliner — which means that some are wondering if the assembled masses will be as big as they were in 1981.

Of course, the couple are not totally in charge — their wedding is a state event, after all, says Brian Hoey, a veteran royals correspondent and biographer (latest book: We Are Amused: A Royal Miscellany), who will be covering the wedding for BBC Radio. For instance, he says his royal household sources told him William wanted a semi-private wedding in the more intimate St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where Prince Charles married in 2005.

"But the queen wants her grandson and future king to have a state-occasion wedding and William has gone along," Hoey says. "The queen has the final say in everything."

Politics is playing a role, too, including when it comes to the guest list. On Thursday, in response to mounting public complaints that a representative of Syria would be attending, Prime Minister David Cameron revoked the invitiation to the country, which has seen hundreds of its people killed during the last month in an uprising against the current authoritarian regime.

Among past prime ministers, there's grumbling that former Labor leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are not invited but that former Conservative PMs John Major and Margaret Thatcher are (Thatcher declined because of ill health). Palace officials said the move was not a snub but a matter of protocol: Brown and Blair are not Knights of the Garter (the highest order of chivalry), but Major and Thatcher are.

Still, Hoey says, the queen, too, has adapted to modern times, hosting the midday reception luncheon for about 650 at Buckingham Palace after the wedding. "Normally at a royal wedding, only about 60 people are invited back for what was called the wedding breakfast, just immediate family and other visiting royalty," Hoey says. "(This) is a much more democratic, informal wedding than they've ever had, far less stuffy."

One signal of the couple's approach: They invited leaders of some of the charities William is involved with, such as the Tusk Trust, to the wedding. Charlie Mayhew, founder and CEO of the trust, which aims to conserve African wildlife in a way that sustains local human communities, and his wife, Caroline, will be among the guests in the Abbey.

"It's a huge honor — it's the first time I've been to a royal wedding and probably my last," jokes Mayhew. He says the prince is genuinely passionate about his charity work, and about Africa. "He is hugely popular and rightly so," he adds. "He's got a wonderful sense of humor, a quick wit, he puts you at ease immediately. He engages in conversation completely effortlessly. He's a pleasure to work with, not stuffy at all."

He and Middleton also are aware of appearances in a time of economic distress in Britain. "One thing they need to do, which is incredibly difficult, is walk a fine line to being sensitive to (the economy) and displays of excess," says Leslie Carroll, an American author of books about royal history (Royal Pains). "But they're damned if they do and damned if they don't, plus pomp and pageantry is fabulous for tourism and morale."

The couple are following some traditions: He gave her Diana's sapphire engagement ring, and she will wear a wedding ring of Welsh gold, a royal family custom dating back nearly a century. He will not wear a ring, a custom among the men in his family, who prefer signet rings.

Another sign of the couple's personal touch: The groom's cake, which has not been customary in Britain. The chocolate biscuit (or cookie) cake, based on a royal recipe and a tea-time favorite of William's, will be made by Paul Courtney for McVitie's Cake Company, famous for its tea biscuits and wedding cakes for royals.

Also a departure from royal custom: An adult maid of honor. Usually royal brides choose young royal relatives as bridesmaids and page boys, as the couple have done, but Middleton also wanted sister Pippa to be part of the bridal party, opposite brother Prince Harry as William's supporter or best man.

"Her sister would have been part of the wedding if she had married anyone else in the country," says Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of TheKnot.com, a wedding website. "It's a wonderful balance, they're not rejecting tradition and they're embracing modern trends."

Modern it may be but this wedding won't lack pomp and circumstance. After all, tradition-minded Brits are acknowledged masters of pageantry.

So there will be antique coaches and hundreds of horses mounted with military riders in scarlet-and-gold uniforms, parading down The Mall as an estimated 1 million people line the street and millions more watch on giant screens set up in major parks.

The BBC's three dozen cameras inside the Abbey will capture every moment as the bride glides down the aisle with her father toward the high altar, as trumpets sound and boy choristers warble. The 75-minute ceremony will feature blessings, hymns and readings, and the couple will recite the traditional Anglican vows from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. (Their vows will be instantly available online for download.) Then they return to Buckingham Palace to wave from the balcony and (probably) exchange a kiss, as two formations of Royal Air Force aircraft roar overhead in what the British call a fly-past.

Then it's time to party: First, politely, at the reception hosted by the queen for about 650 at Buckingham Palace, and then "knees up," as the Brits say, at a dinner/dance gala hosted by Prince Charles at the palace for about 300 of the couple's younger friends and relatives.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.

View the original article here

Some investors see Tepco as too big to fail - Wall Street Journal

TOKYO - day traders and hedge fund superbly taken advantage of volatility surrounding the actions of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. immediately after the earthquake could soon be replaced by a different breed of investor : asset managers long only to research to reinvest in Tepco, on a bet that in the Japan will leave the utility go bust.

Daisuke Iketani, a 30 day trader in Tokyo, the volatility of the Tepco shares after the March 11 earthquake provided a rare golden opportunity: he made a profit of 2 million to ￥ ($ 24,500) especially through a flurry of orders short as the stock plunged briefly to level earthquake ￥ 2,100 to below ￥. 300, decimating the 80% of its market capitalization. Thursday, shares increased by 3.2% to ￥ 425.

"If you are a day trader, is a great temptation to invest in a stock like that," said investor retail Yuuki Hakamata, citing sharp price movements and the massive volume.

In the wake of the initial panic sale stung by concerns of radiation leaks crippled plant nuclear power of Fukushima Daiichi company on the northeast coast of the Japan, mysterious trades also emerged.

March 30, an unidentified investor purchased shares of Tepco 40 million dollars - evaluated about 18,17 billion from ￥-in last 10 seconds before the close of trading at ￥ 466, according to several traders at major brokerage houses. It remains uncertain whether the position is still detained, but much of market players speculate that investors unloaded position after shares staged a rebound in the short term in subsequent sessions.

While it remains one of the stocks most actively traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, trade Tepco shares has stabilized recently. Volume decreased by 90% from a high of 303 million shares registered on 6 April, undermining the appeal for speculative traders cashed on volatility.

Many investors believe that Tepco is too big to fail, and the Government is developing a framework to support the ongoing disaster utility through the nuclear crisis. This is what has prompted some managers of assets based in the United States to invest in the stock and reassess their assets.

"At the beginning of April, a long couple of buyers were coming and buying the stock, said a trader at a foreign brokerage.". One other Fund Manager in the business of Japanese asset management has added this asset based in United States, managers seem to be placing long orders, adding that investment has not come to pension funds, either the United States or of Europe.

Market experts say that the key to the feasibility of an investment in the shares of the company's long term will depend on the scale and timing of the recovery of the company will be obliged to pay to the victims of the nuclear reactor accident andmore importantly, how the Government is ready to provide financial assistance to facilitate the survival of the Tepco in the crisis.

"Markets despise most is uncertainty so that the Government should clarify its position, said Mana Nakazora, analyst credit Chief at BNP Paribas Securities in Tokyo."

She added that local media reports suggest a chance more than corporate bonds and stock of Tepco retains some value.

"It would be possible to invest in the stock, once the value of the business can be estimated through more clarity on how much and how much time he will have to pay for compensation," said Naoki Fujiwara, a manager of funds to Shinkin Asset Management Co.

But Mr. Fujiwara, who removed Tepco to its portfolio, after the earthquake stated that another essential question is how shareholders should assume responsibility. Even if the actions are not removed from the list, he said investors remain nervous about the persistent risks of reduction of capital and dilution.

On Tuesday, Tepco held his first briefing for institutional investors and analysts since the disaster, but the return of the so-called traditional long community should be further on the road from their main incentive to invest in the stock had been high dividends, which will likely be demolished for the years to come.

The arm of management of the assets of the largest Japanese life insurer Nippon Life Insurance Co. removed Tepco shares in the portfolio of one of its funds. Nippon life is also one of the largest investors in Tepco suite Dai - ichi Life Insurance Co., which recently said it expects to book a special loss of approximately 100 billion from ￥ due to its portfolio of shares in the utility. Business investment management based on United States AllianceBernstein Holding LP also dressed its weight on Tepco at "the lower end of an active position significant" at the end of the month of March.

"I don't know yet if I can buy the stock, even though I am still active as a Fund Manager." Perhaps I'll buy a single share after retirement, "said a Japanese institutional investor.

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Libya: Tunisia indignant over border clashes - BBC News

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The Yemeni Government argues the plan of the CCG - Xinhua

(BEIJING, April 29, Xinhuanet.com) - cooperation Yemen Gulf Council power transfer Plan expected to be signed Sunday in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The plan provides a framework for Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign as President in a month.

The Yemen Government has insisted that the deal mediated by the Gulf aimed at ending the political crisis must go forward. But opposition groups warn against demonstrators demanding the immediate resignation of the Saleh could sabotage the violence led by the Government.

Hhttp://English.CNTV.CN/program/newsupdate/20110429/103659.shtmle said: "we insist that the same delegation to Abu Dhabi will travel to Riyadh and sign the Gulf initiative." The final clause, if any, will be adopted by Ali Abdullah Saleh, President of the General Congress of the people and not as the President of the Yemen, because the agreement is an agreement between the parties and political organizations. ?

(Source: CNTV)

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Stop Syria of Baath party members. reported military defections - Los Angeles Times

Syrian families arrive on foot in the region of Wadi Khaled of North of Lebanon, near the Lebanese-Syrian border. Hundreds of children and Syrian women crossed the northern border of the Lebanon, fleeing the violence in Syria. (Omar Ibrahim, Reuters / April 28, 2011)

Cracks appear in the Syrian regime Thursday with the resignation of the members of the Baath party to power and continuous reports of military divisions before another confrontation with demonstrators expected Friday.

About 200 people resigned from the Baath party in the past two days to protest Government's violent response disorders. Most of the resignations came from members of the party in the cities of Dara and Baniyas, points have been hot opposition.

"My resignation was a message and the duty," former party member Mohammad Sheghri said in Baniyas. "Security officials has clearly abused of peaceful demonstrators and unarmed." This ruthless violation and the oppression of citizens has never been something the party Baath represented. ?

He also continued reports of dissension within the armed forces. A resident of Dara said an entire army unit, a division or brigade, had broken and was hidden among the people.

His claim could not be verified. Media of the Syrian State cited Thursday a military employee without name dismissing these reports as a "distortion of the media", confirming the unity of the armed forces in "conspiracies."

Access to the sites of protest was widely denied to foreign journalists.

The pro-democracy movement erupted in Dara six weeks after the arrest and torture of a group of adolescents accused of writing graffiti policy opposition to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. It has quickly spread across the country.

Thursday from Dara resident, reached by telephone satellite, said 42 people had been killed by security forces, in the city since Monday when 4th Division Army, the armoured, directed by his brother Maher Assad, stormed the city. Residents described the military assault as a "massacre" and complained about severe food and fuel shortages.

"They are bombing us from the South," said the resident, who requested anonymity for the sake of security. "We have no milk, no gas, light step, no electricity;" they cut everything. ?

He said the army and the shabiha, pro-Government armed plainclothes men who played a central role in the repression, filled the streets.

A witness, Mohamad al-Homsi, said the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera that three women who were captured in bringing milk to children in the city were forced to kiss the feet of soldiers until they were allowed to pass.

Homsi "our children have died of hunger," said on air shortly before the station announced that it had suspended operations in Syria in response to "restrictions and attacks on its staff."

Elsewhere in the country, the authorities took measures on the movement and communication as the militants and Government forces prepared for the Friday prayer, often followed by massive protests by anti-Government.

Video posted on the Internet appears to show Government forces open fire on the crowd in the third city of the Syria, Homs, kill several people. The video has been downloaded Thursday but could not be confirmed.

The United Nations Human Rights Council should hold a session of emergency Friday to draft a resolution calling on the Syrian Government and its supporters to stop the use of violence against the demonstrators. Organization of Syrian rights sawasiah reported arrested thousands and more than 500 civilians killed so far, Reuters news.

Even former allies of the Syria Turkey and the Iran appear to be increasingly uncomfortable with repression. Istanbul, Turkey, organized a series of top-level between the Syrian opposition meetings, and a group of prominent poets and writers of autour region Thursday issued a statement here condemning the "massacres committed by the Syrian regime against unarmed civilians."

Another sign that it is less than pleased with his neighbour, the Turkey also sent a delegation headed by the National Intelligence Agency Assistant Hakan Fidan and State Planning Organization under Secretary Kemal Madenoglu in Damascus, the Syrian capital", Thursday to discuss the recent incidents" "The unofficial Turkey Anatolia news agency reported."

The Turkey and the Syria maintains healthy trade and diplomatic relations and the sending of those responsible for security and trade could be considered a warning veiled in Syria.

Lutz and Hajjar are special correspondents.

Personal time writer Borzou Daragahi contributed to this report.

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At least 400 civilians killed in the revolt of the Syria: Group - Reuters

AMMAN. Tue April 26, 2011 1 pm EDT

AMMAN (Reuters) - the Syrian security forces shot dead at least 400 civilians in their campaign to crush the pro-democracy protests of long months, Sawasiah Syrian human rights organization said on Tuesday.

The group, founded by Mohannad al-Hassani imprisoned human rights lawyer, said that the United Nations Security Council should convene to start proceedings against the Syrian in the international criminal court officials and "reigns in security apparatus".

"This savage behavior, which aims to maintain the clique of decision power to the detriment of a growing number of life of civilians, calls for immediate international action beyond the convictions," Sawasiah said in a statement sent to Reuters.

"The murderers in the Syrian regime must be held accountable." The rivers of the blood by this oppressive regime over the past four decades are enough, said the statement.

Board of Directors of Sawasiah includes philosophy Syrian Professor Sadiq Jalal al-Azem, the book "Self-criticism after the defeat" helped to prepare the ground for a revival in Arab political thought after the victory of Israel in the 1967 war in the Middle East.

Separately, the Syrian human rights observatory, said security police arrested rights activist Qassem al-Ghazzawi Tuesday in his hometown of Deir al - Zor in the Syria is poor after protests intensified in the region last week.

The Observatory also said Mahmoud Issa, an activist and a former political prisoner arrested last week in the city of Homs, submitted to a military court Tuesday on charges of "owning a Thuraya satellite phone and edge computing."

(Reported by Khaled Yacoub Oweis;) (Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Libyan rebels fight to keep control of the border post of key - BusinessWeek

April 29, 2011, 3: 02 pm EDT by Patrick Donahue and Maram Mazen

(Updates with report of rebels taking the border post in fourth paragraph.) EXTRA and is again the troubled Middle East.)

April 29 (Bloomberg) — the Libya army and rebel forces fought for control of a border crossing Western key in Tunisia, near an area where an offensive against the Berber minority Government has even with little foreign attention.The competing claims of border Wazzan success highlighted the fighting yesterday in the mountains of the West of the Libya and areas, where US officials say Government forces have been attacking Berber, also known as Amazigh, an indigenous ethnic group who joined the rebellion having suffered discrimination under the rule of Muammar Libyan rebel Kadhafi.Les struggle to maintain an insurgency aims to overthrow the rule of 42 years of Qathafi, a conflict that helped push oil prices to more than 30% since the beginning of mid-February. The Government forces maintained their shelling of the city of Misrata, port besieged yesterday that the air strikes of NATO against them. Rebel fighters in the city, said they are preparing for an attack on the positions of the artillery of Qathafi outside, said the Associated Press.Wazzan, on the border of the Tunisian city of Dehiba, is on the road of rebel supply for the towns of Nalut and Zintan mountain, southwest of Tripoli. Qathafi forces took control of the border after hours of fighting that involved artillery and GRAD rockets, according to Tunisian news agency tap. Al Jazeera, said today that the insurgents resumed sequences end crossing yesterday and showed their alleged independence flag it.Escape rebel RouteThe had taken control of Wazzan last week, providing an escape route for refugees who had also to take the long and difficult road to seek refuge or medical aid in Tunisia, the report published on the website of al-Jazeera. Thousands of Libyan had crossed in Tunisia for a counter-attack, News Agency France reported.The Tunisia Foreign Ministry protested bombing by Qathafi across the border and the Tunisian army forces, it is on high alert, said Al Jazeera.Gene Cretz, the Ambassador of the United States in Libya, said to journalists in the Department of State April 27 Qathafi forces "have been particularly brutal" in the mountains of the West "when it y." has always been a suspicion on the part of the Gaddafi to Berber groups. "Moreover, regime forces bombard the coastal town of Misrata Thursday killed 10 people, reported the Associated Press. Earlier, NATO said its Government to combat aircraft attacked vehicles of combat near the besieged town Libyan port on 27 April and the rebels, said that NATO mistakenly struck one of their positions, killing as much as 12. Military StalemateNATO intensifying air campaign for six weeks, on the Libya selecting targets closest to Kadhafi in a bid to break a military standoff between loyalist forces and opposition.The military alliance has increased its firepower in the week last with addition of American armed Predator drones and Italian ground attack aircraft. Defence to United Kingdom Secretary Liam Fox said April 27 that the strike this week which flattened part of the main compound of Qathafi to Tripoli was to "increase the psychological pressure" on the Libyan dictator.Crude for June delivery fell 0.4% to $112.44 US per barrel at 7: 45 p.m. in London, after having hit a 2 1/2 years, yesterday high. The Libya has proved more African oil reserves and its production was reduced by 75% of producers such as Marathon Oil Corp. forced fighting to evacuate workers.

-Editors: Terry Atlas, Ben Holland, Karl Maier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net; Maram Mazen in Khartoum in mmazen@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net

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Morocco Cafe Blast Kills 17 in the tourist zone. US condemns "Terrorist act" - Bloomberg

Judicial officials inspect the Agana restaurant after a powerful blast killed 15 people in place Djemaa El - Fna square in Marrakesh at the Morocco. Photographer: Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images a man holds a poster of French reading "no to terrorism" close to the area of content-off autour of Agana restaurant after the explosion of a powerful that killed 15 people in place Djemaa El - Fna square in Marrakesh at the Morocco. Photographer: Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images

An explosion ripped through a restaurant in downtown Marrakech, Morocco, killing at least 17 people, television unidentified al Arabiya reported, quoting a security officer who said that it was caused by a suicide bomber.

Yesterday, the attack which injured about 20 people according to Karim Taj, chef de Cabinet of the Minister of communications of the countries of North Africa, hit the Agana Restaurant in Djemma el - Fna square, a popular tourist destination. Six French nationals were among the dead, said Al Arabiya television, without saying where it obtained the information.

"Killing innocent people in this way could be nothing other than an act of terrorism," Taj said in an interview yesterday.

The attack was the most murderous Morocco since 2003, when suicide bombers simultaneously struck five sites in Casablanca, killing over 40 people and injuring at least 100. It struck at the heart of the tourism industry in the Morocco, which represents approximately 10% of the gross domestic product. Revenue from tourism was the largest earner of foreign currency last year, drawing 56.6 billion dirhams ($7 billion).

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "acts of terrorism must not be tolerated where and when they occur," said in a statement released in Washington last night. French President Nicolas Sarkozy also condemned the Act of terrorism, and Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has expressed his "rejection of the use of indiscriminate violence against civilians innocent firm."

PLACE Free Float Index (the Morocco MOSEMDX) fell by more than 3.5 per cent and decreased by 1.6%, the most since April 1, 9,694.51-3 h 30. about trading yesterday in Casablanca.

"Foreigners are out", Amine Larhrib, head of the Office of the international on the CDG Capital Stock Exchange, said in a telephone yesterday interview of Casablanca. "They are afraid of ending up like they did in Egypt." It is just a normal reaction to the news, but I think it's an isolated incident. ?

A series of bomb attacks took place in 2007 in Casablanca, including two that exploded simultaneously outside the U.S. Consulate General and the American Language Center, according to the U.S. Department of State Web site. He notes that "the potential of terrorist violence against us citizens and interests remains high in the Morocco".

No loss of U.S.

No explosion U.S. losses were reported, Liz Gracon, U.S. Public Affairs Officer, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Casablanca.

The popular protests that toppled Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali spread to Morocco, even if they were smaller and more peaceful. King Mohammed VI of the Morocco March 9 is committed to create a commission to revise the constitution in June and for a referendum to be held after that. He promised to allow freedom of religion and more transparent justice.

Morocco "will be confronting this ugly crime" and "determined to go ahead with his democratic project", said Taj.

To contact the reporters on this story: Donna Abu Nasr in Dubai to dabunasr@bloomberg.net; Mariam Fam in Cairo to mfam1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew j. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net

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