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Showing posts with label heads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heads. Show all posts

Nigeria heads of State and Government knocked churches after Islamists attack

Written By Guru Cool on Monday, December 26, 2011 | 1:21 AM

A view shows the scene of a bomb explosion at St. Theresa Catholic Church at Madalla, Suleja, just outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, December 25, 2011. Islamist militant group Boko Haram said it planted bombs that exploded on Christmas Day at churches in Nigeria, one of which killed at least 27 people on the outskirts of the capital. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

1 of 8. In a view, the scene of a bomb explosion at the Theresa Catholic Church is St. at Madalla, Abuja, outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, December 25 2011. Islamist militant group Boko Haram said that it placed bombs that exploded on Christmas day in churches in Nigeria, one of which killed at least 27 people on the fringes of the capital.

IMG credit: Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde

By Felix Onuah and Camillus Eboh


ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria there is no competent leaders and former military ruler, one said heads of Government to address the security issues, on Monday, after Christmas bomb attacks on churches by Islamist fighters, more than two dozen people killed.


Muhammadu Buhari, a northern lights, lost to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, said in a statement in the Nigerian daily the last presidential election in April, that the Government was only slowly responding and shown indifference to the bombings.


The Boko Haram Islamic sect which aims, Sharia law over Africa's most populous country to impose responsibility for three Church bombs claimed the second Christmas in a row it led massacre on Christian houses of worship.


Security forces blamed the sect for two explosions in the North and fear grows that Boko Haram trying to ignite a sectarian civil war in a country split evenly between Christians and Muslims exist side by side for the most part in peace.


"How on earth would the Vatican and speak the British authorities, before the Nigerian Government to attacks in Nigeria, which have led to the death of our citizens?" Buhari, said in the statement by punch newspaper published.


"This is clearly a mistake of the leadership at a time, which must to ensure Government the people the ability to ensure the safety of life and property," said Buhari.


He said the Government more than had to spend more on security to deal with the problem.


Jonathan, would a Christian from the South, is fighting the threat of Islamic militancy, as the attacks "unhappy", but said Boko Haram "be (roughly) forever." "It will be to stop one day."


Pope Benedict on Monday condemned the attacks as "absurd" gesture and prayed that "the hands of the violent end."


The Pope, speaking from his window overlooking St Peter's square in Rome, said, that violence brought only pain, destruction and death.


COORDINATED ATTACKS


The attacks, which clashes between security forces and Boko Haram came a few days after which killed at least 68 people, evidence of more coordination and strategy of the group, which could be sounding the alarm bell in Nigeria and Western capitals.


St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madala, a satellite town, about 40 km (25 miles) from the Centre of the capital Abuja, was packed, when the first explosion exploded Gates after Christmas mass.


A few hours later, mountain of fire and miracles were reported at the Church in the Central, ethnically and religiously mixed city of Jos and in a church in Gadaka in the Northern State of Yobe State blasts. Residents said many wounded at Gadaka, but there were no immediate further details.


A suicide bomber killed four officials of the State security service in one of the other attacks in northeastern Damaturu was announced by the police. Residents heard two loud explosions and shots in the city.


Reuters reporter at the Church near the city of Abuja saw that the front roof had been destroyed, as several houses nearby had. Five cars were burnt out still smoldering. There were scenes of chaos as shocked disbelief staring people in the rubble.


"" Mass just gone and people were noise from the Church, and suddenly I heard a loud noise: "Gbam!" Cars were on fire and bodies strewn everywhere ", said veneciay minke Reuters."


Father Christopher Bard, Assistant pastor of the Church, said: "the officials counted me said they have collected 27 make so far." Police closed off area around the Church. Thousands of angry youths, you set roadblocks burn on the motorway from Abuja results in predominantly Muslim Northern Nigeria.


Police and military trying to dispel it by burning life shot into the air with tear gas.


"We are so angry!" Kingsley Ukpabi cried vehicles, as a queue of the OWL behind his flaming barrage lined up.


VIOLENCE CREDIT SPREADS


Boko Haram - in the Hausa language in Northern Nigeria speaking means "Western education sin" – is modeled loosely on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan.


The low level insurgency to the limited largely to Nigeria, but there are several parts to the North, Centre and Abuja fell this year.


Last Christmas Eve, a series of bomb blasts to Jos killed 32 people and other people died in attacks on two churches in the North-East.


A wounded man whose Beine were almost crushed into pieces by the explosion of security services on a stretcher in close to an ambulance was loaded at the Church near the city of Abuja.


"I will survive," he said in a quiet voice.


The explosion in Jos, a powder keg of ethnic and religious tensions occurred deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians have a spree shooting of militant, accompanied the fire was exchanged with the local police, Charles Ezeocha, Jos task force spokesman said.


"We have lost a policeman and we have four arrests." I believe that we get further information and work on it can use, "he said." Police found four other explosive devices in Jos, which disabled them, he added.


The White House condemned "This senseless violence and tragic loss of life at Christmas."


UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attacks and expressed his condolences "the people of Nigeria and the members of the."


"The Secretary-General once again calls for an end to all acts of sectarian violence in the country and reaffirms its belief that this use of violence can justify not an end,", a statement said published by his Office.


(Additional reporting by Tim cocks in Lagos, Tife Owolabi and Buhari Bello in Jos, Mike Oboh in Kano, correspondent in Maiduguri and Philip Pullella in Vatican City;) Write by Tim cocks and BATE Borisov Felix; (Editing by Mark Heinrich)

1:21 AM | 0 comments

Former South Korean first lady heads North for condolence

Written By Guru Cool on Monday, December 19, 2011 | 1:52 AM

Former first lady Lee Hee-ho (L), the widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun are escorted by officials as they leave for Pyongyang in order to pay their respects over North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death, at the CIQ (customs, immigration and quarantine) office, just south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Paju, north of Seoul, December 26, 2011. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Former first lady Lee Hee-ho (L), which accompanied widow of late South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-Eun of officials, left for Pyongyang, for the honour of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died in the CIQ (immigration, customs and quarantine) Office, South of the demilitarisierten zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in Paju, North of Seoul, 26 December 2011.
IMG credit: Reuters/Kim Kyung-hoon
By ju-min Park

PAJU, South Korea (Reuters) - the widow of former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, the author of a political commitment now overboard thrown with North Korea, crossed the fortified land border between the two sides on Monday of their honor late dictator Kim Jong-il.

Relations between North and South have frozen Myung-bak Lee since the election of conservative South Korean President in 2008, to force the aid in a bid to give up a nuclear program in the North and to bring to the negotiating table.

A 13-member delegation headed by Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-Jung, who masterminded the border crossed the so-called "sunshine policy" of engagement with the North by car and pay their respects at the bier of Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.

"I hope, my visit to North Korea helps to improve South-North Korea relations" Yoon-chul-Koo, an adviser to Lee, quoted them at an Immigration Office on the southern edge of the de-militarized zone.
Lee, who met Kim Jong-il in Pyongynag in the year 2000 in the first inter-Korean Summit since the end of 1953 the Korea war, remain for two days and not the December 28 funeral will take part.

The most South Koreans are banned, from the North under the current policy of the Government and the Republic of Korea, which is technically at war with the North, no official delegation to Kim, is to complain about, who died earlier this month to send.

Was asked by reporters at the crossroads of whether North Korea's delegation wants to comply with new leader Kim Jong-un, Yoon, said the visit for "pure condolence."

Kim Jong-un, who is in his late 20s, is the third of his line to rule impoverished in the North, although he makes likely parts with a clique is.

A second group of grieving from South Korea led by the widow of a South Korea's largest conglomerates, investment in the North in Pyongyang launched.

Hyun Jeong-Eun, the wife of the Hyundai business group, late former Chairman Chung Mong-Hun, led a delegation of five people.

Hyun father-in-law was Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung, who in 1999 founded as one of the largest investors in the North Korea's Kumgang mountain tourist resort Busness Hyundai Asan Corp.

The business was exposed to a South Korean tourist resort since the fatal shooting in 2008.
Hyundai Asan project is Kaesong industrial park in the North, some sources of foreign currency in an impoverished North.

(Reporting by ju-min Park;) (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
1:52 AM | 0 comments

Tax fight heads toward expected deal: aides

Written By Guru Cool on Saturday, December 10, 2011 | 6:52 PM

President Barack Obama speaks on the extension of the payroll tax cut and of the Republican obstruction of Richard Cordray's nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the briefing room of the White House in Washington December 8, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

By Thomas Ferraro and Roberta Rampton


WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:01am EST


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic and Republican lawmakers skirmished on Friday over plans to extend a payroll tax cut seen as crucial to a fragile U.S. economic recovery, but aides predicted a last-minute deal.


While independent economists say extending the tax cut would boost the economy at a critical time, both parties have been struggling to agree on a compromise deal in a rerun of this year's budget battles that have knocked investor confidence in Washington's ability to deal with its fiscal problems.


Both parties are under pressure to strike a deal at a time of economic difficulty. Failure to do so would mean an effective tax hike for millions of voters in 2012, when Republicans and Democrats will face off in presidential and congressional elections.


"The optics politically to be seen blocking an extension of payroll tax is lousy - and neither wants their fingerprints of blame on it for not getting it done before Christmas," said Ethan Siegal of The Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks Washington for institutional investors.


Senior party aides predicted on Friday that common ground would be soon be found to extend a reduction of the payroll tax, which helps fund the Social Security federal retirement program, and renew jobless benefits for millions of Americans.


"Everybody figures it will happen. It has to. No one wants to raise taxes or end jobless benefits," one aide said. "The only real question if it will be next week or the week after."


Democrats pounced on Republican moves to include a controversial pipeline project in the tax-cut bill, citing environmental concerns. But they also said attempts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to kill new federal controls on industrial boilers and incinerators would keep toxic pollutants like mercury in the skies for years to come.


Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said the Republican bill also would weaken Obama's landmark healthcare reform law by undermining tax credits and subsidies designed to make health insurance affordable.


KEYSTONE BARGAINING CHIP


Republican lawmakers have been skeptical of extending the tax cut, set to expire on December 31, questioning its stimulative effect on the economy. But party leaders, fearing a voter backlash, have drawn up legislation to woo them and blunt Democratic efforts to paint Republicans as the party of the rich.


House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican, said on Friday the Republican-controlled chamber would pass his party's plan, formally unveiled on Friday, early next week.


The measure would be funded largely by extending a pay freeze on federal workers. It includes a provision to speed up development of the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline project, despite President Barack Obama's threat to veto any Republican effort to link the two issues.


Backers of the project say it will create tens of thousands of jobs and help tackle a chronically high unemployment rate.


Boehner sought to put the ball in Obama's court, saying, "It is my hope that the president will accept this measure so that Americans can see that we are still capable of working together to the meet the challenges we face."


The White House rejected the latest Republican proposal, saying its costs needed to be offset in a balanced away and not with budget cuts exempting the rich.


Obama has delayed a decision on the pipeline pending further studies on a new route. That would push the decision past next year's election and avoid angering environmentalists before the 2012 campaign.


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, dismissed the Republican proposal, saying, "If the House sends us their bill with Keystone in it, they are just wasting valuable time because it will not pass the Senate."


Dozens of House Democrats have backed the Keystone project in the past, raising hopes among Republicans an agreement could be reached on the issue as part of an overall deal to extend the payroll tax.


Boehner crafted the provision to mesh with a proposal already endorsed by 39 Republican senators and one Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia.


But a Democratic aide sketched out another scenario - where Democrats drop their proposal for offsetting the cost of the tax payroll cut with a surtax on millionaires in return for Republicans backing off on Keystone.


Another potential area for compromise is on the Republican demand for tougher requirements on eligibility for jobless benefits. They want to gradually reduce the maximum number of weeks for benefits to 59 from 99.


Democratic and Republican aides predicted Reid and Boehner would meet in the next few days to negotiate a final deal.


(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon, Roberta Rampton and Rachelle Younglai, Editing by Ross Colvin and Peter Cooney)

6:52 PM | 0 comments

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