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Monday, April 6, 2009

SuperNews! - Emoticon War!

Netanyahu's new cabinet meets

Benyamin Netanyahu, Israel's new prime minister, has presided over his cabinet's first meeting, stressing the need for urgent measures to tackle the country's security and economic challenges.Sworn in as the prime minister on Tuesday, Netanyahu is heading a right-leaning coalition."We're all going to pull up our sleeves and get to work... to deal urgently with the security and economic challenges facing Israel," he said at the meeting on Sunday.Netanyahu's return to power after a decade has evoked concern across the world about the future of the peace process with the Palestinians.Netanyahu, who is also the leader of the Likud party, has never publicly endorsed a two-state solution as a remedy to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.But since taking up the prime minister's post, he has adopted a more conciliatory tone, promising to hold negotiations with the Palestinian Authorityto reach a permanent accord. Netanyahu said his new cabinet would produce a peace and security plan soon, but gave no clear indications of how he will approach any peace negotiations with the Palestinians. 

Top Chechen 'behind Gulf murder'

The authorities in Dubai have accused a senior Chechen official of being behind the apparent killing of a rival of the restive Russian republic's president.Police said Sulim Yamadayev was assassinated, but there is confusion over whether he actually died.Two suspects were arrested, one of whom implicated Chechen Deputy PM Adam Delimkhanov, say police.Mr Yamadayev was once close to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov but fell out with him last year and fled Russia."The deputy prime minister of Chechnya is wanted by the justice system of the UAE [United Arab Emirates] and six people are suspected of involvement in the murder," Dubai police said in a statement."The crime ... is 100 percent of Chechen making and it's an operation of settling accounts."

Many dead as boat capsizes in India

At least 22 people drowned and 20 remain missing after a boat carrying Hindu pilgrims capsized in the river Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India.Police recovered 21 bodies, while about 20 people were able to swim to shore.Another 20 passengers were still unaccounted for at nightfall on Sunday.The incident occurred after more than 60 people boarded a boat to cross the river after praying at Jalauni Devi temple on Saturday night, Surendra Srivastava, a local police official, said.When the boat reached Aurriya, about 300km southwest of Lucknow, the state capital, it overturned during a heavy storm."The people were on their way to their village. All the people on the boat got drowned except those who knew how to swim," Suresh Kumar, a survivor, said.Boating accidents are a common occurrence in India, as many of the vessels are often overloaded with passengers. 

Rome shocked after street children discovery

Rome's residents were stunned to learn that 24 minors were discovered living in one of the city's rail stations, with officials calling for an improved social safety net, according to media reports.The discovery of 24 unaccompanied minors holed up below a Rome rail station has left city officials scurrying to reinforce the Italian capital's social safety net, press reports said Sunday."Some situations are a disgrace to the city," Rome's right-wing Mayor Gianni Alemanno admitted in televised remarks on Saturday, announcing a plan for a permanent task force to "prevent (immigrant) children from being abandoned."City officials were quick to discount initial reports that the minors were found in the sewers running below the railway station near Rome's Colosseum."They didn't sleep in the sewers but in spaces under the platforms," said Social Services Councillor Sveva Belviso, adding that some of the migrants' meagre belongings were stowed in sewer pipes.They were also older than initially reported, aged from 15 to 17 instead of 10 to 15, officials said.The city will set up information points to help migrants find food and shelter as well as legal aid, and leaflets will be produced in the Afghan and Kurdish languages, Belviso said.News reports Sunday said the teenagers' handlers had been paid up to 10,000 dollars (7,400 euros) to get them as far as Italy, where they had arrived via Turkey and Greece with northern Europe thought to be their ultimate destination.Railway police discovered the teenagers along with 98 other people including other Afghans, reports said, adding that they were being cared for by the city's social services."I could never imagine facing such a shocking situation, and to think of what these kids have endured before arriving here," the head of Rome's railway security, Carlo Casini, was quoted as saying.

U.S. Prepares for Emergency Session at U.N. But Gives Few Clues About What to Do With North Korea

The Obama administration is facing its first test in an international crisis Sunday as North Korea defies international resolutions and launches a long-range missile. The Obama administration is facing its first test in an international crisis as the U.N. Security Council prepares Sunday for an emergency session to consider a response to North Korea's rocket launch earlier in the dayU.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is leading the U.S. delegation to the world body. Echoing President Obama and other administration officials, Rice called North Korea's launch "serious and provocative" and said Pyongyang's actions demonstrate why the U.S. is concerned about its capability of delivering weapons. "That's what we're most concerned about preventing, and preventing North Korea from sharing that technology with others," Rice said on ABC's "This Week." "The United States believes that this action is best dealt with -- the most appropriate response would be a United Nations Security Council resolution," she added. Speaking in Prague, Czech Republic, earlier in the day, Obama called for swift new U.N. sanctions on North Korea for what is widely deemed an effort by the communist nation to demonstrate its ability to threaten the use of long-range nuclear weapons."This action demands a response from the international community, including from the United Nations Security Council to demonstrate that its resolution cannot be defied with impunity," he said before delivering a speech on global nonproliferation.North Korea launched a multistage rocket Sunday morning local time that flew over Japanese airspace. Tokyo officials said it appears no debris hit its territory. North Korea's state-run media claimed that the rocket managed to put a satellite in orbit that is now transmitting melodies honoring the communist country's founder, Kim Il Sung, and his son, the current leader, Kim Jung-Il. It is also sending "measurement data back to Earth," North Korean media reported. But the North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command said no satellite reached orbit.

Obama, Sarkozy clash over Turkey's EU bid

In a rare sign of divergence between Western countries on a summit stage, US President Barack Obama got behind Turkey's bid to join the EU, prompting France's Nicolas Sarkozy to hastily reiterate his opposition.U.S. President Barack Obama urged the European Union on Sunday to accept Turkey as a full member of the 27-nation bloc, a move immediately rejected by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy.The disagreement was a rare outward sign of divergence at an EU-U.S. summit stage-managed to relaunch transatlantic ties that were strained under the Bush administration and which both sides are now eager to mend.“The United States and Europe must approach Muslims as our friends, neighbours and partners in fighting injustice, intolerance and violence, forging a relationship based on mutual respect and mutual interests,” Obama told the summit.“Moving forward towards Turkish membership in the EU would be an important signal of your (EU) commitment to this agenda and ensure that we continue to anchor Turkey firmly in Europe,” he told EU leaders.Turkey has long been seeking to join the bloc, and Obama’s comments were a reaffirmation of U.S. support for that goal.But there is resistance among EU states such as Germany and France to its membership, including among ruling conservatives.Sarkozy said it was up to the EU member states to decide on Turkish entry and reiterated his opposition. “I have always been opposed to this entry,” he told France’s TF1 television.“I still am and I think I can say that the immense majority of member states shares the position of France,” he said.“Turkey is a very great country, an ally of Europe, an ally of the United States. It will stay a privileged partner. My position hasn’t changed and it won’t change,” he said.Turkish entry talks with the EU have been held up by European concerns over human rights, a perceived lack of progress on reforms, and by a long territorial dispute with EU member Cyprus. Membership is seen many years off at best.