The soldiers of Benito Mussolini's Nazi puppet republic should be accorded the same status as wartime resistance fighters and regular combatants, the Italian government will argue in a bill to be placed before parliament today.The bill would recognise the 200,000 soldiers of the Italian Social Republic as "military combatants", but would make no difference to the state benefits enjoyed by several thousand of the former members still alive.But the controversial move by Silvio Berlusconi's government will reopen old wounds, raising painful questions about the Italians' view of their past and which side they feel they were really on in the second world war. After Italy capitulated to the allies in 1943 the Germans withdrew to the north and installed the country's ousted fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, at the head of a so-called Italian Social Republic....
http://www.guardian.co.uk
censor News |
Editor - 09:48:00 01-11-06
|
 China sees trade surplus triple |
China's trade surplus with the rest of world more than tripled to $102bn (£58bn) in 2005, official figures show. Exports for the year jumped by 28.4% to $762bn, while imports rose by just under 18% to $660.12, China's General Administration of Customs reported. The soaring surplus, up from $32bn in 2004, could add to concerns among China's major trading partners. US critics say China's yuan currency remains undervalued, giving the country an unfair trade advantage. Beijing last year revalued the yuan for the first time in a decade, allowing it to appreciate against the dollar within a narrow trading band. But many economists believe the currency could strengthen to 7.75 yuan to the dollar - rather the current level of just under 8.1 yuan - if China allowed it to trade freely. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4602126.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:44:00 01-11-06
|
| Turkey battles to weaken grip of deadly bird flu |
Turkey stepped up efforts on Wednesday to halt an outbreak of deadly bird flu as a U.N. body warned that the virus risked becoming firmly established there and posed a serious threat to neighboring countries. The virus has been found in wild birds and poultry in a third of Turkish provinces, killed at least two children and infected more than a dozen people. The Turkish victims are the first human cases reported outside east Asia since H5N1 avian influenza reemerged in 2003. Two more people in China are now known to have died from bird flu last month, bringing the death toll there to five. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1494178
full News |
Editor - 09:34:00 01-11-06
|
| Michigan bishop tells paper he was once abused by priest |
Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit, arguing for more time for sex abuse victims to sue the Roman Catholic Church, says he was abused by a priest 60 years ago. Gumbleton, 75, told The Washington Post in an interview published in Wednesday's editions that he was "inappropriately touched" by a priest in 1945 when he was a ninth grader at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. He is believed to be the first U.S. bishop to disclose that he was a victim of clergy sexual abuse and also the first to endorse proposals in several states to remove time limits that have prevented many victims of sex abuse from suing the church. "I don't want to exaggerate that I was terribly damaged," Gumbleton told the Post in a telephone interview. "It was not the kind of sexual abuse that many of the victims experience." ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-01-11-bishop_x.htm?csp=34
full News |
Editor - 09:31:00 01-11-06
|
| Iraq’s Shiites take hard line on constitution Influential politician warns Sunnis about changes; new violence reported |
The most influential politician in Iraq issued a veiled warning Wednesday to Sunni Arabs that Shiites would not allow substantive amendments to the country’s new constitution, including to the provision that keeps the central government weak in favor of strong provincial governments.Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI, said in an address in honor of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha that provincial governments will remain strong in the constitution, which can be amended after the next government is installed.“The first principle is not to change the essence of the constitution. This constitution was endorsed by the Iraqi people,” he said. Sunni Arabs place great stock in their ability to change the constitution, one of the reasons Sunni politician urged the minority to turn out in large numbers during the Dec. 15 parliamentary election....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10755597/from/RSS/
full News |
Editor - 09:14:00 01-11-06
|
| Nuclear stand-off: Iranians speak |
Iran has resumed nuclear research, deepening its rift with the UN and Western countries who fear Tehran is seeking to produce atomic bombs. Tehran says it wants to produce nuclear energy only. The BBC asks seven Iranians how they feel about Iran's nuclear activities, its stand-off with the West and the threat of UN-imposed sanctions. When Pakistan and India can have nuclear energy why shouldn't we? Who knows if Israel is using its atomic energy peacefully? At least Iran has allowed inspectors to come and see our plants. We are using nuclear energy peacefully... America has already imposed sanctions on Iran and nothing happened and we didn't die. Let them do it again. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4600404.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:10:00 01-11-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
