'Now we know we will get no help from the West'
The town of al-Bab is paying for its resistance, with 32 dead in the latest strike. Kim Sengupta speaks to survivors who have lost all hope of deliverance
Ahmed al-Sa'eed had been queuing for bread when the air strikes and shelling began. The dozens of people who had been waiting patiently in line for more than two hours dispersed, frantically running home through streets being hit by rocket fire to make sure their families were alright.
The house where Ahmed lived in the Syrian town of al-Bab with his family received direct hits from Bashar al-Assad's warplanes on Monday, the latest in a series of punitive and lethal assaults from air and ground. The front half collapsed into the street, flames shot out from the back. He joined neighbours frantically digging with anything at hand through the dust to try and find those buried under the rubble.
The Irish Times - Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Crisis calls for treaty change, says Barroso
ARTHUR BEESLEY in Brussels
EUROPEAN COMMISSION chief José Manuel Barroso has cast a new revision of the European treaties as a key part of the ultimate solution to the debt crisis, something which could lead to another referendum in Ireland.
Addressing senior EU diplomats yesterday, he said the willingness of euro zone member states to share more sovereignty was not in doubt. He also warned of declining public support for European integration, saying the authorities must act “politically” to maintain support for it.
Mr Barroso is one of four EU leaders – alongside European Council president Herman van Rompuy, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and euro group leader Jean-Claude Juncker – charged with developing a plan to reinforce the euro’s foundations. They are due to report back to heads of state and government later this year with firm proposals.
Senior Islamic cleric defends Christian girl
September 5, 2012
Jon Boone
ISLAMABAD: The Christian girl who was allegedly framed for blasphemy by her local mullah was hailed as a ''daughter of the nation'' by one of Pakistan's most senior Islamic clerics who also vowed to guarantee her safety if she is eventually released from prison.
The heavyweight support for Rimsha Masih from the chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council, a grouping of Islamic clerics, is being seen as a remarkable turn of events in a country where individuals accused of insulting Islam are almost never helped by powerful public figures.
Mali asks for West African military intervention
Mali's interim president Dioncounda Traore has formally asked west African forces to intervene to take back northern Mali from Islamist rebels, a senior French official says.
"President Traore formally sent a request to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to provide a military contribution to stabilise the country and especially reconquer the north," said France's special representative for the Sahel region, Jean Felix-Paganon.
"This is an important development and we are discussing the possible developments" with Burkina Faso's President Blaise Compaore, ECOWAS' chief mediator, Felix-Paganon added.
ECOWAS has said it is prepared to send a 3,300-strong force into Mali, but hopes to receive a UN mandate for the deployment which would also require an official request from the Malian transitional authorities.
World Hijab Day: Muslims debate where the headscarf belongs
The holiday comes just after a woman anchor appeared on Egyptian State TV wearing the hijab for the first time.
By Ilene Prusher, Correspondent
The roots of "World Hijab Day" were planted on this day in 2002, marking the day that France banned the wearing of the headscarf in schools. Ten years later, the presence of the veil in public life remains a lighting rod issue, from Europe to the Middle East to Asia.
The hashtag #worldhijabday or #IHSD – International Hijab Solidarity Day – trended on social networking websites worldwide today, used both by people extolling the virtues of the head covering and supporting a woman’s right to choose to don it and those who question whether it plays a role is oppressing women.
The issue took center stage in the Middle East this week when Egypt’s state-run television put Fatma Nabil, a woman wearing a simple white veil covering her hair and neck, on camera to read the midday news.
Beijing revisited after half a century
Returning to Beijing after nearly 50 years sparks recollections of a China long gone, and the memory of one very special meeting.
The circumstances of my first visit to China were curious, to say the least.
A delegation of 25 journalists including a handful of Western reporters like myself had been chosen by the Communist authorities to report on the return home to China of a former warlord called Li Zongren.
General Li - although I personally had never heard of him - was famous for military campaigns during upheavals inside China during the 1920s, and again during the war against the Japanese in the 30s and 40s.
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