Dennis Rodman's new friend: Kim-Jong un (Updated)

Let's face it Dennis Rodman is beyond stupid.  How could not after making this statement

Leaving NKorea, Rodman calls Kims 'great leaders'

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Ending his unexpected round of basketball diplomacy in North Korea on Friday, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman called leader Kim Jong Un an "awesome guy" and said his father and grandfather were "great leaders."

Rodman, the highest-profile American to meet Kim since he inherited power from father Kim Jong Il in 2011, watched a basketball game with the authoritarian leader Thursday and later drank and dined on sushi with him.

At Pyongyang's Sunan airport on his way to Beijing, Rodman said it was "amazing" that the North Koreans were "so honest." He added that Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, "were great leaders."

Dennis Rodman maybe a former NBA player and winner of 5 championships but that does not excuse his sudden "love" for all things Kim-Jong un.

Kim-Jung un is a third generation dictator of North Korea whose policies are not meant to benefit that nations citizenry but its military.

During the 1990's millions of North Koreans starved to death after they suffered a devastating series of natural disasters.  While most national governments would under these dire circumstances give aid to its citizens, then leader Kim-Jong il did just the opposite continuing to funnel its scarce financial resources to the military.

Kim-Jung un's government has standing orders for its military and boarder guards to shoot anyone who tries to escape to China and for those who do make it  but are subsequently captured they are forcibly repatriated by the Chinese government where their is execution awaiting them along with the imprisonment of their entire family in a North Korean gulag.

Does Dennis Rodman care?  Of course not he gets to hang with a dictator and discuss the Chicago Bulls teams from the 90's which won 3 NBA championships .

"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim before a crowd of thousands at a gymnasium where they sat side by side, chatting as they watched players from North Korea and the U.S. play on mixed teams, Alex Detrick, a spokesman for the New York-based VICE media company, told The Associated Press.

[…]

The unlikely encounter makes Rodman the most high-profile American to meet Kim since the young North Korean leader took power in December 2011, and takes place against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test just two weeks ago, making clear the provocative act was a warning to the United States to drop what it considers a "hostile" policy toward the North.

Kim, a diehard basketball fan, told the former Chicago Bulls star he hoped the visit would break the ice between the United States and North Korea, VICE founder Shane Smithsaid.

.          

Six In The Morning

28 February 2013 Last updated at 07:35 GMT

Syria conflict: John Kerry set to agree aid to rebels

New US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Syrian opposition leaders in Rome, as the US prepares to increase its support for rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

He is attending a gathering of the Friends of Syria group of nations that support the Syrian opposition.

Mr Kerry is expected to announce increased "non-lethal" aid for the rebels but not weapons.

Mr Kerry says US wants to "accelerate the political transition" in Syria.

The main opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) had threatened to boycott the meeting in Rome in frustration at the "the world's silence" at the violence.

But it agreed to attend after the US and UK indicated there would be specific promises of aid.

World powers soften toward Iran

Western officials offered to ease sanctions in return for Iran reducing its uranium enrichment activities. Following talks on Wednesday, Iran's chief negotiator expressed appreciation that the other countries had moved 'closer to our viewpoint'.

By Justyna Pawlak, Reuters, Fredrik Dahl, Reuters / February 27, 2013

ALMATY

Iran was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.

Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the Feb. 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty, the first in eight months.

The United States, China, France, Russia, Britainand Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.

Thailand and Muslim separatists agree to peace talks

Deal signed in Malaysia raises prospect of end to bloody insurgency that has claimed 5,000 lives since 2004

• Kate Hodal, south-east Asia correspondent, and agencies
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 February 2013 07.19 GMT

Thailand has agreed for the first time to hold peace talks with Muslim militants in the south of the country, an apparent breakthrough towards ending a nearly decade-long conflict that has claimed more than 5,000 lives.

Senior Thai government officials signed the deal on Thursday with members of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, where they agreed to launch a "dialogue process" in the southern border provinces. They gave no date for future meetings.

The agreement was signed ahead of a meeting later on Thursday between Thailand's prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak, after which further details would be made public, Malaysian officials said. 

EU agrees to cap bankers' bonuses

Payments will be capped at a year's salary unless approved by shareholders


THURSDAY 28 FEBRUARY 2013

European Union chiefs have agreed a package of financial laws that includes capping bankers' bonuses at a maximum of one year's basic salary.

The bonuses will only be allowed to reach twice the annual fixed salary if a large majority of a bank's shareholders agrees, said Othmar Karas, the European Parliament's chief negotiator.

"This overhaul of EU banking rules will make sure that banks in the future have enough capital, both in terms of quality and quantity, to withstand shocks. This will ensure that taxpayers across Europe are protected into the future," said Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan, 

Rumours swirl as Chavez stays out of sight

February 28, 2013 - 2:43PM

Laurent Thomet

Caracas: With President Hugo Chavez still out of sight, the Venezuelan government has denied any rift with the army as it led a rally in Caracas to mark the anniversary of a popular but deadly revolt.

Thousands of people clad in red rallied in the capital on Wednesday, many wearing shirts bearing the image of the leftist leader, and others holding signs reading "I am Chavez" as they marked the massacre of hundreds of people in 1989.

The rally came as Twitter lit up with speculation - none of it confirmed - that Mr Chavez had died. Thursday's rally was the first in Caracas since Mr Chavez, 58, checked into a military hospital in the capital nine days ago after spending two months in Cuba, where he underwent his fourth round of cancer surgery in 18 months.

Kenya's President Kibaki to resign after 10 years in power

28 FEB 2013 06:38 - DANIEL WESANGULA

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki will retire after polls, leaving a legacy of impressive economic growth partly overshadowed by corruption in government.

A veteran politician from the birth of independent Kenya, Kibaki (81) will retire after March 4 polls. Kibaki will step down after more than a decade in power that spanned some of the country's most violent periods, but also saw a new Constitution that brought hope for change.

For a leader who was popularly swept into power in 2002 on an anti-corruption platform, Kibaki's tenure saw grotesque graft scandals where hundreds of millions of dollars were siphoned from public coffers.

Six In The Morning

Elaborate surveillance operation raises concerns about broader Hezbollah attacks

By Joby Warrick, Wednesday, February 27, 9:53 AM

The Israeli tourists on Arkia Airlines Flight 161 from Tel Aviv could not have known it, but their arrival in Cyprus July 6 was watched closely. A pair of trained eyes counted each passenger as the group exited the plane and boarded a shuttle, headed for resorts that had also been carefully studied and mapped.

The bearded foreigner who silently tracked the Israelis had done his work well. He knew where the visitors would sleep, shop and eat. He knew how many security guards patrolled their hotel parking lots and how long it would take police to arrive from the station down the street.

But the watcher was being watched. When Cypriot police picked him up, the Hezbollah operative quickly acknowledged what he was doing, although he claimed not to know why.

“I was just collecting information about the Jews,” he told police, according to a sworn deposition. “This is what my organization is doing, everywhere in the world.”

The Irish Times - Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Berlusconi vote signals servile democracy

Paddy Agnew

Analysis: There was a palpable sense of disbelief yesterday prompted by the results of Italy’s general election which has thrown up three principal, and not entirely unexpected results, leading to a hung parliament.

First, a protest party, featuring candidates whose only claim to fame is that they proudly concede to having no previous political experience or affiliations, lifted a massive 25.5 per cent or 108 seats of lower house votes. The Five Star Movement of ex-comedian Beppe Grillo is now the largest single party in the lower house.

Second, the centre-left proved once again that when it comes to pompous, arrogant and self-satisfied complacency, they have no masters. No one so brilliantly snatches defeat from the jaws of victory as the PD Democratic Party, ex-PCI (Partito Comunista Italiano).

Nobel Laureate Mo Yan: 'I Am Guilty'

For the first time since receiving the Nobel Prize in literature, controversial Chinese author Mo Yan has consented to an interview. Many have accused him of being too close to the regime. But he rejects the charge and finds sharp words for his detractors.

The man wore a Mao suit with a red emblem pinned to the breast pocket. It looked like a party emblem, but only his name appeared on it. He was holding a lecture in Stockholm, the Nobel Lecture that all authors are required to give when they receive the Nobel Prize in literature, the world's most important literary award.

It was Dec. 7, 2012, and the Chinese man, whose soft words almost felt like a song as he delivered his speech, had been considered a disappointment. He had written wonderful books, no question. They include "The Garlic Ballads" and "Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out," family novels that are broad, lush and colorfully told. They always have a historic element to them, with reporting on China's development in the past decades, from the poverty of the early years, through the hardships of the Cultural Revolution and on to the economic rise. Yet despite all the criticism of the Communist Party and its leaders, which is clear in his books, the author is still considered to be a regime loyalist.

Mo Yan, 58, has been a member of the Communist Party (CP) since 1979. He had a career in the army and is today the deputy chairman of the party-aligned China Writer's Association.

Kenya's presidential candidates in final debates

26 FEB 2013 10:56 - SAPA-AFP

Kenya's eight presidential candidates were challenged on tough issues like land reform and corruption in the final round of debates ahead of the poll.

Next week's elections come five years after the last vote in 2007 – 2008 ended in bloody violence that claimed at least 1 100 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

While two main candidates – Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga – dominate the race for the March 4 election, all the hopefuls have potential influence, especially if voting goes to a second round run-off.

Kenyatta, the deputy prime minister and son of Kenya's founding president, faces trial with his running mate William Ruto at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their alleged roles in orchestrating murder, rape and violence after the 2007 poll.

Inflation plays role in Argentine teacher strike

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s refusal to accurately report Argentina's soaring inflation rate has led to a strike by teachers in 17 provinces - granting more than five million children a few extra days of summer vacation.

By Jonathan Gilbert, Correspondent / February 26, 2013

BUENOS AIRES

Following a demand this month from the International Monetary Fund to improve her government's data, Argentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s refusal to acknowledge the soaring inflation rate has now led to a strike by teachers unions – and all this in an election year.

More than five million school children who were supposed to start classes yesterday after the summer break stayed home, as teachers in 17 provinces went on strike this week.

Union wage-bargaining season is kicking off here, and President Kirchner’s administration is facing its first confrontation: It won’t budge from a 22 percent minimum rise, while teachers want 30 percent.

Greater China

INTERVIEW Pyongyang tests Xi's populist credentials By Sunny Lee  BEIJING - A long-expected visit to China by North Korean leader Kim Jong-eun will likely be put off indefinitely following Pyongyang's third nuclear test, say Chinese security expert Sun Zhe. "China's leadership won't allow a visit by Kim now. It won't happen, at least not in the near future," Sun Zhe, an international relations professor at the elite Tsinghua University in Beijing, told Asia Times Online during an interview. A visit to Beijing by Kim was expected to serve as his "debut" on the international political scene, with a meeting with China's top new leader, Xi Jinping the perfect accompanying photo-op. But the nuclear test has even prompted rare open debate in China on whether current policy towards the country's long-time communist ally squares with present-day China's national interest.

Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea

Dennis Rodman ✔ @dennisrodman

Maybe I'll run into the Gangnam Style dude while I'm here

@psy_oppa #WORMinNorthKorea 2:06 PM - 26 Feb 13


Yea, maybe you'll run to Psy whose from South Korea and with whom North Korea is technically at war with.   But hey good luck with that.

 While it remains to be seen whether the leader of the Hermit Kingdom will have a tete-a-tete with The Worm, it's been reported that Kim is a fan of the 1990s-era Chicago Bulls, with whom Rodman won three NBA championships. And coming just weeks after North Korea conducted its third nuclear test, it appears the country is opting for a little soft power as the international community weighs a response. Kim has presided over something of a cultural flowering since taking the reins of state in late 2011, including a much-publicized concert that featured Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters.

Chinese Pollution Study: State Secret

Given China's recent air pollution problems.  Air quality so bad that a new color chart had to be created just to show the dangers presented to those with health problems related to poor air quality.  So, why not slap the words "State Secret" on a soil pollution study and called it a day.

Why should any Chinese citizen be warned of the health risks from various sources of pollution that might shine a unflattering light on China's environmental problems.  


Lawyer claims watchdog refused to publish major soil pollution study as public fears grow over environment and health

China's leading environmental watchdog has refused to disclose the results of a major national soil pollution study on grounds of state secrecy, according to a lawyer who requested the report's disclosure.
The news comes amid growing public concern about the impact of years of turbo-charged growth on the environment and people's health, thanks in large part to the winter's terrible air pollution in Beijing and other areas of the country.
But scientists warn that soil pollution is likely to prove a larger long-term problem than air and water contamination, affecting food production and human health.
Official figures released in 2006 said a tenth of farmland was affected; independent estimates have suggested as much as two-fifths has been tainted by arsenic and heavy metals from mines.

Last week, China admitted for the first time to the existence of "cancer villages" – where chemical pollution has led to soaring rates of disease – in a report published by the ministry.

"Toxic chemical pollution had caused many environmental disasters, decreased drinking water supplies and even led to serious health and social issues such as cancer villages," it warned.

Six In The Morning

Iran, world powers begin nuclear talks in Kazakhstan

Associated Press | Updated: February 26, 2013 13:17 IST

Almaty, Kazakhstan: World powers, fearful of scuttling negotiations beginning this week with Iran, are offering the Islamic republic some small new sanctions relief in return for curbing its nuclear program. But officials warned Monday that it's unlikely that any compromise will be reached soon.

Negotiators set low expectations for the latest round of high-level diplomatic talks to begin Tuesday in Kazakhstan's largest city - the first since last June's meeting in Moscow that threatened to derail delicate efforts to convince Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level close to that used for nuclear warheads.

The stakes couldn't be higher: the Obama administration is pushing for diplomacy to solve the impasse but has not ruled out the possibility of military intervention in Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And Israel has threatened it will use all means to stop Iran from being able to build a bomb, potentially as soon as this summer, raising the specter of a possible Mideast war.

Italy election sparks fresh fears for euro

Result projections point to a hung parliament as a former comedian leads the Five Star Movement to the national stage

• John Hooper and Lizzy Davies in Rome
• The Guardian, Tuesday 26 February 2013

Italy threatened to pitch the eurozone into fresh turmoil on Monday night as the result of its general election pointed to a hung parliament and confirmed the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, led by a comedian-turned-politician, had exploded on to the national stage.

With almost all the votes counted, the centre-left had a lead in the race for the lower house, the chamber of deputies, where it would be assured an outright majority under electoral rules. It was also reckoned to have more seats in the senate, beating a resurgent right led by Silvio Berlusconi by a narrow margin. However, the figures and estimates given did not include the results of four overseas constituencies.

Powers set to offer Iran sanctions relief at nuclear talks

FREDRIK DAHL , JUSTYNA PAWLAK

 

 

TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2013

World powers are expected to offer Iran limited sanctions relief today if it agrees to halt its most sensitive nuclear work, in a new attempt to resolve a dispute that threatens to trigger another war in the Middle East.

In their first meeting in eight months - time that Iran has used to expand atomic activity that the West suspects is aimed at developing a bomb capability - the powers hope Iran will engage in serious talks on finding a diplomatic solution.

French family appears with 'Boko Haram' kidnappers on YouTube

Sapa-AFP | 26 2月, 2013 08:12

A video appeared on YouTube of seven kidnapped members of a French family with their abductors.

Their kidnappers claimed to be from Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and demanded the release of prisoners.

The video that France's foreign minister called "terribly shocking" represented the first images of the family to emerge since their abduction in Cameroon on February 19.

The kidnappers, claiming to be from the Nigerian group Boko Haram, say they carried out the abduction in part due to France's "war against Islam," apparently a reference to French military action in Mali.

The more than three-minute video shows the family, including four children, held in an undisclosed location, surrounded by at least three of the abductors whose faces are hidden. It was not clear when the video was made.

Saudis Step Up Help for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms

By C. J. CHIVERS and ERIC SCHMITT

Published: February 25, 2013 

Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters inSyria in a drive to break the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power, according to American and Western officials familiar with the purchases.

The weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan, officials said, and have been a factor in the rebels’ small tactical gains this winter against the army and militias loyal to Mr. Assad.

The arms transfers appeared to signal a shift among several governments to a more activist approach to assisting Syria’s armed opposition, in part as an effort to counter shipments of weapons from Iran to Mr. Assad’s forces.

26 February 2013 Last updated at 00:41 GMT

Taiwan's most famous professional mourner

By Allie JaynesBBC World Service, Taipei

Crying on command isn't easy, but Liu Jun-Lin is hired to do it every day, at funerals for people she never knew. She's Taiwan's best-known professional mourner - a time-honoured tradition in her country that may be dying out.

Crying for a living is controversial, seen by some as the commercialisation of grief, but mourners like Liu say their profession has a long history in Taiwan, where according to tradition the deceased needs a big, loud send-off to cross smoothly into the afterlife.

"When a loved one dies, you grieve so much that when it finally comes time for the funeral, you don't have any tears left," says Liu.

Six In The Morning

Park Geun-hye becomes South Korea's first female president

By CNN Staff

February 25, 2013 -- Updated 0400 GMT (1200 HKT

(CNN) -- Park Geun-hye made history Monday by becoming South Korea's first female president, pledging to secure South Korea against the threat of an increasingly hostile North Korea at the same time as mending bridges with Pyongyang.

"North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge to the survival and future of the Korean people, and there should be no mistake that the biggest victim will be none other than North Korea itself," she said. "I urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions without delay and embark on the path to peace and shared development."

Reiterating her policy of 'trustpolitik' - a policy based on deterrence combined with cautious approaches to North Korea - she said she intended to "lay the groundwork for an era of harmonious unification where all Koreans can lead more prosperous and freer lives and where their dreams can come true."

"I will move forward step-by-step on the basis of credible deterrence to build trust between the South and the North."

ELECTIONS

Italy's vote brings prospect of shaky coalition

Who will move into the Palazzo Chigi, the prime ministerial seat in Rome: left-leaning Bersani? Or ex-premier Berlusconi? In any case, Europe is hoping for a stable government - which might not be the case.

The law behind Italy's electoral system bears a curious name: Porcellum. It's a Latinized version of the word "porcata," which could be translated as garbage. But it wasn't disappointed voters, rather academics and politicians who came up with the name while establishing the law, nearly 10 years ago. Critics say junk is a good name for the law, as it's extremely complicated, and virtually no one understands exactly how it allocates seats in parliament.

In the Italian Parliament, the party that wins the most votes automatically earns an absolute majority of the seats, even if the party receives just 30 percent of the vote. In the Senate within parliament, however, the seats are distributed by way of regional lists.

Chinese general dives in deep end on social media

February 25, 2013 - 4:53PM

John Garnaut

China correspondent for Fairfax Media

BEIJING: China’s most famous sabre-rattling general has turned uncharacteristically silent after a bruising first foray on the ‘‘battleground’’ of online public opinion.

Major-General Luo Yuan has attracted more than 237,000 followers since opening a microblog account with Sina Weibo, a hugely popular Twitter-like service, only days ago.

He’s encountered another type of angry public opinion, one that is more inclined to blame China for the world’s problems than the reverse. 

Andrew Chubb, researcher

‘‘Weibo is a very important public opinion battleground,’’ wrote General Luo, warming up to his typically spirited opening salvo on Thursday.

But efforts by propaganda authorities to delete negative comments have not disguised that the ‘‘beloved people’’ have not been entirely won over to his cause.

DR Congo: African leaders sign peace deal

Regional African leaders have signed a UN-brokered accord which aims to bring peace to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The deal was signed in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

He said he hoped it would bring "an era of peace and stability" to the region.

As many as 800,000 people have been displaced since the March 23 rebel group took up arms against the Kinshasa government last May.

Raul Castro to step down: Who will run Cuba next?

Raul Castro, president of Cuba, says he'll step down in five years. Who will replace Castro? Miguel Diaz-Canel has been tapped to be first in the line of succession.

By Peter Orsi, Associated Press / February 24, 2013

HAVANA

Raul Castro announced Sunday that he will step down as Cuba's president in 2018 following a final five-year term, for the first time putting a date on the end of the Castro era. He tapped rising star Miguel Diaz-Canel as his top lieutenant and first in the line of succession.

The 81-year-old Castro also said he hopes to establish two-term limits and age caps for political offices including the presidency — an astonishing prospect for a nation led by Castro or his older brother Fidel since their 1959 revolution.

The 52-year-old Diaz-Canel is now a heartbeat from the presidency and has risen higher than any other Cuban official who didn't directly participate in the heady days of the revolution.

Prisoner’s death fuels Palestinian protests, as Israel braces for more

By Joel Greenberg, Monday, February 25, 3:14 AM

JERUSALEM – The death of a Palestinian prisoner under Israeli interrogation after a week of demonstrations for the release of four other inmates on hunger strikes triggered fresh clashes Sunday and heightened concerns in Israel about a swelling wave of unrest in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority said that the results of an Israeli autopsy attended by the chief Palestinian forensic pathologist showed that the prisoner had been tortured. But Israel’s health ministry said the preliminary findings could not determine the cause of death, though they did not support initial Israeli assertions that the prisoner had died of cardiac arrest.

Spies, secrects and Israeli media

What does the mysterious case of Prisoner X reveal about Israeli censorship?

This week we focus on Israel and the story about one prisoner that revealed multiple layers of censorship. Prisoner X was a suspected Mossad operative-turned-double agent who, in 2010, reportedly committed suicide in an Israeli jail. In cases deemed too sensitive or a threat to national security, the Israeli government can issue gag orders that prevent the media from covering the story, which is what it did in the case of Prisoner X.

But on February 12, the Australian network ABC News released a report revealing the prisoners real name - Ben Zygier – and details of his time in Israel. Grappling to contain the story, the Israeli government issued another gag order to prevent the Israeli media from citing international coverage. But with the story accessible to Israelis via social media, the order proved defunct.

To discuss what this case reveals about Israeli censorship in the age of new media, we speak with Ian Black, the Middle East editor for The Guardian; Ronen Bergman, the senior correspondent for Military and Intelligence Affairs for the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper; Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, the head of Media Reform project at Israel Democracy Institute; and Noam Sheizaf, a journalist who writes for +972 Magazine.