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North Korea's First Lady Was Cheerleader, Ditches Drab Outfits

2012-07-27T00:44:00.000+06:00

SEOUL, South Korea - The father fell in love with a dancer. Now the son has fallen in love with a singer.

The talk of Seoul today is all about the 24-year-old ex-singer-turned-first lady of North Korea, Ri Sol-Ju, who was officially mentioned by North Korean TV on Wednesday as the "comrade wife to Marshall Kim Jong Un."

A new video was aired today of the two walking arm-in-arm, a rare lovey-dovey image which analysts in Seoul say is aimed to make North Korea's young leader appear "stable and fatherly."

Kim, 28, rose to power earlier this year after the death of his father Kim Jong Il last December. His father never appeared in public with an official wife, but is known to have had four or five wives. Jong Un was born to Jong Il's fourth wife, a celebrity dancer named Koh Young-Hee.

[Slideshow: Kim Jong Un's 'comrade wife']

The new lady in the spotlight, Ri, is a popular singer who was spotted performing on stage numerous times in the past few years. There is still no confirmation on when they were married, but the two are known to have a child together, according to the National Information Service, South Korea's intelligence agency.

Ri is from an average family, graduated Geumsung 2 Middle School in Pyongyang and studied abroad in China majoring in vocal music.

She has also visited South Korea in 2005 as a member of North Korean cheerleading team for the Asian Athletics Championship held in Incheon, said the agency. Ri was one of the 90 cheerleaders back then who chanted "We are one!"

The cheerleaders wore Nike caps, danced with South Korean college students, and attended a dinner party with government officials. There's speculation that she also might have participated in an inter-Korean teenagers' event in 2003 to plant trees.

But what has attracted the most attention in Seoul today is her beauty and sense of fashion. She wore colorful green, burgundy, and yellow outfits, polka dot patterns, open-toe pumps, and even a chic brooch on one of her dresses. North Korean women usually wear their traditional costume, or monotone black or grey suits to public events.

[Related: 'Un' no longer the loneliest number]

"I was surprised because she was so up-to-date in fashion. My friends think she's very pretty too," said Hyun-Sun Kim, 22, a nurse.

"I think Ri Sol Ju possesses a classic traditional Korean beauty, a round face and clean skin," said Edward Han, 52, a South Korean businessman. "And she's got that image of an obedient wife which sure would be popular among the elders especially."

Yunjoo Lim and Sungeun Lee contributed to this report

Congress to Hear Allegations of Failings at US Funded Afghan Hospital

2012-07-25T03:57:00.001+06:00

(CNN) -- More than two years after the U.S. military discovered horrifying abuse at an Afghan hospital it was funding, Congress will on Tuesday finally hear directly from U.S. military whistle blowers and other witnesses about the scandal.

Lawmakers will listen to accusations of rampant Afghan corruption, millions of wasted taxpayer dollars and allegations that two senior U.S. Army generals tried to delay an investigation into it all, because they thought it would make the Obama Administration look bad just prior to the 2010 midterm elections.

The House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security has called the hearings after months of asking the Pentagon to investigate the matter. To date, the Pentagon has only said it is reviewing the allegations; it has not publicly said whether a formal investigation has been launched.

The hearing will bring together several recently retired military officers and current officials for the first time to testify formally about what they know about what happened at the Dawood National Military Hospital in Kabul. U.S. troops worked there trying to train Afghan medical teams to care for their wounded, spending nearly $180 million on drugs, supplies and equipment.

But the U.S. whistle blowers say much of it was stolen or squandered by corrupt Afghan officials, while Afghan patients were horribly abused. Photos obtained by CNN show patients lying in dirty beds with festering wounds and in many cases suffering from a lack of food and medicine.

"Things as simple as dressing changes are not done, patients become infected and then die," says Schuyler Geller, a retired Air Force physician and colonel who brought many of the allegations to light after a tour of duty at the training program.

But the hearing is now going a step further. A second witness, Gerald Carozza Jr., a retired Army lawyer and colonel who also worked on the program, is supporting Geller's allegations that two generals sought to delay an investigation. In remarks made available to CNN, Carozza will tell the committee that at an October 29, 2010, meeting in Afghanistan, Brig. Gen. Gary Patton suggested that an investigation be delayed until after the 2010 elections.

"I voiced concern about the inappropriateness of allowing such considerations into the decision making process. I made it clear that I was not at the meeting as a legal advisor to the Command Group and that my comments were not legal advice but simply words grounded in a tradition that military officers should neither make decisions based on politics nor allow an appearance of such," Carozza says in his prepared remarks to the committee.

Carozza then says after the U.S. elections of November 2, 2010, a meeting was called in Lt. Gen. William Caldwell's office, the commander of all U.S. training in Afghanistan.

"Although I was not invited to this meeting, its events were relayed to me by three officers who were there and all three descriptions were in sync," Carozza says. "Lt. Gen. Caldwell screamed at these three officers, waiving his finger at them for trying to bring in the DoD IG (the Inspector General of the Department of Defense). He said, 'You are all O-6s (the pay grade for colonels and Naval captains) and should know better. There is nothing wrong in this command that we can't fix ourselves.'"

Carozza adds, "To the great credit and moral courage of these officers, they stood their ground and insisted that bringing in the DoD IG was appropriate and necessary."

Caldwell and Patton have both previously declined to comment on the allegations that they delayed bringing in Pentagon investigators.

Eventually an Inspector General investigation of the hospital was conducted and conditions improved, according to the Pentagon.

But Carozza will tell the committee that that may not be sufficient.

"This hearing should not be about whether a General stifled an investigation for Political reasons with a capital 'P' favoring Democrats or Republicans with capital 'D' or 'R,'" he will say. "The evidence is clear to me that this was politics with a small 'p' - personal career driven politics. The general did not want bad news to leave his command before the election - or after the election."

Carozza goes on to say of Caldwell: "The general, like too many generals, was too concerned about the message, creating a stifling climate for those who had to deal with the reality. Too many generals view the media and information operations as 'battle space.'"

Obama has ‘no tolerance for leaks,’ White House insists as Romney attacks

2012-07-25T03:55:00.000+06:00

The White House insisted on Tuesday that President Barack Obama "has no tolerance for leaks" of national security secrets as Mitt Romney accused the Administration of disclosing sensitive information for political gain.

"There are two experienced federal prosecutors investigating the leaks in question," press secretary Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama pursued a West-Coast campaign swing.

"I can't comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation," he said, but "as a general matter, the president has made abundantly clear that he has no tolerance for leaks, and he thinks leaks are damaging to our national security interests."

"The kinds of decisions he has to make every day depend upon the ability to keep our secrets secret, and he feels extremely strongly about this," Carney said. "No one depends more on that information to make extremely difficult and significant decisions on a regular basis than the president of the United States."

In the aftermath of news reports throwing back the curtain on major national security operations — including an unprecedented cyber-assault on Iran's nuclear program -- Attorney General Eric Holder appointed two U.S. attorneys to look into the potentially unlawful disclosure of national security secrets. It is unclear when the two prosecutors will report back — notably whether their probe will wrap before the November elections.

Asked whether he could shed light on the timetable, Carney replied: "I am not standing here as an employee of the Department of Justice, so no, I cannot. I'm not updated on the process of investigations, the progress of investigations."

Carney's comments came after Romney, speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) annual convention, sharply assailed Obama's handling of the issue. Romney pointed to recent remarks from Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggesting that the leaks came from the Administration.

"This conduct is contemptible. It betrays our national interest," the Republican standard-bearer charged. "It compromises our men and women in the field. And it demands a full and prompt investigation, with explanation and consequence. Whoever provided classified information to the media, seeking political advantage for the administration, must be exposed, dismissed, and punished. The time for stonewalling is over."

Feinstein, asked about the leaks, told the World Affairs Forum on Monday that "I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from its ranks. I don't know specifically where, but I think they have to begin to understand that and do something about it."

Shortly after Romney spoke, however, she worked to roll back her remarks.

"I stated that I did not believe the president leaked classified information. I shouldn't have speculated beyond that, because the fact of the matter is I don't know the source of the leaks," she said in a written statement.

"I regret my remarks are being used to impugn President Obama or his commitment to protecting national security secrets," she said. "I know we are in a campaign season, but I hope the investigation proceeds without political accusation or interference from anyone."

Affirmative Action Backed in Largely Black Brazil

2012-07-24T21:04:00.000+06:00

SAO PAULO (AP) -- Brazil's top court has backed sweeping affirmative action programs used in more than 1,000 universities across this nation, which has more blacks than any country outside Africa yet where a severe gap in education equality between races persists.

The Supreme Court voted 7-1 late Thursday to uphold a federal program that has provided scholarships to hundreds of thousands of black and mixed-race students for university studies since 2005. Its constitutionality was challenged by a right of center party, The Democrats. Three justices abstained from the vote.

The court ruled last week in a separate case that it was constitutional for universities to use racial quotas in determining who is admitted.

"If I didn't have the scholarship, I wouldn't be here. It pays my entire tuition," said 22-year-old student Felipe Nunes, taking a break between classes at the privately run Univerisdade Paulista in Sao Paulo.

Nunes, the mixed-race son of a mechanic, said he's the first person in his family to attend university. He's one of 919,000 recipients of a "ProUni" scholarship since 2005. The ProUni program funds studies in private universities for black, mixed race, indigenous and poor students whose primary education was in the public school system.

Education inequality in Brazil is stark despite economic advances that have seen 20 million people pulled from poverty since 2003. A woeful public education system is considered a weak link as Brazil tries to build on recent economic gains and become a global powerhouse.

There are shortages of trained labor in several key areas, such as engineers to help the nation develop its massive offshore oil reserves, the biggest finds in the Western hemisphere in three decades. Supporters of affirmative action say it will help the country fully tap into the potential of Brazil's entire population.

The Brazilian government's statistics agency, using data from the 2010 Census, reported that in 2009, just 4.7 percent of black Brazilians over the age of 25 held a university degree, compared to 15 percent of whites. A decade earlier, 2.3 percent of blacks and 9.8 percent of whites had degrees. Similar inequalities are seen at all age and education levels.

While those figures show the gap between whites and other races in Brazil has actually widened, supporters say the gain in the percentage of nonwhites getting a university education is the more important statistic.

Backers say the use of scholarships, quotas and other policies aimed at getting more blacks and mixed-race Brazilians into universities is needed to right the historic wrongs of slavery, centuries of stark economic inequality and a society in which whites are overwhelmingly in leadership roles in government and business, despite Brazil having more citizens of African ancestry than any nation other than Nigeria. Fifty-one percent of Brazil's 192 million people are black or of mixed-race,

"If you're going to write about discrimination against blacks you have to talk about the privileges whites enjoy. Those privileges are what's at stake in the intensely emotional opposition to these policies," said Eliza Larkin Nascimento, director of the Institute of Afro-Brazilian Research and Study in Rio de Janeiro. "They feel threatened. Their privileges are sustained by a system that perpetuates inequality, both in the form of extreme poverty and extreme privilege."

Opponents say the idea of quotas is itself racist and that Brazil has no need for them, arguing there is little social tension among the races and the nation lacks the overt racism seen in many other nations.

"Racial policy, even in good faith, is state therapy for a disease that does not exist: We don't have a racial identity," Jose Ferreira Militao, a black activist and lawyer in Sao Paulo, wrote recently in the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.

He argued that what's needed are policies aimed at social - not racial - problems in Brazil, programs that use economic need as the criteria for university spots and scholarships. That, he said, would assist black and mixed-race Brazilians, who comprise 70 percent of the poorest 10 percent of the nation.

Brazil's Supreme Court justices strongly voiced opinions that affirmative action is the best means of combatting inequality that has lingered for centuries.

"From this decision onward, Brazil has one more reason to look in the mirror of history and not blush with shame," Supreme Court Justice Carlos Britto said after last week's 10-0 vote supporting racial quotas.

His colleague Carmen Lucia Rocha added: "It's better to have a society in which everyone is free to be whatever they want. Quotas are one step in a society where this doesn't naturally occur."

The Supreme Court is also expected to rule soon on a motion filed in 2009 by a white student who argues that although he scored high on his college entrance exam for the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, his spot was taken by a student who scored lower but was admitted based on a racial quota.

Norma Odara, a 20-year-old journalism student at Mackenzie University in Sao Paulo, considers herself black, though her mother is white, and her youthful face embodies Brazil's mixed heritage.

She's not the recipient of any government scholarship and her university does not use any sort of quota system, something made clear by the fact Odara was one of the few black students in a sea of whites on Mackenzie's leafy campus. Still, Odara said quotas and other such programs are only temporary fixes, and that what is needed is more government spending in public grade schools where most black Brazilians study, so that they are better prepared to enter universities on academic merit alone.

"The quotas are palliative, they're only trying to momentarily resolve the problem," she said. "What's not being treated are the root ailments."

City College Closure Could End San Francisco’s Adult Education Program

2012-07-24T21:00:00.000+06:00

SAN FRANCISCO – When Eunice Kim came to City College of San Francisco in 2007, she was looking for a way up and out of the spiraling travel industry that she’d been working in for nearly 10 years. Sales were down, along with her hours, while the rent on her apartment kept climbing.

Three years later, she’d landed a part-time job as a medical interpreter, helping her fellow Koreans navigate the city’s complex health care system. “There aren’t many Korean interpreters in the city,” she explains, adding that aside from the extra income, her services had also “brought me closer to my own community.”

Which is why Kim, 37, greeted the recent news of City College’s possible closure with trepidation, saying it would “rob the community – and individual residents -- of a vital service.”

Earlier this month, the state’s Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges issued a review report of the school, warning it could lose its accreditation if it fails to address concerns over administrative and financial issues. City College now has until October to “show cause” as to why it should remain open.

Only accredited schools receive state funding, meaning, that a loss of accreditation would most likely lead to the school -- which has already lost some $40 million in cuts over the past four years -- closing its doors.

And that would mean an end to the city’s adult education program.

Nowhere Else to Turn

Unlike most other counties in the state, where adult classes are offered through the local school district, in San Francisco that task has historically been relegated to City College. Since 1970 the school has been a vital link for everyone from the newly arrived immigrant looking to learn English to the newly unemployed looking for a leg up.

Santa Ana and San Diego are the only two other counties where adult learning is offered through the local community college system.

Louis Freedberg, executive director of the Bay Area-based non-profit, EdSource, says more than half of the 90,000-plus students enrolled at City College are there for non-credit and non-degree bearing certificate programs that range from ESL to computer skills and gardening. Together, these classes account for a majority of courses offered at the school.

The students in these classes, he adds, represent some of “the most marginalized of California’s adult population.” In the event that City College does close, he says, “they would have no other place to go.”

As for whether the city might shift adult learning to the district level, Freedberg says there’s “zero chance” of that happening.

Statewide, adult learning has taken a beating as school districts look to cut costs to contend with anemic budgets. In a recent survey of California’s 30 largest school districts, EdSource found that 23 had made major cuts to adult education classes, with one – Anaheim – scrapping the program altogether.

As for City College, Freedberg says part of the problem is that the school has “tried to be all things to all people,” which has meant that anyone could enroll. That in turn has led to less than half of students at the school actually achieving their stated academic goals.

From the purview of the state, explains Freedberg, such numbers are “unsustainable… they’re wasted resources.”

Funding Educational Priorities

“At the center of the [Accrediting Commission’s] report is whether City College can continue with its… noble mission,” says school spokesman Larry Kamer, adding that that mission is “being changed de facto” by painful budget cuts, which have already led to some 10,000 students being turned away due to closures.

This year City College lost $17 million in funding and could face another potential $10 million loss should voters reject Governor Jerry Brown’s tax hike proposal in November. School officials, meanwhile, have put forward their own ballot initiative, proposing a $79 per parcel tax on the November ballot to benefit the college.

Whether or not such measures will be enough to prevent the school’s closing, or just preserve the breadth of adult courses available, is unclear.

Asked about the future of its adult program, Kamer would only say that the “situation is fluid,” reiterating that decisions would have to be made with respect to the enormous financial cloud now looming.

And with the strictures put down by the Accrediting Commission, which some have criticized for being too focused on “for-profit” models and “student learning outcomes.”

Following a public radio broadcast on the topic of City College, one listener emailed to note that the accrediting process has “taken a hard right turn into very new and very strange territory.” Another accused the commission of attempting to “put public institutions out of business, and funnel tax dollars to for-profit schools… The best way to do this is to somehow ‘prove’ that public colleges are doing a bad job.”

Professor Norton Grubb with the Graduate School of Education at the University of California at Berkeley has spent his career studying, among other things, the community college system. “All the indicators collected [by the Accrediting Commission],” he says, “are tied to degree completion in credit-bearing courses.”

Grubb also notes that the lion’s share of state funding to City College is earmarked for credit courses, making it more difficult for school administrators to justify maintaining the kinds of non-credit offerings that allowed Kim to reinvent her career and discover her passion.

“I was recently asked to volunteer as a teacher with the interpreter program,” says Kim, who now holds down two part-time jobs that grew directly out of her studies at City College.

Looking back at her own time as a student, however, she adds that things have changed with the recent cuts. “The teacher is overworked, has fewer supplies, and the students seem to pick up on that,” she says. “They seem less motivated.”

US Poverty on Track to Rise to Highest Since 1960s

2012-07-24T20:58:00.000+06:00

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

Census figures for 2011 will be released this fall in the critical weeks ahead of the November elections.

The Associated Press surveyed more than a dozen economists, think tanks and academics, both nonpartisan and those with known liberal or conservative leanings, and found a broad consensus: The official poverty rate will rise from 15.1 percent in 2010, climbing as high as 15.7 percent. Several predicted a more modest gain, but even a 0.1 percentage point increase would put poverty at the highest since 1965.

Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor. More discouraged workers are giving up on the job market, leaving them vulnerable as unemployment aid begins to run out. Suburbs are seeing increases in poverty, including in such political battlegrounds as Colorado, Florida and Nevada, where voters are coping with a new norm of living hand to mouth.

``I grew up going to Hawaii every summer. Now I'm here, applying for assistance because it's hard to make ends meet. It's very hard to adjust,'' said Laura Fritz, 27, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado, describing her slide from rich to poor as she filled out aid forms at a county center. Since 2000, large swaths of Jefferson County just outside Denver have seen poverty nearly double.

Fritz says she grew up wealthy in the Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, but fortunes turned after her parents lost a significant amount of money in the housing bust. Stuck in a half-million dollar house, her parents began living off food stamps and Fritz's college money evaporated. She tried joining the Army but was injured during basic training.

Now she's living on disability, with an infant daughter and a boyfriend, Garrett Goudeseune, 25, who can't find work as a landscaper. They are struggling to pay their $650 rent on his unemployment checks and don't know how they would get by without the extra help as they hope for the job market to improve.

In an election year dominated by discussion of the middle class, Fritz's case highlights a dim reality for the growing group in poverty. Millions could fall through the cracks as government aid from unemployment insurance, Medicaid health care coverage for the poor, welfare and food stamps diminishes.

``The issues aren't just with public benefits. We have some deep problems in the economy,'' said Peter Edelman, director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy.

He pointed to the recent recession but also longer-term changes in the economy such as globalization, automation, outsourcing, immigration, and less unionization that have pushed median household income lower. Even after strong economic growth in the 1990s, poverty never fell below a 1973 low of 11.1 percent. That low point came after President Lyndon Johnson's war on poverty, launched in 1964, that created Medicaid, the Medicare health care program for the elderly and other social welfare programs.

``I'm reluctant to say that we've gone back to where we were in the 1960s. The programs we enacted make a big difference. The problem is that the tidal wave of low-wage jobs is dragging us down and the wage problem is not going to go away anytime soon,'' Edelman said.

Stacey Mazer of the National Association of State Budget Officers said states will be watching for poverty increases when figures are released in September as they make decisions about the Medicaid expansion. Most states generally assume poverty levels will hold mostly steady and they will hesitate if the findings show otherwise. ``It's a constant tension in the budget,'' she said.

The predictions for 2011 are based on separate AP interviews, supplemented with research on suburban poverty from Alan Berube of the Brookings Institution and an analysis of federal spending by the Congressional Research Service and Elise Gould of the Economic Policy Institute.

The analysts' estimates suggest that some 47 million people in the U.S., or 1 in 6, were poor last year. An increase of one-tenth of a percentage point to 15.2 percent would tie the 1983 rate, the highest since 1965. The highest level on record was 22.4 percent in 1959, when the government began calculating poverty figures.

Poverty is closely tied to joblessness. While the unemployment rate improved from 9.6 percent in 2010 to 8.9 percent in 2011, the employment-population ratio remained largely unchanged, meaning many discouraged workers simply stopped looking for work. Food stamp rolls, another indicator of poverty, also grew.

Demographers also say:

_Poverty will remain above the pre-recession level of 12.5 percent for many more years. Several predicted that peak poverty levels -- 15 percent to 16 percent -- will last at least until 2014, due to expiring unemployment benefits, a jobless rate persistently above 6 percent and weak wage growth.

_Suburban poverty, already at a record level of 11.8 percent, will increase again in 2011.

_Part-time or underemployed workers, who saw a record 15 percent poverty in 2010, will rise to a new high.

_Poverty among people 65 and older will remain at historically low levels, buoyed by Social Security cash payments.

_Child poverty will increase from its 22 percent level in 2010.

Analysts also believe that the poorest poor, defined as those at 50 percent or less of the poverty level, will remain near its peak level of 6.7 percent.

``I've always been the guy who could find a job. Now I'm not,'' said Dale Szymanski, 56, a Teamsters Union forklift operator and convention hand who lives outside Las Vegas in Clark County. In a state where unemployment ranks highest in the nation, the Las Vegas suburbs have seen a particularly rapid increase in poverty from 9.7 percent in 2007 to 14.7 percent.

Szymanski, who moved from Wisconsin in 2000, said he used to make a decent living of more than $40,000 a year but now doesn't work enough hours to qualify for union health care. He changed apartments several months ago and sold his aging 2001 Chrysler Sebring in April to pay expenses.

``You keep thinking it's going to turn around. But I'm stuck,'' he said.

The 2010 poverty level was $22,314 for a family of four, and $11,139 for an individual, based on an official government calculation that includes only cash income, before tax deductions. It excludes capital gains or accumulated wealth, such as home ownership, as well as noncash aid such as food stamps and tax credits, which were expanded substantially under President Barack Obama's stimulus package.

An additional 9 million people in 2010 would have been counted above the poverty line if food stamps and tax credits were taken into account.

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, believes the social safety net has worked and it is now time to cut back. He worries that advocates may use a rising poverty rate to justify additional spending on the poor, when in fact, he says, many live in decent-size homes, drive cars and own wide-screen TVs.

A new census measure accounts for noncash aid, but that supplemental poverty figure isn't expected to be released until after the November election. Since that measure is relatively new, the official rate remains the best gauge of year-to-year changes in poverty dating back to 1959.

Few people advocate cuts in anti-poverty programs. Roughly 79 percent of Americans think the gap between rich and poor has grown in the past two decades, according to a Public Religion Research Institute/RNS Religion News survey from November 2011. The same poll found that about 67 percent oppose ``cutting federal funding for social programs that help the poor'' to help reduce the budget deficit.

Outside of Medicaid, federal spending on major low-income assistance programs such as food stamps, disability aid and tax credits have been mostly flat at roughly 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product from 1975 to the 1990s. Spending spiked higher to 2.3 percent of GDP after Obama's stimulus program in 2009 temporarily expanded unemployment insurance and tax credits for the poor.

The U.S. safety net may soon offer little comfort to people such as Jose Gorrin, 52, who lives in the western Miami suburb of Hialeah Gardens. Arriving from Cuba in 1980, he was able to earn a decent living as a plumber for years, providing for his children and ex-wife. But things turned sour in 2007 and in the past two years he has barely worked, surviving on the occasional odd job.

His unemployment has run out, and he's too young to draw Social Security.

Holding a paper bag of still-warm bread he'd just bought for lunch, Gorrin said he hasn't decided whom he'll vote for in November, expressing little confidence the presidential candidates can solve the nation's economic problems. ``They all promise to help when they're candidates,'' Gorrin said, adding, ``I hope things turn around. I already left Cuba. I don't know where else I can go.''

Set the date of admission in university of dhaka

2012-07-24T18:21:00.000+06:00

01 -13 education and admission to the University to date has been set. The committee meeting Tuesday in dinasa date is set.
Scheduled date, according to a unit (Science) on the 1 October, where the unit (human), 19 October, of the unit (Business Education) in November, said the unit (section change) 9 November, and in the unit (Fine Arts) on 16 November will be held.
Farid Uddin Ahmed, Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences, said first light dots kamake, dinasa Committee meeting was initially scheduled date of admission. This date is not likely to change. The Admissions Committee of the General Assembly will be the final decision.
Farid Uddin Ahmed said, last year's Free Application fee of Rs 300 has been considered. However, the online activities of students will pay an additional 30. In terms of Education, who had taken part in the admission test, and it is not likely to change.

Sheriff: Katherine Jackson is safe, with family

2012-07-23T12:40:00.000+06:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Katherine Jackson, the mother of Michael Jackson and guardian of his three children, is safe and with a family member in Arizona, authorities said late Sunday, one day after another relative reported her missing.

Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Mark Pope said investigators made contact with Jackson, but he did not have specifics on her whereabouts. The agency previously said they believed she was with a relative and safe, but wanted to speak with her.

Katherine Jackson is with her daughter Rebbie in Arizona, following a doctor's orders to "de-stress" and stay away from the phone and computers, her son Jermaine Jackson said in a statement late Sunday. He said access to his mother is not being blocked.

A member of the Jackson family had reported the family matriarch missing on Saturday, prompting a frantic plea from the late pop star's only daughter to help locate her grandmother.

"I haven't spoken with her in a week I want her home now," 14-year-old Paris Jackson tweeted, later providing a number for people to contact in case they see her grandmother. Katherine Jackson has been caring for Paris, Prince Michael and Blanket Jackson since their father's death in June 2009.

It was unclear who is taking care of the children in her absence.

The incident demonstrated divisions in the Jackson family just days after five of the singer's siblings once again claimed that the King of Pop's will was a fake and that the executors of his lucrative estate should step down.

The undated letter, signed by Janet, Randy, Tito, Rebbie and Jermaine Jackson, claimed Katherine Jackson was being manipulated by the executors, John Branca and John McClain, her health had been affected, and she suffered a mini-stroke.

The estate has denied the accusations, which have swirled since Michael Jackson died from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic. Katherine Jackson obtained permission from a judge to investigate the will's validity, but never pursued the matter in court.

"It dismays me that such an alarmist 'missing person' report has caused unnecessary anxiety among Michael's children who will understandably react to what they misunderstand, hear or are told," Jermaine Jackson wrote.

The mystery of Katherine Jackson's whereabouts was compounded by a visit from her son's former physician, Dr. Allan Metzger, who examined her July 14 after being brought to her Calabasas home by someone close to the family, said her attorney, Sandy Ribera.

She had been scheduled to depart on an RV trip to the Southwest to watch her sons perform. The elder Jackson never made any of the shows and Metzger apparently told her not to take the trip, Ribera said.

Metzger is not Katherine Jackson's primary physician and her regular doctor wasn't aware the his house call until concerns about Katherine Jackson's whereabouts were raised, Ribera said.

A phone message left for Metzger at his Beverly Hills practice was not immediately returned Sunday.

Metzger treated Michael Jackson earlier in his career and met with the singer once in the months before he died. Defense attorneys for the physician convicted of killing the pop superstar called him as a witness to try to show the singer was attempting to obtain a powerful anesthetic for home use.

Despite being a defense witness, Metzger aided prosecutors by telling jurors that he refused Jackson's request and warned him of the risks.

Paris Jackson referenced Metzger's visit in a tweet early Sunday, writing, "the same doctor that testified on behalf of dr murray saying my father was a drug addict (a lie) is caring for my grandmother... just saying."

Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for causing Jackson's death at age 50.

___

AP Global Entertainment and Lifestyles Editor Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York contributed to this report.

Physical Inactivity Causes One in Ten Deaths Worldwide, Study Says

2012-07-23T12:38:00.000+06:00

CNN) -- Physical inactivity causes 1 in 10 deaths worldwide, according to a series of studies released in British medical journal The Lancet, putting it on par with the dangers of smoking and obesity. The results also suggest that public health officials treat this situation as a pandemic.

Specifically, Harvard researchers say, inactivity caused an increase in deaths from coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancers and caused more than 5.3 million deaths in 2008 worldwide.

If physical inactivity rates were to go down by even 10% to 20% worldwide, they say, it could save between a half-million and 1.3 million lives each year. This could also raise global life expectancy by almost a year.

"This summer, we will admire the breathtaking feats of athletes competing in the 2012 Olympic Games," wrote Dr. I-Min Lee, a Harvard researcher and the lead author of an article accompanying the series of studies. "Although only the smallest fraction of the population will attain these heights, the overwhelming majority of us are able to be physically active at very modest levels, which bring substantial health benefits."

This series of five studies was specifically timed to be released just days before the start of the 2012 Olympics in London next week, and each of the studies focused on one specific issue related to physical inactivity and its effect on global health.

Adults and children at increased risk

The first in the group of five studies suggested that one-third of adults, and close to 80% of adolescents worldwide, are at increased risk of disease as a result of physical inactivity.

According to the report, some 1.5 billion adults worldwide face a 20% to 30% increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

Researchers also found that inactivity levels varied widely across the globe, with the lowest levels in Bangladesh (5%) and the highest levels in Malta (71%).

"In most countries, inactivity rises with age and is higher in women than in men [34% vs 28%]," wrote Dr. Pedro C. Hallal, a professor at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil. "Inactivity is also increased in high-income countries."

Why are some people more active?

The second study looked at why certain people and groups of people exercise while others do not.

The study authors found that previous research focused on individual-level factors such as age, sex and socioeconomic status, and they were conducted primarily in high-income countries. But they suggest future research focus on middle and lower-income countries.

"Research has been heavily concentrated in a few developed countries, most of which have stable or falling rates of noncommunicable diseases, rather than in low-income countries where understanding of evidence-based strategies for increasing physical activity is poor," wrote Adrian Bauman, a researcher from the University of Sydney in Australia. "Targeting factors known to cause inactivity is key to improving and designing effective interventions to increase activity levels."

Bauman and his colleagues found that health status, being male, young or wealthy tend to make people more physically active, as does family and societal support for physical activity.

What works to promote physical activity

The third article in The Lancet series looked at what specific programs and types of programs work to promote physical activity.

"Because even moderate physical activity such as walking and cycling can have substantial health benefits, understanding strategies that can increase these behaviors in different regions and cultures has become a public health priority," wrote Gregory Heath, a researcher from the University of Tennessee and the lead author of this study.

Heath and his team found that the use of mass-media campaigns to promote exercise, as well as signs to remind people to be active -- taking the stairs, for example -- had some effect on getting people more active.

The team also found that free, public exercise events, creating an environment that was conducive to exercise (bike lanes and walking trails), and improving public transportation were more likely to improve physical activity.

"Overall, our findings showed the interventions to have consistent and significant effects on physical activity and behaviors," Heath wrote. "Even though in some instances the effect sizes of these interventions were rather modest, they were large enough to translate into real population-level benefits if rolled out on a larger scale."

Using mobile phones to get people active

The fourth study found that technology, and specifically cell phone technology, could be significant in helping people get fit.

"With the high prevalence of both physical inactivity and the rapid growth of the mobile phone sector in low-income and middle-income countries, there is a potential for population-level effects that could truly affect global health," wrote Dr. Michael Pratt, a researcher from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers believe that with more than 4 billion text messaging users worldwide, this could be an effective way to deliver health-conscious messages, particularly in low-income countries.

According to this report, Pratt and his team estimated that using Internet-based technologies could be twice as effective in middle-income countries as in high-income countries, given that 71% of the world's population lives in these countries and many have access to cell phones.

"This is a big challenge, but marked progress in countries such as Colombia and Brazil suggests that it is also an achievable challenge," he wrote.

Obesity should be considered a pandemic

The final report suggests that physical inactivity should be recognized as a global pandemic and should be treated like any other infectious-disease pandemic would be.

"The role of physical inactivity continues to be undervalued despite robust evidence of its protective effects," wrote Harold Kohl, a researcher at the University of Texas School of Public Health and lead author of this study. "The response ... has been incomplete, unfocused and most certainly understaffed. ... The effect of this tardiness has been to put physical activity in reverse gear compared with population trends and advances in tobacco and alcohol control and diet."

Kohl called on countries -- low, middle and high-income -- to work across disciplines to fix this problem.

"Physical inactivity is an issue that crosses many sectors and will require collaboration, coordination and communication with multiple partners," he wrote, citing specifically city and community planners, transportation engineers, schools, parks and recreation officials and the media.

He says that almost 75% of World Health Organization member countries have some sort of plan to improve physical activity, but only 55% of the plans have been put into effect and only 42% of the plans in effect are well-funded.

"Substantial improvements in the infrastructure of planning and policy, leadership and advocacy, workforce training and surveillance must be realized," he said

Gay, Bisexual Black Men at High Risk For HIV

2012-07-23T12:34:00.000+06:00

(CNN) -- Only one in 500 Americans is a black gay or bisexual male, but black men who have sex with men (MSM) account for one in four new HIV infections in the United States, according to a new report by the Black AIDS Institute (BAI).

Just days away from the first International AIDS Conference to be held on U.S. soil in 22 years, the BAI, a national think tank focused on African-Americans, released a somber account detailing how the virus continues to disproportionately infect and kill young black men who have sex with other men.

According to the report, "Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Gay Black Men in America 2012" a black gay man has a one in eight chance of becoming infected by the time he's 20 years old. By the age of 40, the likelihood is 60%. It also says black men having sex with men are more affected by the disease than any other group in the developed world.

"Black MSM continue to be first in line when it comes to need, but remain at the back of the line when it comes to assistance," said Phill Wilson, founder and executive director of the Black AIDS Institute. "This report not only highlights the gaps and why they still exist after 30 years, but it also provides a blueprint for how to close the gaps and move those most at risk up to the front."

The number of gay black men with HIV is twice that of gay white men, the report found. In fact, in New York City, cited as one of the three best cities to live in for gay black men, they are 488 times more likely than other males, and 325 times more likely than black heterosexual males, to be diagnosed with the disease. Three years after an AIDS diagnosis, black MSM are less likely to still be alive than their white or Latino counterparts.

And even though the report suggests black men are more likely to take steps to reduced their risk of infection than other MSM, the are still twice as likely to get the virus.

BAI's research also found that health disparities often impede access to health care, and found black MSM are 7 times more likely to have undiagnosed HIV than other gay men.

The Institute is calling for more testing, a scale-up of antiretroviral therapy, a plan to combat homophobia, and the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (also known as PrEP) where the uninfected partner of someone with HIV gets on drug therapy as well. Recent studies show that PrEP can lower the rate of HIV transmission up to 96%. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the drug Truvada for this use.

BAI is also calling for the implementation of a national plan to end AIDS in African-American gay and bisexual men.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), African-Americans overall carry the heaviest burden of HIV. The latest CDC statistics show blacks make up only 14% of the population but have 44% of all new infections. In fact, in 2009 - the most recent data - MSM made up 73% of all new infections in all black men. MSM between the ages of 13 and 29 saw more new infections than any other age and racial group of MSM.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) has been a Congressional leader in the fight to end the spread of HIV/AIDS, and has introduced several pieces of legislation to increase research, screening, treatment and funding.

"Current policies do not adequately address the unique needs of black MSM in America. Local and national leaders must remain vigilant in the fight against AIDS, especially in the black community, which continues to carry the heaviest burden," Waters said. "Unless we change the way we do business, we cannot reverse the epidemic. No one should be forced to the back of the line."

oDesk, or get some other works on Market Place Tips

2012-07-22T14:59:00.000+06:00

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Norway marks anniversary of Breivik's massacre

2012-07-22T14:49:00.000+06:00

Religious services, wreath-laying ceremonies, commemorative gatherings and a concert are scheduled across Norway Sunday on the first anniversary of twin attacks that killed 77 people.

On July 22, 2011 right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik first set off a bomb near the government building in Oslo, killing eight people, before going on a shooting rampage on nearby Utoeya island, where the ruling Labour Party's youth wing was hosting a summer camp.

He killed 69 people on the island, most of them teens, with the youngest having just celebrated her 14th birthday.

Numerous events are scheduled in and around Oslo, and especially at the sites of the two attacks, in memory of the victims of the worst atrocity carried out on Norwegian soil since World War II.

Religious services and commemorative gatherings will also be held from the very south of the country to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, some 1,100 kilometres (700 miles) from the North Pole.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who made a deep impression shortly after the massacre with his vow that Norway's response to the bloodbath would be "more democracy, more openness and more humanity, but never naivety", will be present at many of the the most heart-wrenching events.

The Labour Party leader is scheduled to lay a wreath at the site of the Oslo bombing at 9:30 am (0730 GMT) before attending, with Norway's king and queen, a service at the city's cathedral, which in the weeks after the attacks was surrounded by an ocean of roses left by mourners.

At 2:10 pm, the prime minister will give a speech for Labour Party youth on Utoeya before meeting with family members of Breivik's victims and laying a second wreath on the island at 6:45 pm -- almost exactly the time that Breivik was finally arrested there after his more than hour-long shooting spree.

To wrap up the emotionally trying day, Stoltenberg is set to attend a commemorative concert outside the Oslo city hall featuring mainly Norwegian musicians and, perhaps, Bruce Springsteen, starting at 8:00 pm.

Norwegian folk singer Lillebjoern Nilsen, who in April led some 40,000 rose-waving protesters to sing a song derided by Breivik, will also perform there.

Roses, the symbol of Breivik's main target, the Labour Party, are expected to be omnipresent, while Norway's professional football teams have agreed to observe a minute of silence before all games played Sunday out of respect for Breivik's victims.

The Labour prime minister in neighbouring Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, is also scheduled to speak on Utoeya, while US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already delivered a message of sympathy to the Norwegian people for this "enormous tragedy."

Eskil Pedersen, who heads the Labour Party youth wing and who escaped Utoeya at the beginning of the shooting massacre, last week hailed Norway's reaction to the tragedy.

"There are ... a few things that have developed in the right direction," he told the NTB news agency, saying he was especially pleased that political youth groups had seen their membership numbers soar.

"We have more democracy now because more people are participating," he said.

Breivik, whose 10-week trial ended last month, is meanwhile awaiting his verdict.

While there is no doubt he carried out the attacks, the five Oslo court judges must decide if the 33-year-old should be considered criminally sane and sentenced to prison, as requested by his defence, or instead follow the prosecution's line and send him to a closed psychiatric ward.

The verdict should be announced on August 24.

Caring Teachers Help Break the School-to-Prison Pipeline

2012-07-22T04:12:00.001+06:00

Nick Smith was shuttled from high school to high school in recent years, whenever a relative died or was shot.

When his mother died of cancer three years ago he moved from San Ramon Valley High School to San Leandro High so he could live with his older brother. When his brother was shot and killed, he moved to Oakland to live with another brother. By the time he got to Oakland Technical High School his senior year, he discovered he hadn't taken enough core academic courses to graduate. Nobody had counseled him to take the right classes; indeed he did not have any adult in his life he could turn to for advice.Bengali news paper

“Teachers can’t interpret a student’s situation," Smith said of what it was like to be in school during all the rocky and sad events of the past few years. "They didn’t know what was going on.”

Adding to the wounds, staff at some of the high schools did not seem to expect much from him or care one way or another what happened to him.

”At San Leandro, they gave me just about all elective classes and hardly any core courses or A-G courses,” he recalled of his junior year. “They didn’t put me in any of the classes I was in at my other school.”

But despite the turmoil in his teen years, Smith succeeded.

The 18-year-old graduated last June from Dewey Academy high school where he was editor of the school newspaper and voted most likely to succeed by his classmates. The Oakland public high school is a small, close knit campus where students get a "second chance" to earn the credits they need to graduate.

Now Smith is a mentor in the the African American Male Achievement Initiative in the Oakland Unified School District and is taking classes at College of Alameda, having just completed a paid internship at Kaiser Permanente.

What made the difference in Nick's life that allowed him to persevere as a student despite losing his parent and being faced with violence and constant relocation? What does it take to break the school to prison pipeline that students from low income and troubled home lives often get pushed into?

“At Dewey, it wasn’t like teachers always telling you ‘I know you can do better.’ It was like 'I know you are smart and I believe in you.' That was different,” Smith said, when asked what gave him the strength to persevere. “We all supported each other - teachers and students.”

In a word, he found caring adults and mentors who believed in him while he attended school in a safe and secure environment. His natural intelligence and interest in learning were able to blossom when those mentors and teachers had high expectations of him.

Hattie Tate, one of his mentors as the former principal of Dewey and now department administrator for OUSD's Full Service Community Schools program, said kids need three essential things be able to learn and succeed.

“The first thing a child needs to be able to learn is to feel safe,” said Tate, describing a philosophy that has fueled her work in OUSD and is the subject of doctoral dissertation.

In neighborhoods where gunshots can be heard most nights and pimps lure or kidnap adolescents as they walk to school, some kids just do not feel safe. So Tate - who also is a transition coordinator for youth returning to school from the juvenile justice system - said the schools need to go above and beyond to make themselves safe havens for their students.

The second need a child must have answered so he or she can learn is a caring relationship with an adult who believes in them, Tate said. Thirdly, a child needs to have high expectations set for them.

“You establish a relationship based on expectations of success,” Tate said, describing the core direction she has given her staff at Dewey and at her other jobs in OUSD. “You build relationships with them they may have never had before.”

Eric Young, 18, who graduated from Dewey in 2011, is now an intern with the African American Male Achievement Initiative and has a job leading an after school program at MetWest High School.

While you’d never know it from his gentle ways and sincere eyes, Young was once the type of kid that statistically is likely to wind up in prison. He was often suspended from high school and even expelled from a couple. He was often in trouble, he said, because as he described it, he had to fend for himself from the age of 12 since "my family was struggling."

Young went to six different high schools in the four years from ninth to 12th grades, sometimes because of his family's instability and once or twice because he was "kicked out" of a school.

But Young likes to read and is adept at doing research online. When he arrived at Dewey Academy, some teachers noticed how smart he was.

“The teachers approached me because they kind of noticed I was focused," Young said. "One day, my English teacher Mr. Tinsen noticed I was reading a book, so he gave me some more books."

He said in his past experiences, teachers usually only approached him when something was wrong.

"I like to read and I like learning; it was just that school was something I was never into,” until he decided to get serious and until he went to Dewey, he said. At the same time, he had inwardly determined that he was going to succeed. And he did.

Oakland Unified has been looking at ways to turn out more kids like Smith and Young - to help kids overcome obstacles of poverty and family turmoil and graduate from high school with promises of jobs or higher education. OUSD wants to stem its high drop out rate of 37 percent - and 46 percent among low-income African American boys - and do a better job engaging high school students in learning.

The experiences of Smith and Young show, according to Tate, what kids can achieve when teachers and adult mentors give them individual attention and show genuine interest in their success.

Through its African American Male Achievement Initiative, through restorative justice programs and converting some campuses to Full Service Community Schools, OUSD is working towards its goals.

Chris Chatmon, director of the initiative, said among the most effective pieces in the program is Manhood Development Classes, in which students are paired with adults who become their guides and mentors.

"It is amazing what we have been able to achieve,” Chatmon said of the program that provides kids with individual attention and coaching. “We saw an impact on attendance rates and a decrease in incidences of discipline. And then we saw improvement in grade point averages.”

That individual care, added with the practices of the restorative justice program that stresses repairing harm done rather than kicking kids out when things go wrong, have been turning around the mind set of students and teachers alike at Dewey, Castlemont High School, United for Success Middle School and other campuses where these programs have been tried.

"We're trying to provide a framework to discipline that is an alternative to suspensions so we are not pushing kids out of school into the criminal justice system," David Yusem, director of OUSD's restorative justice program, said.

"If you suspend a kid, they often end up resenting the kids and teachers who suspended them," without ever getting to the point of feeling accountable for whatever went wrong, he said. "A lot of kids get suspended multiple times, over and over again, then they fall behind and they don't feel like part of the school community. They've been alienated and isolated and told they are not welcome," he said. When kids are "pushed out" in this way, they drop out.

Restorative justice, on the other hand, asks kids to be accountable for their actions and repair what harm they've done because they are part of a community that has suffered as a result. It uses conversation rather than isolation as its basic tool.

"When students do something wrong, there is a certain amount of shame associated with it and restorative justice allows students to work through that shame and change," Yusem said. "It is a healing thing. It lets them know there are people at school that care about them, that they are part of a school and a community.

"If they believe they belong there, kids will take more responsibility for their actions because they are not thinking about leaving," he added. "It also increases teacher retention because it improves student teacher relations."

Even though it doesn't have money to formally roll out restorative justice programs at more than seven to 10 campuses, OUSD decided to adopt "a restorative justice framework," said Superintendent Tony Smith and "to reject zero tolerance" as a philosophy and methodology. Zero tolerance strategies involve kicking out offenders through suspensions or expulsions

“Suspensions result in disengagement caused by being pushed out of the classroom repeatedly,” said Barb McClung, coordinator of Behavioral Health for OUSD.

On the path to change, however, OUSD discovered it has been operating with some entrenched racial biases in its discipline practices. In data collected and examined by the Urban Strategies Council, it was found that many of OUSD's African American males were swept up onto a kind of school to prison pipeline, fueled by suspensions and missed classroom time. The Urban Strategies data analysis found that African-American boys were six times more likely to get suspended than white boys.

Chatmon said now staff within OUSD are beginning to have “courageous conversations” about race and discipline and changing its ways.The world news
"We are talking about a culture shift and a paradigm shift and that takes time. We are still working on our models and our systems. But we've definitely seen successes," he said.

Some schools this year, notably Bunche Continuation High School and United for Success middle school, were able to eliminate racial disparities in suspensions this year. Others such as Dewey and some classrooms within Castlemont have taken up the mantle of giving kids individual attention, setting high expectations and believing in them to reach them.

Those, along with safe environments, are the ingredients that lead to academic achievement and graduation from high school.

And, as statistics prove, graduation from high school is a youth’s best armor against incarceration.

Quader's surprise visit leads to bulk transfer

2012-07-22T04:00:00.000+06:00

Communications and Railways Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday ordered immediate transfer of the whole set of staff of railway ticket counters and a team of Railway Nirapatta Bahini (RNB) of Chittagong.

He also directed to serve show-cause notices on three engineers of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Chittagong for their negligence towards duties.

The order came upon a sudden visit of the railway minister. He visited the railway station around noon and ordered General Manager Md Taffazzol Hossain of Bangladesh Railway (East Zone) to transfer six security personnel, including RNB Inspector AKM Saleh Patwary, and all 14 booking clerks to remote and less important stations as soon as possible.

The decision was made based on allegations of ticket scalping, the minister told reporters at the station, adding that no other place in the country suffer more from ticket scalping than the port city.

“Chittagong has the worst record of such practice. There used to be a nexus among the railway staff of the security and commercial departments, and scalpers” he said.

The minister further said a circular train would be launched in Chittagong by February-March next year to ease traffic jam. Initiatives had already been taken in this regard, he added.

However, train fare would be increased after Eid-ul-Fitr in line with recommendations made by a parliamentary committee, informed Obaidul.

The RHD officials, to whom the show-cause notices had been ordered to be issued, are Executive Engineer of Chittagong division Rana Priyo Barua, Sub-Divisional Engineer Julfiquar Ahmed and Superintend Engineer Zia Uddin.

The minister ordered RHD Chief Executive Engineer Aminur Rahman Laskor over the phone to issue show-cause letters when he was visiting the Oxygen-Hathazari and Bhatiari-Borodighir Paar roads around 10:0am. He told the RHD high-up that his officials were “not fair and gave him [Obaidul] false report” on road condition.

Obaidul said although heavy downpour had done some damage to the roads, the RHD officials did not do the repairing. They thought he [the minister] would only visit the Oxygen-Hathazari road, but he made a sudden decision to visit the Bhatiari-Borodighir Paar road and found out the dilapidated condition of the roads, added the minister.

He ordered repair of the roads within three days.

In the morning, Obaidul went to see the progress of the project on upgrading the Oxygen-Hathazari road to four lanes. There he told newsmen that they could not go further with the project as the Power Development Board had not moved electric poles along the road, although his ministry had paid PDB the due for the shifting.

TICKET SCALPER HELD
The Railway Nirapatta Bahini (RNB) yesterday held an alleged scalper with 17 tickets from Chittagong Railway Station.

Detained Ruhul Amin, 40, is from Dushkhali under Bamna Police Station of Barguna district.

RNB in-charge AKM Saleh Patwari caught Ruhul red-handed in front of ticket counter No-7 around 6:30am, claimed Suhon Kanti Barua, acting officer-in-charge of railway police outpost in Chittagong.

A case had been lodged with the railway police station in this connection, added Suhon Kanti.

Nation awaits Humayun

2012-07-22T03:55:00.000+06:00

Body now arrives tomorrow; master storyteller to rest for eternity in Nuhash Palli
Meher Afroz Shaon, wife of legendary writer Humayun Ahmed, returns from his first janaza following juma prayers at Jamaica Muslim Center in New York on Friday. Photo: Banglar Chokh Staff Correspondent

Legendary writer Humayun Ahmed's body will be flown into the capital tomorrow. The arrival has been deferred by a day owing to unavailability of air tickets from New York.

"His body will arrive in Dhaka around 9:00am Monday [tomorrow] by an Emirates Airlines flight. The homecoming has been delayed as there were some ticket related complexities," Ahsan Habib, younger brother of Humayun, said yesterday.

Humayun's wife Meher Afroz Shaon, children Nishad and Ninith and friend Mazharul Islam will accompany the body, he added.

AK Abdul Momen, ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN, told The Daily Star last night that the government would bear the ticket costs.

Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, another brother of Humayun, and sister-in-law Yasmeen Haque are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today. The couple were with the writer during his last days.

From the airport, the body will be taken to Humayun Ahmed's Dhanmondi residence Dakhin Hawa. His mother Ayesha Fayz, who usually stays at her Mirpur house, will be there.

Talking about Ayesha Fayz's condition, Ahsan Habib said, "Her physical and mental condition has been in decline since she heard the sad news. But we are trying our best to keep her sound."

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and some eminent personalities met her at Mirpur yesterday.

Tomorrow, people will pay last tributes to their favourite novelist at the Central Shaheed Minar from 11:00am to 2:00pm tomorrow.

His namaz-e-Janaza will be held at the National Eidgah at 2:30pm, said Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu, president of Sammilito Sangskritik Jote.

In New York on Friday, several thousand fans and admirers joined his first janaza after juma prayers at Jamaica Muslim Centre.

The body will be taken to Birdem Hospital mortuary around 3:30pm and kept there at night, Bachchu said.

"On Tuesday morning around 9:00am, we will start the journey with the body towards Nuhash Polli in Gazipur, where he will be buried after zohr prayers."

Meanwhile, Nuhash Polli Assistant Manager Nurul Haque said, “Sir earlier often wished to be buried at the litchi garden here because he loved the place as he loved his life.”

"Nuhash Polli is my dream. If Nuhash Polli is destroyed or sold out, my dream will be destroyed or sold," Nurul quoted Humayun as saying.

But talking to reporters on May 12 at Nuhash Polli, Humayun Ahmed said if he was buried there, his favourite retreat would turn into a graveyard.

Humayun Ahmed, an illustrious litterateur and filmmaker, died at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital in New York Thursday night after a nine-month struggle with colon cancer.

Mahamudullaha, nasirera naipunye's two goals to meet

2012-07-21T04:03:00.000+06:00

Dhaka, July 1 (JS) - The second is - toyentite Ireland 1 runs are lost in the Bangladesh series. The similarity of the 3 match series could continue to sell the interval -0.

By the ICC in a series - review toyenti Bangladesh ryankinye space. Ireland is not just the top number in the group.

Toss to bat on winning the Civil Service Cricket Club, Belfast was Nasir Hossain not out 6 wickets and 146 runs Bangladesh ardhasatakera Newcomer. 145 for 6 wickets in reply, Ireland stopped Listmania innings.

In response, Captain William portaraphildera (14) with 31 runs staralinyera sbagatikadera opening pair gave a good report. The second party 49 overs runs staralinke (6) of the runs back iliyasa sani little less speed, Ireland.

The third wicket Gary Wilson (37) runs with a pair of 55 sbagatikadera Ed Joyce was very good position. Wilson finished the game few days back sanira Bangladesh. Then Kevin and dangerous' brayenake sbagatikadera back with a push of Abdur Razzak.

Joyce would have expected to persist (41). But his last two overs with 1 wicket in a thrilling match with Bangladesh mahamudullaha.

Only 10 runs were needed for Ireland by the end overs. The first four runs with two wickets and was the only one to break the sbagatikadera mahamudullaha. Munir was the last of the chakka hamkaleo sbagatikadera hatasai only increased.

Price for two wickets in mahamudullaha and sani.

I had to bat in the fourth over the third party runs 1 and Tamim Iqbal (0) bidaye's attitude is not everything.

Unsustainable, but the mood was not aggressive besiksana bisbasera alaraundara Shakib Al Hasan (11) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (14). The third party 55 runs as batsmen hold musaphikera Games community welcoming guests.

Co-captain mahamudullaha Riyadh visitors to quickly see the dangers of further increases. The fifth wicket with Nasir Hossain Mohammad Ashraful (46 in 38 overs) 37 runs to warn the pair absorb shock.

Ashraful was the first of over 17 days during which visitors score 98/5. The sixth wicket Ziaur Rahman (7 in 14 overs), and the seventh wicket with 1 of 5 DVD bin Mortaza 11 with an average of 3 runs juuti whole team closer to derasara Nasir.

50 runs not out until the end of Nasir. This is his first ardhasataka. His 33 ball innings of four-and two chakka 4.

Wickets for 34 runs and the best bowler Max sorenasena Ireland.

Sokera rain in New York

2012-07-21T03:53:00.000+06:00

The New York when I was 11, Friday. Humayun Ahmed congratulated the flesh and Funeral Home (morgue). Just before we took a bath three karalama Your ahamedake. Anisura by his two flesh and blood (I die), and Jamal was with abadina. Jamal abadina from his pocket a slip. He was last seen with Humayun Ahmed, Humayun was the cirakute wrote, 'I Lost My Voice.' Yet he is now a valuable than gold.
Yesterday was a day of rain in New York tipatipa. Of the Jamaica Muslim Center in praise of his first janaza was held. Funeral home and then again to the earth again. Time not set yet in the flesh.
Country Where Your ahamedake be placed, it should still not sure. Humayun Ahmed Zafar Iqbal muhammada I already said in New York, the author of the final sayanera I've no wish to do so, it is found there. If he happens to be his final icchakei priority.
If he can not find such things, then we will milei decision.
The intensive care at the center of the consciousness of Humayun Ahmed. Sarbaksanika majaharula anyaprakasera with Islam, and at eight o'clock particular certificate (New York time) cikitsakera assail were to protect him.
Belabhiu hospital in the last three weeks, he was hard put to sleep medicine. Surgery - despite the complexity of his brain was working. Cikitsakera said, and his kidneys were hudayantrera better. Lung infection is spread by reading artificially breathing - inhalation was given. His condition deteriorated rapidly since the early 10's. Oxygen to the lungs even after the device parachila not help. At a New York minute time of Humayun Ahmed jibanabasana (inna lillahi ... rajiuna).
Belabhiu the hospital records, operation - the next earadiesa (ekuita resapitara disatresa sinadrama) jatilataya his death occurred.
There was a time of Humayun Ahmed's wife Meher jibanabasanera apharoja saona, Zafar Iqbal muhammada brother, his wife more. Join Us, mother-in-tahura Ali, majaharula publisher, and author balyabandhu phansu zone. The hospital received an obituary in the Book and the UN in bisbajita Muktadhara pilot's permanent representative with the wax. Favorite author spread his obituary in the hospital by the crowd grow. No visitors were not allowed to enter the hospital because of strict security.
The rain in New York
New York on Thursday morning, the sky was clear. I am strong roddura nimesei gumare uthala. Noon the clouds covered the sky. Bole bole sob tears in rain spread ISBNLib obituary. Chandapatana and working in New York by karmapagala banladesidera. Jibanabasana tenth floor of the hospital's East ribharera belabhiu There's a favorite of Humayun Ahmed. Standing in front of the hospital by Monirul kamdachilena belabhiu weep. I can not complain, it seems that a large unknown. New York also take a look at the end of the dream I could not see Your hero syarake.
Need lament
Meher was the wife of apharoja saona cry, 'I can not see what's in your mouth?' Dicchilena the same comfort. Saona said, so the country people, by people that I wish for. He was not anything out there. Do you wish for me the key? '
Saona jyamaikaya their temporary homes for rent are located. Tahura his mother was the daughter cheer. Tahura balachilena Ali, Humayun Ahmed, through his daughter in a big responsibility. Sisuputrera saona duties that are capable of two - for the blessings he wanted desabasira.
Zafar Iqbal muhammada
Zafar Iqbal was the first light in the sick muhammada bhratrsoke respond to the news, Humayun Ahmed, full life in the West. Lifelong happiness with the people in the country. His jibanabasana occurred. I wish peace for his soul want desabasira Humayun Ahmed has said.
Zafar Iqbal, and Ahmed Humayun paraparai death of their mother to call the hospital. After listening to what the mother's reaction to the news, the answer to Question muhammada Zafar Iqbal kamdachilena. Majaharula by the publisher, Humayun Ahmed Khan's first wife, and children's hospitals from gulatekina been given. Zafar Iqbal said he had been through with them.
Majaharula by
Treatment in New York state man was the author Humayun Ahmed sarbaksanika anyaprakasera majaharula Islam. He was the only complaint. Majahara the first light, anakolaji belabhiu hospital specialist Dr. Very few questions were in operation Miller, humayunera much chance of survival? In response, Dr. Miller said, 'satabhaga.' Book - cursive majaharula voice said, eight days after surgery in Humayun Ahmed became healthy. I came on foot. What was then that he does not have an answer.
Nisada and ninita
Humayun Ahmed's late and ninita sisuputra nisada. The chemotherapy treatment back home in New York to catch the two sisuputrake involved. Aninaya vegetable garden behind the house. Humayun Ahmed's son in his garden care. Thursday afternoon I planted vegetable garden to water plants early nisada dhalachila. Ninita game that was absent. They did not say anything. Why moan around - they know it or not bojharao a vacation. Phamke visitors into the game phyalaphyala takacchila fool nisada two children and ninita.
Humayun Ahmed Book World
Humayun Ahmed New York home was short. Send dasera ekacilate Library The kabitasamagra. The next book in the collection to the Center of the Earth in June bharnera to know, in the sense of Julian Barnes endim, and the Japanese writer Haruki Stephen kinyera morakamira of the cube-shaped piece. Collection of the author of the book. Thought, time to read it. But it is not.
How do I wonder about Humayun Ahmed books dekhatei uthala it. Was the most popular literary jibanabasana time. It was a teaching career. Dhaka University chemistry pariyechena. PhD degree in chemistry. 197 was published first novel after writing to the attention of the public congratulated the hell. Once the story - novel - that of writing down the list of teaching.
In 1981 he received the Academy Award Bengali. Ekushey Padak in 1994. Received three National Film Awards. He was 64 years of life. He published a book of 3 million. In addition to writing plays, and films directed by, the music tone. Draw the picture. Showing interest in magic.
His library is a collection of small baigulo. I wondered, had I not read. Do not.
Balyabandhu phansu
I was so sick sarbaksanika ISBNLib balyabandhu phansu zone. Friend's death just kamdachilena bakaruddha phansu. Balachilena, how much of the day, the friend of the philosopher was to skulajibana, today is the end. He said, 'a friend to try to protect what is, but they are vulnerable to death.'
Book by kamdachilena ajhora Muktadhara bisbajita. I grew up in the hospital often sahake wife Ruma. He came down in the June 5 dharachilena Humayun Ahmed subconscious. Parachilena not speak, but I think some of them were mean. 'The last word I do not know.'
The garden bean lauyera
Humayun Ahmed loved the green. I was in New York nuhasapalli. Back home in New York aninaya vegetable cultivation. Mere trifle, and cucurbit plants simera lagiyechilena. Lauyera putting flowers online, simera seedlings growing now. I was, I planted potatoes, bean and gourd back to the hospital. By the author with nisada and ninitake Kashem Gazi dekhacchilena garden vegetables. Balachilena, do not eat your garden bean and gourd favorite author.
Today
Humayun Ahmed's UN Permanent Mission of the earth in the sending of adjustment. Mission appointed permanent representative and the author's death news on wax. Washington's ambassador akaramula Kader in Monthly news on the statement.
Jamaica as a high-traffic in New York by banladesira bamdhabhana. Subject to the normal residence of his place in front of important people jyamaikaya author of news on the road.

Exclusive: Kim plans economic change in North Korea

2012-07-21T03:49:00.000+06:00

BEIJING (Reuters) - Impoverished North Korea is gearing up to experiment with agricultural and economic reforms after young leader Kim Jong-un and his powerful uncle purged the country's top general for opposing change, a source with ties to both Pyongyang and Beijing said.

The source added that the cabinet had created a special bureau to take control of the decaying economy from the military, one of the world's largest, which under Kim's father was given pride of place in running the country.

The downfall of Vice Marshal Ri Yong-ho and his allies gives the untested new leader and his uncle Jang Song-thaek, who married into the Kim family dynasty and is widely seen as the real power behind the throne, the mandate to try to save the battered economy and prevent the secretive regime's collapse.

The source has correctly predicted events in the past, including North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006 days before it was conducted, as well as the ascension of Jang.

The changes could herald the most significant reforms by the North in decades. Previous attempts at a more market driven economy have floundered, most recently a drastic currency revaluation in late 2009 which triggered outrage and is widely believed to have resulted in the execution of its chief proponent.

"Ri Yong-ho was the most ardent supporter of Kim Jong-il's 'military first' policy," the source told Reuters, referring to Kim Jong-un's late father who plunged the North deeper into isolation over its nuclear ambitions, abject poverty and political repression.

The biggest problem was that he opposed the government taking over control of the economy from the military, the source said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions.

North Korea's state news agency KCNA had cited illness for the surprise decision to relieve Ri of all his posts, including the powerful role of vice chairman of the ruling party's Central Military Commission, though in recent video footage he had appeared in good health.

Ri was very close to Kim Jong-il and had been a leading figure in the military. Ri's father fought against the Japanese alongside Kim Jong-il's late father Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea and is still revered as its eternal president.

The revelation by the source was an indication of a power struggle in the secretive state in which Kim Jong-un and Jang look to have further consolidated political and military power.

Kim Jong-un was named Marshal of the republic this week in a move that adds to his glittering array of titles and cements his position following the death of his father in December. He already heads the Workers' Party of Korea and is first chairman of the National Defence Commission.

The North Korean Embassy in Beijing, reached by telephone, declined to comment.

REFORMS

Some North Korea experts said the comments confirmed their belief that the new leadership would try to make some changes to the stultifying controls over the economy.

"This should not come as a surprise. Kim Jong-un appears to have done considerable study on this (reform), taken a lot of lessons, and is probably trying to mould it in a way that suits their situation and in a way that blends with the existing policy. Ri's departure has a lot to do with this process," said Korea University professor Yoo Ho-yeol, speaking from Seoul.

He predicted that Jang would increasing press ahead with joint-venture projects with China, the only major ally to which the North can turn for economic help.

But Zhang Lianggui, a North Korea expert at China's Central Party School, was skeptical.

"You can see this from the repeated criticisms of reform and opening up that appear in the Rodong Sinmun (North Korean party newspaper). They openly criticize any moves in this direction. North Korea is quite indignant when it comes to this point."

POLITICAL BUREAU

A North Korea's cabinet has created a "political bureau" designed to wrest power from the 1.2 million-strong military in order to run the economy, which has been in shambles after a crippling famine in the 1990s, the source said.

"In the past, the cabinet was empty with no say in the economy. The military controlled the economy, but that will now change," the source said.

Kim Jong-un has set up an "economic reform group" in the ruling Workers' Party to look at agricultural and economic reforms, the source said, adding that North Korea will learn from its giant neighbor and solitary benefactor, China.

Beijing leaders are thought to have been pressing Pyongyang to do more to reform the economy, worried that a collapse of the North could send refugees streaming across its border, and cause the loss of a strategic buffer to South Korea and the large contingent of U.S. troops which help protect it.

It was unclear who will head the cabinet's "political bureau" and the party's "economic reform group", but change was inevitable, the source said.

In sharp contrast to the austere, reclusive image of his father, state media have shown Kim Jong-un visiting fun fairs, speaking in public and applauding at a rock concert.

Women appear to have been given more freedoms, including wearing short skirts, although 200,000 people are in prison camps in the impoverished and isolated country.

The source dismissed speculation of any political fallout from the purge, saying: "Kim Jong-un and Jang Song-thaek are in control of the military."

Jang has long been seen as a proponent of reform of an economy which through mismanagement has entirely missed out on the fruits of dramatic growth of neighbors like China and South Korea.

His push for reform was widely seen as having triggered a period of exile but he was later rehabilitated and given the primary role of supporting Kim Jong-il's son when he was being groomed to eventually take over the leadership.

North Korea has yet to name Ri's replacement as head of the army, the source said.

It was unclear how many of Ri's men have been sacked, but the source said they have not been jailed. An assessment of the changes by the South Korean government seen by Reuters, said that some 20 top officials had been purged since Kim Jong-un began his ascent to power.

(Additional reporting by Sabrina Mao in Beijing and Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)

Austerity Is a Dirty Word in Europe but What Next?

2012-07-21T03:44:00.000+06:00

PARIS (AP) -- The day after Francois Hollande rode to power in France on a slogan of "change now" the conversation in Europe is already different: Austerity has become a dirty word.

Greek parties who reject the extreme belt-tightening that comes with international bailouts were the big winners in parliamentary elections there. German voters in a northern state ousted the coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, which has pressed the case for austerity.

And France, of course, elected Hollande, its first Socialist president in more than a decade and one who has promised stimulus spending.

"Austerity can no longer be inevitable!" he shouted in his first speech after Nicolas Sarkozy conceded Sunday night. The question remains whether Germany agrees - and will allow at least some countries in the eurozone to spend more freely.

That raft of elections Sunday unsettled markets, which sunk in Greece, fell across Europe and then pulled back amid some bargain hunting. France's borrowing costs rose initially and Germany's fell - an indication that investors are pulling back into the safe haven offered by German debt. The 17-nation euro spiraled to a three-month low Monday against the dollar, hitting $1.2972 before traders sniffed a bargain and pushed it higher.

Much of the negative reaction was focused on Greece, where the political parties that backed the bailouts lost their majority in Parliament. That opens up the possibility that Greece's new leaders could renege on commitments made to secure the country's massive rescue loans - or even decide to leave the euro. The conservatives will try to put together a new government, but there's a good chance they could fail - and that would usher in another month of financial chaos before new elections.

Merkel pressed Greek leaders to stay the course.

"Of course the most important thing is that the programs we agreed with Greece are continued," she said Monday.

Any pivot from the fiscal compact that insisted on massive budget cuts across the 17 nations who use the euro will have big implications for Europe and the world. The pact, while not perfect, did calm markets for a time. Some fear the new political wave could usher in more turmoil, opening the wound of Europe's debt crisis and further threatening the ailing eurozone economy.

Eight of the 17 eurozone nations are already in recession and unemployment across the bloc rose to 10.9 percent in March - its highest ever.

If investors pull back from Europe amid uncertainty, its growth policies will have trouble making headway - and that could also drag on the global economy.

The U.S. and European Union are important trading partners and each consumes a large portion of the other's exports. With unemployment skyrocketing in Europe, consumption is flagging and that will have a knock-on effect on the U.S.

The American and European financial systems are also heavily intertwined, and U.S. money market funds still have significant exposure to Europe.

Over the past two years, France and Germany have steered Europe through the debt crisis - though not always well - and declared an end to the flouting of deficit limits that led Europe into the debt crisis.

But the crackdown could not have come at a worse time - with the world economy slowing - and propelled Europe into a vicious austerity spiral. Cutting spending - which meant laying off state employees and ending stimulus programs - further slowed nations' economies and produced less tax revenue, which meant more cuts were needed to meet deficit targets.

Now a backlash has begun and for many, Hollande is its leader.

The new French leader has promised to end the negative loop, demanding that the fiscal compact that targeted spending be re-negotiated to include measures to promote growth. Many economists have long advocated for a greater emphasis on growth, but that idea seemed to gather steam among European policymakers only as Hollande promoted it.

"At the moment that the (French vote) result was proclaimed, I am sure that in many European countries, there was relief, hope," he told supporters in his central hometown of Tulle.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi called for a "growth compact" even though that institution has long demanded fiscal discipline. The Dutch government, long a supporter of such discipline, fell over the issue of too much austerity and too little growth. And even Germany, the primary architect of austerity, has said a growth pact should be drawn up.

Still, concrete proposals for stimulating short-term growth have been few. European officials have talked about boosting funding for the European Investment Bank, and economists have urged making more targeted and aggressive use of EU structural funds for infrastructure projects such as roads.

Yet with a budget only around 1 percent of EU gross domestic product, the EU's prospects for large-scale spending are limited.

Jeffrey Bergstrand, a professor of finance at the University of Notre Dame, said Germany is going to have to shift on the subject of stimulus. Even though its economy is the largest - and among the strongest - in Europe, it can't thrive if no one else is.

"Merkel has to be paying attention to (unemployment) because Germany, unlike the United States, is very, very reliant on exports, and exports tend to go to your neighbors," he said. "She will have to listen. She will have to give."

Germany has long maintained that it made painful cuts and reforms after the reunification of its East and West while other nations kept spent beyond their means.

But economists argue that Germany reaped the benefits of all that spending, too, since it sells goods to eurozone countries. And at any rate, Germany is one of the few eurozone members that can spend a little more because its economy is strong and its deficit is in check.

Despite this new divergence between France and Germany, that relationship will remain central to a solution to the crisis. Merkel and Sarkozy were so close they were known as "Merkozy" - and the big question now is if there will be a "Merkollande" in Europe's future.

"There can be some short-term friction when they have to adjust to each other," said Laurence Boone, chief European economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "But it doesn't seem to me that there is an alternative, because Spain and Italy are not strong enough."

Merkel called Hollande immediately after his victory and Hollande campaign manager Pierre Moscovici said his boss would head to Berlin shortly after his inauguration on May 15.

Hollande's decision to follow through on campaign promises of jump-starting the French economy by investing in infrastructure and buoying small businesses will determine how bumpy the road ahead is.

He has promised to keep the deficit in check by also raising taxes on the wealthy and closing some corporate loopholes - but some investors say that will kill the very growth he hopes to foster.

"Hollande's platform of anti-austerity is not really anti-austerity; it's really anti-growth," said Jeffrey Sica, president of U.S.-based Sica Wealth Management, which has over $1 billion in assets under management. "Whether it's taxation or regulation or however they're going to raise revenue ... they're going to shift the blame to business and to other higher income levels."

If he does start wildly increasing spending, France will no doubt see its borrowing costs rise - which could make his policies untenable and prompt a shift back to austerity. It was those rising borrowing costs that eventually forced fellow eurozone nations Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts.

Some are hoping that Hollande will turn out to be more pragmatic.

"Adieu, election campaign. Bonjour, reality," read an editorial in Germany's daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

---

Associated Press writers Juergen Baetz in Berlin, David McHugh in Frankfurt and Nicholas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this report.

Japan Shuts Down Last Nuclear Reactor

2012-07-21T03:43:00.000+06:00

TOKYO (CNN) -- As Japan began its workweek Monday morning, the trains ran exactly on time, the elevators in thousands of Tokyo high-rises efficiently moved between floors, and the lights turned on across cities with nary a glitch.

What makes this Monday so remarkable is that for the first time in four decades, none of the energy is derived from a nuclear reactor.

Over the weekend, Japan's last remaining nuclear reactor shut down for regular maintenance. In the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, reactors have not been allowed back on. Japan is now the first major economy to see the modern era without nuclear power.

Tomari Nuclear Power Plant's reactor 3 in Hokkaido shut down Saturday evening in a much-watched move by government, industry and environmentalists, who are waged in a public battle over the future of Japan's energy policy.

"I think it is not easy, but this challenge is worth fighting for," said Greenpeace Japan's Junichi Shimizu. "There is an increased chance of earthquakes in Japan, so that has a significant risk to the Japanese people and the Japanese economy. The only way forward is to rapidly shift the energy source from nuclear to other sources of energy."

That's not the call just from environmental activists, but from a public suspicious of nuclear energy and its regulatory bodies since a tsunami and earthquake triggered nuclear meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011.

Thousands marched through the streets of Tokyo on Saturday, celebrating the shutdown of the final reactor.

The protesters waved colorful, traditional "koinobori" carp-shaped banners for Children's Day that became a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.

That movement grew from the grass-roots level in the wake of the disaster as the country watched tens of thousands of residents living within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) radius of the nuclear plant evacuated and the remaining area turn into a contaminated wasteland.

Before the Fukushima disaster, Japan relied on nuclear for about 30% of its energy. As reactors have come off-line, the country has increased its imports of fossil fuels.

Japan's government predicts it won't be able to keep up that pace, and the void will result in an energy crunch this summer, possibly leading to rolling blackouts.

The national government's ruling party, the Democratic Party of Japan, has been urging local communities to allow reactors to return to operation.

The party's deputy policy chief, Yoshito Sengoku, bluntly said without nuclear energy the world's third-largest economy would suffer. "We must think ahead to the impact on Japan's economy and people's lives, if all nuclear reactors are stopped. Japan could, in some sense, be committing mass suicide," Sengoku said.

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Japan's biggest business lobby, Keidanren, joined the plea in an April press conference. "We cannot possibly agree to do the kind of energy saving yet again this year, or every year from now on," he said, referring to the country's efforts to turn off air conditioners and shift operation of production lines to weekends. "The government must bring the nuclear power stations back into operation."

Economist Jesper Koll, managing director at JP Morgan, said Japan could avoid the economic fallout by defining a clear energy policy, something it has failed to do so far.

"The issue to the private sector of Japan is the government is taking its time in a very emotional, highly politicized debate. And the end result is very, very slow or no decision-making at all. After all, if you don't have an energy policy, you don't really have an economic policy because everything revolves around the energy," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has promised a clear energy policy sometime this year, perhaps by summer.

At a conference last month, the chairman of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum said the nuclear industry was committed to rebuilding the municipalities around the Fukushima plant, decommissioning that facility and pushing for increased safety measures at plants nationwide.

"We, the nuclear industry, will learn what should be learned from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Based on that, we will endeavor to restore the image and position of nuclear energy," Takashi Imai said.

Nuclear energy must remain part of the government's policy, he said, "in order for Japan to continue sustainable growth as a nation committed to trade based on science and technology."

But Yukie Osaki, who used to live in Fukushima, said she won't accept any policy that includes nuclear energy. "Nobody believes the government anymore when it says nuclear plants are safe," she said.
"Japan is an earthquake country. It is already dangerous to have nuclear plants here. If we have another accident, we won't have anywhere to live in Japan anymore."

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta/+1-404-827-WIRE(9473)

Rights Groups Sue U.S. For Killings of American Linked to Al Qaeda, Two Others

2012-07-20T16:17:00.000+06:00

(CNN) -- Two civil rights groups are suing the CIA director, the defense secretary and two military commanders over two covert U.S. strikes that killed three Americans in Yemen last year.

The operations killed radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, his son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, and Samir Khan, editor of a Jihadist online publication.

The two groups -- the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights -- filed the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of the parents of Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan.

It claims the strikes that killed the three men violated their constitutional rights because the targeted attacks "rely on vague legal standards, a closed executive process and evidence never presented to the courts," according to the complaint filed in District of Columbia federal court.

"It's about accountability," said Jameel Jaffers, the ACLU deputy director. "If the government is claiming the power, as it seems to be, to kill any American who is deemed to be a national security threat without judicial review of any kind, then we believe the government has an obligation to explain its actions."

But in the case of Anwar al-Awlaki, who was a major figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Justice Department has said it is justified.

He was linked to the plot of the so-called "underwear bomber," Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, and alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, and the Justice Department says there is a legal framework in place that makes going to the courts unnecessary.

"It does not require judicial approval before the president may use force abroad against a senior operational leader of a foreign terrorist organization with which the United States is at war," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a March speech. "Even if that individual happens to be a U.S. citizen."

The legal argument is different for Khan and al-Awlaki's son, both of whose deaths are presumed to be collateral damage in the drone strikes.

Khan was killed in September alongside Anwar al-Awlaki. Abdulrahman al-Awlaki died in a separate drone strike a few weeks later, also in Yemen.

It is unclear whom the U.S. was targeting in that attack and why al-Awlaki's son was near that location.

Jaffers hopes those questions will be answered in court.

Relatives say the terror suspect's son was not affiliated with terrorism.

"I never thought that one day this boy, this nice boy, will be killed by his own government for no wrong he did certainly," his grandfather, Nasser al-Awlaki, said in a video provided to CNN by the ACLU.

Holder said the U.S. takes the death of innocent bystanders into account.

"Under the principle of proportionality, the anticipated collateral damage must not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage," Holder said in March.

The lawsuit against CIA Director David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and two military officials seeks damages against the four government officials. It does not name a specific dollar amount, only saying "an amount to be determined at trial," according to the complaint.

"It's not about money," Jaffers said. "The main purpose of bringing the lawsuit is to obtain a kind of accountability that can only be obtained in a federal court."

This is the second lawsuit the ACLU has filed on behalf of Nasser al-Awlaki.

In 2010, it filed a suit in federal court trying to prevent the targeting of Anwar al-Awlaki after it was made public that he was on a U.S. government "kill list."

The court dismissed the case a few months later.

Body of Humayun to arrive on Sunday

2012-07-20T16:15:00.001+06:00

The body of popular writer Humayun Ahmed is likely to be flown in Bangladesh on Sunday, Bangla daily Prothom alo reports.

His first namaj-e-janaja is expected to be held after Jumma prayer on Friday at a local mosque in Jamaika, New York, the report said.

The body of the writer is now kept at an Islamic funeral home in Jamaica.

Meanwhile, different media reports said the writer will be laid to eternal rest at Nuhash Palli of Gazipur.

Humayun Ahmed, 64, died while undergoing treatment for cancer at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital at New York Thursday night.

His wife Meher Afroz Shaon and younger brother Professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, a reputed writer himself, were present when he breathed his last at around 11:20pm Bangladesh time.

Nicknamed Kajol, the writer was born in Kutubpur village of Netrakona on November 13, 1948, to Fayzur Rahman Ahmed, a police officer, and Ayesha Fayzur.

The eldest among three brothers and two sisters, Humayun was also a renowned filmmaker and dramatist.

He went to New York on September 14 last year after being diagnosed with colon cancer during a routine check-up in Singapore.

He underwent two surgeries last month. After the second surgery, he was infected with a virus unknown to the doctors, which spread through the body.

A former associate professor of the chemistry department of Dhaka University, Humayun came into prominence after the publication of his first novel, Nondito Noroke, in 1974.