Two a penny

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Reuters – Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, on a visit to Paris on Thursday, reiterated her government’s rejection of a French-proposed ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to allow in humanitarian aid, her office said.

There is no humanitarian crisis in the Strip, and therefore there is no need for a humanitarian truce, the Foreign Ministry quoted Livni as saying in a statement. …

Gaza Strip – Israel – Nicolas Sarkozy – Tzipi Livni
. and has even been stepping this up by the day

.French President Nicolas Sarkozy will fly to the Middle East “as of Monday” in a bid to “find a roadmap towards peace” between warring Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers, he said in a televised New Year message.
“France will continue to be active in Africa, in Asia and of course in the Middle East where I will go as of Monday, because it is France’s duty to look everywhere for the roadmap towards peace, as it is its duty to act on behalf of human rights,” Mr Sarkozy said. .
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Read the them Observers on Is the Israeli intervention justified?

them’s Ygal Saadoun reports from the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

– Muslim nations on Monday condemned Israel over the deadly air attacks on the Gaza Strip, as European diplomats called for an urgent meeting on the crisis which sparked anti-Israeli protests around Europe.

As the death toll in Gaza from Israel’s offensive against the Islamist Hamas-controlled territory exceeded 300, efforts to hold talks between Syria and Israel were suspended.

EU foreign ministers will meet in Paris Tuesday to look into how the European Union can help ease the current crisis, along with the efforts of the international community, especially the secretary general of the United Nations, a French foreign ministry statement said.

In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire, said White House spokesperson Gordon Johndroe.

Rebuffing Arab appeals, the United States demanded that Hamas agree to a sustainable and durable ceasefire and gave its support to Israel’s attacks.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II urged US President George W.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called key world leaders and diplomats, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana as well as counterparts from Britain to Saudi Arabia to help restore a ceasefire, officials said.

Effective international efforts must be launched to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and end the suffering of the Palestinians, the king told Bush over the telephone, according to a palace statement. Bush to help end Israel’s air blitz, the palace said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said it was ironic that the raids occurred as people entered the Islamic new year and days before the new year of 2009.

Other Muslim countries including Indonesia, Afghanistan, Malaysia and Pakistan joined in condemning Israel.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Israel and Palestinian leaders to let urgent medical aid into Gaza, to provide a humanitarian breathing space amid the fighting, his spokesperson said.

We should pray that the earth will be more peaceful, but we’ve been torn by the situation in Palestine and Gaza, Yudhoyono told reporters.

The special UN envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry, and the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency, Karen Abu Zayd, meanwhile protested strongly to Israel after air strikes hit two UN buildings and killed eight of its people.

We are appalled by the continuing violence in Gaza and reiterate our call to Israel and Hamas for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of innocent life, said a spokesperson for Brown.

Arab foreign ministers are going to meet soon in emergency session.

Ban urged world leaders, especially those from Arab nations, to work urgently to end the violence.

David Axelrod, a top aide Barack Obama, told CBS television the US president-elect was committed to achieving peace in the Middle East. I urge them to act swiftly and decisively to bring an early end to this impasse, he said.

At one point an Israeli flag was burned in the crowd, while other placards read Stop the Holocaust in Gaza and End the siege on Gaza.

In London, protesters briefly scuffled with police outside the Israeli embassy on Monday in a new protest a day after 10 people were arrested at a similar rally, an correspondent on the scene reported.

In Athens, riot police fired tear gas to keep protesters away from the Israeli embassy and reportedly arrested three people after a scuffle broke out inside the embassy grounds around the Israeli flag, which was dragged down from its mast, the semi-state Athens News Agency said. A police spokeswoman estimated the crowd at some 600 demonstrators. Some beat shoes against photographs of US President George W Bush, an photographer said. Some beat shoes against photographs of US President George W Bush, an photographer said.

The Greek police did its job very well, an Israeli embassy source told AFP, declining to give any details on the incident. .

In the Mideast, thousands of Iranians, joined by high-ranking officials and military commanders, demonstrated in Tehran, many carrying banners reading Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth and We should all rise and destroy Israel.

A student group said it was recruiting volunteers to fight Israel in response to a decree issued by Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday stating that anyone who died in the defence of Gaza would be deemed a martyr.

Tehran is a staunch supporter of Hamas but rejects allegations that it supplies arms to the movement.

Saudi Arabia sent two hospital aircraft with medical personnel to Gaza to help the injured and to evacuate the severely wounded to its hospitals.

EU – Gaza Strip – Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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AFP – French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Saturday for an immediate halt to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, his office said.

The President of the Republic expresses his profound concern at the escalation of violence in the south of Israel and the Gaza Strip. He strongly condemns the irresponsible provocations which led to this situation as well as the disproportionate use of force, the Elysee Palace said.

He demands the immediate end to rocket fire on Israel as well as to Israeli bombardments of Gaza and calls on both sides to show restraint.

It said that Sarkozy deplores the heavy civilian losses and expresses his condolences to the innocent victims and their families.

The Palestinian Hamas group which controls the Gaza Strip said at least 155 Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip on Saturday in massive Israeli air strikes. He reminds them that there is no military solution in Gaza and calls for the conclusion of a lasting truce.

Hamas said it had retaliated with rocket fire which Israeli medics said killed at least one person in the southern town of Netivot.

France – Gaza Strip – Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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Man turns blue under car

Thursday, 18 December 2008

MAARTEN HOLL/
HIS SAVIOR: Corey Thompson was saved by his grandmother, Pauline Waddell, who heard his cries for help after he was pinned under his own car and raised the alarm.

Pinned under his car, Kapiti man Corey Thompson did all he could to raise the alarm before passing out. He yelled and kicked the chassis, hoping someone would hear him, as the air was slowly squeezed out of his lungs and he began to turn blue.
Seconds earlier – as he tinkered with his prized Nissan Cefiro – the car rolled off its jack and trapped him."
It was not till Mr Thompson's grandmother Pauline Waddell heard his muffled screams for help about 5.
"My head was a bit squashed but I managed to scream out `help' over and over again, kicking and kneeing the side of the car as hard as I could to get someone's attention, till I had no breath left and passed out.
His grandmother saw just his legs splayed out from under the car, which weighs about 1300kg.30pm on Tuesday that help was called. .
"I rubbed his legs, kept telling him he was going to be all right but when he stopped calling out I realised he was unconscious – I thought he had died," Mrs Waddell said. "I did not think he was going to survive, I thought I had lost him.
When firemen lifted the car off her grandson he was blue and not breathing. The car had been lowered previously, Dr Lane said, and he believed Mr Thompson would have died if left another five minutes as the door sill under the car was crushing his chest, restricting his breathing."
Chris Lane, who attended the accident, said Mr Thompson had been pinned for about five minutes.
"I am amazed I am still here and do not have any broken bones, just have a few cuts, bruises and swelling," Mr Thompson said.
Once the car was lifted off, he started to regain his breathing, was taken by ambulance to Paraparaumu airport, flown by helicopter to Wellington Hospital and was discharged about midnight. "I am so relieved he survived, we are very close, I cannot believe he is with us today.
Mrs Waddell was hugely relieved to have her grandson once again at her side."
The accident had not dimmed Mr Thompson's enthusiasm for working on his pride and joy. I will be able to enjoy Christmas now."

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"My Cefiro almost killed me but I still love it

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Read Analysts puzzle over letter claiming Paris explosives letter scare

Standing outside the Printemps Haussmann department store where explosives were discovered Tuesday morning, Sandrine Focquet confessed to being a tad slow to respond to the warning in the landmark Parisian department store.

At first, I thought it was a joke, said Focquet, an 18-year-old business student currently on a two-week internship at the Printemps baggage section. But when I came out and saw all the police, I knew it wasn&rsquot a joke.

Covering 48,000 square metres, the elaborately decorated store is a favourite for Christmas shoppers from across the world and services an average of 100,000 customers daily, about a quarter of whom are tourists.

On a bitterly cold afternoon, Focquet joined the crowd of shoppers and sales staff gathered on Boulevard Haussman, in the heart of Paris shopping district, during the lunch hour as security teams combed through the three buildings that house the cavernous department store. Like Sandrine, most of them just wanted to get indoors and get back to work.

Stomping their feet, rubbing their hands and dashing in and out of the stores that line the French capital main shopping drag to keep warm, several sales staff said the evacuation was calm and the security services appeared to respond professionally.

Hours later, the store was reopened after security services provided the necessary authorisation to reopen the buildings in conditions of optimum security, according to Pierre Pelarey, the director of the Printemps Haussmann department store. According to the French Interior Ministry, the explosives did not have detonators that would have permitted them to explode.

Dynamite in a third-floor toilet

The dynamite sticks were found in a third floor toilet in a building housing the men department.

Text of letter signed by &lsquoThe Afghan Revolutionary Front&rsquo

The letter was signed by The Afghan Revolutionary Front, a previously unknown organization, and called for the French withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan before February 2009.

The discovery of the explosives came shortly after the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) received a letter saying that several bombs had been placed in the men store at Printemps Haussman, one of them on the third floor in the toilets behind the cistern.

The letter by the previously unknown group was sent to the news agency

France has more than 2,600 troops currently stationed in Afghanistan. .

Tuesday incident came just two days after France hosted a meeting aimed at finding ways to bring Afghanistan out of its seemingly endless state of war, and to urge the country neighbouring states, in particular Pakistan and Iran, to play a more positive role.

Tuesday incident came just two days after France hosted a meeting aimed at finding ways to bring Afghanistan out of its seemingly endless state of war, and to urge the country neighbouring states, in particular Pakistan and Iran, to play a more positive role.

French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said security reinforcements would be deployed in Paris and other major French cities.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting at his office, French Prime Minister Fran&ccedilois Fillon said the threat of terrorism on France is strong, but he added that France would not yield to it.

Earlier Tuesday, the French interior minister warned that the claim of responsibility should be treated with caution. Alliot-Marie also said there would be a meeting of senior security and transportation officials as well as senior Printemps Haussmann executives on Wednesday. We have to be suspicious of indications in the letter that might lead investigators up the wrong alley. Speaking to reporters outside the store, Alliot-Marie said the end of the year holiday season is particularly symbolic. The decision to send our troops to Afghanistan was not just our decision, it was a decision made under NATO and UN auspices, said Laurent Minaud, a 44-year-old sales director at a close toby store.

Minutes after her departure, several Parisian shoppers gathered outside the store dismissed the Afghanistan link.

Minaud himself said he was not ruffled by Tuesday incident. So if we want to be part of the international community, we have to be part of a collective decision. I thought it a good opportunity now because there will be less people at the store. I thought it a good opportunity now because there will be less people at the store. But in fact, we now have to go through all the journalists here, he said with a roar of laughter.

France – Paris – terrorism

.French police discovered five sticks of dynamite in a Paris department store, forcing the evacuation of hordes of tourists and shoppers at the height of the Christmas shopping season.
Police cordoned off Printemps Haussmann store and the city’s best known shopping boulevard was blocked as police defused the explosives, but the interior ministry said there was no detonator. .
“If you do not send someone to intervene before Wednesday December 17, they will explode,” said the letter, which was taken by police investigating the explosives.
French anti-terrorism police said that one bomb had been placed in the third-floor toilets at the Printemps store and that others had been hidden elsewhere.
Police used sniffer dogs to locate the explosives found on the third floor of the department store.
“Send the message to your president that he must withdraw his troops from our country before the end of February 2009 or else we will take action in your capitalist department stores and this time, without warning,” the letter said.
Speaking at the scene, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said “From what we know so far, this was not a device that was intended to explode.”
An official described the device as old sticks of dynamite fastened together with a piece of cord. We are investigating to find the perpetrators.
“All we can do is to be prudent and moderate,” Mr Sarkozy told a news conference in the European Parliament.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged caution, saying he was awaiting the results of a police inquiry. The only thing we know is there was no detonator .
“Police at this very moment are analysing the explosives…
Shopper Marie-Christine Soulard said she was told that a suspect package had been found in the store and that she had to leave immediately. no claim attached,” he said. It all took place calmly,” she said. “There was no panic.
An Afghan Taliban leader had warned in a video broadcast on an Arab satellite news network in November of attacks to be carried out in Paris unless France withdrew its soldiers.
Last week, an journalist received a warning from an anonymous caller that a bomb would be set off at the Printemps department store at 11:42am (local time), prompting police to order an evacuation.
– AFP/

.Two European banks have announced they stand to lose huge sums of money in the scandal surrounding New York investment manager Bernard Madoff.
Spain’s biggest bank Santander says customers of its hedge fund, Optimal, have an exposure of $4.
French bank BNP Paribas says it could lose up to $700 million.7 billion to the alleged fraud.
Prosecutors allege the 70-year-old Wall Street veteran confessed to losing at least $75 billion when the scheme collapsed because of the financial crisis.
Madoff was arrested last week for allegedly defrauding his customers through a giant pyramid scheme.

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A new, 2000-capacity mosque in Cr&eacuteteil, a suburb just south of Paris, opened its doors for the first time earlier this month, just in time for Eid al-Adha. This weekend it hosted an open house for the community.

Two years after the first stones were laid, the huge, new mosque in Cr&eacuteteil opened its doors to the general public this weekend. An official inauguration ceremony is scheduled for the 18th, and both France’s prime minister and minister of the interior are expected to attend. This is nothing new. Today we’re welcoming everyone, whether they’re from Cr&eacuteteil or not, says Moncef Maiz , vice president of the Union of Muslim Associations of Cr&eacuteteil.

The mosque opened in time to host local Muslims for Eid al-Adha, a major feast day. Mosques have always been spaces of openness and exchange between cultures and religions. (Tradition which also requires all visitors to remove their shoes before entering. But at the open house, people of all ages and faiths have come to see the art and architecture, a mix of modernism and tradition.

A local resident, Michel, said he has watched the mosque’s progress over the years, stone by stone.) Once inside, visitors are taken on a tour of frescoes, stained glass, and elaborate editions of the Koran. . I’m a Christian, I attend service at Notre Dame de Cr&eacuteteil, and today I am proud that we have this building for the Muslim community of Cr&eacuteteil, he says.

I think that, especially for the Muslim community, this brings a certain recognition, says Laurent Cathala, mayor of Cr&eacuteteil. The overall bill comes to five million euros, with costs shared by the local muslim faithful and the city government.

Cr&eacuteteil has been welcoming of its new mosque. For the city as a whole, this mosque is important for social cohesion, and to enrich the cultural heritage of the city.

France – Islam – Muslim
. In some European countries physical symbols of Islam, like mosques, still provoque tension and backlash

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AFP – China downplayed Thursday an alleged cyber attack on the Web site of the French Embassy in Beijing, saying there was no clear link between the shutdown and a diplomatic row with France over Tibet.

From the perspective of the Chinese government, China is against the hacking of the Web sites of the embassies of other nations, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told journalists.

We have not seen any questions or concerns raised by France.

The server was attacked for several days, saturated by massive requests for a connection, mostly coming at night, the diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

However a French diplomat told the embassy Web site had been inaccessible for several days due to a massive cyber attack following President Nicolas Sarkozy’s weekend meeting with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

We have taken note of relevant reports, but from the reports I have seen this is speculation, Liu said.

Some French media reports have said Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, which greatly angered Beijing, was the motive behind the attacks.

When reporting or covering this issue, the media should base their reports on solid proof and not target China. .

China accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for his homeland — despite his repeated denials — and views it as a national affront when foreign leaders meet him.

China – diplomacy – Tibet