They beg for alms, for sustenance on the streets of Burma. But the monks are even hungrier for democracy. Ashin Ven Kovida tells Spiegel magazine how he and others had hoped the military regime would relent under pressure. Instead he is now at a safe house in Thailand. An unknown number of monks and other protestors are in jail or dead.
In a country where Buddhist monks draw nearly universal respect, an officer had to slap soldiers in the front row to attack the protesting monks. Still the protestors were no match for military hardware.
The BBC Burmese service and the Norwegian-based Democratic Voice of Burma were instrumental in spreading the news about the government's attacks on monks. After hearing about the news, Ashin Ven Kovida organized several demonstrations.
Organizing protests is hard in Burma (Myanmar) where censorship comes so naturally to the aging military regime. But according to a comment posted on DVB, there may be an open Wi-Fi hot spot near the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon (Yangon). Regardless of the Internet's accessibility, television footage and photos continue to reach the outside world.
DVB's photos show a dead monk, a Japanese journalist who was shot dead, and a dozen others who were injured. The death of Kenji Nagai, the journalist for APF News, was caught on camera:
As powerful as the monks' peaceful protests were, the marches and deaths would have meant very little had they not been printed. To that end, continued engagement, not an embargo, is necessary, argues Richard Bernstein in The New York Times.
The former model who helped make President Nicolas Sarkozy appears all but certain to dump him in a scandal that would be a first in French politics. Palais de l'Élysées has not denied the rumor but confirmed today that Cécilia Sarkozy, who has been skipping out on him for months, will not join him on a state visit to Morocco next week.
"The divorce will be announced next Wednesday, the morning of October 17," La Tribune reported Friday, citing an unnamed source.
There have been signs that the French press is waking up from a long tradition of staying out of the presidential bedroom--an unspoken belief that an adulterous man doesn't make an adulterous president and that such an affaire de l'Etat is only for high society's consumption. Still most media outlets were more cautious.
The international community wasted no time in slapping North Korea's wrists, arranging media availabilities, forming ad hoc committees, and holding non-ad hoc meetings.
U.N. Security Council: "strongly condemns" the test; and called it "a grave challenge" and "serious security issue."
After the 'strong condemnation,' the Council explored "the very specifics," formed "expert level meetings," had "a very good discussion," and felt the "need to act together."
"The Security Council expresses its deep concern…"
"The Security Council reaffirms…"
"The Security Council underlines…"
"The Security Council supports…"
"The Security Council urges…"
"The Security Council will be monitoring…"
The draft Security Council resolution: "expressing the gravest concern"; "deploring" and "deploring further"; "stressing," "determining" and "expressing" some more; "condemns" the test; "demands" D.P.R.K. to negotiate; "recalls its previous demand"; and "decides" three times to impose sanctions.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan wishes the whole world could unite around diseases, poverty and human rights like it did around the 2006 World Cup.
In a frank interview with Spiegel on wide-ranging subjects, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he is "a bit envious of FIFA" because the whole world united around the soccer ball and paid attention to the World Cup.
He wishes the whole world could unite and tackle diseases, poverty and humans rights and stop the genocide in Darfur. Iraq has been a huge lesson learned for the Americans, Mr. Annan notes. He predicts the U.S. Congress will be reluctant to approve a similar war so haphazardly in the future.
Mr. Annan says he is a football referee but without the yellow and red cards.
How fast can a glimmer of hope disappear? (Photo: U.S. Department of State)
Iran has been receiving much attention, including a proposal for détente, from the Europeans and the U.S. Envious of that kind of play, "Dear Leader" declared he was going ballistic!
After decades of practice, North Korea is skilled at producing statements that are sure to ruffle feathers and grab attention. To an untrained ear, these belligerent words sound like air raid sirens. But he is not suicidal. And all he wants is some T.L.C., phone calls and peace and quiet in his backyard.
There are some things the U.S. can do to overcome this largely political hurdle.
Hugo Chávez offers poor Americans free eye care, bus passes and discounted heating oil. (Photo: UNDPI)
Hugo Chávez, the irascible president of Venezuela, is sticking it to the Bush administration in a big way by offering free eye surgery, bus passes and heating oil discounts to needy Americans.
Female U.S. embassy staffers in bikinis were partying it up by the pool, karaoke singers were rocking and Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root was serving up roast beef, pasta and crab dishes all at the Iraq Republican Palace, Soma reports from Baghdad. Saddam Hussein probably wouldn't mind the scantily clad women running through his palace, although he might cringe at hearing American rock music. Soma, a newly minted newspaper out of Suleimanieh, had a few more insights to share, including the identity of the embassy guards.
Spain's latest headache is the increasingly popular human smuggling route that starts in West Africa and ends in the Canary Islands.
The international fishing industry has all but wiped out the livelihood of local fishermen in Senegal, forcing them to risk death and smuggle migrants 1,350 kilometers (845 miles) to the Canary Islands in Spain. The country's liberal policy toward refugees and worsening economy in West Africa are making Spain a prime destination for illegal immigrants. Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who has dispatched the military to intercept them, is asking the European Union for help.
There are few coincidences at Foggy Bottom. The sudden departure of Reno L. Harnish III, U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan, from Baku today is no different. Local and regional media are rife with speculations over the human smuggling ring that trafficked young Azeri women to be sex slaves in Florida. The F.B.I. suspects an inside job. Replacing the tarnished Mr. Harnish is Anne Elizabeth Derse, a career foreign service officer who has held the rank of minister-counselor. And neither President Bush nor the State Department mentioned the dirty business, for which there is a high demand in the Sunshine State.
He was visibly irked. A reporter dared to say the American president seemed "off [his] game." He blamed it on jet lag and used his greatest weapon for dodging questions -- exit from the stage. President Bush not only reached for the wrong door, but he also found the door locked. (Watch BBC's footage.) Much like the symbolic on-stage gaffe, there was no breakthrough in any of the banner issues during his state visit.
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