World History Timeline
"Basque Separatists Declare End To Armed Attacks"
First Meetings Leave Palestinian and Israeli Leaders Hopeful
Rains, Floods, Landslides Devastate Guatemala
German Police See Threat In Growing Number Of Islamists
North Korea Ruler Said To Be Rushing Power Transfer
Following Aftershocks New Zealand Begins Cleanup
Snapshot 05 September 2010
Basque Separatists Declare End To Armed Attacks
The Basque rebel group ETA called a halt to armed attacks on Sunday but the government said the declaration was not enough and urged the weakened organization to renounce violence once and for all.
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The group, which has killed more than 850 people in half a century of armed struggle for an independent state in northern Spain and southwest France, has been crippled by arrests of its members and a rise in support among Basques for legal politics.
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In the video, which appeared on the website of the Basque newspaper Gara, three masked and black-clad figures appeared seated under the ETA emblem depicting an axe and snake, and flanked by the Basque flag.
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The central figure read a statement in the Basque language, then all three raised their right fists in the air.
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"ETA makes it known that for several months now it has taken the decision not to carry out armed attacks," said a transcript of the statement posted on the site, translated into Spanish. Read More| |
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First Meetings Leave Palestinian and Israeli Leaders Hopeful
Palestinian and Israeli leaders expressed satisfaction and hope on Sunday in their first public utterances following the opening round of Middle East peace talks in Washington last week.
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“The structure that has been agreed to is a good one,” the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said in a telephone interview. Mr. Erekat, who has accused the Israelis of bad faith in the past, said the two sides had agreed to build a framework within a year for a comprehensive deal. “We have started a process and have every hope that it will succeed. This is the time for decisions.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said that Israel was ready for a historic compromise with the Palestinians and that he thought the Arab world would follow.
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In his regular televised appearance before his weekly cabinet meeting, Mr. Netanyahu said the fact that King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt went to Washington for the start of the negotiations “reflects a sense of readiness that exists in the Arab world, that this is the time to try and complete a peace settlement between us and the Palestinians and to expand it into a broader circle of peace.”
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Aides to Mr. Netanyahu said that his 90-minute meeting on Thursday with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had gone well and had set the tone for their next meeting on Sept. 14th in Egypt. Read More| |
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Rains, Floods, Landslides Devastate Guatemala
At least 40 people were missing in Guatemala on Sunday after a massive landslide buried up to 100 trying to dig out a bus caught in deep mud as torrential rains battered the country.
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The weekend death toll from slides and flooding caused by the rains has already reached 36 and the fire department said on Sunday that up to another 100 people may have been buried overnight by a second slide on a major highway outside the capital.
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"A wall of earth fell on a bus and around 100 local people organized themselves to dig out the victims," said fire department spokesman Sergio Vasquez. "Then another landslide came along and buried them."
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President Alvaro Colom said around 40 people had officially been reported missing and nearly 12,000 had been evacuated to emergency shelters.
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"It's a national tragedy," Colom told a news conference. "It's painful that poor people are paying the price of natural disasters". Read More| |
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German Current Events
German Police See Threat In Growing Number Of Islamists
The threat of Islamist attacks in Germany is growing as numbers of people returning from militant camps on the Afghan-Pakistan border rise, a senior police official said.
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Joerg Ziercke, head of the BKA Federal Crime Office, was also quoted Sunday as saying that curbs on storing telecoms data were hurting efforts to track militant suspects.
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More than 400 Islamists were living in Germany, some of whom had trained in camps, including a hard core with combat experience in Afghanistan, he told Tagespiegel newspaper.
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Police had spotted a rise in German residents moving to and from the camps, he said in extracts of an interview to be published in Monday's edition.
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"Since the beginning of 2009 we have registered an increase in travel and attempted travel from members of violence-prone Islamist circles," he said. Read More| |
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North Korea Ruler Said To Be Rushing Power Transfer
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will probably use an upcoming meeting of party elites to introduce his heir apparent, initiating the Stalinist dictatorship's second hereditary power transfer, U.S. and South Korean experts and officials say.
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Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong Eun, is widely expected to be given at least one high-level leadership position - the first step to claiming absolute power on a par with his father's.
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Experts differ on whether the younger Kim's rise will be publicly heralded. But in any case, moves made in coming days could lend the first real insight into Kim Jong Il's strategy for maintaining his family's power as his country deals with a frail economy, severe food shortages and international pressure to denuclearize.
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North Korea has not announced dates for the party delegates meeting in Pyongyang, a rare forum reserved for landmark decision-making. Good Friends, a Seoul-based humanitarian group with ties to the North, said the forum would begin Saturday. Other experts predicted it would open Monday, with Kim Jong Eun being promoted on the final day. North Korea celebrates the anniversary of its founding Thursday.
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Observers say that the elder Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, is rushing the power transfer because of health problems. Kim Jong Eun is thought to be in his mid- or late 20s. Read More | |
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Following Aftershocks New Zealand Begins Cleanup
New Zealand's second-biggest city, Christchurch, is facing an enormous clean-up after being struck by the country's worst earthquake in 80 years. The magnitude 7 quake devastated parts of Christchurch early Saturday.
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Christchurch awoke Sunday to another grim day as shell-shocked residents assess the damage inflicted by one of the country's most powerful earthquakes.
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Mayor Bob Parker is urging residents to stay indoors.
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"This is not a good time to go out, as curious as you may be, and have a look around if it means driving out onto the streets because we need to keep them free for emergency services," Parker advised. "Use common sense; emergency services are flat out at the moment. The assessment is underway. Take sensible precautions, but don't go out sightseeing. Check on your neighbors. Do the things that communities do so well at times like this."
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Authorities say it is a miracle no one was killed after disaster struck Saturday before dawn, when most people were still asleep. A small number of serious injuries have been reported. Read More| |
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Afghan Government Tries To Stabilize Kabul Bank
With crowds again besieging Afghanistan's largest private bank after a day's respite for Friday prayer, Afghan authorities on Saturday grasped for a plan to shore up tottering Kabul Bank and avoid potential economic and political turmoil.
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One option, according to a person familiar with discussions between President Hamid Karzai and key protagonists in the drama, is that the state take possession of a substantial part of the bank's shares. This would allow the government to inject money into a bank that, although entirely privately owned, plays a key role in the functioning of the state because it handles payments for soldiers, police and teachers.
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In a sign of his determination to stabilize Kabul Bank, Karzai ordered Afghan police to take over guard duties at bank branches from a private security company, said Sherkhan Farnood, the bank's founder and ousted chairman.
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Kabul Bank depositors on Saturday yanked out about $69 million, less than on Wednesday and Thursday. But this was largely because the bank ran out of cash at many branches when the Central Bank had trouble delivering funds. Kabul Bank began the week with $500 million in liquid assets, most of it stashed with the Central Bank, but now has less than half that amount.
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Saturday's renewed stampede by depositors represented a blunt vote of no confidence in Karzai, who had assured Afghans that Kabul Bank would not collapse and accused Western news media of overstating its problems. Read More | |
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