Asian Defense News: DTN News - SOUTH AFRICA: Is this REALLY time to take a selfie, Dave? Obama and Cameron strike a pose with Danish PM during Mandela's memorial service (but doesn't Michelle look unimpressed?)
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Daily Mail - UK(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 10, 2013: Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama pose for a selfie alongside Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (left) at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela - prompting an outpouring of criticism.
The world leaders, attending the historic service to honour former South African leader Mandela in Soweto today, smiled as they leaned in for the snap... while Obama's wife Michelle looked non-plussed as she declined to join in. The U.S. president was also seen sharing jokes with the Danish PM, although his wife seemed less than impressed (top right).
Earlier, President Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castor, an unprecedented gesture of friendship between the Cold War enemies. He also paid an emotional tribute to Nelson Mandela, calling him a 'giant of history' as he spoke in a stadium where around a third of the seats were mysteriously left empty (bottom right).
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Daily Mail - UK*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - THAILAND UNREST: Thailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra Dissolves Parliament
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 9, 2013: Desperate to defuse Thailand's deepening political crisis, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said Monday she is dissolving the lower house of parliament and called for early elections. But the moves did nothing to stem a growing tide of more than 150,000 protesters vowing to overthrow her in one of the nation's largest demonstrations in years.
Analysts said the steps come too late and are unlikely to satisfy opponents who want to rid Thailand of her powerful family's influence. The protesters are pushing for a non-elected "people's council" to replace her democratically elected government.
In a speech late Monday, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban lashed out against Yingluck, calling her administration "corrupt" and "illegitimate" as crowds of supporters cheered.
The man behind Thailand's latest political upheavalsThailand PM Yingluck Shinawatra pleads for end to protestsThe protest movement does "not consent to allowing the dictatorial majority … to betray the people, to destroy the balance of democratic power," Suthep said. The people must use "their rights as citizens to take back their power," he said.
Thailand has been plagued by major bouts of upheaval since Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled in a 2006 army coup that laid bare a deeper conflict between the elite and educated middle class against Thaksin's power base in the countryside, which benefited from populist policies designed to win over the rural poor.
An attempt by Yingluck's party last month to pass a bill through parliament that would have granted amnesty to Thaksin and others triggered the latest round of unrest. Thaksin fled overseas in 2008 to avoid a corruption conviction he says was politically motivated.
Emotional address
"After listening to opinions from all sides, I have decided to request a royal decree to dissolve parliament," said Yingluck, her voice shaking as she spoke in a nationally televised address that broke into regular programming. "There will be new elections according to the democratic system."
Yingluck's ruling party won the last vote two years ago in a landslide, and is likely to be victorious in any new ballot.
Government spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi said the cabinet had proposed a new vote be held Feb. 2. The date must be approved by the Election Commission, and electoral officials will meet with the government in the next few days to discuss it, said Jinthong Intarasri, a spokeswoman for the commission.
Yingluck said she will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new prime minister is named.
As Yingluck spoke Monday, long columns of marching protesters paralyzed traffic on major Bangkok boulevards, filling four-lane roads as they converged from nine locations on Yingluck's office at Government House. Suthep spoke on a stage erected nearby.
Many feared the day could end violently and more than 60 Thai and international schools closed as a precaution. But the marches were peaceful and no violence was reported.
Resignation not enough, protesters say
Suthep has repeatedly said that calling new elections and even Yingluck's resignation would not be enough to end the conflict.
Protesters agreed.
"We will keep on protesting because we want her family to leave this country," said Boonlue Mansiri, one of tens of thousands who joined a 20-kilometre march to Yingluck's office.
The sentiment was the same across town, where protesters filled a major four-lane road in the city's central business district, waving flags, blowing whistles and holding a huge banner that said, "Get Out Shinawatra."
Asked about the dissolution of Parliament, one middle-aged woman in the crowd said, "It is too late" and "It's not enough."
"At the end of the day, we are going to win," said the woman, who identified herself as Paew. "What happens now? Don't worry. We will figure it out."
Suthep's supporters on Monday appeared to abandon the two places they had occupied for more than a week — the Finance Ministry and part of a vast government complex.
The country's political standoff deepened Sunday after the main opposition party resigned from the legislature en masse to join the anti-government demonstrations. The minority Democrat Party held 153 of the 500 seats in the legislative body, according to the latest figures on their website.
The Democrats — who are closely allied with the protesters — have not won an election since 1992, and some of their leaders appear to have given up on electoral politics as a result.
Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the Democrats and a former prime minister, led one of the marches through Bangkok on Monday. He declined to comment on whether the party would participate in the next election.
Since the latest unrest began last month, at least five people have been killed and at least 289 injured. Violence ended suddenly last week as both sides paused to celebrate the birthday of the nation's revered king, who turned 86 Thursday.
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth *Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Asian Defense News: DTN News - SYRIA UNREST: Funeral For Top Hezbollah Commander Marches in Sidon
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 9, 2013: (Sidon, Lebanon) Hezbollah held a funeral procession in the suburb of the coastal city of Sidon Monday for a top military commander who was killed in Syria a day earlier.
The procession was led by Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad, the Imam of Haret Sayda Sheikh Abdel-Hussein Abdallah and a Hezbollah Commander, Ali Daoun.
Ali Bazzi's coffin was carried on the shoulders of Hezbollah members as the commander's friends fired shots in the air.
The large procession prompted the Lebanese Army to deploy at the northern entrance of the city and in several neighborhoods leading to Haret Sayda.
Sidon is the home of fugitive Salafi-labelled Sheikh Ahmad Assir who was a staunch critic of Hezbollah and its involvement in the Syrian crisis. Assir and his supporters were engaged in deadly armed clashes against the Army in June.
Bazzi is originally from the southern town of Bint Jbeil but his family moved to Sidon decades ago. His father owns a shoe shop in the area.
A Lebanese security source told The Daily Star Sunday that Bazzi was killed in a combat zone.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Hezbollah fighters were killed during battles in Nabk, one of the last rebel-held areas in the Qalamoun region bordering Lebanon.
Hezbollah-backed regime forces have launched a military campaign to root out rebel forces in Qalamoun, near the border with Lebanon.
Residents of southern Lebanon said Sunday that two other Hezbollah fighters – Ali Saleh and Qassem Ghamloush – were also killed in Syria Sunday and buried.
*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth *Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News *Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com ©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
