Pope meets Orthodox leader in Istanbul seeking rapprochement
By Christopher Luke,WNS Turkey Correspondent
ISTANBUL - Pope Benedict XVI met with the head of the Greek Orthodox Church on Wednesday to pursue a key goal of his papacy: healing a rift between the two feuding branches of Christianity that dates back nearly a millennium. Benedict XVI and Bartholomew I, who represents around 150 million Orthodox faithful, prayed together at the patriarchal church of St. George before holding private talks. "We must realize the progress made as well as the mistakes made along the way" towards reconciliation, said Bartholomew, who had met the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics at the airport here earlier in the day. The pope, for his part, said the encounter had been "full of authentic good will and great meaning."
The pontiff's goal of achieving closer ties with the Orthodox Church, however, has been upstaged during his four-day trip to Turkey by the need to address simmering anger in the Muslim world over his remarks in September seen as linking Islam and violence. Tight security was in place in Istanbul for what is considered the most volatile part of Benedict's visit, and the route of his motorcade following his arrival in the city of more than 12 million -- where some 15,000 people demonstrated Sunday against the visit -- was kept secret. Two more demonstrations were expected Thursday, when the pope's program will take him to two sensitive sites: the Hagia Sophia Museum and the Blue Mosque, the two most prominent Christian and Muslim edifices of Istanbul, within a stone's throw of each other. Benedict will be the second pope to visit a mosque after his predecessor John Paul II did so in Damascus, in 2001.
Also Wednesday, the Vatican shrugged off an assertion by a self-styled Islamic emirate in Iraq led by Al-Qaeda that the pontiff's visit to Turkey is part of a "Crusade against Islam." "Neither the pope nor his entourage have any concern over this type of message, which underscores once again the urgency and importance of a shared commitment by all forces opposed to the use of violence," said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. Earlier Wednesday, the pontiff was in the historic city of Ephesus where he visited the House of the Virgin Mary and celebrated his first mass on Muslim soil at the location where the mother of Christ is believed to have spent her last years. "From this edge of the Anatolian peninsula, a natural bridge between continents, let us implore peace and reconciliation, above all for those dwelling in the Land called 'Holy' and considered as such by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike," the pope said in his homily.
Nato 'to ease Afghan troop rules'
By Sam Mackintosh,
WNS Europe Bureau Chief
LONDON - Nato leaders at a summit in Latvia have agreed to relax restrictions on how their troops are used in Afghanistan. More than 75% of the 32,000-strong force in Afghanistan will soon be allowed to be deployed anywhere in the country, alliance officials said. Earlier, US President George W Bush berated Nato members, calling on them to accept "difficult assignments". The summit is to continue on Wednesday with discussion of military requests for more troops to fight insurgents. The two-day summit, the first Nato meeting on in an ex-Soviet state, will conclude after discussions about Nato's role in the 21st Century.
The alliance leaders will also discuss ways to enhance Nato's partnership activities, including efforts to draw countries like Japan and Australia more closely into alliance activities. There were tentative promises of more troops for Afghanistan after a two-hour working dinner on Tuesday evening devoted entirely to the issue. An alliance spokesman told the Reuters news agency that three countries had agreed to send more troops, with several more agreeing to increase funding for Afghanistan. Commanders have requested 2,500 extra troops for the battle in southern Afghanistan. The dinner ended with agreement from France, Germany, Italy and Spain that their troops in Afghanistan could be sent to any part of the country if the circumstances demanded it. Previously their troops have been restricted by agreements limiting the areas they could be sent to.
President Bush had called on Nato not to undermine the effort in Afghanistan. "For NATO to succeed, its commanders must have the resources and flexibility they need to do their jobs," he said. Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer described the Afghan operation - Nato's first outside Europe - as "mission possible", and said that it might even be able to start pulling out from 2008.
Britain seeks to calm radioactive alarm after ex-spy death
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - British authorities sought on Monday to allay growing public concern after radioactive traces were found in London following the death of a Russian ex-spy, and a handful of people were sent for tests. On the political front the death last week of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, which his supporters claim was a Soviet-era type sting, is also increasingly threatening to strain relations between London and Moscow. "There is no need for public alarm," Home Secretary John Reid said in a hastily-arranged statement to parliament on the rapidly-evolving situation following the radioactive poisoning of Litvinenko. "We are not yet even at the stage where the police have been telling me that there is definitely a third party involved in this," he added, repeatedly refusing to point the finger at Russia.
But in a sign of how seriously London is taking it, Reid again called a meeting of COBRA, the top security body which in the past has met for incidents including last year's July 7 terrorist attacks, to assess the risks. And speaking to lawmakers afterwards, Reid confirmed that traces of the radioactive substance polonium 210 had been found in two hospitals where Litvinenko spent his dying days, a sushi bar and a hotel he visited on November 1, and "certain" other places in London. Police later confirmed that they had found traces of polonium 210 at two addresses in London -- one on Grosvenor Street in the up-scale neighbourhood of Mayfair, and another on Down Street in west London, which Litvinenko's friend Alexander Goldfarb confirmed was the office of exiled Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky. Reid also confirmed that health authorities had so far sent three people for radiological tests, after some 500 people rang a helpline over the weekend concerned that they may have been contaminated. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has also sought to allay concern, pointing out that the kind of alpha radiation involved can only travel tiny distances, so the risk of contamination is minimal. The COBRA security body first met last Thursday, the day the 43-year-old ex-spy finally succumbed to a mysterious illness which struck him down on November 1, shortly after he met two unidentified Russians in a London hotel.
In a letter read out by his spokesman the morning after his death, Litvinenko bluntly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of his "barbaric" killing. Putin has dismissed the allegations as "political provocations" from critics, adding: "I hope British authorities will not allow the fuelling of political scandals." At the weekend one government minister, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, voiced concern about some "extremely murky murders of the senior Russian journalist," referring to the death of Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Britain has already asked Russia, via its ambassador in London, for any information on the unprecedented killing, which critics blame on Moscow, pointing out the difficulty of obtaining polonium 210. But Reid was careful not to fuel the diplomatic fire on Monday, noting the diplomatic request to Moscow and refusing to be drawn despite repeated questioning by opposition lawmakers. "I think it would be unwise for me to ... start pointing fingers," he said.
Britons sent for radioactive tests after ex-spy's death
By Janet Tim,WNS UK Correspondent
LONDON - Three people have been sent for radiological tests after contacting health authorities following the radiation poisoning of former Russian Alexander Litvinenko last week, a spokeswoman said Monday. The three were among people who called a National Health Service helpline set up for anyone with concerns about contamination, following the death of the Kremlin critic last Thursday.
"Of the calls that NHS Direct took over weekend, 18 were referred to us and three of those as a precaution were referred to a special clinic for radiological assessment," said a spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency. Concern is thought to focus on the two London hospitals where Litvinenko was treated in his dying days, plus a sushi bar and a hotel he visited on the day he was apparently poisoned, November 1.
The HPA spokeswoman declined to specify where the three individuals came from, or the give the location of the clinic which would carry out the tests. But she underlined that the testing was a "precautionary" move rather than an emergency decision taken because of major symptoms. "It is part of general monitoring," she told AFP.
Poisoned ex-spy said man was tailing him
By Paul King,WNS UK Bureau Chief
LONDON - As he lay dying, an ex-Soviet spy poisoned in London named an alleged Russian agent he feared had been targeting him and who he had previously told police was harassing him, a British newspaper said in a report published Sunday.Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, died Thursday night of heart failure after suddenly falling gravely ill from what doctors said was poisoning by a radioactive substance.Litvinenko alleged that a Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief previously stationed in London had been assigned by Moscow to watch him, Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported.
Litvinenko, who spoke to friends and dictated a vitriolic statement about Putin's government while in the hospital, claimed the Russian agent was not directly involved in his poisoning, but had been sent to monitor his activities, the newspaper said. London's Metropolitan police said it could not immediately confirm whether officers would seek to find and interview the alleged Russian agent named by Litvinenko. Police said anti-terrorist officers investigating the former agent's death had not found records of earlier harassment complaints during their inquiry. An audio recording of Litvinenko making the allegation was being handed over to officers, the Sunday Times reported. Police said no tape had yet been received. Russia's Embassy in London said it could not immediately comment on the claims. Britain's Foreign Office could not immediately confirm if a diplomat of the name used by Litvinenko had been based in London.
"Whilst in hospital Alexander named the man he alleged was watching him and said he had been the SVR (Russian Foreign Intelligence Service) station chief in London until 2003, posing as a diplomat at the Russian embassy," Litvinenko's friend Alex Goldfarb told The Associated Press. Litvinenko, 43, told police he believed he had been poisoned on Nov. 1 while investigating the October slaying of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, another critic of Putin's government. His contaminated body was released to a coroner by police Saturday and government pathologists were expected to begin an autopsy -- though nuclear experts claimed investigators may never pinpoint the exact source of the rare radioactive polonium-210 element found in the ex-spy's urine.
Britain's Health Protection Agency said the poisoning was "an unprecedented event." Traces of radiation were found at Litvinenko's north London house, a sushi bar where he met a contact on Nov. 1 and a hotel he had visited earlier that day, police said. British detectives investigating his death launched an international hunt for witnesses Saturday and spooled through hours of security video for clues. They were examining closed-circuit television footage and interviewing hotel and restaurant staff, a police spokeswoman said. In a dramatic deathbed statement, Litvinenko accused Putin -- who he called "barbaric and ruthless" -- of ordering his poisoning. Putin has called the death a tragedy and denied involvement.
Chirac condemns football violence
By Henry Mark,WNS Paris Correspondent
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac has condemned violence that led to the shooting of a French football fan by a plain-clothes police officer. The policeman fired into the crowd after he was physically attacked while seeking to protect a fan from anti-Semitic abuse, officials say. The violence broke out after Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv beat Paris Saint Germain (PSG) 4-2 in a European match. Mr Chirac said he was horrified by the reports of racism and anti-Semitism.
Prosecutors have opened an inquiry into the incident, to determine whether the officer involved, Antoine Granomort, should face criminal charges, AFP news agency reported. Mr Granomort reportedly fired tear gas, then live ammunition in an effort to disperse a fighting crowd near the Parc des Princes football stadium in Paris. As a result, a 24-year-old PSG fan was killed and a 26-year-old man was seriously wounded. He remains in hospital in a serious condition. According to Paris state prosecutor Jean-Claude Marin, young French fans of the Tel Aviv team were rounded on by PSG supporters chanting anti-Semitic slogans after the Paris side suffered defeat. About 100 PSG fans gathered to chase one Tel Aviv supporter, the prosecutor said, at which point Mr Granomort, who is black, tried to intervene. Witnesses said the crowd hurled racist insults at him, while making Nazi salutes and shouting anti-Jewish abuse at the man he was trying to protect.
According to the French authorities, Mr Granomort was physically attacked as he shouted that he was a police officer and pulled out his gun. Fans interviewed on French radio said he had appeared to fire two shots in panic, as he was pushed to the ground. He then sought refuge in a McDonald's restaurant with the man he had been trying to defend, while police reinforcements were brought in to restore calm. Police union official Luc Poignant told the AFP news agency that Mr Granomort had "had no choice but to defend himself and protect another person". Speaking at a summit meeting in Italy, Mr Chirac said the racist remarks reported "inspire a feeling not only of condemnation, not only of stupefaction - but also of horror".
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin called for new, tougher measures to deal with football hooligans. Anti-racism groups called for urgent action to stamp out racist behaviour among football fans, a message echoed by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. The head of the French football federation, Jean-Pierre Escalettes, told AFP the incident showed the need to "step up the fight against violence and racism, to wipe out this scourge that destroys the values of sport".
Polish veto mars EU-Russia summit
By Kathy Sweenie,WNS Finland Correspondent
HELSINKI - Top officials from the European Union are about to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki. But a Polish veto means the EU-Russia summit will not see the beginning of talks on a new strategic partnership. Poland is upset at a Russian embargo on its meat and plant products introduced a year ago. It is the first time that one of the 10 countries that joined in 2004 has blocked such an important EU agreement. Talks about a new strategic agreement between the EU and Russia - covering energy, migration, trade and human rights - were to have been a key part of the meeting.
Despite nearly two weeks of lobbying from the other 24 members of the EU, Poland refused to put aside its objections to the Russian boycott of its farm products. On the eve of the summit, EU leaders came out in support of Poland. "We were ready to state in very clear terms that the Russian ban on certain Polish food should be lifted as soon as possible," said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Finland currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU. Mr Putin blamed Poland for the situation, saying authorities were not willing to properly supervise other countries' meat products transiting through Poland. He threatened a new ban on all EU meat products from January when Romania and Bulgaria join the bloc. EU officials played down the situation. "This is a question that will be resolved," said the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "There's no question about that, it's not a big thing. It's a question of import of meat that without any doubt will be resolved." Officials from both sides have said the existing partnership agreement, which expires at the end of the year, could be extended as required. There is still much for Russia and the EU to discuss - Iran, the Middle East, North Korea and energy policy. There is also Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization and concerns over Georgia.
Europe is worried about its dependence on Russian energy. About 30% of its gas comes from Russia. It was almost a year ago that Russia briefly cut the gas supply to Ukraine, in a dispute over prices, sending a shockwave through the whole of the EU. And the EU also wants reassurance from Russia that it will secure the necessary investment to enable it to meet its future export commitments, so that the flow of oil and gas does not dwindle in the coming decades.
Dutch on course for split result
By Kate Michael,WNS Netherlands Correspondent
AMSTERDAM - With 97% of votes in the Dutch election counted, the governing Christian Democrats are ahead, having taken 41 seats, but remain short of a majority. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende has claimed victory, saying his party is again the biggest group in parliament. If confirmed, Mr Balkenende will get the first chance to form a coalition, but the process could be lengthy.
According to the partial results, the opposition Labour party remains the second biggest party with 32 seats. The Dutch are split between parties tough on immigration and pro-business, and left-leaning parties with a softer approach, correspondents say. Neither the right nor left blocs were on course to win the 76 seats needed to control the 150-seat parliament. The Christian Democrats' (CDA) current coalition partners, the Liberals (VVD), won 22 seats, meaning the CDA would need to include several more parties to reach a working majority. Nonetheless CDA members have been celebrating the result. "We are the biggest party again... the effort of four years of struggle has been rewarded and that makes me proud, " Mr Balkenende told supporters.
According to the latest figures from the Dutch Electoral Council, the Socialists were the biggest winners of the night, now occupy third place with 26 seats. "We expected to double our seats but this is absolutely fantastic. I am proud the Netherlands wants to move left," said Socialist Party MP Agnes Kant. The other big winner was the anti-immigration Party for Freedom, PVV, led by Geert Wilders, which took 9 seats. The Christian Union won six seats, as did the Green party, while the Party for Animals is likely to win two seats, a result which would make it the first animal rights party in a European parliament. The split vote will make any coalition hard to pin together, our correspondent says, and people are already talking about protracted coalition talks, or even a "monster" coalition involving right and left.
Hopes fade for trapped Polish miners
By Samuel Donkin,WNS Poland Correspondent
WARSAW - High levels of gas forced rescuers to suspend their search for 15 miners missing more than a kilometer (3,000 feet) underground Wednesday, and the Polish president said conditions were "getting worse" for anyone trapped and still alive. Anxious family members prayed at the shrine of St. Barbara, the patroness of miners, at the Halemba mine in southern Poland, where a methane explosion Tuesday killed eight coal miners and left the others missing.Three young women lit candles in front of the shrine, then knelt down, clasped their hands and prayed. Others sobbed.
"The situation is getting worse down there and there are no rescue teams there. We cannot exclude that there is still a fire burning at the site and that increases the danger of another explosion," President Lech Kaczynski said after surveying the site."Although one can never lose hope and has to fight to the very end, the situation is very bad."Some 300 meters (yards) of rubble remain between the miners and where rescue workers have reached. Locator devices carried by the missing miners have been emitting no signals, and there have been no other signs that they are still alive.
Attempts to reach them through the night were halted after high concentrations of gas raised fears of a second explosion. Ventilators cleared the area enough to allow a reconnaissance team to start a probe early Wednesday, only to call it off quickly after encountering more gas. Teams have recovered six bodies from the scene of the blast in the southern city of Ruda Slaska, said Zbigniew Madej, spokesman for mine operator Coal Co. Another two bodies were located, but remained underground.
Radioactive poison fear over spy
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - The Russian dissident ill in a London hospital may have been poisoned with a radioactive substance, an expert toxicologist has said. Professor John Henry said Alexander Litvinenko, 43, had symptoms consistent with thallium poisoning but other symptoms linked to other substances. "It's not 100% thallium," Dr Henry said outside University College Hospital. He said the poison may have been radioactive thallium, which would now be difficult to trace. He said: "It may be too late. If it's a radioactive poison with a short half-life it may have gone. "Radioactive thallium degrades very rapidly so that by now we've missed the chance [to trace the poison]."
Radioactive thallium is used in hospitals but Dr Henry said it was not used in massive doses consistent with Mr Litvinenko's condition. "Poisons can be taken by mouth, they can be injected, they can be inhaled," he said. "In this case his symptoms are gastro-intestinal so the probability is that he has swallowed something that is poisoned. "Radioactive thallium adds a new dimension to this case. It means that his bone marrow is at very high risk and we have to see how his cells recover. It is very difficult to treat because you have to rely on the body's natural resilience." The critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell ill on 1 November after a meeting at a London sushi bar. Scotland Yard anti-terrorist officers have taken charge of the investigation into the poisoning by thallium of a former KGB colonel living in the UK. The hospital said his condition was unchanged overnight.
The Kremlin has dismissed as "sheer nonsense" claims it was involved. Friends of Mr Litvinenko have alleged he was poisoned because he was critical of the Russian government. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We cannot comment on the very fact of what happened to Litvinenko. "We don't consider it possible to comment on the statements accusing the Kremlin because it is nothing but sheer nonsense." Russia's foreign intelligence service has issued a statement denying any involvement.
Gunman dies after storming school
By Dawn Gabriel,WNS Germany Correspondent
BERLIN - A gunman has been found dead after storming a school in Germany, injuring a teacher and several pupils. According to reports, explosive material was found on the body of the man at the Geschwister Scholl school, in Emsdetten. The man, reported to have been a former pupil of the school, apparently killed himself as police circled the building. While resolved, the incident stirs unhappy memories of 2002, when a former pupil killed 18 people in his school.
Those killings prompted a wave of German soul-searching about violence and school security, coming just months after another gunman had walked into a school and shot dead his former head teacher. A total of eight people are reported to have been wounded in this latest incident, although none seriously, police say.
The Geschwister Scholl school, which has about 700 pupils aged between 11 and 16, was rapidly evacuated, and a special forces unit surrounded the building. Negotiations with the gunman were started, and members of the unit also entered the building. According to Der Spiegel, police are treating a suicide note left on the internet as authentic. "If there was one thing which was really brought home to me at school, it was that I'm a loser," it read. "I detest people."
Cruise and Holmes exchange vows
By Jeremy Ronald,WNS Italy CorrespondentBRACCIANO - American actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have exchanged wedding vows in a floodlit Italian castle. The wedding was celebrated by a Scientology minister in accordance with the couple's faith and attended by a host of show business stars. Crowds of onlookers and journalists gathered outside the Odescalchi castle in Bracciano, just north of Rome, for a glimpse of the celebrities. The wedding capped a week of Hollywood mania and media frenzy in the town. The centre of Bracciano was sealed off from Friday night and extra police brought in.As darkness fell, oil-fed torches glowed from the battlements of the 15th Century castle, which rises above the town on the shores of Lake Bracciano. Cruise's publicist, Arnold Robinson, told the Associated Press news agency that the ceremony was performed in front of more than 150 relatives and friends. The guest list included fellow Hollywood stars Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, Jim Carrey, and Richard Gere. Holmes wore a Giorgio Armani dress, with an ivory train adorned with lace and crystal embroidery, while Cruise wore an Armani tuxedo, reports said.After the ceremony, the couple were serenaded by Italian singer Andrea Bocelli. Holmes and their seven-month-old daughter, Suri, arrived at the castle earlier in the day, followed by Cruise. Cruise, 44, and Holmes, 27, got engaged in June 2005, two months after they were first photographed together in Rome.
Dutch Muslims condemn burqa ban
By Kate Michael,WNS Netherlands Correspondent
AMSTERDAM - Muslims in the Netherlands have criticised a government proposal to ban Muslim women from wearing the burqa or veil in public places. Dutch Muslim groups say a ban would make the country's one million Muslims feel victimised and alienated. The Dutch cabinet said burqas - a full body covering that also obscures the face - disturb public order and safety. The decision comes days ahead of elections which the ruling centre-right coalition is expected to win. The proposed ban would apply to wearing the burqa in the street, and in trains, schools, buses and law courts in the Netherlands.
Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk, who is known for her tough policies, said it was important that all people in the Netherlands were able to see and identify each other clearly to promote integration and tolerance. Last year a majority of MPs in the Dutch parliament said they were in favour of a ban. An estimated 6% of 16 million people living in the Netherlands are Muslims. But there are thought to be fewer than 100 women who choose to wear the burqa, a traditional Islamic form of dress. The latest move came after an expert committee judged that it would not contravene Dutch law. Other forms of face coverings, such as veils and crash helmets with visors that obscure the face, would also be covered by a legal ban.
Critics of the proposed ban say it would violate civil rights. The main Muslim organisation in the Netherlands, CMO, said the plan was an "over-reaction to a very marginal problem", the Associated Press reported. Naima Azough, an MP with the opposition Green party who is also Muslim, said the ban was not in keeping with the country's history of tolerance and said the Dutch government was playing on people's fears of Islamic extremism to win votes.
Mafia 'strangle Italy prospects'
By Florence Casa,WNS Rome Correspondent
ROME - The mafia are the biggest threat to southern Italy's economic prospects, Prime Minister Romano Prodi has told a conference against organised crime. "Lawlessness is the greatest obstacle to economic growth in southern Italy," he told the three-day forum in Rome. Mr Prodi was briefly heckled by an audience member who said parliament must first purge itself of corrupt MPs. Some 2,500 people have died in violence blamed on Italy's three main mafia groups in the last 10 years.
According to the organisers of the anti-mafia forum in Rome, politicians have failed to tackle the problem. Top politicians, senior judges, police and security officials and civil society groups were expected to be among the 2,500 participants at the conference. An escalating turf war between mafia gangs in the Italian city of Naples has led to recent calls for the army to be deployed. "No-one talks about the mafia except in emergencies, as in Naples recently," Lorenzo Frigerio of the anti-mafia group Libera told the AFP news agency. "You forget that it is a permanent presence in the country and that it has not missed the train of globalisation," Mr Frigerio said. He added that the issue had been hardly mentioned during the election campaign earlier this year.
France searches N Korean vessel
By Shirlom LeStout,WNS France Correspondent
PARIS - French officials in the Indian Ocean have inspected a North Korean ship under the terms of UN Security Council sanctions adopted against Pyongyang. The ship was examined on the island of Mayotte, but there were no reports it was carrying any illegal cargo. It is believed to be the first time a North Korean vessel has been inspected under Security Council Resolution 1718. The resolution imposed sanctions on North Korea after it carried out a nuclear test in October. The measures are aimed at preventing North Korea from acquiring or spreading nuclear technology.
Customs officials carried out a "thorough and complete inspection" of the ship, its crew and its contents, a spokesman for France's foreign ministry said. "We are exercising particular vigilance regarding cargo transported by North Korean ships, and all ships starting from or heading to North Korea," he said. The Associated Press news agency quoted a customs official as saying that no weapons, drugs or other prohibited material had been found on the ship or the 45-strong crew after a search "from bow to stern and top to bottom".
Poles discover their Jewish roots
By Samuel Donkin,WNS Poland Correspondent
WARSAW - Under Nazi and communist persecution, the few Jews who remained in Poland sometimes hid their identity, leaving a surprise in store for their descendants. Pawel works in the kitchen of a kosher restaurant in the heart of Warsaw's growing Jewish community, near the 19th Century Nozyk synagogue, a Jewish theatre and cultural centre. When he was younger, he used to be a skinhead. "I am from a Catholic family. I was baptised. My parents are still Catholics," he told me. "When I was a skinhead, I used to go around saying: oh, those Jews, look at what they've done. It was madness because we didn't know anything about Jews or Jewish culture. It was just slogans - like Jews Rule the World, Jews are Bad. "When there was a black person in the street, we used to chase him. If we caught him, we did what we did. "A young person always needs to find an enemy and we found this enemy in Jews, blacks and Gypsies."
Six years ago, Pawel made a discovery that turned his life upside down - he found out that he was Jewish. His parents had turned their back on Jewish life and they had never told him about his background. "When I looked into the mirror I asked myself: why should I be a Jew? It was the biggest shock of my life. It was really a huge blow. For most of my life I hated them. It was too much to take in at once."
Warsaw was once home to the largest Jewish community in the world after New York. But 90% of Poland's Jews were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The majority of those who survived decided to emigrate after suffering repression under the new communist authorities. But since the collapse of communism in 1989 people have felt free to talk about Jewish life and the country's Jewish community is undergoing a revival. Many Poles were brought up as Catholics and only later discovered they were really Jewish or had Jewish ancestors.
Russian ambassador 'not surprised' Poland is blocking EU accord
By Hala Stevenson,WNS Russia Correspondent
MOSCOW - The European Union should not be surprised that Poland has become a stumbling block to a new EU-Russia accord, Russia's ambassador to the European Union said on Monday. "There is truly a need for consensus here, and it has been blocked by Poland. But I can't say that it came as a surprise," Vladimir Chizhov said in comments on the Rossiya television station. "We warned our partners in the EU about the difficulties the EU expansion of two years ago might bring," he said. "We wish success to our partners in this problem."
Poland announced on Monday that it would use its veto against the launch of negotiations on a new EU-Russian partnership agreement until there is a "clear political signal" from Moscow that it will accept Warsaw's demands on trade and energy. Poland is taking a tough line to pressure Moscow to ratify an international energy charter and lift its embargoes on Polish meat and plant products.
The 24 other EU member states are hoping to formulate an initial position on a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Moscow ahead of a European Union-Russia summit on November 24 in Helsinki. Russia won't lift its embargo on certain Polish foodstuffs until veterinary services there put an end to continued "violations", a Russian food security official said in Moscow on Monday.
Airbus A380 to take off for round-the-world test flight
By Shirlom LeStout,WNS France Correspondent
TOULOUSE - The Airbus A380 will take off from France on Monday for a round-the-world test mission, in the final hurdle before the superjumbo becomes the largest passenger plane in service. The A380 will leave the southern French city of Toulouse at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) for Singapore in the first of seven stops in Asia, an Airbus official told AFP. The crew will then touch down in Australia, South Africa and Canada during the 17-day round of technical tests. On-board engineers and certified test pilots will put the plane through its paces under simulated commercial conditions, including test landings at key airports, refueling practices and maintenance work.
The 150 hours of flying, which are expected to be the last major tests before approval from regulators next month, come at a difficult time for Airbus amid a hailstorm of bad publicity for its star project. Airbus has been forced to push back its timetable for deliveries of the A380 three times because of problems encountered when wiring the cabins, with delays now estimated at about two years. US mail group FedEx announced on November 7 it had cancelled an order for 10 cargo versions of the A380 because of delays to deliveries of the aircraft. Its competitor Boeing, however, has gone from strength-to-strength on the back of buoyant demand for its 787 Dreamliner jet.
The flight to Singapore on Monday will carry pilots from European and US certification bodies, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration, who will be on board to monitor the aircraft. It is capable of carrying 555-840 passengers depending on the seating lay-out chosen by the airline. The A380 is forecast to enter service in the second half of next year with Singapore Airlines, which has ordered 10 of the planes. Sixteen airlines have placed a total of 149 firm orders.
Britain's top cop to be cleared over Brazilian shooting: report
By Tarry Ben,WNS UK Correspondent
LONDON - Britain's most senior policeman is to be cleared by a report out this week into the death of a Brazilian man mistakenly shot on suspicion of being a suicide bomber, The Sunday Times said. The newspaper quoted unnamed "senior sources" at London's Metropolitan Police as saying Commissioner Sir Ian Blair is "in the clear" over claims he lied to the public after Jean Charles De Menezes' death on July 22 last year. British police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) opened an inquiry into Blair following a complaint from the dead man's family, who accused him of a cover-up and called for him to resign.
Blair said he was not aware that De Menezes was not a suicide bomber until 24 hours after the fatality, at Stockwell Underground train station in south London. According to The Sunday Times, the IPCC is to deliver its "Stockwell Two" report this week and Blair will be exonerated of breaking the senior police officers' code of conduct. The IPCC completed a separate probe into the circumstances surrounding the 27-year-old electrician's death - "Stockwell One" - but prosecutors said in July that no officers involved in the shooting would face criminal charges. Instead, they charged the Metropolitan Police as a whole under health and safety laws for failing to provide for the health, safety and welfare of De Menezes.
The case is currently ongoing. De Menezes' death came a day after an alleged failed attempt to replicate the suicide attacks on London's public transport system two weeks earlier that killed the four Islamist extremists and 52 innocent commuters.
Thousands pay final homage to former Turkish PM Ecevit
By Christopher Luke,WNS Turkey Correspondent
ANKARA - Tens of thousands have thronged the streets of Ankara for a final farewell to former prime minister Bulent Ecevit, widely admired here for a five-decade political career of unblemished honesty, but best remembered for ordering Turkish troops to Cyprus in 1974. An estimated 20,000 people were packed into the courtyard of the Kocatepe Mosque, Ankara's biggest, and tens of thousands more were in the surrounding streets Saturday, closed to traffic for the day.
The crowd briefly broke into boos and pro-secular chants of protest as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ministers of his Islamist-rooted government arrived at the mosque where Turkey's entire political class, from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on down were gathered. Present also were former presidents Suleyman Demirel, Ecevit's arch-rival for four decades, and Kenan Evren, the former general who seized power in a 1980 coup and sent both Ecevit and Demirel to jail. Turkish Cyprus' former and current presidents, Rauf Denktas and Mehmet Ali Talat, attended in memory of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus that Ecevit ordered in response to a coup by ultranationalist Greek Cypriots aiming to unite the island with Greece.
After the ceremony at the mosque, Ecevit was to be buried with full state honours at the national cemetery in a western Ankara suburb. Parliament enacted a special law this week to allow the ceremony, normally reserved for former heads of state, to be held for the five-time former premier. Early Saturday, in the first of several ceremonies, Ecevit's body was sent off with military honours from the GATA military medical academy hospital where he died last weekend at 81 after a five-and-a-half-month coma caused by a cerebral haemorrhage.
US, Russia announce long-awaited WTO deal
By John Davis,WNS US Business Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The US and Russian governments said Friday they had reached a pact to permit Moscow finally to join the World Trade Organisation after 12 years of often stormy negotiations. The bilateral deal should be signed at an Asia-Pacific summit in Vietnam next week, both sides said, in a step that should lead to far-reaching liberalisation of Russia's fast-growing economy. "We have an agreement in principle and are finalizing the details," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a statement, calling the deal "an important step in Russia attaining membership in the WTO". She said she hoped to sign the agreement with Russian Economic Development Minister German Gref next week in Hanoi, on the margins of a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries.
Both US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to attend the APEC summit in the Vietnamese capital on November 18-19. "Both sides have agreed on all principal conditions for this agreement," Gref's ministry affirmed in a statement issued in Moscow. "Both delegations are currently holding internal consultations in order to ensure the signing of a bilateral agreement on market access during the APEC summit in Hanoi." The main outstanding question in the bilateral talks revolved around US meat imports to Russia. US negotiators also pressed hard on intellectual property protections and access to Russian financial services markets. But Moscow had often complained that the deal was being held up by political objections in Washington, after stinging attacks by Vice President Dick Cheney on Putin's political and energy policies. And the Democrats' triumphant return to control of the US Congress in elections Tuesday could complicate efforts by American businesses to share in the fruits of Russia's WTO accession.
Russia is the only major world economy that is not yet a part of the WTO, and it needs the bilateral support of the United States before it can accede to the 149-member club. Russia has been trying since 1994 to join first the WTO's precursor, the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), and then the WTO. Schwab said the hard-fought bilateral deal was "a clear indication of Russia's efforts to participate fully in and benefit from the rules-based global trading system". US industry welcomed the deal. Frank Vargo, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said it would boost US exports to Russia, which last year enjoyed an 11-billion-dollar trade surplus over the United States. "The United States and Russia are the only two continental, ocean-to-ocean economies in the world and a lot of the technology and equipment US companies have designed for our huge economy will find a ready market in Russia as their economy moves forward," Vargo said.
France's Chirac honours De Gaulle
By Henry Mark,
WNS Paris Correspondent
PARIS - French President Jacques Chirac has laid the first brick of a new memorial to former leader Charles de Gaulle on the 36th anniversary of his death. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and other ministers also attended. The 15m-euro (£10m) memorial complex in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises in north-eastern France, where De Gaulle is buried, is expected to open in 2008. Gen De Gaulle was the leader of Free France during World War II and the main architect of the Fifth Republic.
"The more time passes, the more Gen De Gaulle's stature grows," Mr Chirac said. "He dominates our history. He represents France at its best." Correspondents say the battle over the late leader's legacy is fuelling rivalries in the 2007 presidential race. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who was absent from the ceremony, is expected to represent the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). He has sought to mark his independence from Mr Chirac and other Gaullists, they say. The prime minister and Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie are seen as heirs to Gen De Gaulle's political legacy, correspondents note - but have yet to rule out their candidacy.
Royal battles for nomination
By Christine Shubert,WNS France Bureau Chief
PARIS - She may have stumbled during the latest test, but Segolene Royal still remains the favourite to be top of the class at the end of term. The frontrunner to win the nomination as Socialist candidate in the presidential election was judged by some to have been less assured than her two rivals in Tuesday night's final TV debate. "Royal masters foreign languages badly", read the headline in the free newspaper 20 Minutes. The paper described the likely Socialist presidential candidate as vague and lightweight on international affairs. Several times, it said, the more experienced Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn were like professors to Royal's "average student". The differences were certainly apparent. By saying "we must talk to everyone" in the Middle East, Segolene Royal favoured a direct dialogue with Hamas. Mr Fabius and Mr Strauss-Kahn spelled out their reservations. They had no objection to Iran developing its nuclear capability for civil purposes only, whereas Ms Royal opposed all nuclear activity by Tehran. They were either for or against Turkish entry to the EU. She repeated that the French people should decide one day in a referendum. When Socialist party members vote next week to choose their presidential candidate, Tuesday's debate will probably be forgotten. Overall, Segolene Royal is seen as having stood up reasonably well to her competitors.
By Christopher Luke,
