China's new attack on Google...[ 773 ]

Chinese media launches new attack on Google

Ben Blanchard and Melanie Lee

BEIJING/SHANGHAI

A man cycles past a Google logo in front of its China headquarters building in Beijing March 21, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Christina Hu

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters)Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:10am EDT -

China's state-run Xinhua news agency launched a new broadside against Google Inc on Monday, saying in an angry commentary that the company had reneged on promises to abide by Chinese law.

Speculation is swirling that Google will soon announce a decision to pull out of China, or at least shut down its Chinese search engine.

The Financial Times, citing a person familiar with the situation, said the company could say on Monday that it will close its Chinese search engine.

Google has not formally unveiled any such plans.

Two months since Google said it would no longer agree to abide by Beijing's censorship rules even if that meant shutting its Google.cn site, some Chinese Internet users and state media are baying for the company to pull out.

Xinhua, in a signed commentary, said Google had promised when it entered the Chinese market to filter its search engine for "harmful content," in accordance with the law.

"Now Google suddenly wants to break its promise, and if it's not satisfied it will criticize China for a worsening of the investment environment," Xinhua said.

"This is entirely unreasonable. What has changed is not China's investment environment. It is Google itself."

The burst of angry Chinese comments suggested that, in spite of the widespread popularity of Google amongst educated Chinese, the government is steering state-run media and websites to lump the company together with other recent disputes with Washington that have stirred nationalist rancor in China.

"Get the hell out," wrote one user on the website of the nationalist tabloid the Global Times (www.huanqiu.com), in remarks echoed by other readers.

"Ha ha, I'm going to buy firecrackers to celebrate!" wrote another, in anticipation of the company confirming its departure from the online search market.

CULTURAL IMPERIALISM

Joseph Cheng, a City University of Hong Kong politics professor, said China's ruling Communist Party was deploying nationalism to stifle debate about censorship.

"The criticism of cultural exports, or cultural imperialism, is a kind of defense to justify the Chinese authorities' censorship controls," said Cheng.

"In dealing with the American government, the Chinese authorities will try to emphasize that this is only a commercial dispute and has nothing to do with Sino-American relations."

A Global Times editorial cited online surveys as showing 80 percent of respondents said they could not care less if Google withdrew from China, the world's largest Internet market with an estimated 384 million users.

Though Google has remained mum on the progress of talks, the firm's chief executive said earlier this month that an outcome is expected "soon."

The Google case has spread beyond censorship and hacking and has become a diplomatic knot in Sino-U.S. relations, already being challenged by spats over Taiwan, Tibet and the value of the Chinese currency.

The United States is studying whether it can legally challenge Chinese Internet restrictions, a top U.S. trade official said recently.

BLOW TO INNOVATION?

Analysts said if Google withdrew from China, the biggest losers would be its millions of Internet users.

With two research and development centres in China, hundreds of sales staff and engineers working on the Google Android platform and other initiatives, analysts said all may come to a halt if Google decides on a pull out.

"This is not a good thing for Chinese netizens because Google has been the leader in innovation in the search engine field," said Cao Junbo, chief analyst with iResearch, a Beijing-based research firm specializing in technology matters.

Currently, Google offers Google Maps, Gmail and free music downloads to Chinese users, all of which could be in jeopardy if the company leaves.

Even Google's mobile platform Android is not safe, as Google products such as search which are embedded into the platform will stop working if Google withdraws, making the platform less desirable to consumers, analysts said.

Google's withdrawal will open up China's $1 billion search market to more local firms, Cao said.

The biggest beneficiary will be domestic search leader Baidu Inc, which already has a sophisticated search advertising display system and a robust sales and customer support team.

Others such as Tencent Holdings, China's most valuable Internet company, may also benefit as the firm runs the country's largest instant messaging platform that it could tap into to expand its search network.

(Additional reporting by Stefanie McIntyre in Hong Kong)

Kaliningrad,up to 5,000 people gathered [ 772 ]

Russians hold ‘day of wrath’ against Putin

"THE OBSERVER ", KALININGRAD, RUSSIA
Monday, Mar 22, 2010,

Police scuffle with protesters during a rally in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday. Media reports said thousands of people acrioss Russia protested against Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s government and the fall of living standards since the economic crisis. About 50 rallies were organized during the “Day of Wrath.” PHOTO: EPA

Thousands of people across Russia took to the streets on Saturday demanding the resignation of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in the largest show of discontent since he came to power more than a decade ago.

Opposition movements called the nationwide “Day of Wrath” to express growing discontent at falling living standards following years of oil-fueled growth. The protests followed weeks of sustained demonstrations across Russia that have riled a leadership that does not forgive displays of unrest.

Cries of “Freedom” and “Putin resign” filled the main square in Kaliningrad, where up to 5,000 people gathered in pouring rain. The Baltic territory, which is nestled between Poland and Lithuania and separated from the Russian mainland, has been the site of some of the largest protests to date.

“We want the government to start treating us like people, not like slaves,” said Kirill, a 22-year-old student.

Protesters called for free elections and complained about widespread corruption, high unemployment and rising prices.

Russia’s first major anti-Putin demonstration was held in Kaliningrad on Jan. 30, drawing 12,000 people and shocking local leaders and the Kremlin.

“It really surprised us,” said Konstantin Polyakov, deputy head of the regional parliament and member of the ruling United Russia party. “We didn’t think so many people would turn out, to be honest.”

The Kremlin was obviously shaken, dispatching a high-level delegation to the Baltic exclave and firing its Kaliningrad adviser, Oleg Matveichev.

Saturday’s protest had been banned and opposition leaders withdrew calls for an organized demonstration, fearing violence. Several thousand showed up anyway, organizing through the Internet and word of mouth.

“The general public in the regions is beginning to recognize that it is Putin who is actually to blame for various troubles they have — increased cost of living, communal tariffs, taxes and no growth in real wages,” said Vladimir Milov, a co-leader of Solidarity, an umbrella opposition movement.

Regional and local elections held on March 14 appear to ­support that theory. United Russia, the party created with the sole purpose of supporting Putin’s rule garnered unprecedentedly low results, losing its majority in four of eight regions and giving up the mayorship of Irkutsk, Siberia’s largest city, to a Communist candidate who took 62 percent of the vote.

In Kaliningrad, protesters wore badges criticizing United Russia and held aloft mandarins, the fruit that has come to symbolize the region’s unpopular governor, Georgy Boos, a Muscovite appointed by Putin.

Few, even those in opposition, believe the Putin government will fall.

“It will take time,” Milov said. “But just two years ago it would have been impossible to imagine mass demonstrations making political demands like the resignation of Putin’s government.”

A poll this month by Russia’s Public Opinion Foundation found that 29 percent of Russians were ready to take part in protests, up from 21 percent last month.

More than 1,000 people turned out on Saturday in the port of Vladivostok, where discontent has steadily grown since the government imposed a tax on imported cars. About 500 people rallied in Irkutsk and St Petersburg.

Riot police broke up an unsanctioned rally in Moscow violently and arrested 50 activists. Authorities also shut down a Web site set up for the “Day of Wrath” and in the northern city of Arkhangelsk an opposition leader was arrested and charged with theft.
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Israel after troops kill 4 Palestinians[ 771 ]

Palestinians warn Israel after troops kill 4

Ali Sawafta

NABLUS, West Bank

Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:07pm EDT

Palestinians carry the bodies of Mohammed and Salah Qawareek during their funeral in the West Bank village of Awarta near Nablus March 21, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Ammar Awad

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank were buried on Sunday following violence that has exacerbated growing tensions.

The Israeli army shot dead two 19-year-old men who it said had tried to stab a soldier on patrol near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Two youths were also shot on Saturday.

Palestinian officials accused Israel of escalating tensions already running high over moves which Palestinians believe aim to deepen Israeli control over the territory.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib called for an independent investigation into the killing of cousins Mohammed Qawariq and Saleh Qawariq on Sunday, citing witness accounts they had been shot only after being arrested.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior figure in the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said they had been killed in "cold blood": "Nobody can imagine that we can stand with our hands tied vis-a-vis what is happening," Aloul told around 1,500 mourners at their funeral in Awarta, south of Nablus.

One of the bodies was wrapped in a yellow Fatah flag and the other in the green flag of the rival Hamas Islamist movement.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said Israel had responded to international efforts to revive peace talks "with more escalation" that thwarted attempts to get negotiations going.

Tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have risen in recent weeks, with Palestinians staging more protests over Israeli policies they believe aim to retain land where the Palestinians want to establish a state. The United States is trying to relaunch peace negotiations between the two sides.

Many of the protests have turned violent, with Palestinians throwing rocks at soldiers who fire rubber bullets and tear gas.

This though was the bloodiest 24 hours for Palestinians in the West Bank for more than a year. Two youths killed by Israeli forces on Saturday were also buried in the nearby village of Iraq Burin, just a few kilometers (miles) from Awarta.

MEDICS SAY LIVE AMMUNITION USED

Palestinian medics said Mohammed Kaddous, 16, and Osaid Kaddous, 17, were killed by gunfire during a confrontation on Saturday between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths.

Ahmad Hammad, a Nablus doctor, showed a Reuters journalist a photograph of what he said was a bullet entry wound in Mohammed Kaddous's chest and an exit wound in his back.

Hamid al-Masri, a doctor who treated Osaid Kaddous, presented an X-ray which he said showed a metal bullet lodged in his brain.

The Israeli army, which said it was responding to people throwing stones, denied using live rounds, only rubber bullets.

Locals said the youths, who were not closely related despite their similar names, had not been taking part in the protest.

Villagers in Iraq Burin have been staging protests over Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to farmland that lies near the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. Jewish residents there say they are anxious to expand their land holdings rapidly.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad strongly condemned "the Israeli military escalation" that had led to the four deaths, according to a statement issued by his office.

He warned that Israel was endangering the West Bank stability which his administration has sought to build.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Erika Solomon in Ramallah; Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Alastair Macdonald and Jon Hemming)

Iceland Volcano roaring and erupts..[ 770 ]

Iceland Fears 2nd, Even Larger Volcanic Eruption

Volcano erupts in Iceland, hundreds evacuated; scientists wary of larger eruption

By GUDJON HELGASON and PAISLEY DODDS Associated Press Writers
REYKJAVIK, Iceland March 21, 2010 (AP)

The Associated Press

This frame grab from APTN shows the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier as it begins erupting...

This frame grab from APTN shows the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier as it begins erupting early Sunday morning March 21, 2010. Fearing flooding from the glacier melt, authorities evacuated some 400 people in the area 100 miles southeast of Reykjavik as a precaution but no damage or injuries have been reported. The last time the volcano erupted was in the 1820s.

(APTN/AP Photo)

A volcano in southern Iceland has erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, raising concerns that it could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at a volatile volcano nearby.

The eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) volcano, located near a glacier of the same name, shot ash and molten lava into the air but scientists called it mostly peaceful. It occurred just before midnight Saturday (2000 EDT, 8 p.m. EDT) at a fissure on a slope — rather than at the volcano's summit — so scientists said there was no imminent danger that the glacier would melt and flood the area.

TV footage showed lava flowing along the fissure, and many flights were canceled due to the threat of airborne volcanic ash. After an aerial survey Sunday, scientists concluded the eruption struck near the glacier in an area that had no ice.

"This is the best possible place for an eruption," said Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland.

Nonetheless, officials sent phone messages to 450 people between the farming village of Hvolsvollur and the fishing village of Vik, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, urging them to evacuate immediately.

A state of emergency was declared although there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Evacuation centers were set up near the town of Hella, but many people returned to their homes later Sunday. The most immediate threat was to livestock because of the caustic gases the eruption released.

"We had to leave all our animals behind," Eli Ragnarsdottir, a 47-year-old farmer, told RUV, Iceland's national broadcaster from an evacuation center. "We got a call and a text message ... and we just went."

Scientists say it is difficult to predict what comes next. Like earthquakes, it is hard to predict the exact timing of volcanic eruptions.

"It could stop tomorrow, it could last for weeks or months. We cannot say at this stage," Gudmundsson said.

The Greek fight for Idependence [ 769 ]

Greek War of Independence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greek War of Independence
Part of Wars of Independence
Theodoros Vryzakis (oil painting, 1849) illustrates Bishop Germanos of old Patras blessing the Greek banner at Agia Lavra on the outset of the national revolt against the Turks on 25 March 1821.
Result Greek victory, establishment of the Kingdom of Greece.

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution
Greek: Ελληνική Επανάσταση Elliniki Epanastasi; Ottoman: يونان عصياني Yunan İsyanı) was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829, with later assistance from several European powers, against the Ottoman Empire, who were assisted by their vassals, the Egyptian Khedivate and partly the Vilayet of Tunisia.

Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire, most of Greece came under Ottoman rule. During this time, there were numerous revolts by Greeks attempting to gain independence. In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities and Constantinople. The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese in action and on 17 March 1821 the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Turks and by October 1821 the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had captured Tripolitsa. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece, which would soon be suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.

Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to a virtual civil war. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of Messolonghi—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been retaken.

Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at Navarino. Following a week long standoff, a battle began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. With the help of a French expeditionary force, the Greeks drove the Turks out of the Peloponnese and proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in May 1832.

The Revolution is celebrated on 25 March by the modern Greek state, which is a national day.