Tuvalu recognizes South Ossetia as independent state

TSKHINVALI (BNO NEWS) -- The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu on Friday officially recognized the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia, a move likely to damage relationships with Georgia.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Willy Telavi and South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity signed a joint statement on Friday morning during a meeting in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, to formalize the recognition. Kokoity praised Telavi for the move, calling it a 'courageous and decisive' step.

"Today we signed an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations between South Ossetia and the state of Tuvalu," Kokoity said following the meeting. "I'm happy about this occasion and would like to say that the international recognition of South Ossetia is irreversible."

South Ossetia, along with neighboring Abkhazia, consider themselves independent nations but were previously only recognized by Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Most of the international community still considers the region part of Georgia, and Tuvalu's recognition of South Ossetia is expected to anger Georgia.

Tuvalu is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean about midway between Hawaii and Australia. According to the most recent estimate in July, Tuvalu has a population of approximately 10,500 and is one of the smallest countries in the world.

"For the Republic of South Ossetia this means the recognition of another State," South Ossetian Foreign Minister Murat Dzhioyev said. "Tuvalu is a member of the United Nations, an equal member of the international community and to South Ossetia it does not matter whether it has a large or small state territory. The main thing is that another state has recognized the Republic of South Ossetia as an existing independent state."

Dzhioyev said it will reach out to other countries in the near future to convince them to recognize South Ossetia. "We are building a modern democratic state and we are ready today to develop friendly relations with all countries in the world," he added.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states two weeks after a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008. Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control after which Russia deployed its troops to protect the disputed area.

Hundreds of Russian, Georgian, South Ossetian and Abkhazian soldiers were killed during the violent conflict, as well as more than 160 civilians.

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/tuvalu-recognizes-south-ossetia-as-independent-state.html.

Japan to shut down crippled Fukushima nuclear plant by end of 2011

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- Japenese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the United Nations' (UN) General Assembly on Friday that the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will be fully shut down by the end of the year.

Noda said Japan was making steady progress in stabilizing the nuclear power plant damaged by the massive earthquake and catastrophic tsunami which hit the country in March, but a number of challenges remain, including the removal of debris and restoring the livelihoods of people in the affected region.

At the Assembly's general debate in New York, Noda said the country was currently focusing on efforts to move up the existing target period to achieve a cold shutdown of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of the year.

"Although some countries, regrettably, are still imposing undue restrictions on imports from Japan, our Government will continue to provide prompt and accurate information on this matter, with transparency," Noda stated, requesting that all countries "make sound judgements based upon scientific evidence."

In addition, the Japanese Prime Minister announced that the country would hold an international conference next year in the Tohoku region that was struck by the earthquake and tsunami in an effort to boost international cooperation on responding to natural disasters.

The country will also co-host with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a second international conference next year to share the results of the overall assessment of the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, as a contribution to the various measures taken by the international community to raise the standards of nuclear energy safety.

Noda also stated that Japan is pursuing a growth path that promotes low-carbon technologies and a transition to a greener economy. "The key to achieving these goals is technological innovation in the areas of renewable energy, energy saving and clean use of fossil fuels," Noda said, also stating that the first lesson from Japan's recent tragedy is the importance of international cooperation in disaster risk reduction.

On the UN's peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Noda said Japan was ready to support the mission and announced that his country is preparing to send military officers to serve in it, as well as a Japanese military engineering unit.

On the drought-induced humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa, Noda said that Japan had already disbursed about $100 million in assistance. He also announced that Japan will support reforms and democratization efforts in North Africa and the Middle East, saying Tokyo will provide the equivalent of $1 billion in loans to fund infrastructure and industrial development projects as a way of boosting employment and human resource development.

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/japan-to-shut-down-crippled-fukushima-nuclear-plant-by-end-of-2011.html.

Out-of-control satellite slows rate of descent as it closes in on Earth

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- An out-of-control U.S. satellite slowed its rate of descent on Friday as it neared the Earth's atmosphere where it will partly burn up before crashing somewhere on the planet, NASA said. Impact is expected late Friday or early Saturday.

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere on late Friday evening or early Saturday morning U.S. time, almost six years after the end of its productive scientific life. Although the spacecraft will break into pieces during re-entry, not all of it will burn up in the atmosphere.

As of 7 p.m. EDT on Friday, the orbit of UARS was 90 miles by 95 miles (145 kilometers by 150 kilometers). Its rate of descent had slowed earlier on Friday, according to NASA, which said the satellite's orientation or configuration had apparently changed.

"During that time period (when it re-enters the atmosphere), the satellite will be passing over Canada, Africa and Australia, as well as vast areas of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans," NASA said in a Friday update. "There is a low probability any debris that survives re-entry will land in the United States, but the possibility cannot be discounted because of this changing rate of descent."

Earlier this week, NASA repeatedly said the satellite's debris was not expected to impact North America, but the changed rate of descent forced the agency to retract those statements. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration later issued a warning to pilots.

"Aircraft are advised that a potential hazard may occur due to reentry of satellite UARS into the Earth's atmosphere," a special Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) said. "FAA is working with the Department of Defense and NASA to ensure the most current re-entry information is provided to operators as quickly as possible. Further NOTAMs will be issued if specific information becomes available indicating a United States airspace impact."

It added: "In the interest of flight safety, it is critical that all pilots/flight crew members report any observed falling space debris to the appropriate ATC (Air Traffic Control) facility and include position, altitude, time, and direction of debris observed."

Earlier on Friday, a Chinese expert said a debris tracker will be able to give a fairly accurate prediction where debris will fall about two hours before it hits Earth, giving any residents some time to evacuate. Pang Zhihao, a researcher from the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, said it is most likely that the debris will fall into the ocean or unpopulated areas.

NASA previously said the risk to public safety or property is extremely small, but a small chance remains that debris could impact a populated area. It is estimated some 26 pieces, the heaviest weighing around 350 pounds (158 kilograms), will survive the re-entry and fall to Earth.

"It is impossible to pinpoint just where in that zone the debris will land, but NASA estimates the debris footprint will be about 500 miles (804 kilometers) long," the agency said earlier. It added that, since the beginning of the Space Age in the late-1950s, there have been no confirmed reports of an injury resulting from re-entering space objects.

One of the reasons why it is unknown where the debris will crash is because the satellite can skip and skitter on the Earth's atmosphere, making it difficult to predict a time of re-entry. The debris will also roll and rotate as it goes down due to pieces sticking out, making it harder to project a precise course.

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/out-of-control-satellite-slows-rate-of-descent-as-it-closes-in-on-earth.html.

UN receives Palestine's bid to become Member State

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Friday officially received an application from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in order for Palestine to become a UN Member State.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters in New York received the application from Abbas. Later in the afternoon, Ban submitted the application to the President of the Security Council, as per the provisions of the UN Charter.

"Palestine is being reborn," Abbas told the UN General Assembly's annual general debate as Palestine, which currently has observer status at the UN, applies for full membership of the UN on the basis of the so-called June 4, 1967 borders.

"I call upon Mr. Secretary-General to expedite transmittal of our request to the Security Council, and I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favor of our full membership," Abbas said, hoping it did not have to wait long for the application to be approved. "I also appeal to the States that have not yet done so to recognize the State of Palestine."

Any application is considered by the Council, which decides whether or not to recommend admission to the 193-member General Assembly, which has to adopt a resolution for the admission of any new Member State.

During his address to the Assembly, Abbas also said that Israeli Government policies were responsible "for the continued failure of the successive international attempts to salvage the peace process."

In addition, he cited the construction of settlements in the West Bank, the refusal of permits for Palestinians to build in East Jerusalem, and the extensive number of military checkpoints limiting Palestinian movement and the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip as examples of such policies.

"All of these actions taken by Israel in our country are unilateral actions and are not based on any earlier agreements. Indeed, what we witness is a selective application of the agreements aimed at perpetuating the occupation," Abbas stated.

Over the past two years, Abbas went on, Palestinian authorities have worked hard to implement a program of building up State institutions, as well as strengthening civil society, increasing government accountability and promoting the participation of women in public life.

Meanwhile, the Middle East Quartet – a diplomatic grouping bringing together the UN, the European Union, Russia and the United States – is scheduled to hold a meeting at UN Headquarters to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/un-receives-palestines-bid-to-become-member-state.html.

Ouattara says reconciliation top priority

Sept. 23, 2011

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The Ivorian people must pursue a path of reconciliation as they struggle to emerge from a near civil war, the country's president told the United Nations.

Thousands were killed and many more were displaced following protracted political conflict in Ivory Coast.

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo refused to step down after the international community recognized rival Alassane Ouattara as the winner of a November election. The conflict that followed pushed the West African nation to the brink of civil war.

Ouattara told the U.N. General Assembly that peace in his country depended on transparent justice, economic growth and sustained stability.

Reconciliation in his country, he said, was a national priority.

"Living together is the cornerstone of my government's program," he said.

Human Rights Watch blamed supporters of Gbagbo, arrested in April, for last week's attacks on Ivorian villages near the Liberian border. Daniel Bekele, African director at the group, said the armed groups appeared to be bent on making a situation exacerbated by the post-election crisis worse for the Ivorian people.

Ouattara said, with the support of the United Nations, his country aimed to hold parliamentary elections before the end of the year. That, he said, would lead to an Ivory Coast "reconciled with itself and other nations."

Ouattara had asked the International Criminal Court to examine post-election violence. Rights groups, however, blame both sides for committing atrocities during the political conflict.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/23/Ouattara-says-reconciliation-top-priority/UPI-22651316792221/.

Mecca for the rich: Islam's holiest site 'turning into Vegas'

SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2011
JEROME TAYLOR

Historic and culturally important landmarks are being destroyed to make way for luxury hotels and malls, reports Jerome Taylor

Behind closed doors – in places where the religious police cannot listen in – residents of Mecca are beginning to refer to their city as Las Vegas and the moniker is not a compliment.

Over the past 10 years the holiest site in Islam has undergone a huge transformation, one that has divided opinion among Muslims all over the world.

Once a dusty desert town struggling to cope with the ever-increasing number of pilgrims arriving for the annual Hajj, the city now soars above its surroundings with a glittering array of skyscrapers, shopping malls and luxury hotels.

To the al-Saud monarchy, Mecca is their vision of the future – a steel and concrete metropolis built on the proceeds of enormous oil wealth that showcases their national pride.

Yet growing numbers of citizens, particularly those living in the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, have looked on aghast as the nation's archaeological heritage is trampled under a construction mania backed by hardline clerics who preach against the preservation of their own heritage. Mecca, once a place where the Prophet Mohamed insisted all Muslims would be equal, has become a playground for the rich, critics say, where naked capitalism has usurped spirituality as the city's raison d'être.

Few are willing to discuss their fears openly because of the risks associated with criticizing official policy in the authoritarian kingdom. And, with the exceptions of Turkey and Iran, fellow Muslim nations have largely held their tongues for fear of diplomatic fallout and restrictions on their citizens' pilgrimage visas. Western archaeologists are silent out of fear that the few sites they are allowed access to will be closed to them.

But a number of prominent Saudi archaeologists and historians are speaking up in the belief that the opportunity to save Saudi Arabia's remaining historical sites is closing fast.

"No one has the balls to stand up and condemn this cultural vandalism," says Dr Irfan al-Alawi who, as executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, has fought in vain to protect his country's historical sites. "We have already lost 400-500 sites. I just hope it's not too late to turn things around."

Sami Angawi, a renowned Saudi expert on the region's Islamic architecture, is equally concerned. "This is an absolute contradiction to the nature of Mecca and the sacredness of the house of God," he told the Reuters news agency earlier this year. "Both [Mecca and Medina] are historically almost finished. You do not find anything except skyscrapers."

Dr Alawi's most pressing concern is the planned £690m expansion of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred site in Islam which contains the Kaaba – the black stone cube built by Ibrahim (Abraham) that Muslims face when they pray.

Construction officially began earlier this month with the country's Justice Minister, Mohammed al-Eissa, exclaiming that the project would respect "the sacredness and glory of the location, which calls for the highest care and attention of the servants or Islam and Muslims".

The 400,000 square meter development is being built to accommodate an extra 1.2 million pilgrims each year and will turn the Grand Mosque into the largest religious structure in the world. But the Islamic Heritage Foundation has compiled a list of key historical sites that they believe are now at risk from the ongoing development of Mecca, including the old Ottoman and Abbasi sections of the Grand Mosque, the house where the Prophet Mohamed was born and the house where his paternal uncle Hamza grew up.

There is little argument that Mecca and Medina desperately need infrastructure development. Twelve million pilgrims visit the cities every year with the numbers expected to increase to 17 million by 2025.

But critics fear that the desire to expand the pilgrimage sites has allowed the authorities to ride roughshod over the area's cultural heritage. The Washington-based Gulf Institute estimates that 95 per cent of Mecca's millennium-old buildings have been demolished in the past two decades alone.

The destruction has been aided by Wahabism, the austere interpretation of Islam that has served as the kingdom's official religion ever since the al-Sauds rose to power across the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century.

In the eyes of Wahabis, historical sites and shrines encourage "shirq" – the sin of idolatry or polytheism – and should be destroyed. When the al-Saud tribes swept through Mecca in the 1920s, the first thing they did was lay waste to cemeteries holding many of Islam's important figures. They have been destroying the country's heritage ever since. Of the three sites the Saudis have allowed the UN to designate World Heritage Sites, none are related to Islam.

Those circling the Kaaba only need to look skywards to see the latest example of the Saudi monarchy's insatiable appetite for architectural bling. At 1,972ft, the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, opened earlier this year, soars over the surrounding Grand Mosque, part of an enormous development of skyscrapers that will house five-star hotels for the minority of pilgrims rich enough to afford them.

To build the skyscraper city, the authorities dynamited an entire mountain and the Ottoman era Ajyad Fortress that lay on top of it. At the other end of the Grand Mosque complex, the house of the Prophet's first wife Khadijah has been turned into a toilet block. The fate of the house he was born in is uncertain. Also planned for demolition are the Grand Mosque's Ottoman columns which dare to contain the names of the Prophet's companions, something hardline Wahabis detest.

For ordinary Meccans living in the mainly Ottoman-era town houses that make up much of what remains of the old city, development often means the loss of their family home.

Non-Muslims cannot visit Mecca and Medina, but The Independent was able to interview a number of citizens who expressed discontent over the way their town was changing. One young woman whose father recently had his house bulldozed described how her family was still waiting for compensation. "There was very little warning; they just came and told him that the house had to be bulldozed," she said.

Another Meccan added: "If a prince of a member of the royal family wants to extend his palace he just does it. No one talks about it in public though. There's such a climate of fear."

Dr Alawi hopes the international community will finally begin to wake up to what is happening in the cradle of Islam. "We would never allow someone to destroy the Pyramids, so why are we letting Islam's history disappear?"

Under Threat

Bayt al-Mawlid

When the Wahabis took Mecca in the 1920s they destroyed the dome on top of the house where the Prophet Mohammed was born. It was then used as a cattle market before being turned into a library after a campaign by Meccans. There are concerns that the expansion of the Grand Mosque will destroy it once more. The site has never been excavated by archaeologists.

Ottoman and Abasi columns of the Grand Mosque

Slated for demolition as part of the Grand Mosque expansion, these intricately carved columns date back to the 17th century and are the oldest surviving sections of Islam's holiest site. Much to the chagrin of Wahabis, they are inscribed with the names of the Prophet's companions. Ottomon Mecca is now rapidly disappearing

Al-Masjid al-Nawabi

For many years, hardline Wahabi clerics have had their sites set on the 15th century green dome that rests above the tomb holding the Prophet, Abu Bakr and Umar in Medina. The mosque is regarded as the second holiest site in Islam. Wahabis, however, believe marked graves are idolatrous. A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, endorsed by Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, stated that "the green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet's Masjid".

Jabal al-Nour

A mountain outside Mecca where Mohammed received his first Koranic revelations. The Prophet used to spend long spells in a cave called Hira. The cave is particularly popular among South Asian pilgrims who have carved steps up to its entrance and adorned the walls with graffiti. Religious hardliners are keen to dissuade pilgrims from congregating there and have mooted the idea of removing the steps and even destroying the mountain altogether.

Source: The Independent.
Link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/mecca-for-the-rich-islams-holiest-site-turning-into-vegas-2360114.html.

Hamas: Abbas ignored Palestinian aspirations

Friday 23/09/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Hamas said Friday that President Mahmoud Abbas' proposals to the United Nations failed to address Palestinians' aspirations, party spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.

The official told Ma'an that by recognizing Israel and seeking UN membership for a Palestinian state on 22 percent of historic Palestine, Abbas "decreased" Palestinians' rights.

"The solution is to go back to comprehensive national dialogue and to achieve reconciliation and unite the Palestinians," Barhoum said.

Abbas submitted a bid for full UN membership to UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday for a state on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, signed a reconciliation agreement with Abbas' Fatah party in May, but formation of a unity government has stalled over a leadership row.

The mood among the Palestinian leadership in the Gaza Strip contrasted starkly with the West Bank, where celebratory fireworks, loud cheers, whistles and applause erupted as Palestinians watched Abbas make the biggest speech of his presidency.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said earlier Friday that Palestinians should not beg for a state. Liberation of Palestinian land should come first, he said.

Without a guaranteed "right of return" to land lost in the 1948 war which led to the creation of the Jewish state, "what is happening at the United Nations harms the dignity of our Palestinian people", Haniyeh said.

The outcome and potential side-effects of Abbas's statehood bid are far from clear.

"He (referring to Abbas) depressed us, I was expecting more. I was expecting him to say that if peaceful resistance fails, there would be armed struggle," said Hakim Abu Karsh, a lawyer living in Gaza.

Another Gaza resident, Mohammad Antar, said that the speech was very emotional.

"The speech showed strong emotions, was convincing, strong. Palestinian people should react, locally and in the diaspora," he told Reuters.

Palestinians in Gaza, unlike their West Bank residents, gathered inside homes and cafes to watch Abbas speech.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said that despite the fact that Abbas' speech accurately described Palestinian suffering, it failed to provide the proper solutions.

"Abbas's speech was an emotional one that succeeded in describing Palestinian people's suffering but he failed in determining the solutions when he tied his going to the United Nations with negotiating with the Israeli occupation despite his stressing that negotiations have failed in the past," he said.

The United States has vowed to veto the move at the Security Council.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=422959.

Riot engulfs troubled French district in north

August 14, 2012

AMIENS, France (AP) — Months of tension between police and young people in a troubled district of northern France exploded on Tuesday, with dozens of youths facing off against riot officers in a night of violence. Seventeen officers were injured, a pre-school and public gym were torched, and at least three passing drivers in Amiens were dragged from their cars.

The immediate cause of the riots was unclear, but a standoff between police and people attending a memorial for a young man who died in a motorcycle accident may have been one trigger. Officials underlined that police were not involved in the death.

The eruption of violence shows how little relations have changed between police and youths in France's housing projects since nationwide riots in 2005 raged unchecked for nearly a month, leaving entire neighborhoods in flames in the far-flung suburbs.

The sister of the young man who died in the accident said it was impossible for people in her community to even speak with the police. "As soon as they see young people, it's to handcuff them or harass them," said Sabrina Hadji, 22. "The dialogue is completely broken."

Less than two weeks ago, the French government declared Amiens among 15 impoverished zones to receive more money and security, but many people remain frustrated at what they see as official indifference to their situations. Unemployment skews higher in northern France and among the country's youth.

At the height of the confrontation, 150 officers — both local and federal riot police — faced off against young men who fired buckshot and fireworks at them, skirmishing through the neighborhood in the city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Paris. There were no arrests.

"The confrontations were very, very violent," Amiens Mayor Gilles Dumailly told the French television network BFM. Dumailly said tensions had been building for months between police and the impoverished residents, whom he described as "people who are in some difficulty."

Anger was still running high when Interior Minister Manuel Valls arrived in the neighborhood Tuesday afternoon. A small group of people tried to push through Valls' security detail as he walked through the area, alternately booing him, cursing him and trying to speak to him.

One shouted out, "When are you going to speak to us?" before the minister ducked into a building to meet with the mayor, the head of the local prefecture, and Sabrina Hadji and her mother. Valls, who used to represent an impoverished area outside of Paris in Parliament, showed anger himself, expressing disbelief that police officers had been shot at.

"Shooting a police officer? Burning a school? And then questioning these forces? It's intolerable," he said at a news conference. "Nothing excuses shooting at police officers and burning public buildings."

While he took a tough line in saying that order had to be restored, he added that the residents of the neighborhood are the primary victims and said his door would always be open to them. Relations between police and youth in housing projects have been troubled for years, perhaps decades. Riots occasionally erupt, often in the hot nights of August, when France's rich and middle classes head off for long vacations but poor and immigrant families in the projects stay home.

Alain Bauer, a professor of criminology, said circumstances had only worsened since 2005. He said it was hard to predict what would happen after the Amiens violence, which he described as "a culmination of bitterness and tension."

"These are small events that stand apart unless they take on greater importance," he said. "It will take an in-depth reaction (from the government), responding to both criminal and social problems." The riots usually follow a pattern: Police target a kid speeding on a motorbike or doing something suspicious; the kid speeds or runs away to escape and dies or gets seriously injured in flight. The neighborhood rises up in anger and that night or the next, young people head out to burn cars, police stations or any building representing authority. Police often respond by coming in force with tear gas, further angering the local population.

Hadji, whose 20-year-old brother Nadir died in the motorcycle accident, said the violence was a bubbling up from long-simmering anger. She accused local police of provoking the riots by acting too aggressively when they asked for ID from people gathering at a memorial for her brother.

"The police in Amiens really, really, really hate the people in the northern part of Amiens," she said. "They consider us to be animals." Valls vehemently defended the behavior of police officers when he spoke to reporters, but the local government has asked for an investigation.

The local government said the riot involved about a hundred young men and began around 9 p.m. Monday, ending around 4 a.m. after federal reinforcements arrived. There had been smaller confrontations with police over the past week, including one involving a weekend traffic stop that some local residents thought was unnecessarily heavy-handed.

Until Monday night, the violence in Amiens had been on a smaller scale. By the time the latest confrontation was over, two school buildings had been burned, along with a dozen cars and trash cans used as flaming barricades. At least three bystanders were hurt when rioters yanked them from their cars, the local officials said.

"Public security is not just a priority but an obligation," French President Francois Hollande said Tuesday, speaking at a memorial for two gendarmes killed in June. "We owe it to the population, we owe it to the security forces."

In recent days, there has also been unrest in the southern city of Toulouse, where rival groups in two housing projects have been battling for a number of days. The violence marked the first major unrest under Hollande, who took office in May.

Unemployment stands at 12 percent in the Somme, the area in northern France of which Amiens is the governmental seat, compared with 10 percent nationwide. Among French ages 15-24, unemployment stands at 23.3 percent, according to the national statistics agency.

Associated Press writer Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris and video journalist Sohrab Monemi in Amiens also contributed.

Roma trapped in misery as France demolishes camps

August 15, 2012

GENNEVILLIERS, France (AP) — The camps weren't much to begin with: They had no electricity or running water. Grocery carts served as makeshift grills. Rats ran rampant and fleas gnawed on young and old alike.

But they were home — and they were better than the new reality for thousands of Gypsies who have been forced into hiding after France launched its latest campaign this month to drive them from their camps.

The last big sweep came in 2010, when France expelled Gypsies to Romania and Bulgaria. Then the European Commission imposed sanctions and thousands of French came out to protest in sympathy for the Gypsies, also known as the Roma.

This time, the Gypsies left quietly, gathering their belongings and heading into the woods with plans to re-emerge when the coast is clear. "Why did God even create us, if Gypsies are to live like this?" cried 35-year-old Babica, as bulldozers moved in to tear down the camp in Gennevilliers, on the outskirts of Paris. Like other Roma quoted in this story, he did not give his last name out of fear of arrest or deportation.

Most of the Gypsies have no plans to return to Romania, where their citizenship would at least allow them to educate their children and treat their illnesses. Amid a dismal economic environment across Europe, they say, begging in France is still more lucrative than trying to find work where there is none.

France has cast the most recent demolitions as necessary for public health and safety. It's hard to pinpoint how many camps were taken down. At least five around Paris were demolished and several hundred of their residents were ordered out; others came down in Lille and Lyon.

This time, France's Interior Ministry says, the camps were demolished in accordance with legal guidelines agreed upon with the European Union. "Respect for human dignity is a constant imperative of all public action, but the difficulties and local health risks posed by the unsanitary camps needed to be addressed," the Interior Ministry said. In no case, the government said, "did the removals take the form of collective expulsion, which is forbidden by law."

Mina Andreeva, spokeswoman for the European Commission, said the executive body is studying the situation. The Roma Forum, which has ties to the 47-member Council of Europe, condemned the evictions, saying they contradict "President (Francois) Hollande's commitment from his election campaign to not expel Roma families without proposing alternative accommodation." It's not clear whether France consulted any Roma before moving in on the camps.

Human Rights Watch said 240 Romanian Gypsies evicted from camps around Lyon in southern France left last week on a charter flight to Romania after accepting 300 euros for a "voluntary return." The French government has offered no hard numbers on how many Roma camps have come down, or how many Roma have been evicted. The government does not refer to the ethnic group by name, citing only "illicit encampments." Each Gypsy camp houses a couple dozen to hundreds of people, depending on the ancestral network.

At Gennevilliers, none of the Roma had much of an idea where they would sleep the night their camps came down. "The boys are out looking for land to sleep on tonight," said 24-year-old Senti, the first of his family to finish high school. "Tomorrow morning the bulldozers are coming to finish things off."

Across France in the southern town of Beziers, news reports said two Roma women were hit by a car and killed Tuesday night as they tried to reach a makeshift camp on the edge of a highway bypass after dark. The regional administration confirmed the accident to AP, but not the victims' identity.

According to Human Rights Watch, the estimated number of Eastern European Roma in France has remained steady for several years, at around 15,000, despite the expulsions. As EU citizens, Roma have the right to travel to France, but must get papers to work or live here in the long term, all but impossible even in the best economic times.

Few Roma speak more than a few words of French; most harbor a deep mistrust of legal authorities born of generations of discrimination. They come mostly to harvest crops or beg from tourists. They pay no taxes. The state offers them no medical care, education or basic services.

Discrimination against Roma goes back hundreds of years, culminating in the Nazi Holocaust that saw up to 25 percent of their population killed in concentration camps, according to the U.S. Holocaust Museum.

"Almost every family here is the family of a Holocaust survivor," said Michelle Kelso, a Roma expert with George Washington University who translated interviews at a Gypsy camps around Paris for The Associated Press. "Their grandparents were deported to camps in World War II."

Gypsies like Senti and his younger sister Venetia, who attended school until forced into marriage at age 17, once hoped to be a beacon of change for Gypsies. But they face the same obstacles of previous generations, including the unyielding social mores of their own community: suspicion of outsiders, teen marriage for girls and an internal system of justice that recognizes neither courts nor official documents.

The Roma Education Fund says about 25 percent of Roma are illiterate, and the United Nations says as many as 50 percent of Roma do not complete primary school. Venetia, 23, begs at the Eiffel Tower in jeans and a T-shirt from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. She changes back into her long Gypsy skirt before returning to her camp to meet her husband, who collects scrap metal. She said she usually makes 10 to 20 euros a day during the tourist season, enough to keep her 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son fed and clothed.

They've been deported before and she expects it will happen again, perhaps later this week when her encampment comes down. "I would like to work maybe in a school or at a bank," she said in English, which she learned in high school in Romania.

"I want something else for my children. I want a different future."