AFP- Armed Basque separatists ETA announced Monday a permanent, verifiable ceasefire after more than 40 years of bloodshed in their fight for a homeland independent of Spain.
"ETA has decided to declare a permanent and general ceasefire which will be verifiable by the international community," it said in a statement distributed to media in Basque, Spanish and English.
"This is ETA's firm commitment towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and towards an end to the armed confrontation."
It is the first time that ETA has unilaterally declared a permanent ceasefire in its campaign of bombings and shootings, which has claimed the lives of 829 people in more than 40 years.
ETA had also announced what it described as a permanent ceasefire in March 2006 within the framework of negotiations with Madrid.
But in December 2006, ETA fighters set off a bomb in the carpark of Madrid-Barajas airport, killing two men. Six months later it formally called off the ceasefire.
"It is time to act with historic responsibility. ETA calls upon those governing Spain and France to end all repressive measures and to leave aside for once and for all their position of denial towards the Basque Country," the latest statement said.
"ETA will continue its indefagitable struggle and efforts to promote and to bring to a conclusion the democratic process until there is a truly democratic situation in the Basque Country."
Monday, 10 January 2011
ETA declares first-ever permanent, unilateral ceasefire
Turnout at 20% in southern independence vote
AFP - The commission overseeing Sudan's landmark referendum on southern independence announced on Monday voter turnout of 20 percent in the south on the first day of polling.
"The percentage of those who voted yesterday in the northern states was 14 and in the southern states it was 20 percent," Paulinoo Wanawilla Unango, of the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), told reporters in Khartoum.
Southern Sudanese flocked to polling stations in the south on Sunday for the week-long plebiscite that it is widely expected to see their country split with the Arab-Muslim north and put the seal on decades of north-south conflict.
But under the terms of the 2005 peace deal that ended the 22-year civil war, voter participation in the referendum must pass the 60 percent threshold for the results to be valid.
Wanawilla also gave an update on the timetable for the referendum results, saying that the preliminary results for the southern states, where the vast majority of the 3.93 million voters are registered, would be announced on January 30.
"And if there are no appeals, the final results will be announced on February 2," he added.
Some 3.75 million people are registered to vote in the south and around 117,000 in north Sudan, most in the capital Khartoum. Emigres are also able to vote in eight countries abroad.
Britain, Norway and the United States, the three main Western brokers of the Sudan's north-south peace process, on Sunday hailed the work of the SSRC and its "enormous efforts under significant pressure."
Government confirms civilian casualties during unrest
REUTERS - Fourteen civilians have been killed in clashes with Tunisian police, official media and the government said, in the worst violence in the country for decades.
The latest incidents, which took place in three towns and were reported on Sunday, were the deadliest in a wave of unrest which has lasted nearly a month.
Those taking part say they are angry at the lack of jobs for young people, but officials say the rioting is the work of a minority of violent extremists.
In the strongest sign to date authorities may be ready to make some concessions, Tunisia's Communications Minister Samir Labidia said in an interview broadcast on al Jazeera television that the government would respond to people's grievances.
He said the government was ready for a dialogue with young people.
"The message has been received," he said. "We are going to review what needs to be reviewed, we are going to correct what needs to be corrected, but the violence is a red line."
The authorities also released a rap singer who was detained last week after recording a song critical of the government, the rapper's family told Reuters.
Police had arrested 22-year-old Hamada Ben-Amor last Thursday in the Mediterranean Sea coast city of Sfax, soon after the online release of his song entitled "President, your people are dying."
"After three difficult days my brother has returned to us safely," the rapper's brother, Hamdi Ben-Amor, said on Sunday, without giving further details.
The government, in statements issued directly or reported by the official TAP news agency, said a total of 14 people had been killed in clashes since Saturday night in the towns of Thala, Gassrine and Rgeb, about 200 km (120 miles) from the capital.
The people who were killed had been armed with petrol bombs, stones and sticks and were attacking public property, the government said. Several police officers had also been wounded, some of them seriously, it said.
"What no democratic state will allow ... is the resort to violence and the use by certain extremists of prohibited weapons such as Molotov cocktails and fire bombs and the throwing of stones against people and public and private property," the government said.
Najib Chebbi, who diplomats say is the most credible leader in Tunisia's weak opposition, said that to avoid more bloodshed President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali should order security forces to stop using firearms.
Unrest in the past few days in neighbouring Algeria over unemployment and food prices has killed two people and injured hundreds, officials said. There was no evidence of any link to the Tunisian unrest.
President Ben Ali, in power for more than two decades and re-elected two years ago with nearly 90 percent of the vote, has said the violent protests are unacceptable and could discourage investors and tourists vital to the economy.
The United States has expressed concern about the government's handling of the protests. There has been no public response yet from the European Union, which is Tunisia's biggest trading partner.
Tunisia, a former French colony of about 10 million people, has in the past been praised by Western allies as a model of stability in the Arab world, though some international rights groups accuse it of stifling dissent.
Before this weekend's violence, two people had been killed in the unrest. Another two killed themselves in acts of protest, including one man who set himself on fire last month, triggering the series of riots.
6 ways not to blow your interview
- Present yourself as someone who is ready to solve problems
- Don't say, "I really need this job;" everyone does
- Refrain from talking bad about your last job or boss
Editor's note: Christine Romans is the anchor of CNN's "Your $$$$$" and author of the new book "Smart is the New Rich."
(CNN) -- All signs point to a job market that is very slowly improving. The latest labor market figures show gains in health care, temporary work, leisure and hospitality. Headhunters say competition is heating up for talent in science, technology, engineering and math.
But progress is slow. There are still almost five people vying for each open job. You've waited this long. Don't blow it.
Once you land a job interview, every word and every move counts.
1) Present yourself as the solution to a problem, says Charles Purdy, senior editor of Monster+Hot Jobs.
"Employers create jobs and fill jobs because they have problems to solve. It's up to you to analyze what those problems are by analyzing the job ad or by just using what you know about the company or the industry and present yourself as someone who is ready and equipped to solve the problems that the open job indicates."
2) Don't say, "I really need this job." It goes without saying and quite frankly, there are millions of people who have likely been out of work longer than you. Jobs aren't filled based on need and you certainly don't want the hiring manager to think you've been passed over again and again by other companies. Downplay the gap on the resume by making sure it is filled with volunteer work, computer or continuing education classes or freelance work and focus on the skills you can bring to the job.
3) Be adaptable and be present, says Paul Sullivan, author of "Clutch; Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don't."
"Being present is important because it keeps you focused just on that job interview. You don't want to go in there and tell someone all the great things you've done in the past. You want to tell them what skills you have and how you can help that company."
4) Polish your pitch. You need a sound bite or a 30-second elevator pitch. What are you going to say if the hiring manager asks you "What is your biggest weakness?" Do not say "My biggest weakness is I am a perfectionist." Everyone says that and it sounds precious. Ask good questions and use the boss' answers to those questions as a trampoline to talk about your skills that match.
5) Don't dis your old boss or company. No one hires a complainer. Keep it positive and smile.
6) Don't have a stupid e-mail address. prtyygurl1974@aol.com and anything like it is unprofessional and tells too much about you. Think carefully about what your technology and your use of technology say about you. There's a stereotype out there that baby boomers have AOL accounts, mid- to late-thirties people have Hotmail accounts and younger people have Gmail accounts. When you walk into a job interview, assume you have been Googled.
Most importantly, don't take it personally. The jobs market is only now slowly warming up. There are millions of smart, employable, hardworking people who have been left behind. You've got plenty of good company.
Rapid snowfall blankets southeast; icy conditions expected
(CNN) -- Treacherous travel conditions, power outages and school cancellations stretched across the Southeast as freezing rain and sleet followed on the heels of a heavy snow that blanketed the region over the weekend.
Schools and government offices shut their doors from Arkansas to the Carolinas, while power utilities mobilized crews for widespread power outages. CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen said below-freezing temperatures are expected through Tuesday, and continued precipitation will leave a heavy coating of ice on power lines and trees, which could cause outages.
The power company Entergy reported about 4,000 people without power in Mississippi. About 200 people in north Georgia were still without electricity after snow sent tree limbs into power lines, according to Georgia Electric Membership Corp.
Winter storm warnings were in effect Monday for parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas, and parts of southern Alabama were under an ice storm warning.
Graham, North Carolina, saw 9 inches of snow on Sunday, CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano said, and 6 inches fell in Greenville, South Carolina. Freezing rain is expected in parts of the Southeast on Monday afternoon.
Many Southerners were surprised to see a rapid onslaught of snow. At least 4 inches of snow fell in just a couple of hours in Atlanta, CNN meteorologist Ivan Cabrera said.
As kids reveled in school cancellations, motorists bemoaned slow, sometimes immobilizing and occasionally terrifying conditions.
A dozen tractor-trailers had jackknifed as of 6:30 a.m. Monday along a relatively short stretch of Interstate 30 west of Benton, Arkansas, according to state troopers.
Chuck Meadows said he dodged "slipping and sliding" vehicles on Interstate 20 in Atlanta, Georgia, on his way home from a friend's house Sunday night.
"It was traumatic ... the near misses," Meadows, a native Atlantan, said Monday morning. "A large pickup slid toward me on the highway before I decided to get off the highway. There was a hill that a number of people got stuck on."
Soon afterward, Meadows himself got stuck near his subdivision. He, like many others in the city, ended up ditching his car in the snow and walking home.
Farther north, in Kennesaw, Georgia, Sarah DeRoch watched a pickup truck get stuck on her cul-de-sac.
"It made the mistake of stopping in the snow," said DeRoch, a native of the Chicago area who, like her husband, is used to heavy snowfall. "We went out to give it some pointers" before the vehicle was eventually towed by another truck, she said.
Meanwhile, her daughter Gwyneth was bursting with anticipation at a canceled school day.
"She's been asking me every five minutes, 'Did they close the schools?'" DeRoch said.
In addition to schools, hundreds of flights were canceled as the Southeast's winter storm began to have a domino effect on travel across the country.
AirTran Airways canceled 270 flights for Monday, most of them heading into Atlanta, spokesman Christopher White said.
Anthony Black, a spokesman for Delta Air Lines, said the airline has planned "approximately 1,400 Delta and Delta Connection flight cancellations systemwide Monday as the storm is at its peak -- approximately 25 percent of all planned flights for the day."
Atlantic Southeast Airlines spokesman Jarek Beem said the storm had forced a number of cancellations Sunday through Tuesday. He declined to provide a specific number.
In preparation for wintry conditions, governors in Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama declared states of emergency.
"We face a serious storm that will have an impact all across Alabama," Gov. Bob Riley said in a statement. He advised motorists to stay off the roads.
All of Alabama's state government offices were closed Monday, and all major highways in Marshall and Cullman counties were considered impassable.
In South Carolina, state government offices were closed and the National Guard was on standby.
In Allendale County, South Carolina -- 80 miles south of Columbia, it rarely gets snow -- the National Guard Armory was set up as an emergency shelter.
In Georgia, the city of Atlanta and Crawford County declared separate states of emergency.
In North Carolina, snow and ice were reported in at least 13 counties on Monday, most in the mountainous western part of the state. At least 10 schools systems were closing early.
Meanwhile, snow moved into the Northeast, but the region was spared a repeat of the late December blizzard that virtually shut down large cities such as New York and Philadelphia. Emergency management officials were able to quickly recover from the comparably light dusting of snow that began blanketing the region Friday.
But nothing, it seems, fazes DeRoch, the Georgia mother who seemingly has a contingency plan for all situations.
"If the power goes out," she said, "you can put your refrigerated stuff outside."
CNN's Holly Yan, Andy Rose and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.
Facebook NOT shutting down March 15
 |
- Silly rumor on internet says Mark Zuckerberg is shutting down Facebook
- Rumor not true, Facebook director of corporate communications says
- "We'll just keep cranking away like always," director says
(Mashable) -- There's a silly rumor exploding on the Internet this weekend, alleging that Facebook is shutting down on March 15 because CEO Mark Zuckerberg "wants his old life back," and desires to "put an end to all the madness."
We have official confirmation from Facebook Director of Corporate Communications Larry Yu that the rumor is false.
We asked him via e-mail if Facebook was shutting down on March 15, to which he responded, "The answer is no, so please help us put an end to this silliness."
He added, "We didn't get the memo about shutting down and there's lots to do, so we'll just keep cranking away like always."
Let's think about this for a minute. Would Facebook decide to shut down the company just a few days after announcing a round of funding, consisting of $450 million from Goldman Sachs and $50 million from Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, on a valuation of $50 billion?
The spurious report was started by a site to which we refuse to link, known for its reports of impending attacks of alien spaceships and false reports of a Michelle Obama pregnancy.
The fact that this absurd hoax spread so efficiently makes us wonder: Will people believe anything?
Beckhams expecting their 4th child
- The couple have three other children, all boys
- They married in 1999
(CNN) -- Soccer star David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, are expecting their fourth child this summer.
"Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are very excited about the arrival of their new brother or sister," Victoria Beckham's rep Jeff Raymond said Sunday, referring to the other three Beckham children -- all boys.
When David Beckham made the announcement on his Facebook page Sunday, it prompted a flurry of response from fans hoping that the fourth child will be a daughter.
The Beckhams married in 1999. Their children are 11, 8 and 5.
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