Secrecy defines Obama’s drone war

(THIR KHAN/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES ) - Pakistani tribesmen carry the coffin of a person allegedly killed in a U.S. drone attack, claiming that innocent civilians were killed during a June 15 strike in the North Waziristan village of Tapi. Around 300 tribesmen gathered at the demonstration.

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By Karen DeYoung, Tuesday, December 20, 12:08 PM

Since September, at least 60 people have died in 14 reported CIA drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions. The Obama administration has named only one of the dead, hailing the elimination of Janbaz Zadran, a top official in the Haqqani insurgent network, as a counterterrorism victory.

19/12 ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ fashion comes under fire

Posted at 02:17 PM ET, 12/19/2011

By Cara Kelly

Fashion retailer H&M is experiencing a backlash against its much-anticipated line based on the grunge style of heroine Lisbeth Salander from Steig Larsson’s “millennium trilogy.” The 30-piece collectiondebuted in stores last week ahead of the opening of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” in the United States.

Worst year: Congress

By Chris Cillizza

Saying that Congress is unpopular is kind of like saying that water is wet or that big-time college football is corrupt. It's so obvious as to be assumed. And yet, in 2011 Congress managed to underperform even the low regard in which the American people hold it.

Bad year: Anthony Weiner

By Chris Cillizza

For Anthony Weiner, it all began on Twitter. On a Saturday in late May, the micro-blogging site exploded with allegations that the congressman, an up-and-coming New York Democrat with a eye on becoming mayor of the Big Apple, had accidentally sent out a picture of his "underwear-clad groin" to his tens of thousands of followers on the site.

Bad year: Barack Obama

By Chris Cillizza

This was supposed to be the pivot year for President Obama. After two years in office defined by a protracted and politically disastrous fight over health care, a liberal base dissatisfied with the pace of change and major losses at the ballot box, 2011 was when Obama and his team were going to get back on track with a message laser-focused on jobs and the economy.

Good year: Newt Gingrich

By Chris Cillizza

Halfway through 2011, former House speaker Newt Gingrich looked to be a leading candidate for the "Worst Year in Washington" prize. After taking a three-week Mediterranean cruise and suffering a series of withering questions about various lines of credit he had held at Tiffany & Co., the Georgia Republican watched as nearly his entire presidential campaign staff quit en masse.

Best year: The Clintons

By Chris Cillizza

When we gave Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton our "good year" in 2010, we thought she was headed toward a little bit of a letdown in 2011. Boy, were we wrong. (Mental note: Stop counting out the Clintons.)

Worst Year in Washington

20/12 Year-long D.C. undercover sting netted arrests, guns, drugs

View Photo Gallery —  A year-long undercover sting orchestrated by the Metropolitan Police Department and federal authorities netted $7.2 million in drugs, 161 weapons and 70 arrests.

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By Clarence Williams, Tuesday, December 20, 3:40 AM

D.C. Police Sgt. Dale Sutherland’s high-tech headquarters in a stylish Northeast rowhouse welcomed some of the city’s most notorious gun-runners and drug dealers.

After Kim Jong Il: A Look at the Kim Family Tree

The heavy-jowled Kim Jong Un looks poised to succeed his father. But he was not always the most likely: TIME looks at those in the Kim clan who may have had (or still possess) designs on the Hermit Kingdom's top job.

Kim Jong Un

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | 6

VINCENT YU / AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's son Kim Jong Un attends a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 10, 2010.

The world was introduced to the double-chinned twenty-something a year and a half ago when he was heralded as the ailing Kim Jong Il’s heir apparent, standing on a dais before massed throngs at the first “Worker’s Party Conference” held by Pyongyang in 30 years. Little is known about Jong Un. The North Korean dictator’s third and youngest son, Jong Un was considered Jong Il’s favorite, dubbed “Morning Star King” by a doting mother. According to reports, he attended a Swiss boarding school before finishing his education in North Korean military academies. Jong Un now stands poised to take up the mantle of the Great Leader, but shadows lurk: few can divine whether the portly princeling may be able to build up the same cult of personality that still surrounds his father and grandfather, Kim Il Sung — a man whom he is said to resemble. He may also face challenges to his fledgling authority from rival generals and officials within the regime.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hA9syK3q 

Kim Jong Nam

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | 6

JOONGANG SUNDAY / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

In a picture taken on June 4, 2010 Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, waves after an interview with South Korean media representatives in Macau.

The eldest son — Jong Nam’s mother was Song Hye Rim, a celebrity North Korean actress who was initially Kim Jong Il’s secret mistress — Jong Nam was groomed for succession until the awkward day in 2001 when he was seized by Japanese authorities for trying to enter the country on a forged Dominican Republic passport. Jong Nam allegedly told police there ahead of being deported to China that he simply wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. The incident, coupled with the rumored defection of Jong Nam’s mother (she died in Russia in 2002), led to his estrangement from his father. Jong Nam would take up residence in the casino mecca of Macau and gain notoreity for his gambling habits and hard-drinking. In 2007, TIME and Global Spin’s Austin Ramzy and Ishaan Tharoor came across his house tucked away in a quiet gated community on the black-sanded island of Coloane. No one answered the door, but hung prominently by a window was a picture of a sunflower bending to the sun’s rays — a sign, even in reported exile, of Jong Nam’s filial duty to his now deceased father.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hAA3hatN 

Kim Jong Chol

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | +

PARK JI-HWAN / AFP GETTY IMAGES

A man points at a computer screen in Seoul on February 16, 2011 showing a man believed to be North Korean leader's second son, Kim Jong Chol, as he enters a concert for British guitarist Eric Clapton in Singapore on February 14, 2011.

We only have snippets of information of Kim Jong Chol, the middle son in the family and the oldest born to Kim Jong Il’s favored, third mistress, Ko Young Hui. Jong Chol was given prominent positions in the Hermit Kingdom’s Orwellian-named Organization & Guidance and Propaganda & Agitation departments, a sign that he was being groomed for bigger things. But according to a memoir published by an anonymous Japanese chef who once served the regime, Kim Jong Il looked upon his middle son with distaste, considering him too “unmanly” and “effeminate” to take up his crown. He was allegedly spotted, as pictured above, attending an Eric Clapton concert in Singapore earlier this year.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hAABSY4X 

Kim Seol Song

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | +

KCNA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

This picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on July 10, 2011 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Il (C) posing with staff, including a woman who is believe to be Kim Seol Song, second left, after inspecting the commodity exhibition at the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 in Pyongyang.

Kim Jong Il’s eldest child — a daughter — Seol Song lives in the shadow of her three male siblings. Her mother, a daughter of a high-ranking military official, was handpicked to be Kim Jong Il’s partner. But she would be shunted aside in later years. According to reports, Seol Song remained ever loyal to her father and supervised many of his official trips, accompanying him regularly.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hAAHeOgp 

Kim Kyong Hui

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | +

KCNA / REUTERS

Kim Kyong Hui, younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, poses with the newly elected members of the central leadership body of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the participants in the WPK Conference, at the plaza of the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in this picture released by the North's KCNA news agency September 30, 2010.

Kim Jong Il’s only sister, known to be a cantankerous alcoholic in her 60s, was promoted alongside Kim Jong Un in 2010 to the rank of a four-star general, a top officer in the North Korean military. The move was seen as a measure to consolidate power and influence among the Kims, at a time when the heir apparent — Jong Un — seemed unready and weak. Depending on what account you listen to, it was also either a way of promoting Kyong Hui’s husband, the influential general Chang Sung Taek is, or mitigating against his own direct influence.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hAANdxcu 

Chang Sung Taek

By ISHAAN THAROOR | @ishaantharoor | December 19, 2011 | +

REUTERS

Undated picture shows Jang Song Taek, 63, a member of the National Defence Commission and North Korean leader Kim Jong il's brother-in-law, in this picture released by the North Korea's official news agency KCNA on April 10, 2009.

Kim Jong Il’s brother-in-law, Sung Taek is suspected by some as being the real force behind the regime, the secretive puppet master in the state most shrouded by secrets. It was thought that Sung Taek would play regent to Jong Un, allowing the third Kim to rule North Korea time to grow into his position. But, according to TIME’s Bill Powell, that may not be true. Instead, Sung Taek may be at the heart of an internal palace struggle, one which might have put him even at odds with his own wife, Kim Kyong Hui. After all, it’s reported that Kim Il Sung — father of Kim Jong Il and architect of the North Korean state — disapproved of Sung Taek’s marriage into the family.

Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/12/19/after-kim-jong-il-a-look-at-the-kim-family-tree/#ixzz1hAAVV3v7 

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Diễn biến khó lường tại Triều Tiên

20/12/2011 0:59

Quá trình chuyển giao quyền lực và bước đi sắp tới của CHDCND Triều Tiên đang là tâm điểm chú ý sau khi nhà lãnh đạo Kim Jong-il qua đời.

Thông tấn xã trung ương Triều Tiên (KCNA) ngày 19.12 kêu gọi 24 triệu dân CHDCND Triều Tiên ủng hộ Kim Jong-un, con trai ông Kim Jong-il. KCNA gọi đại tướng Kim là “người kế tục vĩ đại” và khẳng định: “Toàn đảng, toàn quân, toàn dân sẽ tiếp tục đi theo sự dẫn dắt của Kim Jong-un đáng kính, bảo vệ chắc chắn và củng cố hơn nữa sự nghiệp cách mạng về tự chủ và phát triển”.

20/12 Young Russian protesters want change but lack a leader

View Photo Gallery —  Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of cities across Russia to demand an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule and complain about alleged election fraud.

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By Michael Birnbaum, Tuesday, December 20, 2:03 AM

MOSCOW – The youthful, Internet-savvy Russians who have turned out in the streets in historic numbers in recent weeks want to end Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s untrammeled rule over their country, but whether they can translate their frustration to the political arena – or even whether they will remain fired up – remains an open question.

With elder Kim’s death, some see window for change in North Korea

View Photo Gallery — After years of speculation on his declining health, North Korean television has reported its leader, Kim Jong Il, right, has passed away. He was 69.

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By Keith B. Richburg, Published: December 19 | Updated: Tuesday, December 20, 12:49 AM

BEIJING — The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has kindled anxiety among the country’s neighbors and beyond, focused on the unpredictable nature of the succession in the isolated, nuclear-armed country.

After Kim Jong Il's death, N. Korea tells country to rally behind the ‘Great Successor’

View Photo Gallery —  Following the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the isolationist state will try to pass power to Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong Eun, who is in his 20s.

TOKYO — With North Korea deeply mourning its “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong Il, the government in Pyongyang tried to reassure its people Monday with a message about Kim’s son, the “Great Successor.”By Chico Harlan, Published: December 19

Giáng Sinh qua những chặng đời

17/12/2011

KIM NGUYÊN

 http://www.danchimviet.info/archives/48222

Giang sinh

Giáng Sinh khi xưa thường chỉ dành riêng cho những tín đồ trong Thiên Chúa giáo để kỷ niệm ngày "Ngôi hai nhập thể" gọi là "Emmanuel" có nghĩa là "Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta". Dần dần theo thời gian người ta cảm nhận được rằng sự xuống trần cứu rỗi, chuộc tội cho nhân lòai là một thông điệp nhắn nhủ con người hãy biết mở lòng vị tha bác ái, hy sinh quên mình, chia sẻ niềm vui cho người khác… Vì thế cho nên ngày nay lễ Giáng Sinh đã mặc nhiên trở thành một ngày lễ quốc tế trọng đại mà hầu như quốc gia nào hay tôn giáo nào mỗi năm cũng chào đón linh đình trọng thể. Ngòai ý nghĩa là một lễ hội thiêng liêng vinh danh Thiên Chúa, Giáng Sinh còn là một dịp tốt để sum họp gia đình, thể hiện tình thân, chung vui quây quần chúc bình an cho nhau.

Theo dõi việc học của con qua Internet

Thứ ba, 20/12/2011, 20:47 GMT+7

Chỉ cần nhập số điện thoại vào hệ thống máy chủ nhà trường hoặc truy cập website bằng tài khoản riêng... phụ huynh sẽ nhận được tin nhắn cập nhật liên tục thông tin điểm học, điểm thi và tình hình học tập của con em mình.