• Study Ranks Countries on Nuclear Security - NYTimes.com
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/science/study-ranks-countries-on-nuclear-security.html?ref=world

    The 32 nations with materials that can fuel atom bombs are typically mum on security, which looks to the public like a closed world of barbed wire and armed guards. Behind the scenes, atomic insiders have long told horror stories of risky practices and security flaws that might let the crucial ingredients for nuclear weapons fall into the wrong hands.

    Now, for the first time publicly, experts have surveyed the precautions each country has in place and ranked the nations from best to worst. The study is full of surprises and potential embarrassments: for instance, Australia takes first place in nuclear security and Japan comes in at No. 23, behind nations like Kazakhstan and South Africa.

    #nucléaire #sécurité

  • New Prime Minister Surprises Moroccans With Support for Abortion - NYTimes.com
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/world/africa/new-prime-minister-surprises-moroccans-with-support-for-abortion.html?pagew

    In an interview last week, a top aide to Mr. Benkirane, Mustapha Khalifi, speaking in a personal capacity, confirmed media reports that the prime minister would support an initiative to allow abortions in cases of rape and incest.

    A 2008 study, the most recent available, put the number of abortions in Morocco as high as 600 a day.

    Last week a leading gynecologist, Chafik Chraibi, put the figure even higher. Dr. Chraibi, a professor of gynecology at Mohammed V University in Rabat, who is an ardent campaigner for legalizing abortion, said the real figure “is probably closer to 900 a day, when you take into account the nonmedical abortions carried out at home.”

    #avortement #femmes #Maroc

  • President Assad Makes Rare Public Speech in Syria
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/12/world/middleeast/president-assad-makes-rare-public-speech-in-syria.html

    The observer who resigned on Wednesday, Anwar Abdel Malik, said he left because he felt that the mission was serving the interests of the government rather than trying to end the crackdown on protesters.

    By the United Nations’ account, more than 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began, including more than 400 people since the observers arrived. Mr. Malik described the situation as a humanitarian disaster.

    “The mission was a farce, and the observers have been fooled,” he told Al Jazeera, the Arabic satellite network based in Qatar. “The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw, to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime.”

    He added, “The regime isn’t committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people.”

    Khaled Abu Salah, an activist from Homs, a city near the Lebanese border that has been a flashpoint, said that Mr. Malik, an Algerian who was once a political prisoner himself, was particularly moved after seeing the disfigured body of a protester named Abdel Jarim Darwish, from the Baba Amr neighborhood.

    C’est encore Angry Arab qui fait le boulot à la place du New York Times : le très compatissant monsieur Malik est un honorable correspondant des services de renseignement algériens :
    http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/01/qatars-role-in-conspiracy-role-of-anwar.html

    Aljazeera is now almost comical if it was not for its sinister role. Yesterday, it hosted the member of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria: the guy who blasted the mission on the first day. He is Algerian and his name is Anwar Malik. He was a member of the Algerian Mukhabarat and close to the ruling generals. He was asked about his background on Aljazeera and said: military-legal. He wore his orange Arab League vest above his suit and tie, which made him look like a clown. But he answered on cue. Oh, and the guy had written in the past against Aljazeera.