tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54536106740238708652024-03-19T06:00:55.459-07:00Halle-gAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-14185064539263104452013-01-14T09:59:00.003-08:002013-01-14T09:59:56.804-08:00Buddha Jumps Over the Wall soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dTsHIVRgA4A0eAQOFFQZ08waFkpkkVdJux0IUK0DaxS7EGqodQ8QCat7P8njSjfp9T71p7CGCYpBwXGig-Y91gHqm4p5KeHOk4OxsBfY6GlEdw3d45Cp7a8Vl3GLg9_1Rd8jN1pGLPqo/s1600/budha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dTsHIVRgA4A0eAQOFFQZ08waFkpkkVdJux0IUK0DaxS7EGqodQ8QCat7P8njSjfp9T71p7CGCYpBwXGig-Y91gHqm4p5KeHOk4OxsBfY6GlEdw3d45Cp7a8Vl3GLg9_1Rd8jN1pGLPqo/s320/budha.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.866666793823242px;">Head to London’s Kai Mayfair restaurant with £108 in your pocket and you can slurp up some of the world’s most valuable soup. The dish -- called Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, apparently because it is so delicious that even a vegetarian would jump over the wall to get to it -- is comprised of shark’s fin, abalone, Japanese flower mushroom, sea cucumber, dried scallops, chicken, Hunan ham (a cured ham), pork and ginseng – and must be pre-ordered five days in advance. No jumping over walls required. (Bernard Yeoh)</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-16532493496624301512013-01-14T09:59:00.001-08:002013-01-14T09:59:09.633-08:00Sushi Del Oriente<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPzxTgnFg33fKcxC9e9fdXAGXMV3tIZXDUza88i6lIy5FQlynde6ZXgqdE-kZTFCab9Kviir1tr8RIlkbjApHMXexB27f8Cwt15nGcug9waEu1I2Ra4zV2JUHgDjorP7o_Z7I3RYNMeH6/s1600/sushi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjPzxTgnFg33fKcxC9e9fdXAGXMV3tIZXDUza88i6lIy5FQlynde6ZXgqdE-kZTFCab9Kviir1tr8RIlkbjApHMXexB27f8Cwt15nGcug9waEu1I2Ra4zV2JUHgDjorP7o_Z7I3RYNMeH6/s320/sushi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.866666793823242px;">How about some Sushi Del Oriente -- nigiri sushi wrapped in 24-carat gold leaves and sprinkled with five 0.20-carat African diamonds? This is the dish one Japanese businessman tucked into at his personal residence in Manila, Philippines, in 2010, served by up-and-coming celebrity chef Angelito Araneta Jr of premium gastronomy company Karat Chef. The bill? A cool 85,727.59 Philippine pesos. Apparently, the chef’s “artworks” are typically purchased as marriage proposal gifts. How could you say no?</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-51083898469732367292013-01-14T09:58:00.002-08:002013-01-14T09:58:26.619-08:00Le Burger Extravagant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jOStdqRzsY8eeg1riHemOGhN13yUXKu9Se-RfZ7Tffr2lJ-OdjpGLOuRYND67d1T-_17EfP-0dedymCuIlA6eqIDxY6_DuxCUXgw0K0HQhjViIPn1_GC4BqvrdxJ5qTcW-3O_Gs31aEb/s1600/efd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jOStdqRzsY8eeg1riHemOGhN13yUXKu9Se-RfZ7Tffr2lJ-OdjpGLOuRYND67d1T-_17EfP-0dedymCuIlA6eqIDxY6_DuxCUXgw0K0HQhjViIPn1_GC4BqvrdxJ5qTcW-3O_Gs31aEb/s320/efd.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.866666793823242px;">What does it take to make the world’s most expensive burger? Japanese waygu beef, infused with 10-herb white truffle butter, seasoned with Alderwood smoked pacific sea salt, topped with cheddar cheese, shaved black truffles and a fried quail egg served on a white truffle-buttered Campagna roll and finished with a blini, crème fraiche and Kaluga golden caviar. Oh -- and, a solid gold diamond-encrusted toothpick on the side. The damage? $293, by appointment only, also at the world-famously pricey Serendipity 3 in New York. (Liz Steger)</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-88306502476087203142013-01-14T09:57:00.002-08:002013-01-14T09:57:20.908-08:00The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.866666793823242px;">A moment on the lips; a lifetime on the… credit card. Such is the case with the world’s most expensive dessert, the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate, priced at $18,713. Available at Serendipity 3, a restaurant in New York’s Upper East Side, the dish combines 28 different kinds of cocoa, is adorned with 5g of edible 23-carat gold and infused with gold flakes. The sweet treat is presented in a goblet lined with edible gold leaf, served with an 18-carat gold and diamond bracelet and eaten with a solid gold spoon encrusted with rare black, white and chocolate-coloured diamonds. (Serendipity 3)</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-4335509726117090312013-01-14T09:56:00.001-08:002013-01-14T09:56:23.689-08:00The Golden Phoenix Cupcake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16.96666717529297px; text-align: start;">The world’s most expensive cupcake was introduced to sweet-toothed spectators in Dubai’s new Bloomsbury’s cafe on 5 July. The Golden Phoenix sweet treat is priced at a whopping 3,676 dirhams, and is created from a recipe that includes Italian chocolate, 23-carat edible gold sheets, organic strawberries and lots of edible gold dusting. The cake is presented on a 24-carat gold stand and must be ordered at least 48 hours in advance. (Bloomsburys, Dubai)</b></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-69998529825573239582013-01-14T09:55:00.001-08:002013-01-14T09:55:29.735-08:0010 of America's best lake vacations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBK0uq1L_H3O3LEGSH1KunY51dackRU4hV4tTK-P8v_sJMkwQkGjMV4k-cQhdbTzU8RKcThKJVGtpVqP0prABY5532xDOpAV3Ea7kflVq0YxHO0eQgMPft3Hf0GOZILEJP0Ulq7gcR5tNi/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBK0uq1L_H3O3LEGSH1KunY51dackRU4hV4tTK-P8v_sJMkwQkGjMV4k-cQhdbTzU8RKcThKJVGtpVqP0prABY5532xDOpAV3Ea7kflVq0YxHO0eQgMPft3Hf0GOZILEJP0Ulq7gcR5tNi/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-10918444541261302332013-01-14T09:53:00.001-08:002013-01-14T09:53:53.313-08:00Travelwise: How Antarctica works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_9oUzJBlfdxvnOqFKa-CU4c6UlrTds2vUQiSlct3wX209SBByCz6VTUOd9-utpEKFmYllZw0fmPIt5MxZdJ5G5_St-k5DCnu7XDfimKEEsySi5gGIbWU8mZGqWVhBApxx6WE8SbDh2n2/s1600/ab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_9oUzJBlfdxvnOqFKa-CU4c6UlrTds2vUQiSlct3wX209SBByCz6VTUOd9-utpEKFmYllZw0fmPIt5MxZdJ5G5_St-k5DCnu7XDfimKEEsySi5gGIbWU8mZGqWVhBApxx6WE8SbDh2n2/s320/ab.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">As German filmmaker Werner Herzog portrayed in his 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World, over the years Antarctica has enticed thousands of adventurers to explore its inhospitable geography – a surreal realm of extremes so great they cannot be understood until they are experienced.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">They visit in an effort to grasp how this strange, harsh place, where unruly blizzards and -50C temperatures are the norm, can sustain a vital ecosystem. And their voyages help the rest of the world understand how the frozen continent of Antarctica works.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">The first commercial tours to Antarctica date back to the 1950s, but tourism really took off with the formation of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators in 1991, after which numbers rose from a few thousand visitors each year to tens of thousands of annual tourists, reaching about 34,000 visitors in 2011. Many of them come on cruise ships, often passing through Chile or Argentina first, but there are also more than a dozen research stations on the continent, the largest being the McMurdo Station in the south, which can support more than a thousand people.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">Ice covers 99.5% of Antarctica, a place known for being the coldest, driest, windiest and highest continent on Earth. As such, it’s considered the largest desert on the planet, and is also home to the world’s third deepest lake, the subglacial Lake Vostok; several volcanoes including the highly active Mount Erebus; and the South Pole.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">About 14 million years ago, a period of climate change caused the formation of the Antarctic ice sheet, which averages one mile in thickness and gets up to three miles thick in some parts. Before this, scientists believe, Antarctica looked more like Alaska or the Alps, consisting of a range of glacier-capped mountains. Today, the ice sheet provides habitat for many species of seabirds, seals and penguins.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">Antarctica’s waters are home to a thriving ecosystem driven by phytoplankton -- microscopic plant-like organisms that grow rapidly during the summer months of near-constant sunlight. Krill (crustaceans resembling prawns) subsist on phytoplankton and are in turn eaten by fish, squid, jellyfish, seabirds, penguins, seals, whales and other animals. Penguins, seals, birds and whales also eat fish and sometimes jellyfish; leopard seals will additionally eat penguins and other seals; and orca whales will additionally eat penguins, seals and smaller whales.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">New species are being discovered in Antarctica all the time. This year, for instance, scientists discovered deep-sea hot springs (or “hydrothermal vents”) which opened up a world of never-before-seen wildlife, including a new type of fuzzy and colourless Yeti crab, a still unnamed colourless octopus and a carnivorous seven-legged sea star, all of which live in complete darkness 2,400m underwater.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">But the Antarctic Peninsula is also one of the most rapidly warming regions on the planet, and as a result, has attracted close study by climate scientists. As the British Antarctic Survey organisation explained, while the “global significance of the Antarctic Peninsula warming is difficult to assess, the main concern is for the loss of a unique landscape and biota.”</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">Practicalities</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">Tourists only visit Antarctica during the summer months of November through March, and even then temperatures don’t typically rise above 2C. The weeks around Christmas, however, yield a period of 24-hour sunlight. The most common way to get to Antarctica is by ship -- on a group tour or as part of a cruise -- and there are a number of sea and air operators offering trips to the frozen continent. Most flights leave from Punta Arenas, Chile, and most boat trips leave from Ushuaia, Argentina.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; text-align: start;">Travelwise is a BBC Travel column that goes behind the travel stories to answer common questions, satisfy uncommon curiosities and uncover some of the mystery surrounding travel. If you have a burning travel question, contact Travelwise.</b></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-4995980338375215942013-01-13T06:04:00.004-08:002013-01-13T06:04:59.146-08:00Tube 150th anniversary: Steam train takes commemorative journey<br />
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Tube 150th anniversary: Steam train takes commemorative journey</h1>
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A steam train which carried passengers in the 19th Century has returned to the Tube to mark 150 years since the first London Underground journey.</div>
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Ticket holders travelled along part of the original Metropolitan Line - now the Hammersmith & City Line.</div>
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They travelled in coaches pulled by a 1898-built steam engine, known as Met Locomotive No 1.</div>
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Special events are being held throughout the year to mark the 150-year anniversary of the Tube.</div>
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The restored steam engine, travelled from its sheds near Earl's Court, west London, to start a journey from Kensington Olympia to Moorgate.</div>
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Hundreds of families, rail enthusiasts and interested onlookers took up positions at stations and on bridges to catch a glimpse of the train, as it travelled non-stop.</div>
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London Mayor Boris Johnson, who was among passengers on board, said: "It was just extraordinary.</div>
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"We had steam coming in through the windows, huge thick clouds of white steam going past and then bits of soot coming through from the engine.</div>
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<img alt="Steam train on the Tube" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/65250000/jpg/_65250926_hi016911081.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; position: relative;" width="304" /><span style="display: block; width: 304px;">Attached to the Jubilee carriage was a set of four carriages that date back to 1898</span></div>
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"You understand all those Victorian novels and the assignations that possibly took place on those velvet seats. It was pure Conan Doyle."</div>
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London Transport Museum director Sam Mullins said: "We will do more events like this this year and more into the future, here and on other railways."</div>
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The first London Underground railway operated on the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington and Farringdon.</div>
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Linked to the Met Locomotive No 1 engine was the oldest surviving operational Tube carriage - the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage 353 - which was built in 1892.</div>
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Attached to the Jubilee carriage was a set of four carriages that date back to 1898, on loan from the Bluebell Railway in Sussex.</div>
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Known as the Chesham carriages, they began service when the Chesham branch of the Metropolitan Line opened.</div>
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Completing the commemorative train was one of the world's oldest electric locomotives in service - No 12 Sarah Siddons.</div>
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Did you see the steam train? Did you have a ticket to go on board? You can send us your pictures of the event.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-3468016277898877402013-01-13T05:59:00.000-08:002013-01-13T05:59:19.437-08:00Union flag protests: Peter Robinson says politicians not 'giving up'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helmet, Freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson says the political process is "the only way forward"</span><br />
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The Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson has said the political process is the only way forward following another night of violence in Belfast.</div>
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Twenty-nine police officers were injured in rioting after a loyalist protest over the union flag.</div>
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Officers fired six baton rounds and used water cannon during the 40th day of street protests.</div>
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Mr Robinson said politicians had not given up on a "shared society".</div>
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"We took some difficult decisions, some might say historic decisions to build a shared society in Northern Ireland," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.</div>
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"I think it is important to tell the wider community in Northern Ireland and our friends in the rest of the United Kingdom that we are not giving up on that.</div>
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"We are very much of the view that we are determined that we build the kind of society where everybody can have a peaceful and stable existence."</div>
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Mr Robinson and the Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are due to meet with the British and Irish governments this week.</div>
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He said they would make it "very clear" to the governments the condemnation that existed in the wider Northern Ireland community for the violence.</div>
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At least 1000 people gathered outside Belfast City Hall at lunchtime on Sunday to protest against the violence. </div>
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The latest violence began around 14:30 GMT on Saturday, when loyalists and nationalists clashed at a sectarian interface in the east of the city.</div>
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Demonstrators were passing the nationalist Short Strand area - after a 1,000-strong protest outside Belfast City Hall against the council's decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag - when the violence began.</div>
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The police said the "vast majority" of demonstrators broke away from an agreed return route on their way back from the protest.</div>
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Bricks, stones and missiles were thrown at police and four officers were taken to hospital with injuries - two were later discharged.</div>
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A car was later set on fire at the junction of Castlereagh Street and Templemore Avenue.</div>
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The violence subsided in the early evening but after 21:00 GMT it erupted as loyalists attacked police again at Castlereagh Street. Police used water cannon on rioters to push them away from the interface with the Short Strand.</div>
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The BBC's Chris Page: "This dispute is proving very difficult to resolve"</div>
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PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said officers had used "exceptional courage" to bring the situation under control.</div>
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Mr Baggott said: "This was a difficult operation dealing with a large number of people determined to cause disorder and violence.</div>
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"My colleagues brought the situation under control with exceptional courage and professionalism. I know the vast majority of people will be grateful for their efforts.</div>
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"Police will continue to engage with all those committed to finding a solution to these issues."</div>
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Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said her party had no regrets over the decision to vote as they did over the flags issue in Belfast City Council.</div>
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She said NI had to move from being a divided society to a shared one.</div>
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"The damage we are doing to Northern Ireland's international reputation is immense," she said.</div>
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"The damage which is being done to individual people's lives and livelihoods is long term. We need to move forward. Unionists talking among themselves is not where a shared solution lies."</div>
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Loyalist street demonstrations have been taking place for almost six weeks, since <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20587538" style="color: #4a7194; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: initial;">Belfast City Council voted to change its longstanding union flag policy</a> on 3 December.</div>
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The council, which now has a nationalist majority, voted to fly the flag at Belfast City Hall on a number of designated days, rather than every day of the year.</div>
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The majority of the street demonstrations have passed without incident, but some have resulted in serious rioting.</div>
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Are you involved in the protests? Have you been affected by the violence? You can send us your experiences using the form below.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5453610674023870865.post-84413879419516063752013-01-13T05:08:00.000-08:002013-01-13T05:20:05.863-08:00How Paris killings could renew Kurdish flashpoint<strong style="background-color: #c29d30; color: #edb319; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Istanbul (CNN)</strong><span style="background-color: #c29d30; color: #edb319; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> -- Three Kurdish women political activists were found dead with gunshots to the head early Thursday, police in Paris said, in an unexplained act of violence that has shocked the Kurdish community. CNN's Ivan Watson explains what the impact of the killings is likely to be, and how the conflict between Kurdish nationalists and Turkey affects the rest of the world.</span><br />
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<strong>Q) What are the possible consequences of the killings?</strong></div>
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A) A spokesman for the leadership of the PKK and its affiliate the KCK in Northern Iraq, Roj Welat has confirmed to CNN that one of the women killed, Sakine Cansiz, was one of the founding members of the PKK. He called the murders an "ideological and political assassination, a terror attack against the Kurdish people."</div>
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These murders have clearly dropped a bombshell on the tightly-knit Kurdish community in France and probably throughout the substantial Kurdish diaspora in Europe. We can certainly expect protests and memorial demonstrations in Europe. And the murders in Paris are already having ripple effects all the way over here in Turkey, where the Kurds make up the country's largest [and historically oppressed] ethnic minority. Kurdish leaders in Turkey are calling for Kurds to "rise in protest wherever they are to condemn this massacre."</div>
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A huge concern is what impact the killings might have on a new historic round of talks between the Turkish government and the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, as well as other figures in the Kurdish movement. Many Turkish commentators fear it may derail these negotiations. Aliza Marcus, author of "Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish fight for Independence," an inluential book on the PKK, wrote to me in an email, saying: "One thing is for sure, this isn't good for the rumored peace process."</div>
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<cite class="expCaption">Iraqi Kurds worry about future</cite></div>
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<strong>Q) Is it possible to speculate about who might have done it, and why now?</strong></div>
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A) There is much speculation already about who might have carried out these murders. Kurdish groups and Turkish commentators are already interpreting this as a politically-motivated act of violence, even though it will certainly take some time for investigators to conclude who carried out the shootings. There are extremists on both sides of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict who may seek to derail the negotiation process that has been under way for more than a month between the Turkish government and Ocalan, as well as other figures in the Kurdish movement.</div>
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Huseyin Celik, the spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party, already told journalists that "when you look at how it was carried out, it seems like an internal settling of scores within the PKK."</div>
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Certainly, the PKK has a history of killing dissidents within the Kurdish movement, says Hugh Pope, senior Turkey analyst for the International Crisis Group. He told me: "You do have to remember that the PKK has a long history of killing its own people." Meanwhile, the Turkish state has long relied on military force, arrests and law suits to crush the Kurdish movement inside Turkey. The Turkish-PKK war is one of the longest-running conflicts in the Middle East, with more than 40,000 people killed since the 1980s. Many Kurds view the Turkish government and armed forces as mortal enemies, while many Turks label the PKK and anyone affiliated with the PKK as "terrorists." So certainly I can expect some Kurds will accuse Turks of assassinating these three women, even if there is no evidence to back up that claim.</div>
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<strong>Q) Who are the PKK and what are they fighting for?</strong></div>
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A) The PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, was founded in 1978 in Turkey as a Marxist, pan-Kurdish nationalist movement. In 1984, it started armed combat against the Turkish state with the goal of establishing a broader Kurdistan in the Middle East, which would unite Kurdish minorities divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. That goal has been largely dropped over the last decade -- certainly since Turkish authorities arrested Ocalan in 1999. Now the PKK appears to have much more limited goals: battling for Kurdish "cultural freedoms" in Turkey as well as some degree of autonomy for the Kurds, who are predominantly settled in south-eastern Turkey.</div>
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There are PKK fighters battling Turkish security forces in the hills of south-eastern Turkey, as well as camps and training bases strung out along remote mountains in northern Iraq, along the border with Turkey. The PKK enjoys substantial support and reportedly relies on fund-raising from within the Kurdish diaspora in Europe. Finally, given the pro-PKK demonstrations I've covered, there is support for the PKK in Istanbul, which is not only Turkey's most populous city, but also the largest Kurdish city in the world. Why? Because hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled the war and punitive Turkish military operations in south-eastern Turkey in the 1990s and were forced to resettle in western Turkish cities.</div>
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The PKK has been officially labeled a terrorist organization by Turkey, as well as the US and many european countries.</div>
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<strong>Q) How many expat Kurds live in European cities? Where are most based?</strong></div>
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A) Europe is home to a substantial Kurdish diaspora, with large communities in France, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. According to a report from the International Crisis Group, there are 1 to 1.5 million Kurds originating from Turkey living in Europe; the bulk of them, with an estimated population of 800,000, are in Germany. The pro-PKK television station Roj TV, is believed to broadcast from Europe.</div>
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<strong>Q) How do the killings, possible consequences, and the guerrilla war that the PKK has fought for nearly three decades against Turkey affect the rest of the world?</strong></div>
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A) The Turkey-PKK conflict is one of the longest-running conflicts in the Middle East. It is a conflict that constantly bleeds across borders, destabilizing relations between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. It also ripples throughout Europe, with the Turkish government constantly accusing European countries of not doing enough to stop PKK fund-raising and recruitment in European cities. At the height of the Turkish-PKK war, PKK activists were reported to shut down highways in Germany. I personally recall first encountering the PKK when I worked in Moscow in 1999, when the CNN bureau received a terrifying video of several PKK supporters setting themselves on fire in Moscow to protest the arrest of Ocalan. In recent months, the conflict has reached the deadliest levels in at least 13 years, with hundreds of Turkish soldiers and security forces as well as Kurdish rebel fighters killed over the last year.</div>
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<strong>Q) Haven't the talks between Turkey and the Kurds been making progress recently?</strong></div>
<span style="background-color: #c29d30; color: #edb319; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">A) There is surprising support for the talks not only from the Turkish government, but also from opposition political parties as well as from influential voices in the Turkish media. I get the sense that Turkish society is exhausted by the weekly and daily deaths of conscript soldiers. Turkey will have to make substantial, long overdue compromises if it is ever to make peace with its Kurds, such as removing discriminatory statements in the constitution and allowing Kurdish language education in schools. There have been other, largely covert attempts at negotiations over the last 4 years, but they have been accompanied by a parallel increase in violence and killing in the blood-soaked hills of south-eastern Turkey</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11132194082088176439noreply@blogger.com0