Kasaysayan ng wikang pambansa ng pilipinas

French PM’s shy Twitter debut
Just four tweets since October, a Twitter alias?�and a default egg as a profile picture. There are thousands of accounts like this on Twitter, but this particular one belongs to French Prime Minister Fran?�ois Fillon. Blatant name-dropping in his first tweet on October 23 could have put his followers on the right track: “@alainlambert and I with Japanese primer minister” ; generally, those anonymous accounts that inundate Twitter don??�t talk about hanging out with Japan??�s prime minister or a former Minister like Alain Lambert.?�French MP Jer??me Chartier??�s Twitter profile follows the perfect Politician 2.0 guidelines: a nice profile picture, some photos of his daily activity and a link to his Facebook profile. Enough already to put Fillon??�s offering to shame. ?�It was Chartier who started the race to guess which Twitter account belonged to fellow UMP party member Fillon. On December 2 he revealed that the prime minister was one of his followers but was using a pseudonym. He asked the Twitter community to guess which of them it was. The community was only too happy to oblige. The eventual winner was St?�phane Marchau (@smarchau), a computer specialist who today became one of the most interviewed people on French radio stations and in newspapers.?�As an experienced programmer, he used a software to filter Chartier??�s followers. In the end he had only five options. One of them a woman, another an automatic account (a ???bot) so it became easy to single out Fillon, who lives in a manor at Beauc?� and whose account??�s name is @fdebeauce. Marchau is still waiting for the champagne bottle promised as a reward by lawmaker Chartier although Fillon has personally congratulated the computer expert ??� on Twitter, bien sur – for unmasking him.?�The question remains: why did the French Prime Minister open an anonymous account on Twitter. You can ask him yourselves.

Top UK court to hear Assange extradition appeal
Britain’s Supreme Court, the country’s highest judicial body, said on Friday it had granted permission for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to appeal against extradition to Sweden where he is accused of sex offences. The court said a two-day hearing had been scheduled for Feb 1. next year. Swedish authorities want to question the 40-year-old Australian over accusations of rape and sexualassault made by two female former WikiLeaks volunteers in August 2010. Assange, who has been living in Britain since his arrest in December last year, denies wrongdoing and has been fighting a legal battle to avoid being sent back to Sweden. Reuters

Iraqi Vice-President: ‘I’m ready to stand trial’
Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, denies any involvement in terrorist-linked activity. He called the allegations which have resulted in an arrest warrant, a fabrication, and said he is ready to stand trial: “I am ready to stand before a judge, with my bodyguards,” he said. “But to provide the minimum requirement of justice, I have notes and objections against the preliminary investigation, which was conducted by the Baghdad brigade or by the federal police or by military intelligence.” He has been accused of running a hit squad that assassinated government and security officials. The warrant for Iraq??�s highest ranking Sunni official was issued a day after US troops left the country prompting the White House to express its concern. ???We??�re urging all sides to work to resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue in a manner consistent with the rule of law and the democratic political process,??? said White House spokesman Jay Carney. According to Iraq??�s Interior Ministry suspects identified as al-Hashemi??�s bodyguards linked the vice president to the killings. State television has also shown pictures of the men who its claimed have admitted their part in planning and carrying out attacks. Many Sunnis say the charges levelled against Hashemi are politically motivated as he is an old rival of the prime minister.

Prominent arrests and convictions in Russia protests
Police have arrested as many as 300 people, including journalists, as demonstrators in Moscow defied a ban on unnapproved protests. This is the second day people have taken to the streets, angry at alleged election fraud on Sunday, and fed up with Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party. More people were held after similar protests in St Petersburg and the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. Among those detained by police are opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, prominent activist Ilya Yashin and opposition blogger Alexei Navalny. Nemtsov, a liberal politician and former deputy prime minister, is now a critic of the government. After being arrested on Monday, blogger Alexei Navalny and activist Ilya Yashin both appeared in court on Tuesday, and have each been sentenced to 15 days in prison after being convicted of offences including obstructing the course of justice. President Dmitry Medvedev has spoken out, after criticisms from Washington and suggestions from US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that Sunday’s ballot was neither free nor fair. “If international organisations say they observe violations that is one thing, but the issue of Russia’s political system is not their business. Soon they’ll be telling us how we should write our Constitution,” Medvedev told the Head of the Central Electoral Commission Vladimir Churov. Despite election results marking a big fall in support for Prime Minister Putin’s United Russia Party just months before he makes another bid for the presidency, his supporters organised their own rallies on Tuesday.

Two NATO troops injured in Kosovo border clashes
Kosovar Serbs shot and wounded two NATO peacekeepers in clashes in northern Kosovo, the military alliance said on Monday. A spokesman for KFOR, NATO’s peacekeeping force, said protesters used small firearms when troops tried to seize control of a roadblock near Jagnjenica. An estimated 60,000 Serbs living in northern Kosovo do not recognise its independence or its efforts to control the border with Serbia. They have been protesting since July over the Pristina government’s deployment of customs and border officials to the region. Last week, 21 NATO peacekeepers were injured in similar clashes. Kosovar Serbs pledge their allegiance to Serbia, which refuses to recognise Kosovo. But the EU has told Belgrade to make progress on the territorial dispute if it wants to be considered for membership of the 27 member bloc.

18 dead in twin Iraq attacks
At least eighteen people have been killed in separate attacks in Iraq’s Diyala province. Ten died in a bomb blast in the town of Khalis, according to medical sources. And gunmen raided three homes in the village of Jil al-Said, shooting eight people dead. It is unknown who carried out the attacks. The killings come during a visit to Iraq by US Vice President Joe Biden.

Pro-Putin supporters rally in Moscow
Thousands of pro-government supporters have taken to the streets of Moscow to show their support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. It comes after Saturday’s mass protests against his United Russia party, which is accused of rigging last week’s parliamentary election. There has been no word from the prime minister himself. He has only been seen in public signing official papers to declare his presidential candidacy for next year’s contest. The incumbent, Dmitry Medvedev, however, has responded to critics of the government by posting a message on his Facebook page. Most of the comments he received were critical of his decision to open an inquiry into last week’s poll. Protesters say even United Russia’s official result, just under 50 percent of the vote, was inflated by fraud. The Duma election appears to have increased a feeling of disenfranchisement but the scale of the discontent and the protests has clearly caught the authorities off guard.

Anti-corruption campaign underway, as Egyptians go to the polls
Ballot boxes have been sealed after the final day of voting in the first stage of Egypt’s parliamentary polls. Turnout has been “massive” and “unexpected” according to the country’s election commission. The election, to choose a new lower house of parliament, will be staggered over six weeks. Egypt’s military generals did not field any candidates, but they will be hoping the election will calm the recent protests against them. One internet campaign group is helping to steer Egypt away from the remains of Hosni Mubarak’s regime, by naming and shaming former members. “We launched this campaign to stop the former members of the Mubarak regime, to stop them getting a place in parliament. We wanted to raise awareness,” said Ahmed Fald, site director for EmsekFlol.com. The group claims to have tracked down individuals across the country. Many Egyptians want to put the politics of the past firmly behind them. “The former members of the regime, who worked for the Mubarak party, have corrupted political life for 30 years,” said one man. “Those who didn’t take part in the revolution don’t have a place in Egyptian political life,” a woman added. Those voting are a new generation, using social media to report their experiences and to join the campaign to root out anyone suspected of being involved in past corruption. “The revolutionaries who are in Tahrir Square and those using websites and social media, they are ready to reveal the names of former regime members,” said euronews reporter Aissa Boukanoun, speaking from Egypt.

Habiba Sarabi: “Violence against women is still a problem in Afghanistan”
Habiba Sarabi is Afghanistan’s only female governor. She’s headed Bamiyan province since 2005, engaged in rebuilding from scratch her part of one of the world’s most murderous countries. A qualified doctor, she left Afghanistan under the Taliban, but returned in secret to teach girls. Today, still the target of death threats, she continues her struggle to put her country back on its feet. euronews: “ Habiba Sarabi, you are a prominent figure in Afghanistan. How does it feel to be a major female politician in a male-dominated society ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ It’s very difficult to work as a politician and especially I’m the first and only female governor. But anyway, it is the major issue that I have to watch every step to not making something wrong, otherwise, all fingers will show to me. “ euronews: “One of your priorities is girls education. During the Taliban rule, it was banned beyond the age of 8, and girls could not even write their names, very few could. What is the situation like now in your province and in the rest of Afghanistan ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ Nowadays the girls education is getting improved. We have 38% from total students, 38% of them in the entire country are girls, but in my province we have 44%, which is a little bit above the country level of education. “ euronews: “ Women’s condition tough is not only about education. What about forced weddings, burqa, violence against women, lapidations… Is this getting any better ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ Everything is getting better, much better since 2001. But violence against women is still a problem. And it’s due to the lack of education, the poverty is another cause or another reason for that, and the lack of awareness among women, these are the main problems for the violence against women. “ euronews: “ Your province, Bamyan, is one of the poorest in Afghanistan. These is little electricity, no running water, very few roads, a high mortality rate too. What are you doing to try and improve the situation ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ Bamyan was isolated, so I put the first priority for road. And so I have been Lobbying a lot for road, so I got something for that, because road is the only thing that we can get (that can get us) easily to education, to health service, to economic development, to everything. Another issue is our national park. Bamyan has the first national park, which is our lakes. So, we got some money for that, this park. “ euronews: “ 10 years after the beginning of the war, is Afghanistan a safer place ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ To be honest, for safer place, no. It was much more better – I cannot tell 10 years ago – but at least 6 years and 7 years ago, it was much better than today. But I am sure with the commitment of the international community, we can get something. And the peace process is going on. “ euronews: “ So do you think that Afghanistan can let foreign troops leave in 3 years from now as it is planned ? Do you think this is feasible ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ It will be done, and this policy and this programme can go exactly as it is planned with the international community. But beside that, we need some more support especially for training on police and army, ANA and ANP (Afghanistan national army and Afghanistan national police), and also to well-equip them so that they can defend themselves. But I am sure that the international community is not goeing (to leave) totally. So, a number of them will remain with the government of Afghanistan, with the people of Afghanistan to support them for better conditions until Afghanistan can be a sustainable country. “ euronews: “ Doctor Sarabi, is negotiating with Talibans the right thing to do ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ The Taliban doesn’t have a fix address that here we can discuss with them, with whom ? For example Mollah Omar is not present, just making some noise or making announcements through the media. So because the address of Taliban is not clear, it’s better to look for the cause of problem which is Pakistan. “ euronews: “ So, you are not in favour of negotiating with them ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ I think so, yeah. “ euronews: “ Governor Sarabi, you have been appointed by president Karza?? who is quite largely accused of being corrupt and only wishing for a third term. Do you have the feeling that you have to distance yourself from him ? “ Habiba Sarabi:” No, never. Because I am a part of government of Afghanistan. We have to bring change. If everyone can take distance, who will work ? Maybe there will be (is) corruption on the government of Afghanistan, but we have to correct it, we have to not to allow to follow the mistake, but the president Karza?? himself announced that he will not run for a third term, and he will give the chance, and legally he is not allowed to run for the third term. “ euronews:” But will the people in the system be willing to change the system ? “ Habiba Sarabi: “ All of them, they are not the same position and they don’t have the same ideas. There are people that want to bring some change, they want to follow the.. to make a good system, to help the people of Afghanistan. “ euronews:” Habiba Sarabi, thank you.”