Park wins South Korea presidency, to be first woman leader

     The 60-year old conservative, Park Geun-hye, will return to the presidential palace in Seoul where she served as her father's first lady in the 1970s, after her mother was assassinated by a North Korean-backed gunman.

     With more than 88 percent of the votes counted, Park led with 51.6 percent to 48 percent for her left-wing challenger, human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in, giving her an unassailable lead that forced Moon to concede.

     Her raucous, jubilant supporters braved sub-zero temperatures to chant her name and wave South Korean flags outside her house. When she reached her party headquarters, Park was greeted with shouts of "president".

     An elated Park reached into the crowd to grasp hands of supporters wearing red scarves, her party's color.

"This is a victory brought by the people's hope for overcoming crisis and for economic recovery," she told supporters at a rally in central Seoul.

     Park will take office for a mandatory single, five-year term in February and will face an immediate challenge from a hostile North Korea and have to deal with an economy in which annual growth rates have fallen to about 2 percent from an average of 5.5 percent in its decades of hyper-charged growth.

     She is unmarried and has no children, saying that her life will be devoted to her country.

     The legacy of her father, Park Chung-hee, who ruled for 18 years and transformed the country from the ruins of the 1950-53 Korean War into an industrial power-house, still divides Koreans.

     For many conservatives, he is South Korea's greatest president and the election of his daughter would vindicate his rule. His opponents dub him a "dictator" who trampled on human rights and stifled dissent.

"I trust her. She will save our country," said Park Hye-sook, 67, who voted in an affluent Seoul district, earlier in the day.

"Her father ... rescued the country," said the housewife and grandmother, who is no relation to the candidate.

     For younger people, the main concern is the economy and the creation of well-paid jobs in a country where income inequalities have grown in recent years.

"Now a McDonald's hamburger is over 5,000 Korean won ($4.66) so you can't buy a McDonald's burger with your hourly pay. Life is hard already for our two-member family but if there were kids, it would be much tougher," said Cho Hae-ran, 41, who is married and works at a trading company.

     Park has spent 15 years in politics as a leading legislator in the ruling Saenuri party, although her policies are sketchy.

     She has a "Happiness Promotion Committee" and her campaign was launched as a "National Happiness Campaign", a slogan she has since changed to "A Prepared Woman President".

     She has cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a tough proponent of free markets, as her role model as well as Angela Merkel, the conservative German chancellor who is Europe's most powerful leader.

NEGOTIATE WITH NORTH

     One of those who voted on Wednesday was Shin Dong-hyuk, a defector from North Korea who is the only person known to have escaped from a slave labor camp there.

     He Tweeted that he was voting "for the first time in my life", although he didn't say for whom.

     Park has said she would negotiate with Kim Jong-un, the youthful leader of North Korea who recently celebrated a year in office, but wants the South's isolated and impoverished neighbor to give up its nuclear weapons program as a precondition for aid, something Pyongyang has refused to do.

     The two Koreas remain technically at war after an armistice ended their conflict. Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the North's current leader, ordered several assassination attempts on Park's father, one of which resulted in her mother being shot to death in 1974.

     Park herself met Kim Jong-un's father, the late leader Kim Jong-il, and declared he was "comfortable to talk to" and he seemed to be someone "who would keep his word".

     The North successfully launched a long-range rocket last week in what critics said was a test of technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile and has recently stepped up its attacks on Park, describing her as holding a "grudge" and seeking "confrontation", code for war.

     Park remains a firm supporter of a trade pact with the United States that and looks set to continue the free-market policies of her predecessor, although she has said she would seek to spread wealth more evenly.

     The biggest of all the chaebol, Samsung Group, which produces the world's top selling smartphone as well as televisions, computer chips and ships, has sales equivalent to about a fifth of South Korea's national output.
Fonte: Reuters

População carcerária mais que dobrou no Brasil, diz relatório

     Algumas das constatações do documento são que as penitenciárias continuam superlotadas - a população carcerária brasileira cresceu 112% em uma década -, as taxas de mortalidade por homicídios se elevaram mais nas regiões Norte e Nordeste, os homicídios contra negros e pardos aumentaram 25% e a maioria dos crimes contra a liberdade de imprensa (72%) são praticados por agentes do Estado.

     O 5º Relatório Nacional Sobre os Direitos Humanos no Brasil também faz uma análise sobre casos de abusos cometidos no país e levados ao conhecimento da OEA (Organização dos Estados Americanos). Ele revela que apenas 5% desses casos acabaram em solução amistosa.

     A socióloga Mariana Possas, coordenadora do relatório, afirmou à BBC Brasil que uma das maiores dificuldades enfrentadas pelos pesquisadores foram a inexistência ou não divulgação de dados e informações oficiais sobre temas relacionados a abusos de direitos humanos.

     Segundo ela, esse problema não é causado apenas por falta de ação dos governos, mas por uma cultura nacional que não priorizaria a obtenção e armazenamento de informações sobre o setor.

     Leia abaixo alguns dos principais pontos levantados pelo relatório.

Fonte: BBC Brasil

Egito e Arábia Saudita suspendem compra de carne do Brasil por medo da síndrome da vaca louca

     Egito e Arábia Saudita, dois dos maiores mercados de carne bovina do Brasil, suspenderam suas importações do produto por medo da contaminação com o agente causador da chamada síndrome da vaca louca. Os dois países, que ocupam a terceira e a décima posição, respectivamente, entre os principais importadores da carne bovina brasileira, notificaram sua decisão as autoridades em Brasília.

     Enquanto a Arábia Saudita bloqueou totalmente as importações do produto, o Egito proibiu apenas a carne do Paraná, Estado onde foi identificado o agente causador da doença em um animal morto em dezembro de 2010.

     Na semana passada, Japão, China e África do Sul já haviam adotado a mesma decisão, o que eleva a cinco o número de países que suspenderam as importações de carne bovina do Brasil, um dos principais exportadores do produto.

     A suspensão das importações foi provocada pelo anúncio do governo, no dia 7 de dezembro, de um caso atípico de Encefalopatia Espongiforme Bovina (EEB), mais conhecido como doença da vaca louca.

     O caso, segundo o governo brasileiro e as autoridades veterinárias internacionais não representa qualquer risco para a saúde humana ou a higiene animal. Apesar dos esforços de Brasília para evitar um efeito dominó contra as exportações de carne, alguns países importadores de carne atuaram de forma preventiva, suspendendo novos negócios.

     As exportações de carne do Brasil somaram 1,1 milhão de toneladas entre janeiro e outubro de 2012, tendo a Rússia como primeiro mercado, seguida por Hong Kong e Egito.

Fonte: Diário de Santa Maria

À espera do "fim do mundo", turistas lotam região onde os maias viveram

     A previsão de que o mundo acabará na próxima sexta-feira provocou uma corrida de turistas a países como Guatemala, México, Honduras e El Salvador, países que integravam o império maia, a antiga civilização mesoamericana cuja calendário, segundo algumas interpretações, prognosticou o fim dos tempos para o dia 21 de dezembro de 2012. Apenas a Guatemala espera receber 200 mil estrangeiros, segundo o Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo.

     Mas nem todos estão satisfeitos. Na Guatemala, o Observatório Nacional Indígena criticou os gastos excessivos para a promoção das atividades de sexta-feira. Informações não confirmadas indicam que o Ministério da Cultura e do Desporto investiu aproximadamente US$ 3,2 milhões, enquanto o instituto de turismo gastou cerca de US$ 5 milhões. Houve ainda um decreto presidencial que determinou o treinamento de agentes de turismo para atuar nas áreas sagradas da civilização maia.

     No México, o governo esperava receber 52 milhões nas áreas de influência maia nos 18 meses anteriores à data fatídica. Mas até semana passada 62 milhões já haviam visitado os antigos sítios maias e a previsão indica um total de 80 milhões de turistas.

     O país também organizou festivais, shows, jantares e até um sorteio especial da loteria federal (o Profecia Maia), que deverá distribuir o equivalente a R$ 1,3 milhão.

     Reconhecida pelo aprimoramento da língua escrita e pelos conhecimentos em arte, arquitetura, matemática e astronomia, a civilização maia entrou em decadência entre os séculos 8 e 9. Mas os maias jamais desapareceram por completo e seus descendentes tentam manter as tradições.

     O calendário maia pode ser sincronizado e interligado a uma série de combinações de ciclos e análises paralelas. Como é preciso interpretá-lo, em geral os leigos não conseguem lidar com o sistema. Segundo especialistas, o calendário maia tem aspectos semelhantes aos empregados em outras civilizações mesoamericanas.

Fonte: Diário de Santa Maria

Russia sends warships to Syria for possible evacuation

     Moscow acted a day after insurgents waging a 21-month-old uprising obtained a possible springboard for a thrust into Damascus by seizing the Yarmouk Palestinian camp, an urban zone just 2 miles from the heart of the city, activists said.

     The Syrian opposition has scored significant military and diplomatic gains in recent weeks, capturing several army installations across Syria and securing formal recognition from Western and Arab states for its new coalition.

     Despite those rebel successes, bloodshed has been rising with more than 40,000 killed in a movement that began as peaceful street protests but has transformed into civil war.

     Assad's pivotal allies have largely stood behind him and Iran, believed to be his main bankroller in the conflict, said there were no signs of Assad was on the verge of being toppled.

"The Syrian army and the state machine are working smoothly," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in Moscow on Tuesday.

     But Russia, Assad's primary arms supplier, has appeared to waver with contradictory statements over the past week stressing opposition to Assad stepping down and airing concerns about a possible rebel victory.

     Russia's Interfax news agency quoted unnamed naval sources on Tuesday as saying that two armed landing craft, a tanker and an escort vessel had left a Baltic port for the Mediterranean Sea. Russia has a naval maintenance base in the Syrian port of Tartus, around 250 km (155 miles) northwest of Damascus.

"They are heading to the Syrian coast to assist in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens ... Preparations for the deployment were carried out in a hurry and were heavily classified," the Russian agency quoted the source as saying.

     Assad and his minority Alawite sect retain a solid grip on most of the coastal provinces of Tartus and Latakia, where their numbers are high. But the mostly Sunni Muslim rebels now control wide swathes of rural Syria, have seized border zones near Turkey in the north and Iraq to the east, and are pushing hard to advance on Damascus, Assad's fulcrum of power that sits close to the western frontier with Lebanon.

     It was not possible to independently verify the Interfax report, which came a day after Russia confirmed that two citizens working in the Latakia province were kidnapped along with an Italian citizen. About 5,3000 Russian citizens are registered with consular authorities in Syria.

YARMOUK A "RED LINE"

     In Damascus, activists reported overnight explosions and early morning sniper fire around the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk. The Yarmouk and Palestine refugee "camps" are actually densely populated urban districts home to thousands of impoverished Palestinian refugees and Syrians.

"The rebels control the camp but army forces are gathering in the Palestine camp and snipers can fire in on the southern parts of Yarmouk," rebel spokesman Abu Nidal said by Skype.

"Strategically, this site is very important because it is one of the best doors into central Damascus. The regime normally does not fight to regain areas captured any more because its forces have been drained. But I think they could see Yarmouk as a red line and fight back fiercely."

     Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948. Damascus has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

     The battle in Yarmouk was one of a series of conflicts on the southern edges of Damascus, as the rebels try to seal off the capital in their campaign to end 42 years of rule over the major Arab state by the Assad family.

     Both Assad's government and the rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions.

     Streams of refugees have fled Yarmouk. Many have headed to central Damascus while hundreds more have crossed into Lebanon.

"We walked out on foot without our belongings until we reached central Damascus. We got in a taxi and drove straight for the border," said 75-year-old Abu Ali, speaking at the Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing.

     Abu Ali said around 70 percent of Yarmouk residents had fled and many had slept rough on the streets of Damascus.

MEDICAL SHORTAGES, EXTREME HUNGER

     Around 200 people died in Syria on Monday alone, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across the nation. Violence has risen sharply, and with it humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.

     The World Health Organisation said around 100 people were being admitted daily to the main hospital of Damascus and that supplies of medicines and anesthetics were scarce.

     It also reported a rise in cases of extreme hunger and malnutrition coming from across Syria, including the insurgent-dominated rural areas outside the capital, where Assad has unleashed warplanes to try to dislodge rebel units.

     Aid organizations say fighting has blocked their access into many conflict zones, and residents in rebel-held areas in particular have grappled with severe food and medical shortages.

     Fighting raged across Syria on Tuesday, with fighter jets and ground rockets bombarding rebel-controlled eastern suburbs of the capital and army forces shelling a town in Hama province after clashes reignited there over the weekend.

     The Syrian government severely restricts media access into the country, making it difficult to report events on the ground.

     An news team for the American NBC network who were kidnapped after entering Syria through the rebel-held northern border returned to Turkey on Tuesday after being freed in a gunfight.

     NBC chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel said his team was held by an unidentified band for five days, and the men were subjected to psychological torture including mock shootings.

     He said he had a "very good idea" who his captors were.

"This was a group known as the shabbiha. This is a government militia. These are people who are loyal to President Bashar Assad," he said on NBC, adding that the kidnappers spoke openly about their allegiance to the Damascus government.

Fonte: Reuters

Egypt opposition to protest against "invalid" constitution

     Islamist President Mohamed Mursi obtained a 57 percent "yes" vote for the constitution in a first round of the referendum on Saturday, state media said, less than he had hoped for.

     The result is likely to embolden the opposition, which says the law is too Islamist. But they are unlikely to win this Saturday's second round, to be held in districts seen as even more sympathetic towards Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood.

     Protesters broke out into cheers when the public prosecutor Mursi appointed last month announced his resignation late on Monday. Further signs of opposition emerged when a judges' club urged its members not to supervise Saturday's vote. But the call is not binding on members and balloting is expected to go ahead.

     If the constitution passes next weekend, national elections can take place early next year, something many hope will help end the turmoil that has gripped Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

     The main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, said there were widespread voting violations in the first round of the referendum and urged organizers to ensure that the second round was properly supervised.

     It has called for protests across Egypt on Tuesday "to stop forgery and bring down the invalid draft constitution" and wants organizers to re-run the first round of voting.

     The Ministry of Justice said it was appointing a group of judges to investigate allegations of voting irregularities around the country.

DEMONSTRATIONS

     In Cairo, the Front planned to hold demonstrations at Tahrir Square, cradle of the revolution that toppled Mubarak, and outside Mursi's presidential palace, still ringed with tanks after earlier protests.

"Down with the constitution of the Brotherhood," the Front said in a statement. "Down with the constitution of tyranny."

     A protester at the presidential palace, Mohamed Adel, 30, said: "I have been camping here for weeks and will continue to do so until the constitution that divided the nation, and for which people died, gets scrapped."

     The build-up to the first round of voting saw clashes between supporters and opponents of Mursi in which eight people died. Recent demonstrations in Cairo have been more peaceful, although rival factions clashed on Friday in Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.

     On Monday evening, more than 1,300 members of the General Prosecution staff gathered outside the office of Public Prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim to demand that he leave his post.

     Hours later, Ibrahim announced he had resigned and the crowd cheered, "God is Great! Long live justice!" and "Long live the independence of the judiciary!" witnesses said.

     The closeness of the first-round referendum vote and low turnout give Mursi scant comfort as he seeks to assemble support for difficult economic reforms to reduce the budget deficit.

     He will hold a further round of national unity talks with political leaders on Tuesday, but the National Salvation Front is expected to stay away, as it has in the past.

OPPOSITION BOOST

     The lack of a big majority in the plebiscite so far has complicated matters for Mursi, strengthening the fractious opposition and casting doubt on the credibility of the constitution, political analysts believe.

"This percentage ... will strengthen the hand of the National Salvation Front and the leaders of this Front have declared they are going to continue this fight to discredit the constitution," said Mustapha Kamal Al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

     Mursi would be likely to become more unpopular with the introduction of planned austerity measures, polarizing society further, Sayyid told Reuters.

     To tackle the budget deficit, the government needs to impose tax rises and cut back fuel subsidies. Uncertainty surrounding economic reform plans has already forced the postponement of a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. The Egyptian pound has fallen to eight-year lows against the dollar.

     Mursi and his backers say the constitution is needed to move Egypt's democratic transition forward. Opponents say the document is too Islamist and ignores the rights of women and of minorities, including Christians who make up 10 percent of the population.

     Demonstrations erupted when Mursi awarded himself extra powers on November 22 and then fast-tracked the constitution through an assembly dominated by his Islamist allies and boycotted by many liberals.

     The referendum has had to be held over two days because many of the judges needed to oversee polling staged a boycott in protest. In order to pass, the constitution must be approved by more than 50 percent of those voting.

Fonte: Reuters

Britânica morre de câncer após receber pulmão de fumante

     Uma britânica de 27 anos morreu de câncer após receber o pulmão de um fumante em um transplante.

     Jennifer Wederell, que sofria de fibrose cística, morreu em casa, no condado de Essex, no sudeste da Grã-Bretanha, 16 meses após a operação.

     Seu pai, Colin Grannell, diz acreditar que a filha não teria concordado com o transplante se soubesse que o doador, um homem de meia-idade, era um fumante compulsivo.

     O hospital que realizou a operação se desculpou por não oferecer uma opção a Jennifer.

     Jennifer foi diagnosticada com fibrose cística aos 2 anos, e com 20 e poucos anos passou a usar um tubo de oxigênio 24 horas por dia.

     Ela estava havia 18 meses na lista de espera por um transplante de pulmão quando, em abril de 2011, foi avisada de que um doador havia sido encontrado.

     Grannell disse que a família esperou aquele momento por anos e pensava que o transplante ajudaria a filha a derrotar a doença.

     Mas em fevereiro deste ano, um tumor maligno foi encontrado em seu pulmão.

'Riscos maiores'

"O choque imediatamente se transformou em raiva, porque quando os riscos foram explicados na hora anterior ao transplante, em nenhum momento foi mencionado que seria usado o pulmão de um fumante", disse Grannell.

"Ela estava morrendo uma morte que deveria ser de outra pessoa", afirma.

     Grannell criou um grupo no Facebook, chamado Jennifer's Choice (A escolha de Jennifer) para estimular não-fumantes a se registrarem como doadores de órgãos.

     A administração do hospital onde o transplante foi realizado afirmou em um comunicado que "é muito raro que os pacientes especifiquem que não querem receber pulmões saudáveis de fumantes".

"Os riscos são muito maiores se o paciente recusa um pulmão de um doador fumante e decide esperar por outro órgão que seja compatível e também de um não-fumante", diz o comunicado.

     O hospital afirmou, porém, que reconhece que Jennifer deveria ter tido a opção de escolher. "Pedimos desculpas sinceras pelo descuido", afirma.

"Infelizmente, o número de pulmões disponíveis para transplante cairia 40% se houvesse uma política de recusar aqueles que vêm de fumantes. As listas de espera aumentariam e muito mais pacientes morreriam sem um transplante", diz.

Fonte: BBC Brasil