The election pits Kaczinski’s twin brother Jaroslaw against Parliament Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, who has been acting president since the crash.

The two are among 10 candidates running in the election, which was originally planned for the autumn but brought forward after Kaczinski died.

Jaroslaw Kaczinski, who was once prime minister, is a divisive figure in Polish politics. His far-right Law and Justice party runs on a nationalist platform with the slogan, “Poland comes first.”
“Poland has to be a strong country, otherwise it will not exist,” he said recently. “I want to tell everyone here that as president I won’t just be the head of state — I will look after the strength of the Polish nation.”

Recent polls show him trailing Komorowski, who is in the lead. The Parliament speaker is a moderate who is running for the center-right Civic Platform.

“We have been on this road for 21 years together and we have been right,” Komorowski said on the campaign trail. “We have been moving towards democracy and navigating our way in a free economy.”

The tragic death of the president and recent fatal floods in southern Poland — which left at least 20 people dead and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage — have meant this presidential campaign has been tame.

Political analyst Radoslaw Markowski described the race as “less aggressive” and said the candidates have avoided straightforward debate.

Though the president in Poland is primarily a ceremonial figure, he does have the power to veto laws, thus helping to shape politics. According to surveys, the economy is the most important topic to voters.

Whoever wins must gain 50 percent of the vote, or else he faces a runoff later this summer.

Van der Sloot, handcuffed and wearing a protective vest, was escorted through a news conference held by Peruvian authorities as photographers snapped photo after photo.

The body of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez was found Wednesday in a Lima hotel room registered to van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen who was twice arrested and released in connection with the 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

Flores’ body was badly beaten and investigators believe a tennis racquet in the room was used in the killing, Carlos Gonzalo, spokesman for Peru’s Interior Ministry, told CNN. Despite reports that a baseball bat was the murder weapon, Gonzalo said there was not a baseball bat in the room.
The Dutch Consulate is now involved in the case and has volunteered a defense attorney for van der Sloot, according to Carlos Neyra, a spokesman for the Peruvian Investigative Police.

Gonzalo said van der Sloot has asked for his mother, though authorities couldn’t confirm whether she’s coming to Lima.

Surveillance video from a casino on May 30 shows Flores and van der Sloot playing cards at the same table, he said. The woman won about 5,000 soles (about $1,755), though it was not found in the room or the victim’s car, Gonzalo said.

He said “they found bloodied clothes with” van der Sloot and that investigators are testing them, as well as the tennis racquet, for DNA.

He added that there is no other suspect connected to Flores’ death.

A hotel worker is seen in a surveillance video speaking to van der Sloot as he is leaving the hotel, Gonzalo said. When investigators questioned the workers, he told them that van der Sloot told him “don’t bother my girl.” Van der Sloot indicated that he would be returning to the room, according to the worker.

The hotel workers became suspicious after no one else left the room, and eventually a foul smell came from it, Gonzalo said. It wasn’t immediately clear how much time lapsed between the conversation on video and workers noticing the smell.

Chilean authorities delivered van der Sloot to their Peruvian counterparts on Friday in the border town of Santa Rosa, where he was greeted by hecklers and dozens of media personnel jostling for position to get a better picture of the Dutch citizen.

The Dutch Consulate has told Peruvian authorities that it is not comfortable with the way van der Sloot has been presented to the media, Neyra said. The Peruvian Minister of the Interior is asking authorities not to talk about the case without his authorization.

Paperwork showed that van der Sloot entered Chile the same day Flores’ body was found, Chilean police told CNN. He was captured in Chile on Thursday and transported to the border to be expelled, said Macarena Lopez, a spokeswoman for Interpol.

The Chileans drove van der Sloot across the border to a Peruvian police station. He made a 100-foot walk from the car to the station as journalists pushed past a police line and a handful of hecklers rained loud and angry obscenities on the suspect’s head.

Van der Sloot was taken inside the station for processing. From there, he was to be taken to the nearby town of Tacna and then flown to Lima.

Holloway was on a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005 when she disappeared. Van der Sloot was arrested twice in connection with the case but released both times. He denied any involvement and has not been charged.

Van der Sloot also faces an arrest warrant on charges of extortion and wire fraud in Alabama, U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said Thursday. The charges are unrelated to the killing of the Peruvian woman and deal with an attempt to sell details about Holloway for $250,000, Vance said.

Within 18 months it is estimated that the number of new devices able to connect to the world wide web will plummet as we run out of “IP addresses” — the unique codes that provide access to the internet for everything from PCs to smart phones.

“The internet as we know it will no longer be able to grow,” Daniel Karrenberg, chief scientist at RIPE NCC, the organization that issues IP addresses in Europe, told CNN.

“That doesn’t mean it will cease to function, but entry could be limited to new devices.”

Some estimate that by September 2011 the last large batches of addresses will be issued, meaning that months after that date there will be no new addresses available.

But while this sounds like a complete disaster — another Millennium Bug — it need not be, and there is a solution, if we all act quickly enough.
Currently the internet is built around the Internet Protocol Addressing Scheme version 4 (IPv4), which has around four billion addresses — and they’re fast running out.

Four billion no doubt seemed a huge amount when the system was designed in the 1970s, but few then could have predicted how the internet would take off, and how many billions more connections would be needed.

However, there is a replacement, IPv6, which has trillions more addresses available and ready to go. The problem is that businesses are proving slow to adapt their technology to IPv6, leaving experts fearful that we might be heading for a crunch within 18 months.

“My impression is that while awareness of the issue is quite high, a lot of businesses are sitting on the fence,” said Karrenberg. “Many small businesses are waiting to see what the early adopters do; how they handle things.

“My suspicion is too many are leaving it too late.”

This growing problem has been compounded in recent years as the amount of hardware needing an internet connection has risen enormously, thanks largely to the popularity of smart phones, like Apple’s iPhone and other mobile devices, and the rapid pace of technological development in countries like China and India.

“All sorts of devices need to access the internet now, from smartphones and games consoles, to cars,” says Karrenberg.

“But still only a quarter of European businesses are using IPV6 — the rest should be making this a priority.”

All the big players in the internet, such as Google, and YouTube, are fully IPV6 enabled, but many others have yet to commit.

“If they keep on lagging behind then the internet will not be able to grow in the way it has been; the curve will flatten out,” said Karrenberg.

“Although it’s still unclear what kind of plateau we will see, certainly we could see impeded or seriously curtailed growth.”

None of this is what businesses need to hear as they struggle out of a serious recession, but there is still time to act.

“The window left to invest is still relatively large,” said Karrenberg.

“But businesses should remember that the earlier they act, the less they will pay. The more they neglect this issue, the higher premiums people can expect to be charged.”

According to Karrenberg, the necessary costs can be met as part of the routine process of upgrading technology. “It is possible to deal with these issues through the usual round of investment in hard and soft technology,” he said.

“It’s just a question of what tactics people follow as they make their choices. “Businesses need to future-proof their decisions and this issue needs to be on every CTO’s radar.”

In addition, while IPv4 and IPv6 are designed to work together, there have been reports of teething troubles, and businesses that leave their switch-over too late may find glitches compound their problems.

Business leaders should also remember that this isn’t only an issue for those producing devices needing a connection or selling broadband services. Content providers also need to ensure their services are IPv6-ready, otherwise they will exclude potential clients connecting using the new protocols.

“They will lose their customers — the eyeballs — who may not be able to connect,” said Karrenberg.

It’s a classic paradox of the internet era — while the technology exists to leap frog the problem, human nature is naturally cautious and some businesses are reluctant to do what they know they need to do, whether due to tightened budgets or simple inertia.

“I’m certainly not optimistic this will all work out for everyone,” said Karrenberg.

“I suppose I’m cautiously pessimistic. My fear is that a significant number of businesses will be left in a position where they have to scramble to catch up.

“People know there is a problem, but it’s converting that knowledge into action plans, business plans, which is so important.”

Seven were deported into Jordan on Sunday, along with one person who was injured in the Israeli seizure of another ship trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

The Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla, said it had not been able to speak to anyone who had been aboard the Rachel Corrie.

Spokeswoman Greta Berlin said Israeli authorities had taken their phones away. Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the claim.

The cargo ship Rachel Corrie, loaded with humanitarian aid, had been heading for Palestinian-controlled Gaza on Saturday when naval commandos seized it — the second such shipment to be blocked in recent days.

However, Saturday’s action had a peaceful ending, and Israeli officials said they expected the deportation process to go smoothly.
“I don’t think any of these people will resist deportation,” Palmor said Saturday. “The scenario is either you agree to be deported or you claim that you have a right to stay. I don’t believe any of these people will petition a judge to allow them to stay. They did not show any resistance on the boat.”

The Israeli military said it boarded the Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie by sea with the compliance of the crew, 35 kilometers (22 miles) off the Gaza coast.

The group on board included six Malysians, one Cuban, one Briton, six Filipino nationals and five Irish nationals, according to Israel’s interior ministry.

Those deported on Sunday included all the Malaysians and the Cuban. An Indonesian who was injured in the storming of the Mavi Marmara was also in the group.

The seizure of the Rachel Corrie contrasted with drama in international waters on Monday, when nine Turkish citizens were killed after violence erupted on the Mavi Marmara, one of six ships in a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Q&A: Aid and Israel’s Gaza blockade

A number of other people were wounded.

Israel said the passengers initiated the attack; the passengers blamed the troops.

That incident drew widespread condemnation and cast a spotlight on the dynamics of the Gaza crisis.

Israel said its naval blockade is in place to stop weaponry from reaching militants in Gaza intent on attacking Israel. But many people are incensed that the three-year blockade — imposed after Hamas took over Gaza — has deepened poverty in the Palestinian territory.

According to the United Nations, 80 percent of Gaza’s population depends on food aid.

The voyage of the Rachel Corrie on the heels of the raid put the international community on edge until the events unfolded peacefully on Saturday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel “used the exact same procedure” aboard the Rachel Corrie as it did on the Mavi Marmara.

At the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, Netanyahu said the group aboard the Mavi Marmara was primed for a fight with the Israeli military.

“According to the information currently in our possession, this group boarded separately in a different city, organized separately, equipped itself separately and went on deck under different procedures,” he said. “In effect, they underwent no checks. The clear intent of this hostile group was to initiate a violent clash with IDF soldiers.”

Free Gaza Movement spokeswoman Mary Hughes sharply criticized Israel’s seizure of the ship.

“This is unacceptable to be happening in international waters,” she said.

Reflecting the sentiment of many across the world, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was pleased the incident was “resolved peacefully,” but he renewed his stance that Israel needs to lift its closure of Gaza.

The Free Gaza Movement, which owns the vessel, said the ship was carrying 550 tons of cement to help rebuild schools, homes and other buildings destroyed in Gaza.

Irish Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, who was aboard the ship, said Friday that the Rachel Corrie was also carrying “tons” of writing materials donated by Norway, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment — including wheelchairs donated by Scotland — and toys.

As for the Monday violence, it continues to spark official and grassroots rage in governments and streets inside and outside the Middle East and led to even further deterioration between Israel and Turkey, the one-time close allies who have grown apart over the Gaza crisis.

In Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, thousands took to the streets to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza. Protests were also staged in London, England and Paris, France.

At the United Nations, the Security Council called for an inquiry into the flotilla raid and the Human Rights Council voted for a probe, but Israel said it alone — and not an international entity — should be investigating.

The Israel Defense Forces military advocate general said Israel’s interception of the flotilla was legal because international law allows a country to stop a vessel in international waters if it attempts to breach a naval blockade — even before such a blockade is breached.

The MV Rachel Corrie was named for a 23-year-old American woman who was killed in Gaza in 2003 while attempting to keep the Israeli military from bulldozing the home of a Palestinian.

Somali forces have been battling insurgent fighters from al-Shabaab, the al Qaeda proxy in Mogadishu and the rest of the country. The militants are waging a war against the government in an effort to implement a stricter form of Islamic law, known as sharia.

The fighting has displaced an estimated 1.4 million Somalis within the country, and more than 580,000 live as refugees in neighboring countries, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in May.

Mogadishu is bulging at the seams with more than 350,000 internally displaced people — many of whom are living in overcrowded conditions and on the street under plastic sheets and makeshift dwellings.

“These are the most vulnerable and utterly dependent on scarce aid the humanitarian agencies manage to deliver and meager remittances from relatives living abroad,” the U.N. agency said last month.

“Hundreds of children are forced to beg in the streets of the capital and many women beg in the main markets.”

The Horn of Africa nation has not had a stable government since 1991, and fighting between the rebels and government troops has escalated the humanitarian crisis in the famine-ravaged country. The U.N.-backed interim government fights the rebels with the help of African Union peacekeepers.

Recent fighting and displacement has been aggravating an already grave demographic reality: About 43 percent of the Somali population “lives below the extreme poverty line and one in seven Somali children die before the age of 5,” the refugee agency said.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Larry King Thursday, President Barack Obama defended the current federal endeavor, noting that the Coast Guard, under Adm. Thad Allen, is taking the lead and is itself a part of the military. Allen, he said, will get the resources he needs.

“If he says that there is equipment that’s helpful for dealing with this problem, he will get it,” Obama said. “What you don’t want is a situation where everyone is stepping on each other and not doing the best possible job in coordination with the state and local levels.”

The states do have access already to many more National Guard troops than they are using.

Last month, the Pentagon approved the use of up to 17,500 National Guard members to help in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill relief efforts, at the request of governors in four states. But only about 1,400 have been actively engaged.

In Louisiana, 1,100 of the 6,000 authorized National Guard have been deployed.

Alabama is using just 280 troops out of an authorized 3,000. Mississippi has called 70 Guard members into active duty out of an available 6,000, and Florida has only seven National Guard troops on oil-spill duty out of an authorized 2,500.

A Louisiana state spokesman said that the initial mobilization of the Guard has been small, but is increasing as more containment and clean-up projects are approved.

“There are different missions waiting for approval by the Coast Guard and BP,” said Kyle Plotkin, spokesman for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, in an e-mail to CNN.
“As those missions are approved, the National Guard would determine if additional resources in terms of Guardsmen are needed,” said Plotkin.

The federal government has agreed to pay for National Guard troops used in federally approved projects. State governors can activate their respective National Guard troops, using state funds. The Pentagon has granted all state assistance requests received to date, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

BP, whose drilling rig caused the leak, is expected to pay the final tab.

The process begins when state governors request specific missions be carried out by the National Guard.

The Coast Guard’s Allen, the government’s point-person in charge the disaster response, reviews the request, then determines the level of resources needed, if any, for a given project.

He must also determine if the task is legitimate, like building berms or flying aircraft to spread dispersant, and that it is something the National Guard are suited to do.

Once Allen gives the OK, the request is sent to the National Guard Bureau to be fulfilled from the troops currently authorized by the Pentagon.

Jindal has requested missions such as filling in gaps to cut off oil from bays and marshes, and is “absolutely very happy about their incredible work,” Plotkin said, referring to Guard troops.

“You see the air drops … literally 4,000 bags of sand. You see what they’re doing on the ground,” Jindal said during a press conference Tuesday.

“This shows you it works … this shows you the strategy will work.”

“We have not stopped and have no intention of stopping,” said former Assistant U.N. Secretary-General Denis Halliday from aboard the vessel. “We will only stop when Israelis force us to do so.”

The MV Rachel Corrie, named for an American activist killed in Gaza several years ago, was expected to arrive late Friday or early Saturday off the coast of Gaza. Israel was offering to unload its cargo in Israel’s Ashdod port, screen the material and then deliver it to Gaza, but fears of another high-seas confrontation were in the offing.

However, Halliday said the 11 people aboard the ship — which is carrying 550 tons of cement to help in the effort to rebuild schools, homes and other building destroyed in Gaza — had no plans of confronting Israelis who may stop the vessel.

“We will stand back and show we are harmless and unarmed — we will put up no resistance,” he said. “We’re not going to make any silly mistakes.”

Earlier Thursday, a Free Gaza Movement activist told CNN that the Rachel Corrie delayed its voyage while it was being equipped with video and satellite devices to to record what is happening on the vessel.

Adam Shapiro, Free Gaza board member, said the additions to the ship are being made for safety purposes.

Shapiro said Israel has made it clear it would intercept the ship, and he hopes recording technology on the ship will make a difference in the behavior of any soldiers who board the vessel.

“Israel will be sensitive to the fact that we’ll be recording what’s happening and streaming it live,” said Shapiro, who didn’t identify where the Rachel Corrie is docking. He said it will head toward Gaza within the week.

An Israeli government official, who spoke on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue, told CNN the government is offering to receive the ship’s cargo, as it has offered other vessels, if it docks at Ashdod’s port.

That was the same deal rejected by the flotilla of six ships bound for Gaza before Israeli commandos raided one of them Monday.

Halliday acknowledged that cement the aid ship is carrying is not considered by Israel as a form of humanitarian aid, but he said the ship will push forward to Gaza: “We don’t want to see our cement sitting there” in Ashdod.

Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the two countries are having initial talks about opening up a dialogue to address the civilian needs of the people in Gaza and Israel’s security interests. However, Oren said the dialogue would not involve an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Referring to comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called the situation in Gaza “unsustainable,” Oren said, “We don’t disagree with that. We are open to suggestions on how to ameliorate the situation.”

Haaretz, the Israeli daily newspaper, reported on Thursday that a “diplomatic solution” that would allow the vessel to dock at Ashdod “seems imminent.”

Citing European diplomats and senior Foreign Ministry officials in Jerusalem, the newspaper said “quiet messages have been exchanged over the past few days between Israel and the group operating the ship, to allow it to dock” in Israel.
But Shapiro said people on the ship deny that report and believe it is part of a misinformation campaign by the Israeli government.

Aside from himself, Halliday said there are 10 others on the ship: Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, six Malaysians and Free Gaza activist Derek Graham and Graham’s wife and an Irish lawmaker.

Graham has said the plan was for the Rachel Corrie to be unloaded in Gaza and then return to Ireland.

“We’re just hopeful the Israelis will let us make a small gesture for the people of Palestine,” Halliday said. “Because we believe Monday was a gross error.”

He added that Monday’s confrontation resulted from “faults on both sides,” saying the effort on the Rachel Corrie is a “different ball game.”

The Irish government is asking that Israel not interfere with the ship. Haaretz said it would have been in the Monday flotilla that had been halted by Israel but was delayed because of technical problems.

According to the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the vessel, owned by the Irish Free Gaza movement, sailed from Dundalk, Ireland, in mid-May. Aboard are a number of Irish citizens.

Ireland’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheal Martin, has told the lower house of the Irish parliament that he has asked the Israeli ambassador to convey to his government his request that, “following the tragedy which has occurred, the Rachel Corrie be allowed to continue unimpeded, and to deliver its cargo to Gaza.”
“We will be watching this situation very closely — as indeed will the world — and it is imperative that Israel avoid any action which leads to further bloodshed,” he said.

The Rachel Corrie left Ireland laden with educational materials, toys and medical equipment along with the cement in the latest effort by peace activists to deliver humanitarian goods and break Israel’s blockade, according to aid organizers.

Israel says it needs to have its naval blockade of Gaza to stop weaponry from being transported to militants there intent on attacking Israel. The Free Gaza Movement said customs officials and a senator from the Irish Green Party inspected the vessel and found no weapons.

Israeli commandos stormed a six-vessel flotilla early Monday in order to stop it from reaching Gaza.

Violence erupted on one of the ships, leading to the deaths of nine people, all Turkish citizens — including one of dual Turkish-American nationality, as well as many injured people. Israel said its commandos were attacked and passengers said the troops assaulted them.

Israel briefly detained the 600 or so flotilla passengers. The state eventually released all of the foreigners and four Israeli Arabs from prison. The Israeli citizens, all activists, remain under house arrest until next week.

One of the four Israeli Arabs — Sheik Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel — told CNN that some people initially aboard the flotilla have since disappeared.

“There is only one explanation — that some passengers were thrown in the sea,” Salah said. “No one knows how many are there, unless after a detailed search that might last days or weeks, we don’t know. There are passengers who were thrown in the sea during the attack on the freedom flotilla.”

The violence has sparked official and grassroots rage from capitals and street protests outside the Middle East on Thursday. South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that the once-close Turkish-Israeli ties “will never be the same. This incident has left an irreparable and deep scar.”

Thousands of angry people attended a mass funeral in Istanbul for the victims and chanted slogans against Israel, and Turkish activists on the ship returned from Israel to a hero’s welcome.

At the United Nations, the Security Council has called for an inquiry of the raid and the Human Rights Council voted for a probe, but Israel says it alone and not an international entity should be investigating.

Mark Regev, the Israeli prime minister’s office spokesman, said after military operations, it is Israel’s “standard practice” to carry out “a prompt, professional, transparent and objective investigation in accordance with the highest international standards.”

One Israeli official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to comment on the subject, said, “the demand for a U.N. investigation shows a clear double standard towards Israel. It shows hypocrisy and singles out the Jewish state for special treatment.”

“There is no case in recent history where a democratic country’s army has been involved in an overseas operation in which civilians have been killed, and has been subjected to an international investigation.”

The Israel Defense Forces Military Advocate General — the body that ensures that the rule of law is upheld within the military — said in a report that the interception of the Gaza flotilla was legal under international law.

The body said that international law allows for a country to stop a vessel in international waters if it attempts to breach a naval blockade — even before such a blockade is actually breached.

“If it resists capture and refuses to stop, after prior warning, it may be attacked,” the MAG said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel Radio on Thursday that members of the flotilla were carrying large amounts of cash, a suggestion that people on the ship had untoward and not humanitarian intentions.

An Israel Defense Forces official said troops continued to count money they found, saying that they discovered envelopes in bundles ranging from $8,000 to $10,000.

Beijing, China (CNN) — When Chinese premier Wen Jiabao visited South Korea last week, politicians, diplomats and reporters in Seoul parsed his public statements, looking for indications on China’s stand on the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan.

The ship went down on March 26, killing 46 sailors. South Korea says the North torpedoed the ship. North Korea has repeatedly denied the allegation. The incident has since become an urgent security dispute in the region that could potentially escalate into armed clashes, according to analysts.

The South Koreans hoped China would express outrage and condemnation.

Speaking in Seoul, Premier Wen offered his condolences.

“The sinking of Cheonan is an unfortunate incident,” he said. “We understand the sorrow of the South Korean people, especially the victims’ families.”

However, he stopped short of condemning the North for the incident. Instead, he said China would take an “objective and fair judgment based upon the facts.”

He called on all parties to remain calm in order to avoid possible conflicts.

“If clashes flare up,” he said, “the worst victim will be South Korea. And China, too, cannot avoid misfortune.”

China is already caught in the diplomatic crossfire. South Korea has been trying to convince China that North Korea was the culprit. It wants to penalize the North at the United Nations Security Council with a condemnatory resolution and harsh sanctions.

Getting China’s backing is crucial because it holds veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council and it is a close ally of North Korea.

But political observers say China is reluctant to take sides.
“One gets a sense that the Chinese officials just wanted it to go away,” said a Western diplomat in Beijing who requested anonymity. “They did not want tensions to escalate.”

Premier Wen indicated that Beijing remains open to reviewing the results of the investigation.

Wenran Jiang, a political science professor at University of Alberta, said the Chinese leader’s equivocal position was understandable.

“By not choosing sides, the Chinese leadership would like to remain as mediators,” Jiang said. “It has clearly concluded that the tension may lead to great conflict and even an all out war. That is in no one’s interests.”

A Chinese government official in Beijing, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on the subject, said China’s goal is consistent.

“We want peace and stability in the region,” he said. “We don’t want one incident, tragic and outrageous as it is, to derail us from this long-term goal.”

He said China still believes the only platform that has a chance of succeeding is the six-party talks, even though he acknowledges that it is, at the moment, “on the brink of death.”

China has hosted the talks, which bring together the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia to negotiate the roll-back of North Korea’s nuclear program. The closed-door meetings, which began in 2003, have been stalled for more than a year after North Korea walked away, angry about stringent U.N. sanctions backed by China.

Still, China remains the only party closely engaged with North Korea. Last month, Beijing hosted a rare visit by Kim Jong-Il. During his five-day visit, the reclusive leader met China’s top leaders and visited two coastal cities known for their frenetic international trade and commerce.

Some South Korean politicians were reportedly upset that China had hosted Kim while the Cheonan incident remained unresolved.

Explainer: Why are the two Koreas so hostile?

This is not the first time North Korea has put China in a diplomatic quandary. Over the past two decades, China has carefully juggled its ties to North and South Korea, balancing strategic and economic interests with the bitter rivals.

China is now South Korea’s biggest trade partner. At the same time, it remains North Korea’s closest political ally and largest trade partner.

China and North Korea famously describe their special ties as “close as lips and teeth” — one cannot exist without the other. They share a long border and have fought side by side during the Korean War (1950-1953), which ended with the division of the Korean peninsula.

China’s trade with the North is tiny compared with its robust economic ties with the South, but it is critical for the survival of Kim Jong-Il’s regime. A Large quantity of North Korea’s daily oil supply and food imports come from China. The U.S. and South Korea hope China will use its economic and political leverage as a “stick” to change North Korea’s behavior.

China’s trade with the North is tiny compared with its robust economic ties with the South, but it is critical for the survival of Kim Jong-Il’s regime. A large quantity of North Korea’s daily oil supply and food imports come from China. The U.S. and South Korea hope China will use its economic and political leverage as a “stick” to change North Korea’s behavior.

But China does not see itself as a global policeman, analysts say. It abides by its foreign policy mantra of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs.

“We want to play a constructive role,” said the Chinese official in Beijing. “We want to subtly encourage North Korea to reform and open up even if slowly, step by step. But it’s all up to them to decide.”

He said China fears that diplomatically isolating and financially squeezing North Korea will backfire because it could lead to the collapse of the fragile regime, trigger civil unrest and lead to an influx of millions of North Korean refugees on China’s border.

Instead of waving the proverbial “stick”, he said, “it’s better to dangle incentives, such as economic aid and security guarantee.”

The Chinese official insists there are no better ways to resolve the Cheonan conflict than through dialogue and diplomacy.

“A military strike (against North Korea)? That would set off a violent reaction and risk an all out war. New sanctions? North Korea has survived them all.”

He said that if North Korea is again pushed in a tight corner, it could resort to desperate measures, such as conducting more missile and nuclear tests or resuming full-scale operations at its Yongbyun nuclear facility to process more weapons-grade plutonium.

“North Korea has little to lose,” he said.

To many Chinese strategic thinkers and policy makers, long-term solution of the Korean conflicts require a combination of domestic reform in North Korea and persistent multilateral negotiations, such as the six-party talks.

“Whatever next step emerges, it is important that all other options have been tried and exhausted. The top priority is for the two Korean sides to sort out their differences,” said Zha Daojiong, a political science professor at Peking University.

The Rachel Corrie, a ship named for an American activist killed in Gaza several years ago, was planning to arrive in Gaza late Friday or early Saturday. The vessel left Ireland carrying 550 tons of cement, educational materials, toys and medical equipment — the latest effort by peace activists to deliver food and break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Free Gaza Movement activist Derek Graham said that once the Rachel Corrie reaches Gaza, they intend to unload the vessel and return to Ireland.

However this risks further confrontation with Israel, which is intent on halting ships from delivering aid to Gaza because it fears military materiel will be delivered to militants in the Hamas-controlled territory.

How has the world reacted to the raid?

It won’t be the last ship attempting to break the blockade. The European Campaign to End Siege on Gaza announced on Wednesday that it has received the funding of the first three ships of a new fleet headed to Gaza.
Edward Peck, a former U.S. ambassador to Mauritania who was a passenger on one of the ships in the flotilla, said Wednesday he hopes Israel doesn’t respond to the Rachel Corrie in the same way its military did to the Miva Marmara vessel Monday. He said it won’t serve Israeli or U.S. interests.

“The Israelis had said that their response is going even more proactive than before,” Peck told CNN’s “American Morning.” “I hope they don’t do it.”

The commando raid that led to the deaths of nine people and the wounding of many more early Monday continues to focus much of the world’s attention.

Were you there? Send stories, images

It has sparked outrage in capitals across the world and on the streets, from the Americas to Asia, with many decrying the latest actions as well as Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza.

In Central America, Nicaragua announced it was suspending relations with Israel. In Saudi Arabia, the Organization of Islamic Conference — a group representing Muslim nations — will be meeting at the foreign ministry level to huddle over the incident.

“For years, many in the international community have been complicit in a policy that aimed at isolating Gaza in the hope of weakening Hamas,” said the International Crisis Group, the think tank that denounced the Israeli action.

“This policy is morally appalling and politically self-defeating. It has harmed the people of Gaza without loosening Hamas’ control. Yet it has persisted regardless of evident failure.”

Turkey, whose citizens were killed and injured in the flotilla violence, and the Turkish citizenry are seething over the incident. Its prime minister has delivered strong rhetoric toward the Jewish state — a one-time close ally — and its ambassador has been yanked from Tel Aviv.

Turkish officials have said they want Israel to end the Gaza blockade to return to normal ties. But in the meantime, their relationship continues to fray.

In the first known military fallout from the Israeli action, a U.S. official said Turkey will informally cancel a trilateral military exercise with the United States and Israel set for August in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Attorneys for a Muslim humanitarian group have filed a petition asking Turkish prosecutors to sue Israel for murder.

The Gaza issue is spurring both security alarms and moral consternation among many Israelis, who see themselves as between a rock and a hard place when it comes to how to approach the issues in that territory.

The Israeli government is concerned that lifting the blockade will help replenish militant groups intent on staging attacks against Israelis. At the same time, many Israelis are disturbed by the dire living conditions in Gaza.

The Israeli state attorney general’s office, in a response to the High Court on two petitions regarding the flotilla, defended the Israeli actions on Wednesday. It said the “Hamas terrorist organization” controls Gaza and is intent on deliberately assaulting civilians.

As a result, Israel has been intent on thwarting the infiltration of weapons and ordnance from tunnels between Egypt and Gaza and has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza to stop the weapons smuggling.

Q&A: Aid and Israel’s Gaza blockade

“The blockade is not intended to harm residents of the Strip. It is designed to prevent direct and free access to the Gaza Strip, not via Israel, in order to thwart, minimize, block and hinder the Gaza Strip from becoming a giant arsenal for the terrorist organizations to use in deliberately targeting Israelis in the framework of murderous terrorist actions that have been perpetrated over the years,” the office said.

After Monday’s incident, the Israeli government detained around 600 flotilla passengers and held them at the Beer Sheva prison.

On Wednesday, all foreign detainees left the prison amid the international uproar over the raid, and they were taken to Ben Gurion Airport, where they headed home. Four Israeli Arab activists on the flotilla, however, remain in Israeli custody; a judge on Monday night remanded them till June 8.

As for the Rachel Corrie, the Free Gaza Movement said the ship was inspected in Ireland for weapons by customs officials and a senator from the Irish Green Party. No weapons were found. There are five Irish and six Malaysian people on the boat. The paid crew members include a Briton, a Cuban and six Filipinos.

Reflecting on the flotilla efforts, Peck told “American Morning” that “our hope was let’s put a wedge into the situation and provide an opportunity for a peaceful humanitarian act to be seen as accepted by everyone.”

But he acknowledged that “people like myself are perhaps unrealistically hopeful that the Israeli government would have seen this is an opportunity to have it just go the other way.”

Police said at least 25 people were injured in the attack which started at 10:35 a.m. (5.35 a.m. ET) in Whitehaven, a quaint Georgian town which was once the center of the UK’s rum trade.

After a large scale search, Cumbria police found the body of the suspected gunman, 52-year-old Derrick Bird, in a wooded area of Boot, a village in the Lake District, a popular tourist area.

In his first parliamentary question time since becoming British prime minister, David Cameron said the government would do whatever it could to help the communities affected.

“When lives and communities are suddenly shattered in this way, our thoughts should be with all those caught up in these tragic events, especially the families and friends of those killed or injured,” he said.

Did you see anything? Send us photos, images

Armed police patrols and dog squads were dispatched in the hunt for the gunman after the first shots were fired at 10:35 a.m. (5:35 a.m. ET) in Whitehaven.

Police issued a photo of the suspected shooter, Derrick Bird, and urged members of the public to stay indoors until further notice.

More shots were fired in the small towns of Seascale and Egremont, as officers attempted to track the suspect on land and by air and ambulance crews attended the victims.

“Police are working to identify the individuals and inform relatives,” Cumbria police said. “Ambulance crews are in attendance across the area.”
Peter Leder, who says he is a friend of Bird’s, told CNN he spoke to Bird last night and Bird told him, “You won’t see me again.”

Bird was initially driving a dark gray or silver Citroen Picasso, but police later said he had abandoned his car in the area of Boot, in the Lake District, and was traveling on foot.

The Lake District is a scenic rural retreat in northern England which is popular with walkers, hikers and tourists.

Leder said Bird has been an independent taxi driver in Whitehaven for more than 20 years and described him as “an outgoing, well-known guy, who everyone liked.”

John Bevir, a reporter for CNN affiliate ITV, described Whitehaven as a sleepy seaside town. “Things like this just don’t happen here,” he said. “Well, they didn’t, until this morning.”

Bird was divorced several years ago and has two children, both boys, who have moved away from home, he said. Bird is very close to his mother, who is very ill in a local nursing home, Leder said.

He said his friend enjoyed scuba diving, went on several diving trips abroad and practised regularly at the Whitehaven swimming baths.

The Citroen Picasso police said Bird was driving at the time of the shootings was his regular taxi cab, Leder said.

After the discovery of his body, police issued another statement urging any witnesses to come forward.

“Our focus is now on the movements of Mr Bird this morning and we are asking for any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward and help us with our investigation,” they said.

A police hotline was set up for concerned relatives of those involved.