The Santa Claus in the window of Najeeba John's store is a sad metaphor for the first Iraqi Christmas since the fall of Saddam Hussein. \nThe toy Santa is supposed to sing and dance but he just stands there without moving. \n"Unfortunately, we don't have any electricity," says John. \nIraqi Christians say they won't be dancing either for Christmas. \nThe usual parties, and even Christmas Eve church, are out of the question. It's just not safe here, they say. \n"We are afraid of explosions," said Nasreen Thomas, 30, a dentist. \n"Under the old regime we celebrated until the wee hours but this year we can't ... Maybe I won't go out of my house," Thomas said. \nSince US and British troops invaded in March to end more than two decades of dictatorship under Saddam, the US-led coalition has been battling insurgents who target troops and their "collaborators" like Iraqi police. \nInnocent civilians sometimes get hurt in the roadside bombings or grenade attacks meant for security forces. \nBaghdad is subject to rotating power blackouts, and buying gasoline for a car can require sleeping overnight in a long queue. \n"There is nothing. We will sit at home and we won't even go to church. Where will we go? There are no clubs, nothing," said Danny Rass, 51, inside his small liquor store in Baghdad's Karada district, where many in Iraq's Christian minority live. \nNext door, Laith Calotti and his staff were busy selling flowers and Christmas supplies. Business is good, said Calotti, 26. \n"But we are afraid. We are afraid of everything," he said. \nMaha Salam walked out with a bag of miniature Christmas lights but she was not in a party mood. \n"There will be no parties. The electricity is no good. There is no gasoline. This will have a big impact. We will just stay at home," said Salam, who ran a sweet shop until the war. She is too afraid to reopen, she said. \n"Who is happy to celebrate Christmas?" asked Sabieh Isho, 52, a liquor-store owner. \n"This year the celebration has been canceled because there is no security," he said. \nSaddam ruled with the support of the minority Sunni Islamic community while oppressing the Shiite majority of Iraq's estimated 26 million people. \nHis fall has led to fears of sectarian strife and prompted a call for unity on Sunday by the newly appointed leader of Iraq's largest Christian denomination, the Chaldean Catholic Church. \n"All Iraq is our homeland. Iraq is for us all, from north to south," said Patriarch Monsignor Emmanuelle-Karim Delly, 76, during a ceremony for his installation held in Baghdad. \nMonsignor Ishlemon Wardouni, in a homily to welcome Delly, said the new patriarch had been chosen amid "cruel conditions" in his country. \n"We are asking God to help him in his ship, especially in these times, to reach the harbor of peace," said Wardouni, who was interim patriarch before Delly assumed leadership of the world's Chaldeans. \nIraq's estimated 700,000 Chaldeans are the country's largest Christian denomination. \nThey worshipped without restriction under Saddam, and still do. But with Iraq's government structure still undecided, they face the future with uncertainty. \n"Saddam loved the Christians. That's a fact. Now we still don't know. It's only been six or eight months," Calotti said. \nThomas, a stylishly-dressed woman, expressed concern she might be forced to wear Islamic garb. \n"We are waiting for the new government to decide what type of system we will be under," she said. \nOther Christians said they hadn't heard of extremists pressuring non-Muslims to cover their heads. They said Christians lived peacefully with the Muslim majority. \nRass and Isho said they felt threatened but the danger came because of their business, not their religion. \n"Three of my friends were killed," Rasso said, blaming extremist Muslims. \nIsho said ordinary criminals were also a danger. \n"As we stand here now, we don't know if we will be bombed by a grenade or something," Isho said. \nHe closes his doors by 7pm now, three hours earlier than under the old regime. \n"There is no electricity and no security, so why would we stay open?" he asked. \nCalotti, too, locks up his Christmas trees, his flowers and gift baskets just after dark. \n"We don't want Americans. We don't want Saddam. We just want to live in peace," he said.
PHOTO: EPA
Pins hidden in her shoes, head forced down a toilet, kicked in the stomach: South Korean hairdresser Pyo Ye-rim suffered a litany of abuse from school bullies, but now she is speaking out. The 26-year-old is part of a phenomenon sweeping South Korea known as “Hakpok #MeToo,” where people who were bullied publicly name and shame the perpetrators of school violence — “hakpok” in Korean — decades after the alleged crimes. Made famous globally by Netflix’s gory revenge series The Glory, the movement has ensnared everyone from K-pop stars to baseball players and accusations — often anonymous — can be career-ending, with
One of Australia’s two active volcanoes on an island near Antarctica — known as Big Ben — has been spotted by satellite spewing lava. The lava flow on the uninhabited Heard Island, about 4,100km southwest of Perth and 1,500km north of Antarctica, is part of an ongoing eruption that was first noted more than a decade ago. The image was caught by the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite on Thursday, and is a composite of an optical picture and an infrared image. The lava is seen flowing down the side of Big Ben from near the summit, known as Mawson Peak.
TIME TO TALK: Among China’s grievances were economic and trade issues related to Taiwan, but both countries emphasized the need to maintain communication US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) on Friday raised complaints about China’s state-led economic policies during a meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao (王文濤), who objected to US tariffs and trade policies, as well as issues related to Taiwan, their offices said. However, statements from the US Trade Representative’s (USTR) office and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce emphasized the need for Washington and Beijing to maintain communication on trade. “Ambassador Tai highlighted the need to address the critical imbalances caused by China’s state-led, non-market approach to the economy and trade policy,” the USTR said in a statement released after the
READY FOR ACTION: Military, police, firefighters and volunteers were standing by for search-and-rescue operations, with an official saying they ‘cannot afford not to prepare’ Philippine officials yesterday began evacuating thousands of people, shut down schools and offices and imposed a no-sail ban as Typhoon Mawar approached the country’s northern provinces a week after battering the US territory of Guam. The typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of 155kpm and gusts of up to 190kph, but was forecast to spare the mountainous region a direct hit. Current projections show the typhoon veering northeast toward Taiwan or southern Japan. Although it is expected to slow down considerably, authorities warned of dangerous tidal surges, flash floods and landslides as it blows past the northernmost province of Batanes from today