Leave now, editorials tell Blagojevich

CHICAGO, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich must leave office, either voluntarily or by impeachment, Illinois newspapers said in editorials published Wednesday.

Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday morning and accused of, among other things, trying to sell or barter President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat for personal or financial gain.

"If Gov. Blagojevich does not resign immediately, impeach him," the Chicago Sun-Times editorial said. "To Blagojevich's way of thinking, the criminal complaint alleges, picking the next senator from Illinois isn't a solemn obligation, it's a sale -- to the highest bidder."

From here on out, any decision Blagojevich makes as the state's chief executive is tainted, a sampling of editorials said.

"Rod Blagojevich may be innocent until a jury finds him guilty, but as a political leader and the governor of a state of 12 million people who deserve better, he is crippled," the Champaign News-Gazette wrote.

Illinoisans are ill-served by Blagojevich's alleged actions, the Chicago Tribune said.

"This moment, though, shouldn't be all about politicians and laws," the Tribune said. "This moment should be about the serially cheated citizens of Illinois, people who pay their taxes and expect honest governance in return. They have to choose better officials. They have to demand more. They deserve more."

Peace prize winner urges Mideast talks

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, says U.S. President-elect Barack Obama should concentrate on the Middle East.

Ahtisaari urged Obama at Wednesday's award ceremonies in Stockholm to "give high priority to the Middle East conflict in his first year in office," CNN reported.

Ahtisaari, who worked on efforts to resolve conflicts from Kosovo to Indonesia and Namibia, added, "All crises, including the one in the Middle East, can be solved," saying the international community also had to put its weight behind the Middle East peace process, the U.S. broadcaster reported.

Stockholm, meanwhile, was decked out to host the Nobel Prize awards ceremony, with more than 1 million Swedes expected to watch the proceedings on TV, officials said.

The weather was expected to stay above freezing in the Swedish capital as the festivities began at 4:30 p.m. in Stockholm's Concert House, and were to be followed by the guests of honor making their way to City Hall for a banquet hosted by King Carl Gustaf XVI and Queen Silvia, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

EU officials replace U.N. in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Kosovo, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- European Union officials are taking over from the United Nations in sensitive areas of Kosovo despite objections of ethnic Serbs, EU officials say.

EULEX, the EU mission in Kosovo, says it has been moving the first of 1,900 police, customs agents, judges and prosecutors into Kosovo this week after a reluctant Serbia, which mistrusts the EU, reached an agreement with U.N. negotiators last month, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

Analysts say their biggest challenge will be to combat ethnic divisions as well as the rampant smuggling of people and drugs through Kosovo en route to Europe. Kosovo's courts are also staggering under a backlog of cases as well as from endemic corruption, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has said.

The Times said Kosovo remains tense after declaring independence from Serbia in February. Although more than 50 countries -- including most of the EU -- has recognized its independence, Kosovo is still stuck in legal limbo because Serbia ally Russia has vowed never to recognize its independence.

NATO, Russia to meet again soon

BRUSSELS, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- An informal meeting between NATO and Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin is on tap after the two sides agreed this month to resume relations, officials say.

The meeting between Rogozin and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer could be held in Brussels as early as next week, Moscow's mission to NATO told RIA Novosti Wednesday.

The meeting would be the first since the foreign ministers of NATO's 26 member-states last week instructed Scheffer to resume informal contacts with Russia after the alliance cut off ties due to the conflict between Russia and Georgia. NATO accused Russia of a "disproportionate" response to Georgia's incursion into the breakaway republic of South Ossetia and condemned its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent of Georgia.

Russia responded by halting cooperation on a number of programs, including the Partnership for Peace, as well as calling off a planned Scheffer visit to Moscow, RIA Novosti said.

Muslim kids beaten in British madrassas

LONDON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Muslim children taking Koran classes in Britain have been slapped, punched and had their ears twisted, an investigation by The Times of London found Wednesday.

Students at some British madrassas -- Islamic evening classes -- say they have endured severe corporal punishment, with an investigator claiming that one alleged child victim in the north of England said he had been "picked up by one leg and spun around" and another saying a madrassa teacher was "kicking in my head - like a football."

Those descriptions came from a report compiled by Irfan Chishti, a former British government adviser on Islamic affairs. The Times says it also found several instances of alleged abuse in its investigation. One unidentified woman told the newspaper her 7-year-old niece was slapped across the face so hard by her madrassa teacher that her ear was cut, became inflamed and required emergency medical treatment.

Another girl told The Times that at age 12 she was hit by her madrassa teacher whenever she mispronounced a word or forgot a verse of the Koran.

Officials say almost 1,600 madrassas operate in Britain, teaching Arabic and the Koran on weekday evenings to about 200,000 children.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International
All Rights Reserved.