The sagas continue

From the Middle East, comes word that Palestinian leader Abbas means it when he says "cease fire:"

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will demand obedience from militant factions in talks on Friday after fighters bombarded Jewish settlements in Gaza despite a ceasefire declared at a summit with Israel.

Abbas, striving to fulfil a condition of calm to begin talks on a state in Israeli-occupied lands under a U.S.-devised peace plan, sacked nine security chiefs and deputies on Thursday for failing to prevent the mortar and rocket barrage hours before.

The veteran moderate, elected on Jan. 9 to succeed Yasser Arafat on a platform of non-violent struggle, would follow up on the dismissals with a no-nonsense message to Islamist militant leaders at a meeting in Gaza City, aides said.

"It will be that they must honor the ceasefire and that there is only one authority and one leadership, as Abbas said at Sharm el-Sheikh (summit) and during his presidential campaign," said Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters.

From North Korea, the beginnings of an answer to international questions of "Why?"

Pyongyang has asked for bilateral talks with the US after this week’s brazen declaration that not only had it manufactured nuclear weapons but was withdrawing from multilateral talks as well, a South Korean newspaper reported on Friday.

As North Korea’s neighbours mulled how to respond to the rogue state, the report that Pyongyang instead wants direct talks with Washington will fuel speculation that the outburst was merely rhetoric aimed at strengthening its hand before it returns to talks.

While from other parts of North Korea, the ominous rumblings of discontent continue to surface:

I currently work for one of the North Korea's key [government] institutes. I apologize that I am not able to reveal the details of my identity, and I hope you understand that this is necessary in order to protect myself. I am now writing this letter despite the danger because South Korean government's pathetic policy toward North Korea enraged me, and I felt that I must speak out for the future of Koreans.

[...]

Kim Jung Il is cornered and has nowhere to go. I am certain that no one in North Korea is even remotely fond of him in any way. I think his luck is running out even though he frantically tries to oppress the citizens with military forces, scaring them with guns and knives. The soldiers can see that their families are starving to death. If a soldier who has a head on his soldier, how could he possibly perceive all this as normal? I think I have said enough to help you realize what is necessary in order to tear down Kim Jung Il's regime and liberate North Koreans who trust you as brothers and sisters in the worst of times as these.

Mideast Korea Unrest