InfoAnda - Havel, leader of Velvet Revolution, dies |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

London stock market strikes six-year low | 2 March 2009
FCC's Internet rules clear a review hurdle | | 13 September 2011
UN rift widens over Brazil-Turkey deal with Iran | 28 May 2010

Tchaikovsky: revival of an underrated great | Entertainment | | 30 December 2008

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Havel, leader of Velvet Revolution, dies |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Davos 2012 Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Summits Business Video Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Politics Politics Home Elections 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Theater Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Gregg Easterbrook Nader Mousavizadeh James Saft Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Mohamed El-Erian Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Money Money Home Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Life & Culture Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Article Comments (0) Slideshow Video VIDEO Year in 60 seconds: 2011 A multimedia showcase of some of 2011's top stories, including Japan's tragic earthquake, the Arab Spring, the demise of Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi, the shooting rampage in Norway, famine in Somalia and the Royal Wedding. Video U.S. soldiers reflect on wounds of war An uncertain future for Iraq as U.S. leaves Batista bets on Brazil Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead, son hailed as heir 2:26am EST Exclusive: Secret U.S., Taliban talks reach turning point 1:06am EST Kim Jong-il: reclusive leader in a hermit 12:15am EST Overstretched drone pilots face stress risk 18 Dec 2011 Southwest, plains face blizzard warnings in big storm 18 Dec 2011 Discussed 256 Ron Paul gains ground, further stirring Republicans 135 Ron Paul strongly defends anti-war policies 104 Supreme Court to decide Arizona immigration law Watched Freed Palestinian prisoners celebrate homecoming Sun, Dec 18 2011 Rockets and funerals in Gaza Fri, Dec 9 2011 Year in 60 seconds: 2011 Tue, Dec 6 2011 Havel, leader of "Velvet Revolution," dies Tweet Share this Email Print Related News World pays tribute to "great European" Havel Sun, Dec 18 2011 Timeline: Vaclav Havel, playwright and president Sun, Dec 18 2011 Newsmaker: Havel: moral beacon, rocker, reluctant leader Sun, Dec 18 2011 Analysis & Opinion Arab Spring, Russian Winter Islamist-led Tunisia installs secularist dissident Marzouki as president Related Topics World » Related Video Former Czech President Vaclav Havel dies Sun, Dec 18 2011 1 of 12. A man places a candle in tribute to late former Czech President Vaclav Havel at Wenceslas Square in Prague December 18, 2011. Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright who was jailed by Communists and then went on to lead the bloodless ''Velvet Revolution'' and become Czech president, died at 75 on Sunday. The words on the placard (bottom L) reads: ''We thank you''. Credit: Reuters/David W Cerny By Michael Winfrey and Jana Mlcochova PRAGUE | Sun Dec 18, 2011 7:06pm EST PRAGUE (Reuters) - Vaclav Havel, an anti-Communist playwright who became Czech president and a worldwide symbol of peace and freedom after leading the bloodless "Velvet Revolution," died at the age of 75 on Sunday. The former chain smoker died at his country home in Hradecek, north of Prague, of a long respiratory illness after surviving operations for lung cancer and a burst intestine in the late 1990s that left him frail for more than a decade. The diminutive playwright, who invited the Rolling Stones to medieval Prague castle, took Bill Clinton to a smoky Prague jazz club to play saxophone and was a friend of the Dalai Lama, rose to fame after facing down Prague's Communist rulers. "His peaceful resistance shook the foundations of an empire, exposed the emptiness of a repressive ideology, and proved that moral leadership is more powerful than any weapon," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "He played a seminal role in the Velvet Revolution that won his people their freedom and inspired generations to reach for self-determination and dignity in all parts of the world." His plays were banned for two decades and he was thrown into prison three times after launching Charter 77, a manifesto demanding the Communist government adhere to international standards for human rights. "I am extremely moved," an emotional Prime Minister Petr Necas told Czech Television when told of Havel's death. "He was a symbol and the face of our republic, and he is one of the most prominent figures of the politics of the last and the start of this century. His departure is a huge loss. He still had a lot to say in political and social life." Just six months after completing his last jail sentence, Havel led hundreds of thousands of protesters in Prague's cobblestone streets in a peaceful uprising in November 1989 that ended Soviet-backed rule. Just over a month later, he was installed in Prague Castle as president of Czechoslovakia. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter: "Vaclav Havel was one of the greatest Europeans of our age. His voice for freedom paved the way for a Europe whole and free." RELUCTANT PRESIDENT Dismayed at the looming breakup of Czechoslovakia into separate Czech and Slovak states, he quit as president in 1992, but soon became leader of the newly-created Czech Republic. As a symbol of peaceful transition to democracy, he helped the small country of 10 million to punch well above its weight in international politics. "Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred" was Havel's trademark slogan that many Czechs recall from the revolution. In later years, those words were often quoted in sarcasm as Czechs' early enthusiasm towards free market democracy collided with the reality of economic reforms and corrupt politics. Havel lost some of his allure in the later years of his time at the castle. As president-philosopher, he struggled to uphold morality in a tumultuous era of economic transformation and murky business deals. "He did not want to be a president," said Petruska Sustrova, a prominent Czech dissident and one of the first to sign Charter 77. "Ideally, he wanted to sit in a pub and reconcile quarrels. He was not very keen to enter politics, he thought it would cut him off from the normal world." On Sunday, two soldiers stood to attention beside a picture of Havel at the castle in Prague as scores of mourners quietly lit candles and paid their respects. Thousands more gathered on Prague's central Wenceslas Square, the site of the main protests of the Velvet Revolution. They waved a huge, 20-metre Czech flag and lit candles. Some wept as prominent Czechs spoke and sang prayers to the crowd. The government planned to hold a meeting to decide on declaring an official day of mourning. Havel's remains were to be displayed on Wednesday and Thursday, the president's office said, and news agency CTK said the funeral could be on Friday. "We will miss him," said 57-year-old Vlasta Lopatova. "People like him are hard to find, especially these days." Born in 1936, the son of a rich building contractor, Havel was denied a good education after the Communists seized power in 1948 and stripped the family of its wealth. Despite having no higher degree, he began writing literary criticism in 1955. The first of his absurdist plays, whose characters often struggled to communicate in the empty language of communist-era rhetoric, debuted in 1963 in a more liberal era that was crushed by tanks in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion. Havel's plays then disappeared in censors' vaults, and the author was forced into menial jobs such as rolling beer barrels. STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL That changed when Havel moved to the castle, a building he found so big that he and his staff used scooters to get around, an illustration of the euphoria of many newly free Czechs. But he struggled to uphold his ideals. Much of his two terms were cast as a struggle for the soul of democratic reforms against right-wing economist Vaclav Klaus, who eventually replaced Havel as president in 2003. When Klaus was prime minister, Havel launched a stinging attack against him, which many thought was a step too far. His popularity had declined steeply when he finally left office. But human rights stayed high on his agenda, as did anxiety about the environment and the pursuit of moral values in the globalizing world, and he was nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize. "He was a great and well-deserving man and will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace," said Polish dissident leader Lech Walesa, himself a Nobel laureate. "He certainly deserved a Nobel Peace Prize, but in this world not everything is just. He was above all a theoretician who fought with the word and pen." Havel repeatedly irked Chinese communists by hosting the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, most recently this month. He also met Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize on Havel's nomination. "I spent a few years in prison, but perhaps I would be there three times as long if ... not for international solidarity," Havel said at a seminar on Myanmar in late 2007. Havel returned to writing, and published a new play, "Leaving," which won rave reviews, premiered in 2008 and was later turned into a film. When asked in an interview that year if he wanted to be remembered as a politician or playwright, he said: "I would like it to say that (he) was a playwright who acted as a citizen, and thanks to that he later spent a part of his life in a political position." Havel was resuscitated twice, once after life-saving surgery to repair an intestine that ruptured during a holiday. Those scares followed cancer surgery in 1996 to remove two small, malignant tumors and half his right lung. He also suffered from pneumonia and chronic bronchitis. He was last hospitalized for the disease in March and had been very frail, since then, using a wheelchair during the Dalai Lama's visit. Giving condolences for the meek, well-loved man, who could sometimes be seen walking his dog near his former Prague Castle office, global leaders hailed his example and highlighted his role in reuniting Europe after the fall of communism. "The man has died but the legacy of his poems, plays and above all his ideas and personal example will remain alive for many generations to come," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "As he said himself in 1975 in an open letter to Gustav Husak, then president of the Communist regime: 'Life cannot be destroyed for good, neither can history be brought entirely to a halt.'" (Additional reporting by Robert Muller, Michael Kahn and Jan Korselt; Writing by Michael Winfrey; Editing by Peter Graff) World Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above. Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Advertise With Us Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Monday, 19 December 2011
Iran state TV airs confession of detained CIA spy |
Analysis: Iraq resumes political strife in vacuum left by U.S. |
Israel frees 550 Palestinians in Shalit swap |
Syria nearer to sign Arab plan, crackdown continues |
Zardari returns to Pakistan from Dubai: party officials |
Carlos the Jackal demands extradition to Venezuela |
Rebel China villagers demand elections, turn to central leaders |
Nokia CEO says to keep headquarters in Finland: TV |
Sherlock Holmes sequel leads slower box office |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dead, son hailed as heir |
U.S. worried by Egypt clashes now in fourth day |
Philippines mulls mass graves after typhoon kills hundreds |
Havel, leader of Velvet Revolution, dies |
Crew fled with life vests as packed Indonesian boat sank |
Russia spots raft with people after rig sinking |
Zardari returns to Pakistan amid memo saga |
Israel frees 550 Palestinians in Shalit swap |
Saudi's Prince Alwaleed buys stake in Twitter |
Samsung expands patent row with Apple in Germany |
MIT to offer labs, certificates to virtual students |
Apple supplier Pegatron hit by China plant blast |
AT&T, T-Mobile asset sales talks go cold: report |
Contents of Michael Jackson's final home fetch $1 million |
Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora dies at 70 |
Syria signs deal to let in Arab monitors |
Chinese rebel villagers vow march to press complaints |
Sudanese refugees recall horror of Blue Nile fighting |
India uproar at call in Russia to ban Hindu holy book |
Information black hole as North Korean leader dies |
Travel app curates reviews from experts and friends |
Analysis: Could RIM's survival mean abandoning the BlackBerry? |
Americans losing addiction to CrackBerrys |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph	VPN on MacOSX	BlogMeter 1.01