www.pgcitizen.ca | Wednesday, September 29, 2010 15 news N. Korean leader takes succession step A tourist looks at a painting of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il,who made his youngest son a four-star general, giving the 28-year-old his first known official title in a promotion seen as confirmation that he is slated to become the country's next leader. AP photo The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong II made his mysterious youngest son a four-star general in a promotion seen Tuesday as the first step toward his ascent as the next leader of North Korea - extending the family dynasty in the reclusive totalitarian country to a third generation. The announcement was published in state media hours before a historic Workers’ Party meeting where the 68-year-old Kim, who apparently is in deteriorating health, was expected to bestow a party title on his son, Kim Jong Un, who is in his 20s. The North Korean capital of Pyongyang was decorated with banners and placards celebrating the country’s biggest political gathering in 30 years. It was at a similar meeting in 1980 where state media revealed that Kim Jong Il was in line to succeed his father, Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder who died in 1994. At Tuesday’s meeting, Kim Jong Il was re-elected to the party’s top position of general secretary. State media gave no further details on what was discussed or decided. Footage shot by broadcaster APTN showed buses carrying party delegates leaving Pyongyang, a sign the meeting may have ended. The moves come at a time of tension on the Korean peninsula. Earlier this year, a South Korean naval warship sank near the maritime border shared by the two Ko- reas, which have remained in a state of war since their three-year conflict ended in a truce in 1953. Seoul and Washington, which maintains 28,500 troops in South Korea, blame Pyongyang for torpedoing the ship. Pyongyang denies responsibility and has warned that any punishment would mean war. North Korea also remains at odds with international powers over its nuclear program, and was slapped with widespread U.N. sanctions last year after conducting a prohibited long-range rocket test and detonating a nuclear device. Pyongyang is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium to build a half-dozen nuclear bombs. The news of the son’s promotion was the North Korean media’s first mention of Kim Jong Un, who has remained so well-hidden from the outside world that not even his face or exact age can be confirmed. He is believed to be 27, and is said to have been schooled in Switzerland and educated at Kim Il Sung Military University in Pyongyang. Analysts saw it as confirmation he is slated to become North Korea’s next leader. “Kim Jong Un’s promotion is the starting point for his formal succession to power,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul. “It’s clearly the biggest news we’ve had from North Korea since the death of Kim Il Sung,” said Peter Beck, a Council on Foreign Re-lations-Hitachi research fellow at Keio University in Tokyo. Newspaper may be target of terror plot The Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Three terror suspects who were arrested in an alleged al-Qaida plot in Norway were likely planning an attack against a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad, Norwegian and Danish police say. Police said the suspects were believed to be planning an attack either against the Jyllands-Posten newspaper directly or against people in Denmark linked to the 12 drawings that sparked Muslim outrage in 2006. The men were arrested July 8 in what U.S. and Norwegian officials believe was a plot linked to the same Pakistan-based al-Qaida planners behind thwarted schemes to blow up New York’s subway and a British shopping mall. Siv Alsen, spokeswoman at the Norwegian Police Security Service, told The Associated Press that one of the suspects, 37-year-old Iraqi Kurd Shawan Sadek Saeed Bujak Bujak, had disclosed the plot to investigators. Landslide buries homes The Associated Press OAXACA, Mexico — A hillside collapsed on a rural Mexican community on Tuesday and the region’s governor said hundreds of people are feared dead. Oaxaca state Gov. Ulises Ruiz told the Televisa television network that the early morning landslide in the town Santa Maria de Tlahuitoltepec buried 100 to 300 houses and speculated that 500 to 1,000 people could be dead. Donato Vargas, an official in Santa Maria de Tlahuitoltepec reached by a satellite telephone, said 500 people were missing and that 300 homes were buried. “We were all sleeping and all I heard was a loud noise and when I left the house I saw that the hill had fallen,” Vargas said. “It has been difficult informing authorities because the road are very bad and there isn’t a good signal for our phone,” Vargas said shortly before the call dropped. ^1^ REGIONAL DISTRICT of Fraser-Fort George NOTICE OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETING OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN AMENDMENT BYLAW No. 2647 & ZONING AMENDMENT BYLAW No. 2646 Notice is hereby given that a public consultation meeting into Chilako River - Nechako Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 2647 and Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2646 will be held: 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Miworth Community Hall 13510 Flint Road Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 2647 is proposed to amend Map 2 - Miworth by changing the designation on Block A of District Lot 4204, Cariboo District, except Plan 18805 and That Part of District Lot 7867, Cariboo District lying north of Plan CG75 from Agriculture/Resource (Ag/Res) to Rural Residential (RR). Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 2646 is proposed to rezone the same area from Rural 2 (Ru2) to Rural Residential 1 (RR1). The proposed Official Community Plan and Zone amendments would allow the creation of 34 lots in the 1.6 - 2.2 hectare range. The properties are located on the north side of Miworth Road between Catherine Drive to the east and Island Park Drive to the west. The owners are Nechako Development Ltd. IT J; u, .*■_ Ft---p. y J T*T ■ y v-J (v I ^ L/ 1 1 At the public consultation meeting, all those who deem their interest in land to be affected by the proposed bylaws shall be afforded an opportunity to be heard or to present written submissions. Please note that emails cannot be accepted as written submissions. Any material received before or at the public consultation meeting will become public information. The public consultation meeting will be chaired by a delegate of the Regional District Board. Copies of the resolution making the delegation, proposed bylaws, and other relevant background documents, may be examined at the office of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, 155 George Street, Prince George, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., September 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, and October 1, 4, 5, and 6th, 2010. Kenna Latimer Planning Services Prince George, BC Fax: 250-562-8676 Raise-a-Reader Day ' DAY!! Postmedia : Raise a Reader m Words for a brighter future www.raiseareader.com ^Watch for the orange shirts between 7am and 9am at any of these location^ Tim Hortons Hart Hwy Tim Hortons 15th and Ospika College of New Caledonia Tim Hortons Westgate Tim Hortons Ferry HSBC Buidling Tim Hortons 5th and Central Starbucks / McDonalds 15th & Central 6th - 7th Ave and Victoria St Tim Hortons Massey Starbucks College Hts University Hospital of Northern BC Tim Hortons Victoria St Starbucks Pine Centre University of Northern BC 9 We would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the 2010 Prince George Raise-A-Reader campaign. National Partners: Local Sponsors: Rotary Clubs of Prince George CKPGITV f irfr m. I'm lowin'it. ELUS5 uftoc 672454 155 George Street, Prince George, BC V2L 1P8 Telephone: (250) 960-4400, Toll Free 1-800-667-1959 Fax: (250) 563-7520, Web: www.rdffg.bc.ca