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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Online cemetery set up to ease Hong Kong's graveyard crush

Hong Kong - Hong Kong officials are setting up an online cemetery to help ease the city's chronic shortage of burial plots, a news report said Thursday. The online cemetery is to give mourners unable to secure a burial plot the chance to leave songs, virtual fruits and other offerings to departed loved ones, the South China Morning Post reported.

Every account would be allocated 10 megabytes of space for offerings to the dead, the city's cemeteries official Cheuk Wing-hing told the newspaper.

The move is one of a number of measures being taken to try to ease the huge queues for burial plots in the high-rise city of 7 million which is one of the most densely populated in the world.

Burial plots are often more expensive than luxury properties in the wealthy city and there is also a chronic under-supply of facilities to house the ashes of cremated people.

The past year has seen a sharp rise in the number of people opting to scatter ashes at sea off Hong Kong and the government is due from February to offer mourners a free boat service to encourage the trend.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301575,online-cemetery-set-up-to-ease-hong-kongs-graveyard-crush.html.

Reports: North Korea bans use of foreign currencies

Seoul - Pyongyang banned the use of foreign currency among its people and foreigners at all sales outlets effective January 1, in an apparent move to reassert control over the struggling economy, news reports said Thursday. The North Korean won is to be the only valid currency for all commercial activities for both citizens and foreigners, a report by China's CCTV said.

"Foreign visitors must exchange foreign currency with local won currency for purchases at foreign currency service centers that we are opening at our banks," CCTV quoted the directive from North Korea's Ministry of People's Security as saying.

The ban is likely to keep traders from trying to hoard hard currency, as the latest ban also puts a cap on holding foreign money, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The ban comes weeks after Pyongyang suddenly revalued its currency on a 100-for-one basis, slashing citizen's savings and reasserting its control over the economy.

The new currency regulations follow years of black market trading that motivated some traders to hoard dollars, euros or yuan, and weakened the grip of the communist state on commercial activities outside its controlled economy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301576,reports-north-korea-bans-use-of-foreign-currencies.html.

China arrests nine for murder scam in mines

Beijing - Police in south-western China's Sichuan province have arrested nine suspects accused of murdering at least nine people with learning difficulties and then claiming compensation from mine owners, state media said on Thursday. The victims were taken from Sichuan's Leibo county to mines across China, where they were allegedly murdered underground by men who posed as their relatives to claim compensation from mine owners, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Leibo county police chief Ye Jianhua said the murders occurred in nine provinces but he did not give the total number of victims, the agency said.

Ye said three suspects were accused of beating to death a mentally disabled man at an iron mine in the south-eastern province of Fujian in April.

Police in the other provinces were still investigating the murders, he said.

In a separate case after the arrests, another mentally disabled man from Leibo died at a coal mine in the central province of Hubei on November 23, two days after he started work with the Chengui Mining Group in Daye city, the agency said.

The Chengui company offered compensation of 200,000 yuan (29,000 dollars) to three men who claimed to be the dead man's relatives.

But the claimants fled when the company decided to check their identities and that of the dead man, who used the name Huang Suoge.

"More surprisingly, we got the news from Leibo County that the real Huang Suoge committed suicide three years ago," the agency quoted Li Yunbao, chairman of the company, as saying.

State media have reported similar murders at mines for at least a decade.

Director Li Yang's film Blind Shaft, which won a Silver Bear at the Berlin film festival in 2003, featured two men who traveled around coal mines trying to claim compensation after killing strangers.

Genuine accidents kill thousands of people annually in Chinese mines, most of them at coal mines. The accidents are often triggered by outdated equipment and poor safety measures, especially at illegal mines.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301577,china-arrests-nine-for-murder-scam-in-mines.html.

Seoul to dispatch 1,000 peacekeepers overseas on UN missions

Seoul - South Korea is to send at least 1,000 soldiers on UN peacekeeping operations, the Yonhap news agency reported Thursday. South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told President Lee Myung Bak of its plan to increase its contingent from the current 401 to more than 1,000.

"Considering the approved budget size for the PKO (peacekeeping operations) and South Korea's position in the international community, it is desirable for us to dispatch more than 1,000 peacekeepers overseas," an unnamed official of the Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

South Korea ranks 39th among all UN member states in terms of the number of peacekeepers. At present it has personnel in Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Liberia, Afghanistan, Sudan and Nepal.

The initiative comes after the Seoul government decided in early December to send about 350 soldiers and a 140-member reconstruction team to Afghanistan. Its deployment is due to start on July 1, 2010 and end on December 31, 2012.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301579,seoul-to-dispatch-1000-peacekeepers-overseas-on-un-missions.html.

Philippine government appeals against firecracker use at New Year

Manila - The Philippines' health department Thursday issued a last-minute appeal for Filipinos to refrain from using firecrackers during rowdy New Year's Eve celebrations to prevent injuries or deaths. Filipinos traditionally explode firecrackers, fire their guns in the air and make a lot of noise during New Year's Eve in the belief that this will drive away the bad luck of the past year and attract good luck in the coming year.

But Health Secretary Francisco Duque said accidents caused by the use of firecrackers and indiscriminate firing of guns have already injured 210 people since December 21, up 22 per cent from last year.

He called for a ban on the use of firecrackers in residential areas and urged local authorities to designate common fireworks areas.

"These devices are not toys and are very dangerous, especially in the hands of innocent children," he said. "Fireworks should be lighted and handled by professionals."

Hospitals around the Philippines have been placed on alert ahead of the New Year celebrations to prepare for a possible surge in patients.

Authorities earlier taped shut the muzzles of service firearms of police officers and soldiers not on duty during New Year's Eve around the country to ensure that none of them would be firing their guns in the air at midnight.

The military and police warned that officers and personnel would face dismissal and administrative charges if they were found to have done so.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301588,philippine-government-appeals-against-firecracker-use-at-new-year.html.

Australians pay tribute to Indonesia's Abdurrahman Wahid

Sydney - Australians on Thursday paid tribute to former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, the neighboring country's first democratically elected leader. Wahid died of multiple illnesses Wednesday in Jakarta at the age of 69.

A Muslim scholar and secular democrat, he came to the presidency after the downfall of Suharto in May 1998, followed by the first free and democratic elections in 1999.

He emerged as a compromise presidential candidate, ousting Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party had won the largest bloc of seats in the legislature but had many enemies in the former ruling party.

Wahid was ousted in 2001 over perceived incompetence and an unproven corruption allegation.

"Former president Wahid was much admired and respected not only within Indonesia, but also by many Australians and others throughout our region," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in a statement.

"Mr Wahid was responsible for a number of important reforms which assisted his country's path towards becoming a modern democracy. Mr Wahid was also highly influential as a moderate Islamic leader in Indonesia and a strong advocate of ethnic and religious tolerance."

He visited Australia in 2001, the first Indonesian president to do so since a fleeting visit by Suharto in 1975.

Australian academic Greg Barton, Wahid's biographer and friend, said the legacy of the former leader of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization was raising expectations in what democracy should deliver and the sort of nation Indonesia should become.

"He did this with a reckless disregard of his lack of political capital," Barton said. "So, in a way, he achieved what he did precisely because he wasn't a politician."

Barton said both Wahid and his predecessor, B J Habibie, were non-politicians who prepared the way for the current president, Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono.

"Both of them were keen to push the reforms when they didn't really have the political base to do so," Barton said. "And I think one of the reasons for Indonesia's successful transition to a democracy is you had these two transitional figures quite unexpected coming in and saying 'No, we are not going to settle for some kind of compromise regime, we want to go for a full democracy.'"

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301591,australians-pay-tribute-to-indonesias-abdurrahman-wahid.html.

PREVIEW: Barcelona aiming to take winning streak into 2010

Madrid - Barcelona are hoping to start 2010 in the same way that they finished 2009: by playing well and winning. Josep Guardiola's talented team crowned their "annus mirabilis" by winning the World Club Cup in Abu Dhabi, their sixth trophy of the year.

Now they aim to star 2010 by beating dangerous Villarreal at home on Saturday.

The match will be preceded by a parade of the six trophies. Guardiola, however, is trying to make his players leave these triumphs behind them - and think about the future.

Right-back Dani Alves on Wednesday called Guardiola "an intelligent man" and claimed that "if we follow him, we are going to go very far."

Alves promised the fans that "there will be no relaxation, because he (Guardiola) is always there, putting into our minds that winners can only continue to win with ambition."

Barca will be without Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure throughout January because of the African Cup of Nations. True to his philosophy, Guardiola prefers to bring several youngsters into the squad rather than enter into the winter transfer market.

Youngsters Victor Vazquez, Gai Assulin, Thiago and Jonathan de los Santos have been training with the first-team squad all week. They all stand a good chance of being in the squad for the Villarreal match, because Andres Iniesta and Jeffren are injured - and Lionel Messi and Rafa Marquez do not return from holiday until Saturday.

Leaders Barca are two points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who are away to Osasuna on Sunday.

Villarreal, for their part, have recovered from their bad start and are now ninth.

Promising midfielder David Fuster said on Wednesday that "if we go to the Camp Nou with fear, they will destroy us. We have to be very concentrated, waiting for our chances to come."

Also on Saturday, third-placed Sevilla - still without injured South Americans Luis Fabiano, Federicao Fazio and Lautaro Acosta - are away to crisis club Atletico Madrid, whilst fourth-placed Valencia are at home to Espanyol.

In chilly Pamplona on Sunday, Real will be without injury victims Kaka, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Guti, though it is hoped that Raul Albiol will be fit.

Sunday's other games are as follows: Almeria-Xerez, Getafe-Valladolid, Mallorca-Athletic Bilbao, Racing Santander- Tenerife, Sporting Gijon-Malaga and Zaragoza-Dportivo Coruna.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301597,preview-barcelona-aiming-to-take-winning-streak-into-2010.html.

Indonesians mourn as ex-president Wahid is buried - Summary

Jakarta - Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid was laid to rest at his family's cemetery in East Java on Thursday at a state funeral attended by the country's leaders and thousands of other people. Wahid's wife and daughters, wearing white dresses and head scarves, took turns placing flowers on the coffin of the fourth Indonesian president. A military honour guard fired salvos in tribute to the late leader.

Before being laid to rest, Wahid's body was taken to a mosque at his family's Islamic boarding school in Tebuireng village, East Java, where prayers were attended by thousands of people.

Ministers, police and military leaders, Buddhist monks and ordinary people paid their last respects to Wahid at the elaborate burial complex in Jember district.

Wahid, better known by his nickname Gur Dur, died of multiple illnesses Wednesday at Jakarta's Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, where he had been treated for several days. He was 69.

After his coffin arrived at Surabaya airport accompanied by family members, it was driven to Jombang in a motorcade of high-ranking civilian and government officials.

Tens of thousands of people lined the 70-kilometer route from East Java's capital, Surabaya, to Jombang, where Wahid was buried next to his father.

Police, troops and civilian guards kept the crowd under control, especially on the main avenue running through Jombang, as the funeral procession moved to the burial site.

"On behalf of the family, I would like to ask for forgiveness for any mistakes and slips he made," said Solahuddin Wahid, the deceased's brother.

"Goodbye my brother, goodbye my leader," Solahuddin said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who presided over the state funeral in East Java, formally received the coffin carried by eight soldiers and covered by the national flag.

"We have lost one of the country's best sons, a teacher and father of the nation, a distinguished nobleman," Yudhoyono said in a brief speech. "We are here to pay final homage through a state ceremony, as a form of respect and appreciation from the state and the government."

Millions nationwide held prayer services immediately after they heard of the demise of Wahid, the cleric of pluralism and democratic reformer who was unable to implement his ambitious ideas in the nation of 235 million people.

Prayers were also held at churches, temples and schools across the vast archipelago nation.

The US White House called Wahid "a pivotal figure" in Indonesia's transition to free government who "will be remembered for his commitment to democratic principles, inclusive politics and religious tolerance."

A mourning period of seven days was announced, and Yudhoyono ordered Indonesia's red-and-white flag to be lowered to half-mast across the country for its duration to give the "highest honor" to the man who was its first democratically elected president.

Wahid, a Muslim scholar and secular democrat, came to the presidency after the downfall of Suharto in May 1998, followed by the first free and democratic elections in 1999. He emerged as a compromise presidential candidate, ousting Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose party had won the largest bloc of seats in the legislature but had many enemies in the former ruling party.

But Wahid soon fell out of favor with the Parliament that elected him and was impeached in 2001 for perceived incompetence and an unproven corruption allegation.

Wahid fell while on a pilgrimage to the tomb of his father last week and was rushed to a local hospital. On Saturday, he was flown to Jakarta and taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

The former president's condition deteriorated after he underwent a tooth extraction Monday. Doctors said Wahid died of heart problems, was diabetic and had been undergoing dialysis.

Wahid had already been ill when he assumed the presidency. He had suffered two strokes before his term in office, was nearly blind and had to be guided by an aide everywhere he went. Despite his obvious ailments, he remained active in public affairs until his death.

Abdurrahman Wahid was born on September 7, 1940 in Denanyar village in Jombang district. He was the son of Wahid Hasyim, an independence hero and a minister of religion in the government of Sukarno, Indonesia's founder.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301599,indonesians-mourn-as-ex-president-wahid-is-buried--summary.html.

Iraqi politician dies of wounds from suicide bombing

Baghdad - An Iraqi politician has died of wounds he sustained in a twin suicide bombing outside a government building, police said Thursday. Saadoun Dhiab died in hospital late on Wednesday night, police told the German Press Agency dpa. Dhiab was a member of the provincial council for the western al-Anbar province.

At least 30 people were killed when a man detonated explosives packed in his car and a second bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body outside the offices of al-Anbar governor Qassim Mohammed al-Fahadawi in the city of Ramadi on Wednesday.

Al-Fahadawi and Abbas al-Dulaimi, the deputy director of the Ramadi police, were among the 50 people injured in the blast. The two were being treated for serious injuries on Thursday, police told dpa.

The Baghdad-based Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported that doctors had amputated al-Fahadawi's hand.

Wednesday's attack was the deadliest in al-Anbar this year.

It was reported recently that the governor had expressed concern for his safety to a top official from the US military in Iraq.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301601,iraqi-politician-dies-of-wounds-from-suicide-bombing.html.

Malaysian court lifts ban on use of Allah for Catholic paper

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's High Court on Thursday handed down a landmark ruling by overturning a government ban on the use of the word Allah, or God in Arabic, in a weekly Catholic paper. The High Court in the capital Kuala Lumpur ruled that the word Allah was not exclusive to Islam, and that an existing ban by the Home Ministry was illegal and void.

The court ruled that the Herald newspaper was now permitted to use Allah to refer to God in its Malay-language articles.

Thursday's court decision put to rest a year-long legal battle between the Catholic church and the mainly Muslim government, which ruled that the word Allah was prohibited in any non-Islamic publications in order to avoid "confusion" among Muslims.

The government's ban on the use of the word in the Herald, the country's main Roman Catholic newsletter, prompted minority religious groups to argue that the Arabic word is a common term for God that predates Islam and has been used for centuries as a translation in Malay.

Malaysia's constitution declares it a secular state but with Islam as its official religion. About 60 per cent of Malaysia's 25 million people are Muslims.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301602,malaysian-court-lifts-ban-on-use-of-allah-for-catholic-paper.html.

International activists tour Gaza Strip

Gaza City - Some 86 international activists began touring the Gaza Strip Thursday, in an expression of solidarity with Palestinians living there under the Israeli blockade. Their visit, which coincides with one year since Israel's offensive against militants in the Strip, will see them meet with officials from the Islamist Hamas movement, which administers the salien.

They will also tour areas hit in the Israeli bombardments, visit Shifa hospital, and meet with community leaders, Hamdi Shaath, the head of the pro-Hamas Committee to Defeat the Blockade, said.

The 86, part of a much large group of 1,300 activists, arrived in the Strip on Wednesday night, after spending several days in Cairo waiting for Egyptian authorities to allow them to cross into the enclave via the Rafah crossing point.

Tighe Berry, the spokesman of the group, said Hedy Epstein, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, had remained behind in Cairo.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301605,international-activists-tour-gaza-strip.html.

Erupting Philippine volcano draws thousands of tourists

Manila - Thousands of tourists have flocked to an eastern Philippine province to watch fiery lava oozing from the country's most active volcano, officials said Wednesday. An average of 2,400 tourists has been arriving daily in Albay province, 360 kilometers south-east of Manila, since the Mayon Volcano began erupting on December 14, provincial Governor Joey Salceda said.

If the arrivals were sustained, Salceda said, the number of visitors would hit 76,000 in one month, which would equal the annual number of tourist arrivals in the province.

"Our hotels, even the smaller ones, are getting fully booked," he said.

"Eateries, restaurants, malls, bars, even nightclubs, too, are flourishing," he added.

Salceda said the province was earning about 880,000 pesos (19,000 dollars) daily from the tourism surge brought about by Mayon's eruption, which offers spectacular views at night.

But he lamented that the income was not outweighing the costs on Albay's economy.

The provincial government was spending at least 1.5 million pesos a day for the more than 47,000 residents displaced to evacuation centers because of the eruption.

Mayon's last eruption in 2006 caused damage to livelihoods, crops and property estimated at 505 million pesos.

While admitting that tourism brought in by Mayon was beneficial to Albay, Salceda said the province was "better off" without the volcanic activity.

The governor added that some tourists were defying orders by authorities to stay away from danger zones, hiring all-terrain vehicles to get near the lava front.

"It's a big problem," he said. "I think the first violation of the zero casualty [policy] will be a dead tourist."

Authorities earlier dispatched troops to stop tourists from trekking into danger zones.

The Mayon Volcano, famous for its near-perfect cone, quieted down overnight with only one ash explosion being recorded by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

But the institute noted Wednesday that Mayon was continuously emitting lava, which has flowed nearly 6 kilometers down its slopes.

It added that the volcano's edifice remained inflated, which means that pressure and magma were building up inside.

The 2,472-meter volcano has erupted about 50 times since 1616. It last erupted in July 2006, forcing more than 30,000 people to flee their homes.

Mayon's most violent eruption was in 1814 when more than 1,200 people were killed and a town was buried in volcanic mud. An eruption in 1993 killed 79 people.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301467,erupting-philippine-volcano-draws-thousands-of-tourists.html.

Vietnam protests China's law on island protection

Hanoi - Vietnam has protested a new Chinese law aimed at protecting the nation's islands, including the disputed Spratly and Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, local media reported Wednesday. "Vietnam has time and again affirmed its sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos," Viet Nam News quoted government spokeswoman Nguyen Phuong Nga as saying.

"All activities of other countries, including the promulgation of legal regulations relating to these archipelagos and Vietnam's Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf, are of no legal value."

Nga made her comments in response to queries about Vietnam's reaction to the passage of a law on sea island protection approved by the Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee on December 26.

According to the law, China is to strengthen the protection of the eco-system, the rational utilization of natural resources and sustainable development on the country's islands.

The law bans all construction projects, tree felling and tourism activities on uninhabited islands. It also prohibits activities that could damage coral and coral reefs.

The new law puts China's State Oceanic Administration and its branches in charge of monitoring compliance.

China claims more than 6,900 islands, each having an area of over 500 square meters and more than 10,000 smaller islets, including the Paracel and Spratly Islands.

China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops overwhelmed a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the islands.

Both Vietnam and China are signatories to the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. It commits the parties to resolving the islands' status through negotiations and provides for freedom of navigation.

Vietnam and China generally enjoy close relations, but the conflict over maritime resources is a persistent source of tension. Each country submitted maritime territorial claims to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in early May and rejected the other's claims shortly afterward.

The South China Sea is believed to contain substantial undersea oil reserves.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301446,vietnam-protests-chinas-law-on-island-protection.html.

Laos to educate Hmong returnees not to flee country again

Vientiane - Communist Laos plans to educate some 4,508 Lao-Hmong returnees who were deported from Thailand earlier this week to make sure they do not flee the country again, state media reported Wednesday. "Lao officials will educate the returnees to make sure they are not tricked into leaving the country again and to prevent them falling victim to human trafficking," the state-run Vientiane Times reported.

Thailand on Monday deported more than 4,000 Hmong asylum-seekers from detention centers in Phetchabun and Nong Khai provinces, despite protests from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the US government and European Union.

The Hmong are an ethnic minority group that sided with the US military in its "secret war" against communism in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s.

The 4,508 Hmong were taken to Borikhamsay province, just east of the capital Vientiane, where they are to be kept at a "temporary center" in Paksan town, on the Mekong River, the Vientiane Times reported.

"Here government officials and local authorities would check the personal background of each returnee before, if possible, sending them to their hometown," said the government mouthpiece.

"Those with homes would be sent back there, or otherwise to go to live with their relatives, while those who no longer had a home or had previously engaged in shifting cultivation would be relocated by the government," it added.

More than 3,200 Hmong from Huay Ban Khao camp in Phetchabun returned to Laos voluntarily between 2008 and 2009, and where sent back to their homes or provided with land to cultivate by the government. The UNHCR as well as foreign diplomats and journalists were invited on several occasions to visit the Hmong returnees, albeit with government minders in tow.

Lao authorities have given assurances that the latest batch of Hmong are to receive similar treatment, but made no mention in state media reports of whether the UNHCR will be invited to the new camp to assess whether some were eligible for resettlement abroad.

The UNHCR has expressed concerns about the fate of several of the returnees who have been classified as in need of international protection.

In a letter from Geneva the UNHCR called on Thailand to provide details of the assurances the Lao government provided to Bangkok concerning the treatment of the returned Lao Hmong.

The Thai government never recognized the Hmong in Phetchabun and Nong Khai as political refugees, but classified them as economic migrants, who could be deported under the country's immigration laws.

UNHCR was never invited to screen the Hmong to determine their status as possible political refugees eligible for resettlement abroad, although it has classified the 158 kept in Nong Khai as "persons of concern."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday criticized Thailand's decision to deport the Hmong, noting that among them were "individuals the Thai government had reportedly assessed to be in need of protection."

"The secretary-general regrets that these deportations have taken place in the face of appeals from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and despite the availability of third country resettlement solutions for those recognized as refugees," the statement said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301447,laos-to-educate-hmong-returnees-not-to-flee-country-again.html.

Muslims find more halal foods on European store shelves - Feature

Berlin - Gummi Bears are ubiquitous in Germany, where they are a beloved, fruity delight for children of all backgrounds. The squishy candy would seem like the most innocuous treat imaginable, but their gelatine base - processed from animal proteins including pork - made Gummi Bears off limits for children from observant Muslim households.

"Muslims in Germany wanted them, too, but for a long time couldn't eat them," said Engin Erguen, whose sales and distribution company Equ sells products that meet Muslim halal standards.

In 2001, candy-maker Haribo started making Gummi Bears with proteins derived from non-pork products to receive halal certification. Haribo says the production line for the halal gummy bear sold in Germany is in Turkey.

Halal products from Equ are sold at about 3,000 Turkish markets in Germany, including Haribo's iconic candy and Maggi processed foods.

"With Haribo, the subject of halal foods in Germany received the appropriate amount of publicity," said Erguen.

Germany has about 3.5 million of Western Europe's 20 million Muslims, most of whom are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants who came to the continent in the decades after World War II.

Muslims in Western Europe have long struggled to maintain their cultural and culinary practices. Evolution in the market has brought more than just halal Gummi Bears to grocery stores on the continent.

About 400 companies in Germany offer halal products, according to the European halal control and certification authority in Ruesselsheim.

"The trend is upward. The market grows about 16 per cent every year," said Mahmoud Tatari, who co-founded the halal control authority in 2001. "It currently is estimated at between 4 billion and 5 billion euros."

Tatari speaks of a proper boom in products that are halal, an Arabic word meaning legal or permitted (helal in Turkish). The opposite of halal is haram, which means forbidden or impermissible.

Generally, foods derived from plants are halal with the exception of intoxicating or poisonous products, according to the German nutrition society.

Interest is growing among companies that want to offer products for the Muslim market because trade in halal products is growing not only in Germany and Europe but worldwide, with Muslims projected to be 30 per cent of the world population by 2025.

The largest halal markets are in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East. In Europe, Germany, France and Britain are the largest.

Pork, a staple of the German diet, has been especially problematic for Muslims because Islam prohibits all contact with pigs, which are considered unclean.

The halal control authority certifies products made by many of the major European food producers, including Nestle, Langnese, Elbmilch, Pfanni, Gruenland and Ehrmann. Products made by the pharmaceuticals firms Bayer, BASF and Merck similarly carry the halal stamp.

"Food products account for about 90 per cent of the certified items," Tatari said.

Across Europe there are more than 4,000 halal products on the market. Retailers have discovered halal, giving rise to inquiries from Germany's leading discount grocery chain, Aldi.

Industry analysts estimate that food product giants such as Nestle have made more money on halal products than on organic products.

The Swiss company, which began producing halal foods in the 1980s, attributed 5 per cent of its revenue last year to halal products. Over the years, Nestle has come out with halal drinks, dairy products and chocolate and has more than 300 halal products.

"Of 456 Nestle factories worldwide, 75 have a halal certification, and among them there are more than 100 production lines," said company spokeswoman Nina Backes.

Now there are financial services offered by banks and there even are telephone cards that receive certification as complying with Muslim precepts. Tatari said this encompasses a principal of Islam: "everything that is fair, correct and good for humans."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301449,muslims-find-more-halal-foods-on-european-store-shelves--feature.html.

Japanese see more robots in everyday life - Feature

Tokyo - At a supermarket in Kyoto, a robot that looks like something out of a Star Wars movie was introduced in early December to help elderly shoppers. A shopper can send a shopping list from her remote control to a robot in advance. When she arrives at the supermarket, the robot greets her at the entrance, helps locate the items on the list and even gives some suggestions on shopping.

The roboshopper is a recent version developed by ATR (Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International) Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories in Kyoto.

And it is also a reminder that the robot revolution in Japan has started to move from the factory floor to places like supermarkets, homes and hospitals.

Japan is home to almost half the world's 800,000 factory robots, however, technological progress has helped various kinds of robots emerge, including ones that clean floors, pour drinks, serve sushi, slice vegetables, act in plays, function as security guards and even plant rice paddies.

Narito Hosomi, president of Toyo Riki Co Ltd in Osaka, started producing communication robots four years ago. His company has designed and manufactured industrial robots for nearly half a century.

The company developed a robot that can help patients' rehabilitation as a shortage of caregivers poses a growing problem in Japan's aging society. Another robot, looking like a manga character, welcomes visitors as a "guard" at a hospital entrance at night.

"I just wanted to contribute to society by turning to robots to help resolve issues of aging," Hosomi said.

Japan's population of those aged 65 years and older is expected to climb to 31.8 per cent of the total by 2030, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Hosomi also showcased a robo-chef, spatula in hand, which flipped Japanese pancakes at recent expos while Secom, a security-service corporation, also manufactured a robot called "My Spoon" that helped disabled people eat a meal.

Norihiro Hagita, director of the ATR, said more robots help people including senior citizens and the physically-challenged with everyday chores. He said humans are beginning to alter the relationship between man and machine.

When you tried to enter a factory where industrial robots operate, you were told not to go in, Hagita said. But, like the elderly shopper who got help from a robot, "we see more humans networking with communication robots these days."

Curt Stone, an expert at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said humans had yet to redefine their relationship with machines.

"If we are going to change that relationship, a machine has to be able to react like a person to what another person wants," Stone said.

Many people learned how to use machines and computers and it is machines that "try to understand" how humans behave and what humans are saying, Hagita said. "Robot research means researching humans themselves."

Unlike robots many Japanese people see in the movies and comics, a robot does not have to be a physical embodiment, Stone said.

"A robot is not just a machine," Stone argued. "But it's a system behind it, where we move from a humanoid robot in your home to your cell phone, to your car and to a grocery store, and it follows you around. The entire system is a robot."

"We see robots as media just like a mobile phone," Hagita said. "And just like a mobile phone, robots would be indispensable in future."

An increasing number of Japanese seem to readily show their interest in robots. The international robot exhibition held in Tokyo in late November drew 100,000 visitors in four days. Organizers said the biennial event has been attracting ever larger crowds in recent years.

"Many Japanese people got familiar with manga characters in their childhood," Hosomi said. "I think that contributes a sense of affinity to robots."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301450,japanese-see-more-robots-in-everyday-life--feature.html.

Strike for new state hits southern India

New Delhi - Train and bus services were canceled and businesses and schools closed Wednesday across large parts of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh during a daylong strike called by supporters of a new state. Security was tightened and thousands of paramilitary and police personnel were deployed to prevent violence.

Various political parties, including the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, are spearheading the movement for a Telangana state and called the strike after the federal government put the creation of the state on the back burner.

Fearing violence, Andhra Pradesh's government canceled 165 trains and 9,000 buses plying the Telangana region, which consists of 10 northern districts, hampering the movement of an estimated 4 million passengers.

Petrol stations, banks, offices and educational institutions in the main city of Hyderabad as well as other major cities and towns also were closed.

Government employees, lawyers and industrial workers also went on strike to back the statehood demand.

The shutdown, the fifth since the agitation began a month ago, also affected the work of information-technology companies in Hyderabad, one of India's key technology hubs.

On December 9, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram announced that a new state of Telangana would be carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

But last week, Chidambaram said the situation had "altered" and there was a need to hold wide-ranging consultations with all political parties and groups in the state.

The move sparked violent protests during which Telangana activists set buses and trucks on fire and attacked shops and businesses.

India now has 28 states, and the last three new states - Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand - were formed in 2000. The South Asian country had 16 states in 1971.

The movement for a separate Telangana state dates back 50 years.

Supporters said Telangana has been neglected and is among India's poorest and most economically backward regions. They asserted that the region can only be developed if local people control its administration.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301471,strike-for-new-state-hits-southern-india.html.

Pakistani police arrest Taliban commander

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani police arrested a senior Pakistani Taliban commander, Khalil Ullah, the chief of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in east province of Punjab, local TV channel reported Thursday.

Khalil was alleged the mastermind behind a market bombing in Punjab's capital city of Lahore on Dec. 7 that killed more than 40people, the private TV DAWN News reported.

According to police sources, he was arrested along with a young man trained for suicide bombing in Lahore over a week ago. Police also found explosive material and sensitive documents in the place where he was living.

On information provided by Khalil, police captured another eight terror suspects. During interrogation, the suspects disclosed that they were to attack the flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah border two days later.

Khalil told investigators that he had a team of 600 suicide bombers.

Capital City Police Officer Pervez Rathor in Lahore told reporters that Khalil was involved in all terror acts in Punjab. He masterminded the Moon Market suicide bombings and provided logistic support to suicide bombers.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12736526.htm.

Taliban speeds up attacks against foreign troops on New Year's eve

KABUL, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- As the world and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are preparing to celebrate the new year of 2010, Taliban insurgents have intensified attacks on the troops.

The militias in the latest wave of violent attacks carried out double deadly bombings in the southern Kandahar and eastern Khost province Wednesday killing over a dozen American and Canadian service members.

In the first attack against NATO-led forces in Kandahar province, according to a statement released by the military alliance, five Canadians including a journalist were killed.

"Four ISAF soldiers from Canada and one Canadian reporter were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strike in Kandahar province on Dec. 30," the statement noted.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic loss of life," ISAF spokesman Jane Campbell said in another statement.

More than 2,800 Canadian troops have been stationed in Afghanistan within the framework of NATO-led ISAF troops to help strengthen security in the post-Taliban nation.

Canada, where the public support for war in Afghanistan is sliding down, has reportedly lost 138 service members in war-torn Afghanistan since it started deploying troops there in 2002.

The second deadly attack occurred in the eastern Khost province Wednesday left eight Americans dead.

All those killed in the bloody blast were intelligence personnel affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or contractors, according to media reports.

Penetration into intelligence base and blasting it speak of militants' ability in conducting organized attacks, some local analysts said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in talks to media via cellular phone from undisclosed locations claimed for responsibility of the Khost attack, detailing that a militant wearing Afghan army uniform moved inside the base and blew himself up killing some 20 service members.

Taliban, in a statement released Thursday to media from an unknown location, vowed to further intensify their attacks against international troops in Afghanistan.

In the statement released in broken English, the militants expressed satisfaction over what it described successful attacks against foreign forces and vowed to speed up their activities in the new year of 2010, which begins on Friday.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan would in the year 2010 force all the foreign occupation forces and the arrogant and hostile White House rulers to withdraw from Afghanistan as quickly as possible," the statement said.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12736624.htm.

Australians tell of 'great firebomb' claiming their homes - Summary

Sydney - Shell-shocked residents of Toodyay on Australia's west coast told Wednesday of losing their homes - and nearly losing their lives - as a forest fire rampaged through their town. At least 37 houses were lost Tuesday in Toodyay, a farming community 80 kilometers north of Perth, in a blaze sparked by falling power lines.

"It just came up the hill so quickly," resident Darren Thompson told local television. He said it took the fire 20 to 30 seconds to travel 500 meters.

The fire, propelled by high winds and temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius, was kept at bay by volunteer firefighters backed by water-bombing helicopters so residents could get out.

"There is no doubt they saved lives last night," West Australian Premier Colin Barnett said when praising the bravery of the 200-strong brigade. "This is a devastating fire with great destruction."

Beverley Phillips, 58, was left with just her car, her dog and her cat after her house burned down.

"I had to leave everything," she told local news agency AAP. "All those photos of my daughter when she was a baby, of my mother - she died last July - the beautiful garden. They are the things you can't replace."

Another Toodyay resident, Caroline Coat, described a "roaring bonfire" devouring her home as she looked back from her car.

"You have got no idea how bad it was," she said, picturing the fingers of flame as "rivers of lava" that incinerated her property and her possessions.

"I was just glad I got out when I did," she said.

Forest fires are annual events in the southern hemisphere summer. Four years ago, 3 million hectares of forest were blackened - an area three times the size of Britain.

In February, forest fires north of Melbourne claimed 173 lives, destroyed 2,000 properties and blackened 430,000 hectares.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301473,australians-tell-of-great-firebomb-claiming-their-homes--summary.html.

Netherlands plans to introduce full-body scanners at airports

Amsterdam - The Netherlands plans to require full-body scanners as soon as possible for US-bound passengers traveling from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, reports said Wednesday. Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano via telephone that the Netherlands planned to implement the use of the scanners in the aftermath of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day.

Dutch politicians from the ruling Christian Democrat and Labor parties said they would support his proposal, as did the largest opposition party, the Liberal VVD.

On Monday, an airport spokesman said while it was not definite that a scanner would have detected the explosives allegedly hidden in the clothing of 23-year-old Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab, it would have been likely.

Abdulmuttalab passed through Schiphol on his flight from Nigeria to the United States.

In addition to requiring the scanners for US-bound flights, the government in The Hague wants to see them introduced throughout the European Union.

The planned obligatory use of the scanners for all passengers at Schiphol Airport was halted in 2008 by the European Parliament, which said the machines would compromise personal privacy.

Schiphol Airport is currently testing 15 of the scanners, a type of X-Ray machine allowing security staff to look through people's clothes, seeing them naked.

Liberal lawmaker Fred Teeven said that it was first necessary to review specific practices of how the scanners would be used. Questions about who should be authorized to watch the images, and for how long the images should be stored, remained to be examined, he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301479,netherlands-plans-to-introduce-full-body-scanners-at-airports.html.

Gaddafi son at center of reports over hotel row with wife in London

(Earth Times - dpa) London - A son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi was Wednesday at the center of claims he attacked his model wife during a stay at a top London hotel, the Daily Mail newspaper reported. Moutassim Gaddafi, 33, also known as Hannibal, was staying at luxury hotel Claridges with his wife, the model Aline Skaf, 29, and their children when the fight broke out in the early hours of December 25, the Daily Mail said.

In a press release Wednesday, Scotland Yard confirmed that officers had been called to an incident at Claridges Hotel on December 25 and that a woman had been taken to hospital with facial injuries.

The statement also confirmed that three people were arrested in connection with the incident, but declined to reveal the identities of the people involved.

The woman had stated that she had sustained her injuries in a "non-suspicious incident," said the police statement.

Police were called after hotel staff heard a woman's screams for help, but officers found the luxury suite's door locked and bodyguards blocking their way, reported the Mail.

Skaf was taken by ambulance to a London hospital for treatment of a suspected broken nose, the Mail said. Three of the security staff were arrested at the scene for obstructing police officers. They were later released.

Gaddafi, however, known for his playboy lifestyle, had been able to slip away after calling the Libyan ambassador, who informed officers that he had diplomatic immunity, the report said.

In July 2008, Gaddafi he and his wife were held by Swiss police following allegations of assault on one of their servants at a hotel in Geneva, allegations the couple denied.

Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest sparked a diplomatic row between Libya and Switzerland, with the North African nation suspending oil sales and boycotting Swiss imports.

Abbas says stalled peace process cause for his stepping down

Riyadh - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday the stalled peace process is the reason he will not run for a second term in office. "The objective is to achieve a final status solution to the Palestinian cause, but the matter is still held up until now and that is why I do not want to run for a second term," the Palestinian leader said while visiting Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Abbas gave a televised speech in which he said he would not seek reelection in polls scheduled for January 24.

The elections commission, however, said that given the rift between Hamas and Fatah, each trying to administer the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, this date would not be possible.

The Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council extended Abbas term in office to June 28.

He has been critical of Israel's building of settlements in East Jerusalem, an area Palestinians want as their future capital, and has expressed disappointment with the US administration's stance on the peace process.

An aide to Abbas said that during his visit Riyadh pledged to use its diplomatic leverage to convince world leaders to put an end Israeli settlement construction.

Saudi King Abdullah said he would would exert pressure on "influential capitals, especially Washington."

Abbas, who is on a two-day visit to the kingdom, has refused to resume suspended peace talks with Israel without a complete Israeli halt to construction in its settlements.

Israel considers East Jerusalem, captured in the 1967 war along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, to be its sovereign territory and part of its capital.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301499,abbas-says-stalled-peace-process-cause-for-his-stepping-down.html.

Egypt defends reinforcement of Gaza border, allows limited protest

(Earth Times - dpa) Cairo - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit on Wednesday defended Egypt's right to secure its border in the government daily al-Akhbar, while the government gave the green light for a limited protest of the reinforcement. "What Egypt is doing is placing structures on its territory related to Egyptian defense," the foreign minister said.

Egypt's upper house of parliament, the Shura Council, likewise issued a document endorsing the government's security measures in northern Sinai and along the border, the government-owned daily al-Gomhuriya reported Wednesday.

In recent weeks photos purportedly showing a reinforced steel wall being built underground along the Egyptian-Gazan border have revived domestic and regional criticism of Egypt's role in maintaining the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Activists from around the world this week gathered in Cairo in the hopes of marching to the Gaza border to protest its closure.

The Egyptian government initially banned the protest march. But faced with the rising criticism, the government on Tuesday told organizers of the Gaza Freedom March that 100 of the activists could march to the border.

Egypt has repeatedly defended increased security at the border as necessary for maintaining its sovereignty and national security. In January 2008, during Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip, thousands of Gazans breached the border, pouring into the Egyptian side of the divided town of Rafah to buy food and other goods.

Egypt has long been under international pressure, particularly from Israel and the United States, to stop the smuggling of basic commodities, contraband, and weapons through tunnels under the border.

Israel and Egypt closed the Gaza Strip's borders after Hamas took control of the territory's security forces in 2006.

Survey: Two-thirds of Germans against more troops for Afghanistan

Berlin - Two-thirds of the German public are against sending more troops to Afghanistan as part of the US-led "surge" strategy there, a survey published Wednesday said. The poll, carried out by the Leipzig Institute for Market Research, reported that 66 per cent of a representative sample of the population were against increasing Germany's some 4,500-man troop contingent in northern Afghanistan.

A conference of NATO allies is due to take place in London at the end of January, partly to decide on how many extra troops European countries will send to augment the 30,000 extra forces announced by US President Barack Obama in December.

Germany has said it will make no commitment to extra troops before the conference, and insists the meeting should be more about forging a comprehensive strategy for the conflict.

The survey also reported that 51 per cent were in favor of an immediate withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan.

Germany's involvement in the conflict has become highly controversial since a German army officer ordered an airstrike in Kunduz in September which is assumed to have killed dozens of civilians.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301501,survey-two-thirds-of-germans-against-more-troops-for-afghanistan.html.

Israel's population now stands at 7.5 million people

Jerusalem - Israel's population grew by 1.8 per cent in 2009 and now stands at 7,509,000people, the country's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said Wednesday in an end-of-year summing up. Jews number 5,664,000 people, or 75.4 per cent of the population, the CBS said, and Arabs account for 20.3% per cent, or 1,526,000 people.

Some 319,000 people, or 4.3 per cent of the population are classified as "others," defined as non-Arab Christians, or followers of other religions.

Israel's population has grown at a steady 1.8 per cent each year since 2003, the CBS said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301515,israels-population-now-stands-at-75-million-people.html.

Germany abandons inquiry into judge present at Shirbini murder

Dresden - German prosecutors abandoned the inquiry on Wednesday into the judge presiding over the trial in which Egyptian mother Marwa el-Shirbini was stabbed to death this year (2009). Both the judge and the president of the court were deemed to have acted correctly during an appeal hearing, in which accused Alex Wiens, 29, pulled out a knife and killed the pregnant 31-year-old.

At the time, Wiens was appealing a fine for racially insulting el-Shirbini. Her husband, who was also attacked at the time, accused the court of insufficient security measures, enabling Wiens to smuggle a knife into the courtroom.

The Dresden authorities disagreed, and said no mistakes had been made during the trial in which the attack took place.

The July 1 killing caused outrage in Egypt. El-Shirbini, a pharmacist who already had a young son, was described a "scarf martyr" since she wore a headscarf.

Egyptians also criticized the German government for taking a week before issuing an official statement condemning the murder.

Russian-born Wiens, who admitted he hated Muslims and other non- Germans, was convicted on November 11 and jailed for life.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301516,germany-abandons-inquiry-into-judge-present-at-shirbini-murder.html.

Iraq initials final of seven latest oil contracts

Baghdad - The Iraqi Oil Ministry initialed Wednesday the final of seven oil contracts awarded earlier this month, edging closer to sealing deals the government hopes will double oil production in the country. The latest signing, which still requires the final stamp of approval from the cabinet, was with Angola's Sonangol to develop fields near the troubled city of Mosul, some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad.

The field at Qayarah would have a peak production rate of 120 thousand barrels per day (bpd), while the Nijm field would hit 110 thousand bdp at prime levels.

Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said the contract would be good for 20 years, but could be further extended.

On Tuesday, Russia's second largest oil producer Lukoil and Norwegian state-owned Statoil, together with Iraq's national oil company, signed one of the largest oil deals, for a field with estimated reserves of 12.9 billion barrels.

December's bidding, the second round of an auction begun in June, saw companies agree to contracts on seven fields across the country.

The Iraqi government, which relies heavily on oil exports for its revenue, hopes the ongoing foreign investment will more than double its current output of roughly 2.5 million bpd.

Over the coming years, optimistic outlooks within the government say the latest contracts awarded, combined with the first round of bidding, could boost production to levels as high as 12 million bpd.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301519,iraq-initials-final-of-seven-latest-oil-contracts.html.

Indonesia's former president Wahid dies at 69 - Summary

Jakarta - Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's first elected leader after the 1998 fall of the dictator Suharto's regime, died Wednesday after a long illness, relatives said. He was 69. Wahid's brother, Solahuddin Wahid, confirmed to the private television station MetroTV that Indonesia's fourth president, who served from 1999 to 2001, died at a Jakarta hospital.

Abdurrahman Wahid, known by his nickname Gus Dur, which means Honoured Holiness Abdurrahman, suffered from heart failure among other ailments, Dr Akmal Taher from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital said.

In a nationwide address, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his personal sympathy and that of the government and all its citizens.

"We have lost one of the nation's best sons," Yudhoyono said. "On behalf of state and government, I express my deep condolence, with praying and hope that he be received by Allah the almighty in line with his good deeds and dedication to the state and nation."

He ordered the people to lower the nation's red-and-white flag to half-mast for a seven-day period.

Thousands of people joined government officials, former government officials and politicians who went to the hospital as well as to Wahid's residence in the southern Jakarta suburb of Ciganjur to pay their last respects.

Abdurrahman Wahid had already been ill when he assumed the presidency. He had suffered two strokes before his term in office, was nearly blind and had to be guided by an aide everywhere he went.

"I am very sad because Indonesia is losing a great man, a leader of democracy, a character who always defended the weak and the minorities," said Rizal Ramli, who served as finance minister under Wahid.

Wahid was born August 4, 1940, in Denanyar village, Jombang, in East Java.

He dreamed of making Indonesia into a pluralistic, democratic society and in 1993 won the Magsaysay Award from the Philippine government for his efforts to develop inter-religious ties in Indonesia.

He also strove to build a society with freedom of expression and respect for human rights as its pillars. But he soon fell out of favor with the parliament that elected him and was impeached in 2001 for perceived incompetence and an unproven corruption allegation.

Although Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation with more than 230 million people, practices a more moderate form of Islam than is characteristic of the Middle East, Wahid was criticized by some clerics in the country for his ecumenism.

When others condemned Israel, he visited Jerusalem to accept a prize in honor of the assassinated Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin, and when other Muslim leaders joined in condemnation of the British author Salman Rushdie, Wahid stood alone in his defense.

Abdurrahman Wahid's wife, Shinta Nuriyah, and his youngest daughter, Inayah, were at his bedside when he died and President Yudhoyono and first lady Ani Yudhoyono were also visiting at the time, a relative told the VIVA news website.

Wahid fell ill while on a pilgrimage to the tomb of his father in the East Java district town of Jombang and was rushed to a local hospital, the report said. On Saturday, he was flown to Jakarta and taken to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.

The former president's condition deteriorated after he underwent a tooth extraction Monday, the relative told VIVA.

"I was shocked because I did not think he would go so fast," former president BJ Habibie, who was Wahid's predecessor, said.

In 2000 Wahid was embroiled in a corruption scandal when his personal masseur fled, allegedly with more than 4-million-dollars of state funds. Wahid himself was accused of misappropriating donations from the Sultan of Brunei.

He was censured by parliament, despite his repeated denials of wrongdoing and the somewhat circumstantial evidence against him.

Over his last months in power he became increasingly politically isolated as he fought the national assembly (MPR) and its legislators' drive to have him impeached.

Repeatedly he threatened to declare a state of emergency only to see the military and police refuse to back him, and finally for parliament to call his bluff.

Wahid's last throw of the dice was to refuse to leave the presidential palace. But after a few days he backed down and his family said he had accepted the reality of the situation.

Wahid was scheduled to be buried at his home town, Jombang, East Java, on Thursday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301521,indonesias-former-president-wahid-dies-at-69--summary.html.

A year on, war memories linger for Gaza paramedic

by Ahmed Aldabba, Fares Akram

GAZA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian ambulance driver Khaled Abu Saada still remember the moment when an Israeli tank shell tore apart his vehicle with three injured teenagers and his colleague on board a year ago.

"All of them were killed," he said.

When Israel started the ground invasion of Gaza on Jan. 3 after a week of intensive aerial bombing, Khaled and first aid officer, Arafa Abdul Dayem, were directed to northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya to rescue a group of teenagers hit by a tank shell.

"The scene was horrible. Five youngsters were seriously injured and the place was awash in blood," he said, adding that "one of them lost one leg and another had both legs amputated."

Abdul Dayem ran out of the ambulance to evacuate the injured. When he was putting the third one in the ambulance, a projectile hit the rear of the vehicle.

"I was thrown out of the burning ambulance due to the explosion," Khaled said, "I knew I was injured in the head, but I was still able to move and perform my duty."

"(After the explosion) I only heard low whining voices. Then I saw Abdul Dayem, whose chest was wide open. There were small pierces and darts all over his body, but he was alive," Khaled said.

The injured teenagers were killed instantly in the attack, and one of them had his head cut off.

"It was a horrible carnage," Khaled said, pausing from time to time to answer the phone in the ambulance station in northern Gaza." I still cannot believe what I have seen, it's a nightmare."

Abdul Dayem received several operations, but died a few hours after being transferred to the intensive care unit. Doctors at Shifa hospital in Gaza said he suffered massive internal bleeding in his abdomen, and had blood in his lung.

At the time, the Israeli attacks were increasing as the troops inched deeper into Gaza, which caused unprecedented pressure on paramedics.

But Khaled refused to stay at home and made the hardest decision in his life to continue his work, even though this would cost his life, like his colleague Abdul Dayem.

At least seven ambulance drivers, paramedics and doctors were killed and more than 20 others injured during the Israeli war on Gaza between Dec. 27 and Jan. 18 while transporting or attempting to collect the wounded and the dead, according to the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

The offensive also left about 1,420 Palestinians killed, more than two-thirds of whom civilians, and over 5,500 people injured, the center said.

The war experience has seared into Khaled's memory. "We were astonished with the horrific scenes and deaths we witnessed," he said.

Khaled is satisfied with what he did during the war, but he felt sad for those killed because they can not receive immediate medical treatment.

"I could not reach many of those who asked for help, and many of them passed away. The situation was dangerous as ambulances were deliberately targeted by the Israelis," he said regretfully as he put on his fluorescent jacket to leave for a place where two cars collided.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/31/content_12731817.htm.

Humanitarian convoy to leave for Gaza from Syria's Lattakia

DAMASCUS, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy, led by British lawmaker George Galloway, is set to leave Syria's Lattakia port Wednesday afternoon and head for the Egyptian harbor of El-Arish to enter the Gaza Strip, the official SANA news agency reported.

Galloway, founder of Viva Palestina Association, told a press conference held Tuesday evening that "the convoy is carrying humanitarian aid and medicines to the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip without any political objectives."

The international humanitarian aid convoy consists of around 250 vehicles, carrying humanitarian relief from Europe, Turkey and Arab countries, including food and medical equipment.

Spokesman for the convoy Zaher an-Birawi said the convoy faces the risk of interception by the Israeli authorities at sea, said the report.

"Any Israeli aggression on the convoy during sailing to Egyptian El-Arish port will be condemned and will unveil the truth of its perpetrators," he added.

The convoy, which departed from London on Dec. 6, returned to Syria on Tuesday from the Jordanian harbor of al-Aqaba after the Egyptian authorities requested that the convoy enter through El-Arish, on its Mediterranean coast.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/30/content_12731446.htm.

Taliban claim blast that killed 8 Americans

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide bombing at a base in eastern Afghanistan that killed eight American civilians and one Afghan, the worst loss of life for the U.S. in the country since October. A U.S. congressional official said CIA employees are believed to be among the victims.

Separately, four Canadian soldiers and a journalist imbedded in their unit were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's south, the bloodiest single incident suffered by that country's military in 2009.

Michelle Lang, a 34-year-old health reporter with the Calgary Herald, was the first Canadian journalist to die in Afghanistan. She arrived in the country just two weeks ago.

It was not immediately clear how the suicide bomber at the base at the edge of Khost city was able to circumvent security.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that an Afghan National Army officer wearing a suicide vest entered the base Wednesday and blew himself up inside the gym. A U.S. official who was briefed on the blast also said it took place in the gym.

Khost is the capital of Khost province, which borders Pakistan and is a Taliban stronghold.

The U.S. official said eight American civilians and one Afghan were killed; it was not clear if the Afghan victim was military or civilian. Six Americans were wounded, the official said.

The CIA has not yet commented on or confirmed the deaths.

There was no independent confirmation that the bomber was a member of the Afghan military. Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said no Afghan National Army soldiers are at the base, named FOB Chapman.

But an Afghan official in Khost said about 200 Afghans have been contracted by the U.S. to take care of security at the base. They are usually deployed on the outer ring of its walls, although some work inside, the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

"It's not the first time that Afghan forces have conducted such an attack to kill Americans or foreigners," the Taliban statement said, citing the killing of an American soldier and the wounding of two Italians this week in Badghis province. NATO has provided no details of that incident, but Afghan Gen. Jalander Shah Bahnam said an Afghan soldier opened fire on a base in the province's Bala Murghab district.

The congressional official in Washington said it was not clear how many of the victims in Khost were assigned to the CIA.

A senior State Department official said all of the victims were civilians. A former senior CIA officer who was stationed at the base said a combination of agency officers and contractors operated out of the remote outpost with the military and other agencies. He said contractors also might be among those who died.

All the U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

NATO said only that the base is used by provincial reconstruction teams, which consist of both soldiers and civilians, and other personnel.

A spokesman in Kabul for the international coalition force said no U.S. or NATO troops were killed in the afternoon explosion. The attack was the bloodiest for Americans since eight soldiers were killed in an insurgent attack on a base in eastern Afghanistan on Oct. 3.

In the south, NATO said the four Canadian troops and the reporter died when their armored vehicle hit a bomb while on an afternoon patrol south of Kandahar city. It was the third-deadliest day for Canadians in Afghanistan since the war began.

Michelle Lang "was one of those journalists who always wanted to get to the bottom of every story so this was an important trip for her," said a Calgary Herald colleague, Colette Derworiz.

The military has not disclosed the names of the Canadian troops because relatives have not all been notified.

"We are all very saddened to hear this tragic news," Alberta Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert said in a statement. "Michelle covered health issues with professionalism, accuracy and thoroughness. She was tenacious in her quest to inform Albertans, and for her diligence she was very well respected."

Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, commander of coalition forces in Kandahar, said the soldiers were conducting a community security patrol in order to gather information about daily life in the area and how to maintain security.

Wednesday's attack was the second lethal strike against Canadian forces in a week. One Canadian soldier and an Afghan soldier were killed Dec. 23 during a foot patrol in Panjwayi district of Kandahar province. According to figures compiled by The Associated Press, the latest casualties bring to 32 the number of Canadian forces killed in Afghanistan this year; in all, 138 have died in the war.

Separately Wednesday, NATO questioned Afghan reports that international troops killed 10 civilians, including children, in a weekend attack that prompted hundreds of angry Afghan protesters to burn an effigy of President Barack Obama and chant "death" to America.

The head of an investigative team appointed by President Hamid Karzai told The Associated Press that eight students between the ages of 12 and 14 were among the dead discovered in a village house in a remote section of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. NATO said late Wednesday that while there was no direct evidence to substantiate the claims, the international force had requested and welcomed a joint investigation to reach an "impartial and accurate determination" of what happened in the attack.

Conflicting accounts of what occurred during the fighting in Kunar's Narang district prompted an emotional outcry over civilian deaths, one of the most sensitive issues for international troops fighting the more than eight-year-old war. Although insurgents are responsible for the deaths of far more civilians, those blamed on coalition forces spark the most resentment and undermine the fight against militants. With 37,000 more U.S. and NATO troops being deployed to the battle zone, concern over civilian casualties is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

Several hundred Afghans demonstrated in Kabul and in the eastern city of Jalalabad, where the likeness of Obama, adorned with a small American flag, was burned on a pole held above demonstrators.

Yemeni forces raid al-Qaida hideout, clashes erupt

By AHMED AL-HAJ and DONNA ABU-NASR, Associated Press Writers

SAN'A, Yemen – Yemeni forces raided an al-Qaida hideout and set off a gunbattle Wednesday as the government vowed to eliminate the group that claimed it was behind the Christmas bombing attempt on a U.S. airliner.

The fighting took place in an al-Qaida stronghold in western Yemen, haven for a group that attacked the U.S. Embassy here in 2008, killing 10 Yemeni guards and four civilians. A government statement said at least one suspected militant was arrested during the clashes.

"The (Interior) Ministry will continue tracking down al-Qaida terrorists and will continue its strikes against the group until it is totally eliminated," Deputy Interior Minister Brig. Gen. Saleh al-Zawari told senior military officials at a meeting in Mareb, another province believed to shelter al-Qaida fighters.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden's group, claimed it was behind the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner. Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old passenger, was arrested Friday after he allegedly tried to bring down the Northwest Airlines flight, carrying 289 people.

U.S. investigators said Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. Yemen's government has said Abdulmutallab spent two periods in the country, from 2004-2005 and from August to December of this year, just before the attempted attack.

Abdulmutallab's Yemen connection has drawn attention to al-Qaida's growing presence in the impoverished and lawless country, which is located on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia.

Wednesday's clashes took place in Hudaydah province, an al-Qaida stronghold along the Red Sea coast. A security official said the target was a house owned by an al-Qaida sympathizer. The official said the owner was arrested, a suspected al-Qaida member was injured and several militants who fled were being pursued. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

Before Wednesday's clashes, Yemeni forces backed by U.S. intelligence carried out two major strikes against al-Qaida hideouts this month, reportedly killing more than 60 militants.

The U.S. has increasingly provided intelligence, surveillance and training to Yemeni forces during the past year, and has provided some firepower, according to a senior U.S. defense official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the subject.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Yemen received $67 million in training and support under the Pentagon's counterterrorism program last year, second only to some $112 million spent in Pakistan.

He said the program was not a new one.

"We are going to work with allies and partners to seek out terrorist activity, al-Qaida, wherever they operate, plan their operations, seek safe harbor," he said. "This is an effort that is years old now."

In Holland, the Dutch government issued a preliminary report Wednesday calling the airliner plot professional, but describing the execution as "amateurish."

Dutch Interior Minister Guusje Ter Horst told a news conference Abdulmutallab apparently assembled the explosive device, including 80 grams of PETN, in the aircraft toilet, then planned to detonate it with a syringe of chemicals. She said the explosives appeared to have been professionally prepared and then given to Abdulmutallab.

President Barack Obama has demanded a preliminary report by Thursday on what went wrong in the Detroit case. Obama said the intelligence community should have been able to piece together information that would have raised "red flags" and possibly prevented Abdulmutallab from boarding the airliner.

Abdulmutallab had been placed in one broad database, but he never made it onto more restrictive lists, despite his father's warnings to U.S. Embassy officials in Nigeria last month.

Meanwhile, officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday that a man tried to board a commercial airliner in the Somali capital of Mogadishu last month carrying powdered chemicals, liquid and a syringe in a case bearing chilling similarities to the Detroit airliner plot.

The Somali man — whose name has not yet been released — was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops before the Nov. 13 Daallo Airlines flight took off. It had been scheduled to travel from Mogadishu to the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then to Djibouti and Dubai.

The aborted attack in Detroit was launched almost a year after al-Qaida's operations in Yemen and Saudi Arabia united to form Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, making Yemen its base.

Shortly after Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was formed, Saudi Arabia announced a list of 85 most wanted militants outside its borders. It said 11 of them were former Guantanamo detainees who had gone through its rehabilitation program. Three were confirmed to have gone to Yemen. They included Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, who later surrendered in Yemen and was handed over to Saudis, Said al-Shihri, the group's No. 2 and Youssef al-Shihri, who was killed in a clash with Saudis in southern Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni roots of the attack threaten to complicate U.S. efforts to empty the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where nearly half the remaining detainees are from Yemen.

Finding a home for them is key to Obama's pledge to close the prison, but emerging details of the plot are renewing concerns about Yemen's capacity to contain militants and growing al-Qaida safe havens.

Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del., noted that of the 90 men remaining at Guantanamo, more than 60 have been identified as dangerous by the Pentagon.

"Yet, in the past few weeks, the Obama Administration has overseen the repatriation of six Yemenis from Guantanamo back to their home country," he said. "As we learn more about Abdulmutallab's ties to Yemen and AQAP, it is increasingly clear that the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo is a flawed process demanding immediate review."

Abdulmutallab spent about five months in Yemen leading up to the airliner attack and a year before that in 2004-2005, Yemeni officials said.

Administrators at the San'a Institute for the Arabic Language said he was enrolled at the school during both periods to study Arabic. But staff and students said he spent at most one month at the school starting in late August. His time through December is unaccounted for.

Acquaintances described the strict Islamic life he led, rejecting music, TV and mixing with women. All of them expressed surprise that the quiet man they knew would even consider to carry out such an act.

"I saw him once tenderly kiss a baby," said Ahmed Mohammed, a teacher at the institute. "Today, he's turned into a monster who would have killed children if the operation had succeeded."

Somali arrested at airport with chemicals, syringe

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, KATHARINE HOURELD and JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writers

MOGADISHU, Somalia – U.S. officials are investigating a Somali man's alleged attempt to board a flight last month carrying chemicals, liquid and a syringe in a case bearing chilling echoes of the plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

Terrorism analysts said the arrest in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, could prove highly valuable for the Detroit investigation if the incidents turn out to be linked.

The Somali was arrested by African Union peacekeeping troops Nov. 13 before boarding the Daallo Airlines plane bound for the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, then Djibouti and Dubai.

"We don't know whether he's linked with al-Qaida or other foreign organizations, but his actions were the acts of a terrorist. We caught him red-handed," said a Somali police spokesman, Abdulahi Hassan Barise.

A Nairobi-based diplomat said the incident has similarities to the attempted attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 in that the Somali was said to have a syringe, liquid and powdered chemicals — tools similar to those used by the Nigerian suspect on the Detroit-bound plane. The diplomat spoke on condition he not be identified because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Barigye Bahoku, the spokesman for the African Union military force in Mogadishu, said the materials could have caused an explosion that would have resulted in cabin decompression, though he didn't think it would have brought the plane down.

For the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly hid explosive PETN in a condom or condom-like bag just below his torso. In the Somali case, the powdered material smelled strongly of ammonia, and samples were sent to London for testing, Bahoku said.

The case drew little attention before the Christmas incident, but on Wednesday U.S. officials began to investigate any possible links to the Detroit attack. None would speak on the record.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said U.S. investigators are working with Somali authorities, and linking the case to the Christmas attack "would be speculative at this point."

Thomas Sanderson, a security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the Somali suspect is extremely valuable for U.S. investigators, who will compare his statements with Abdulmutallab's.

Police spokesman Barise said the suspect is in Somali custody, but Sanderson said he was sure the U.S. has told the Somali government: "He's ours, and we're taking him."

He said there was no certainty the two were trained by the same group, but believed the similarities are "probably an indicator that more than just two people have been trained and prepared and ordered or convinced to carry out individual acts of terrorism," Sanderson said.

Michael Stock is president of Bancroft, an organization that advises AMISOM, the African Union peacekeeping force in Mogadishu. He said that when the passenger aroused suspicions, Somalis summoned Bancroft guards who patrol the airport.

"At the time, we provided the explosive material itself for analysis and a description of the incident to Western embassy officials involved in supporting AMISOM, for them to pass to law enforcement," Stock said. He said he heard nothing further.

U.S. investigators say Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspect held in the Detroit case, told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen, which Western officials say is a jumping-off point for foreign fighters slipping into Somalia. Large swaths of Somalia are controlled by an al-Qaida-linked insurgent group, al-Shabab.

Abdulmutallab is charged with trying to destroy an aircraft. U.S. authorities allege he tried to ignite a two-part concoction of PETN and possibly a glycol-based liquid explosive, setting off popping, smoke and some fire but no deadly detonation.

If the Somali suspect was planning anything similar, it wasn't known what his specific target might have been. Most passengers on Daallo's Mogadishu route are Somali. The carrier's Web site calls it the national airline of Somalia's neighbor, Djibouti. Some 1,800 U.S. troops are stationed in Djibouti, while Dubai would offer the greatest range of Westbound flights along the route in question.

A Somali security official involved in the Mogadishu arrest said the suspect had a 1-kilogram (2.2-pound) package of chemical powder and a container of liquid chemicals. He said the suspect was the last passenger in line to board.

The man's name was not released, but the security official gave it as Abdi Hassan Abdi and said he was middle-aged. Stock said the name he got was Abdi Hassan Abdullah, but it was unclear that is his real name.

Once the chemicals and syringe were detected, the suspect tried to bribe the team that detained him, the security official said. He said he had a white shampoo bottle containing a black acid-like substance, a clear plastic bag with a light green chalky substance, and a syringe containing a green liquid. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

A spokeswoman for Daallo Airlines said that company officials were unaware of the incident and would have to seek more information before commenting. Daallo Airlines is based in Dubai and has offices in Djibouti and France.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Iraq: Baath, al-Qaeda aim to disrupt elections

Iraqi National Security Adviser Safa Hussein says al-Qaeda and Baathi elements are cooperating in an effort to wreak havoc on the country's security in advance of March 7 parliamentary elections.

In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, Hussein said the al-Qaeda network has fallen under the influence of diehard elements of the ousted Baath party.

"Recently, during the last six months, there has been a change in al-Qaeda's strategy," Hussein said, speaking in his office in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound.

"We think that this change comes through the influence and effect of them being closer to the Baathists."

Hussein said that after the US-led invasion of the country, Baathists had joined a range of militant groups, including al-Qaeda, as they offered a more potent force against the occupation troops than the Baath's own unpopular party apparatus.

Although initially al-Qaeda restricted former Baathists to lower ranks, it allowed them to gain positions of power after its most notorious leader, Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a 2006 air strike, Hussein said.

"So there were the right circumstances and environment for the Baath party to promote their strategy within al-Qaeda," he said. "Before, the influence was on lower levels."

Iraqi national security adviser meanwhile expected further waves of bombings like those of August, October and December which killed nearly 400 people in total, saying, "Their (al-Qaeda) intention continues in this direction."

"I think during the election period, it will continue this way," he added, referring to the run-up to the March 7 general election.

Hussein went on to note that the number of al-Qaeda militants had dropped from a peak of around 10,000 to less than 2,000 now.

He added that rich people and influential people in Saudi Arabia also provided much of al-Qaeda's funding in Iraq.

"It is not the Saudi government, but it is some families, including families in the government," he explained.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114938§ionid=351020201.

Jumblatt urges Israeli Druze not to join army

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has called on the Druze community in Israel not to serve in the army, saying it contradicts with the sect's membership in the Arab nation.

All Druze are Arabs who follow the Druze religion and thus ties between Druze in different countries and between them and other Arabs are natural, visiting Jumblatt told the Radio A-Shams in Cyprus.

The call by the Druze leader comes after his recent meeting with a delegation of Israeli Druze dignitaries led by MP Said Naffaa and clergymen from Mount Carmel and Galilee.

He said his ties with Israeli Druze began in Amman in 2001 and have been developing ever since, expressing optimism that awareness of such ties among young Druze is on the rise in Israel, and that many of them are already refusing to join the military.

"The fact that the number of Druze avoiding military service has risen from 5 percent to almost 60 percent is proof enough of the importance of this connection," he said.

Jumblatt dismissed criticism that he was intervening in another community's internal affairs, describing the voices speaking against his initiative as only "primitive."

"We have proven that maintaining this relationship strengthens the Arab-Palestinian identity of community members in Israel, and especially the young," he stressed. "The rising numbers of conscientious objectors show the Druze will no longer be border guards for the State of Israel."

Founded in the 11th century, the Druze religion is an offshoot of Islam with an estimated one million followers worldwide, with most living in Lebanon, Syria and Israel.

There are nearly 100,000 members of the Druze community in Israel, but very few Arabs serve in the Israeli army.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114939§ionid=351020203.

Russia assures EU of oil export during winter

Russia guarantees oil transfer to Europe through Ukraine, even if no deal is reached between Russia and Ukraine by January 1 over proposed changes in oil transit accords.

"We expect that there will be no problems with the (crude oil) transit," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told reporters in Vladivostok on Tuesday.

The Slovak government said Monday Russia has warned that a price dispute with Ukraine could oblige it to stop crude shipments to three EU countries, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

"The reason is allegedly unresolved problems between the Russian Federation and Ukraine concerning oil transit," Slovakia's government said, quoting a letter from the European Commission.

Only hours after the announcement by the Slovak government, Russia and Ukraine denied a threat to EU customers by saying they had reached a preliminary agreement on oil transit conditions.

"We expect the agreement to be coordinated and signed shortly, within one or two days," Irina Yesipova, the Russian Energy Ministry Spokesperson, said Monday.

Earlier this week, head of Russian pipeline company Transneft Nikolai Tokarev said Ukraine had asked for higher payments for the transit of Russian oil.

Russia provides about a quarter of the natural gas consumed in the European Union.

Disputes between Russia and Ukraine on pricing and transit of Russian natural gas shipped to European clients have caused serious supply disruptions in recent years.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114937§ionid=351020602.

Israeli tanks target houses in northern Gaza

Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands in the northern sector of the Gaza Strip, according to a report.

A number of Israeli tanks attacked lands located near Beit Hannon and commenced firing on Tuesday midday at Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli border.

Bulldozers also destroyed the crops of the locals, according to the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).

The area where the gunfire was reported lies approximately 800 meters from the Green Line in the farming region of Abu Sufiyah, according to local Palestinian sources.

The farmers said that a number of homes and lands sustained damage but reported no injuries.

The Israeli army launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the Gaza Strip from December 2008 to January 2009. Over 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $1.6 billion in damage on the Gaza economy.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114934§ionid=351020202.