Scientists find evidence of ancient hot springs on Mars

Washington, Feb 13 : A new research has reported data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) that suggests the discovery of ancient hot springs in the Vernal Crater, sites where life forms may have evolved on Mars.

Hot springs have great astrobiological significance, as the closest relatives of many of the most ancient organisms on Earth can thrive in and around hydrothermal springs.

If life forms have ever been present on Mars, hot spring deposits would be ideal locations to search for physical or chemical evidence of these organisms and could be target areas for future exploratory missions.

In the research paper entitled, "A Case for Ancient Springs in Arabia Terra, Mars," Carlton C. Allen and Dorothy Z. Oehler, from the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, propose that new image data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on MRO depict structures in Vernal Crater that appear to have arisen as part of a major area of ancient spring activity.

The data suggest that the southern part of Vernal Crater has experienced episodes of water flow from underground to the surface and may be a site where Martian life could have developed.

"Hot spring deposits are key target areas for future Mars missions," said Sherry L. Cady, Associate Professor in the Department of Geology at Portland State University.

"Such deposits on Earth preserve evidence of the fossilized remains of the microbial communities that inhabited the hot springs over a wide range of spatial scales," Sherry added.

The potential to find key evidence indicative of life--biofabrics, microbial remains, chemical fossils in minerals--is high when sedimentary deposits form from hydrothermal fluids.

"Hot spring fluids are typically laden with dissolved mineral ions that, when they precipitate out and create the hydrothermal deposit, enhance fossilization of all types of biosignatures," said Sherry.

Hamas says Israel wants open ceasefire without time limit

Gaza City - Israel has rejected an 18-month ceasefire with Hamas and wants an open lull without a time-limit, the Islamist Hamas movement on Saturday said. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said that Egypt, which has mediated between Israel and Hamas, and his movement can't accept such an open lull in accordance with Israel's request.

"The ceasefire agreement was drawn up and was waiting to be made public by Egypt but Israel put obstacles by calling for an open ceasefire without any time ceiling," Barhoum added.

Egypt is holding talks with Israel in a bid to overcome the new obstacles, and a Hamas delegation will stay in Cairo to follow up these talks, according to Barhoum.

"When Egypt succeeds in convincing Israel to accept the 18-month ceasefire, it will announce the reaching of the deal," Barhoum continued.

Meanwhile, Barhoum says the efforts for a ceasefire go in parallel with Egyptian efforts to broker a reconciliation between feuding Palestinian factions, mainly Hamas' and president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement.

Indian Air Force airlifts relief supplies in Kashmir

Udhampur/Jammu, Feb 13 : The Indian Air Force (IAF) dropped food articles in Kashmir's Doda and Kishtwar districts where road connectivity has snapped after heavy rain washed off parts of a crucial highway last week.

"They are facing shortage of essential commodities. What the State Government is supplying, we will take there safely. And whatever the commodities they need, we will try to get it for them," said Wing Commander Pawan Sharma, an IAF officer at the Udhampur Air Force Base.

Half-a-kilometer stretch of the road between Batote-Kishtwar National Highway-1B collapsed as water from Chenab river submerged it.

Officials said the critically ill patients were being airlifted on a priority basis.

"We have been airlifting patients almost daily. As far as patients are concerned, the critically patients who cannot be given treatment there, is concerned," said Pawan Kotwal, divisional commissioner of Jammu.

The Border Roads Organization (BRO) has begun work on opening an alternative route on Bani-Bhaderwah road to connect the two districts. Usually the road remains closed during winter.

Free books to students up to 8th class in Kashmir schools

Srinagar. Feb 13 : The Education department in the Kashmir valley will distribute free text books to all students from 1st to 8th standard in government schools.

Officials said students studying in government schools across the Kashmir valley will get free text books.

They said all officials of schools concerned have been directed to remain present in their schools tomorrow and on February 15 and distribute text books among the students.

All the educational institutions in the Kashmir valley remained closed for winter months from December last year and will reopen in the first week of March this year.

Hezbollah not to revenge its commander's assassination

One year has passed since Lebanon's Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh was killed in a car bomb in Damascus. The Lebanese Shiite armed group had vowed to revenge against Israel, which was accused of carrying out the assassination, however, no action has been taken until now.

Local political analysts have been ruling out a respond by Hezbollah in the near future, due to local and regional reasons, military analyst Elias Hanna told the local Daily Star.

"The decision is not fully in the hands of Hezbollah, although Hezbollah is being pressured by its people to respond," Hanna said, adding that the potential resuming of the indirect Syria-Israeli talks, and the new improvement of relations between U.S. and Iran, leave Hezbollah hand cuffed.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah denied being commanded by Iran or Syria on this issue, and its chief Hasan Nasrallah renewed last month the promise to revenge Mughniyeh's death.

"Hezbollah will keep the card of Mughniyeh's revenge in its hand until the right time comes," Braham Makdad, a Hezbollah supporter, told Xinhua.

Makdad, who lives in the stronghold of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs, stressed that the people have not yet recovered from the 2006 war outcomes, and are not enthusiastic about a new war, but still, he added, Hezbollah cannot forget the revenge of Mughniyeh because "nothing would deter Israel from killing Hezbollah commanders and officials."

Israeli troops on Thursday were put on high alert on the northern borders for the anniversary of Mughniyeh, to thwart any attempt by Hezbollah to retaliate.

"Israelis are living in fear of our revenge. Don't expect me to say when we will strike," Nasrallah said, threatening to retaliate "in any place, at any time and in any way."

Nasrallah accused Israel of Mughniyeh's assassination, but the Jewish state denied the charge. However, the Israeli popular daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported last week that Israeli Mossad agents did kill Mughniyeh after the CIA shared information obtained from a Hezbollah operator captured in Iraq.

Hezbollah chief was known to keep his promises, local political analysts said, while Israeli officials have regularly promised a massive respond to any Hezbollah attack.

Nasrallah is scheduled to deliver a speech on the assassination anniversary occasion next Monday, and he has to explain the delay in the revenge he promised.

Whether Hezbollah is planning a revenge operation soon or is preparing for the right time is a question that cannot be answered by observers, but, Hezbollah should prepare answers for their supporters.

'Seven killed' in Algeria bomb attacks

ALGIERS (AFP) – Two bombs exploded in eastern Algeria hours after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he will run for a new term, killing at least seven people, the state APS news agency said Friday.

Two women, a baby and a man were killed by one bomb which exploded as their van passed by late Thursday in Foum El-Metlag, near the town of Tebassa, according to security sources quoted by the agency.

The second bomb went off as a rescue worker tended to the injured, killing two police officers and a firefighter. Another officer was seriously wounded.

Eastern Algeria has been an Islamist stronghold but the Tebessa region, near the Tunisian border some 630 kilometers (400 miles) east of Algiers, has been largely spared the violence blamed on Islamic militants.

Security services said the attack was also unusual in targeting civilians as most were against security force personnel or public buildings within 100 kilometers of the capital where the north African branch of Al-Qaeda is active.

It was the worst attack since bombs placed outside a paramilitary police barracks in Issers, east of Algiers on August 19, killed 48 people.

Bouteflika, 72 next month, announced Thursday he will run for a third term in April 9 elections he is almost certain to win.

He said he would stand as an "independent," pursue his policy of national reconciliation and "fight against terrorism with all necessary means" while leaving the door open to those who "repent."

Bouteflika is credited with helping to end a decade-long civil war that killed around 150,000 people following the 1992 cancellation of elections that an Islamic party had been poised to win.

Bouteflika proposed an amnesty for rebels who laid down their arms and twice secured public endorsement for his plans towards "national reconciliation" through referendums but sporadic violence persists.

After the attack at Issers in August, there were number of ambushes and suicide bomb attacks around Boumerdes and Tizi Ouzou in eastern Algeria where the Al-Qaeda offshoot is known to operate.

The attacks have targeted army patrols and police, but also local mayors and customs officers.

Security forces say they have killed at least 40 Islamic militants in clashes in the past seven months.

Lebanon (finally) OKs Removal of Confession on ID Cards

Lebanon's minister of the Interior issued a decree Wednesday that would allow Lebanese citizens the choice of removing their religion from national ID cards. Interior Minister Ziad Baroud issued a circular on giving each person the right to erase any mention of religious affiliation on civil registry records.

The decree from the Interior Ministry stated that henceforth the registration clerk will have to accept demands from citizens to remove the mention of a person's religious affiliation without additional paperwork or bureaucratic procedures; in lieu of a person's religion, which until now was obligatory, a simple slash sign ( / ) will be inserted on the civil status registry records.

And if state records have no mention of religion, therefore neither can identity cards. If to some this might be seen as somewhat trivial, nevertheless it is a great victory for pro-secularists that have fought hard to make this into a reality.

A women's rights group encouraged Lebanese citizens during the 1975-1990 civil war to cross out the line on their ID cards where religion was mentioned.

The minister of Interior said that omitting the mention of one's religion was in fact stipulated in the country's constitution and is one of the basic tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements.

Article 9 of the Lebanese constitution refers to freedom of belief, yet until now all Lebanese ID cards identified individuals as belonging to one of Lebanon's 18 different religious groups.

Article B of the constitution, introduced as an amendment in 1990, affirmed Lebanon's commitment to the U.N. Charters and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Constitutional Council decided that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."

While this step is highly welcomed, it is a decree that should have been introduced more than 30 years ago. The absence of one's religious affiliation on the national identity card could have saved the lives of thousands who were mindlessly killed during the civil war, based purely on what religion was marked on their ID cards.

Police training challenged by illiteracy

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- British troops training local Afghan recruits to become an effective police force are facing basic challenges like widespread illiteracy.

The British 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles are deployed to the volatile Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, where they are conducting eight-week police training programs. An effective police force in Afghanistan is a critical component to countering the escalating threats from the Taliban's drug smuggling operations, corruption and other criminal activity, the British Ministry of Defense reported.

Despite the importance of a capable police force, British troops are having to adapt their training techniques to overcome significant obstacles like illiteracy and other basics the Afghan population has been without as a result of decades of war.

"They cannot write and read -- that's the main thing -- so we have to cut down the lessons," Sgt. Chhatra Limbu, 2nd Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, said in a statement.

"Not proper 45 minutes or 40 minutes, we have to cut down to 20 minutes and maximum 25 minutes. That's best suited for them. … They cannot think all the things, because they cannot write and they cannot take notes."

New Afghan supply routes face major hurdle

BRUSSELS, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- Without needed reforms, Tajikistan's government could collapse and add to regional insecurity, according to an International Crisis Group report.

The Belgium-based independent non-governmental organization says that with a growing insurgency in Afghanistan and supply routes in Pakistan under increasing strain from militancy, Western leaders are working to establish Tajikistan -- which borders Afghanistan to the north -- as a new secure transit route.

Despite Western plans, Tajikistan is facing serious challenges to maintaining its stability as corruption spreads throughout Tajik President Emomalii Rahmon's government. Crisis Group officials say Tajikistan is in desperate need of reforms to address food security and energy infrastructure, without which Rahmon's fragile government could collapse, the group reported.

"Rahmon is not performing the role Western countries hoped he would fulfill -- the creation of a modern, functioning state that could be a firewall against the spread of extremism from Afghanistan and other parts of South Asia," Robert Templer, Crisis Group Asia program director, said in a statement.

"With crude but effective processes of co-option or punishment, he has emptied the political space, in the clear aim of leaving neither domestic nor international critics with a viable alternative."

U.S. eyes northern route for leaving Iraq?

ANKARA, Turkey, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. officials reportedly approached the government of Turkey to develop plans for a troop withdrawal through the north of Iraq, Turkish media report.

Washington and U.S. military strategists have considered a variety of timelines for withdrawing combat forces from Iraq, with most focused on a 16-month timetable.

Today's Zaman reports Thursday that Ankara held talks with U.S. officials on the possibility of withdrawing American forces from Iraq through the north and into southwest Turkey.

The report says the ruling Justice and Development Party would not object to such measures, though the issue would require approval from the Turkish Parliament.

Turkish officials who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity said the talks were in the very early stages, but said whatever action the U.S. military takes in preparing to leave Iraq, it should consider a strategy that is as gradual as possible.

Kursat Atilgan, a lawmaker with the Nationalist Movement Party and a retired general, said a northern redeployment would provide a buffer for American forces, given friendly relations with the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan.

"Hence, they (U.S. forces) have to withdraw from Iraq's north, because, except for the autonomous Kurdish administration in Iraq, the United States has many foes in the country," he said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/02/12/US_eyes_northern_route_for_leaving_Iraq/UPI-17471234479572/.

Analysis: N. Korea promotes military hawks

By LEE JONG-HEON, UPI Correspondent

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- North Korea has reshuffled its top military leadership, indicating the intractable country is likely to step up its saber-rattling and Cold War-style brinkmanship and lowering hopes of a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff, officials and analysts in South Korea say.

The military shakeup, which comes amid mounting signs of an imminent missile launch, is also aimed at tightening state control over the famine-hit population to prepare for another dynastic power transfer, they say.

Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun, 73, has been named minister of the People's Armed Forces, or defense minister, replacing Kim II Chol, who had been in the post since 2000, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Gen. Ri Yong Ho has been appointed chief of the army's General Staff, equivalent to the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing Kim Kyok Sik, who had served in the post for the past two years.

Both the top military leaders are believed to be hawkish and among the closest aides to North Korean leader Kim Jong II, who rules the country as the top military commander.

Kim Yong Chun, who led the army's General Staff for nearly a decade until 2007, has been a key player in the country's nuclear weapons and missile development, according to military sources in South Korea.

During Kim's term as chief of the General Staff, the North conducted nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2006, which put the Asia-Pacific region on alert. The North's military under his rule also violated the inter-Korean maritime border and exchanged naval gunfire with the South in 1999 and 2002, which left dozens dead or wounded on both sides.

"Kim seems behind the North's provocative actions in the past decades," the military source said, describing the new defense chief as "hawkish." Kim served since April 2007 as vice chairman of the country's all-powerful National Defense Commission led by Kim Jong II.

The new defense minister has also played a role in promoting the personality cult of Kim Jong II and his royal family. He has indicated he will launch a loyalty campaign for Kim's potential successor, most likely to be one of his three sons. Kim, who turns 67 next week, is thought to have suffered a stroke last August, which could force him to speed up preparations for a father-to-son power transfer.

Little is known about Ri, except that he once served as chief of the Pyongyang Defense Command. Defectors from the North say Ri is in his early 60s.

The two new military leaders accompanied Kim Jong II on a visit to an artillery unit, according to the North's news report on Thursday. The unit showed "the resolute determination of the servicemen to crush the aggressors at a single blow ... and their merciless striking capability," the report said.

Analysts in Seoul said the military shakeup is aimed at tightening Kim Jong Il's grip on power by installing his close confidants in top military posts. The North's 1.2 million-strong military, the world's fifth largest, is the backbone of his iron-fisted rule.

"With the reshuffle, Kim wants to run the military and the country more stably," said Kim Yong-hyun, who teaches North Korean affairs at Dongguk University in Seoul, noting there could be more reshuffles of key posts in the near future.

"The deployment of the hawkish figures to the top military posts is also designed to put more pressure on the United States and South Korea by demonstrating that it is ready to step up its saber-rattling," he said.

Kim and other analysts said they see a high possibility that the North would actually test-fire a ballistic missile despite global appeals and warnings. The North's future action largely depends on the outcome of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Asian tour, which will be focused on North Korea, they said.

North Korea appears to be gearing up to launch a long-range missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead that can hit U.S. territory. The missile, named Taepodong-2, already has reached the Musudan-ri launch site on its east coast.

A vehicle carrying radar equipment also was seen moving to the launch site from a munitions factory near Pyongyang, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency said, citing South Korean government officials. "It can be analyzed that the North is proceeding with missile launch preparations in stages," the source was quoted as saying.

Some analysts say the missile launch could take place before the end of this month, to mark Kim Jong II's birthday on Feb. 16, Clinton's visit to Seoul next week, or the first anniversary of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration on Feb. 25.

Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan warned North Korea against launching a missile. "Such a behavior will lead only to its isolation" by triggering tougher sanctions from the international community, he told a news briefing.

Slain Somali president's son named PM

Somalia's new president chose Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, the Western-educated son of a murdered former leader, to be prime minister on Friday in a power-sharing government intended to end civil conflict.

"I hope the Prime Minister designate will do his duties in a very honest and transparent manner by completing the peace process and forming an inclusive national unity government," President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed said at the nomination ceremony.

Sharmarke's appointment -- designed to shore up both diaspora and national support for the 15th attempt to set up government in Somalia since 1991 -- drew wide approval among many Somalis but condemnation by local rebels.

"We welcome him," said Sheikh Abdiqadir Ali, a clan elder in Puntland region where Sharmarke is from. "He was not involved in Somali politics and we are sure he will bring peace."

But Sheikh Hassan Yucqub, a spokesman for the al Shabaab group which is fighting Ahmed's government, mocked the naming: "An unlawful camel never gives birth to lawful ones."

Underlining the challenge awaiting Sharmarke and newly-elected president Ahmed, an al Qaeda leader urged jihad against the Western-backed, moderate Islamic government.

"Aim your arrows towards them ... direct your battles against them and intensify your campaign," Abu Yahya al-Libi said in a video released on Islamist web sites on Friday.

Washington says al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, and the group is known to have foreign fighters in its ranks.

After his nomination at a ceremony in Djibouti, Sharmarke vowed attention to Somalia's one million internal refugees and urged foes to join him.

"My main priority is resettling the internally displaced people back to their homes, and facilitating international humanitarian aid ... It is another big priority for us to work on reconciliation and extending a hand to the opposition."

Parliament is expected to ratify Sharmarke on Saturday.

Sharmarke has held various U.N. posts including as a political adviser on the Darfur conflict.

He is the son of Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, an elected president shot dead in 1969 before a military coup.

Though his family base is Virginia in the United States, he has both Canadian and Somali citizenship, his aides said.

By choosing a diaspora figure, Ahmed will hope to win backing and involvement in his government from the several million Somalis abroad, many in Europe and the United States.

"More than the diaspora aspect though, Sharmarke is a figurehead who can bridge the gap between the Islamists in government and the international community, given his ties to the U.N. and profile abroad," one Somali analyst said.

"LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON"

Sharmarke is a member of Somalia's Darod ethnic group, whereas Ahmed, a former geography teacher and moderate Islamist who led a sharia courts movement in 2006, is Hawiye.

"Sharif is playing another Machiavellian card by keeping his friends close but his enemies closer, as a withdrawn Darod clan could use that space and time to mobilize to threaten the new government," said Mark Schroeder, Africa analyst at global intelligence company Stratfor.

"It also provides Western interests -- particularly the U.S. -- a point of access into the new government."

The major challenge for both president and prime minister will be to face the threat of armed Islamist insurgents.

Al Shabaab says Ahmed's government is an illegitimate "puppet" administration put together by foreign powers.

Around Somalia, much reaction was cautiously positive.

Sheikh Abdirahim Isse Adow, spokesman for the moderate Islamic Courts movement, said the new prime minister was an "honest" man who should bring "positive changes."

Some Somalis remembered Sharmarke's father with affection.

"We hope the new prime minister will be patriotic and will make Somalia peaceful. He is the son of our beloved late President Sharmarke who was just killed because of being honest," said Botan Hashi, a clan elder in Gurael town.

"Welcome - like father, like son."

Leading Algerian Opposition Party FFS To Boycott April 9 Vote

ALGIERS (AFP)--A leading Algerian opposition party announced Friday it would boycott Apr. 9 presidential elections and called on voters to do the same.

The move by the Socialist Forces Front, or FFS, which had been expected, followed President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's announcement Thursday that he would run for a third term after the constitution was changed to allow him to do so.

A statement from the FFS national council said it was evident from the preparations being made for the poll that "the regime cannot and will not change."

Universal suffrage doesn't exist in Algeria, it concluded.

FFS leader Karim Tabbou told the national council meeting late Thursday a boycott of the polls was "a revolutionary act," the statement said.

The refusal of the Algerian people to take part in a "masquerade" would be a proof of "electoral dissidence" and a break with the current regime, he said.

Bouteflika faces little opposition because his main challengers have decided to boycott the poll since parliament passed a constitutional amendment in November ending the two-term presidential limit.

Former president Liamine Zeroual, who led the country from 1995 to 1998, has already refused to stand and former prime minister Rheda Malek quit politics entirely. A leader of the country's Islamist movement, Abdallah Djaballah, has also announced he won't take part in the elections.

The FFS, founded by Hocine Ait Ahmed, boycotted the last presidential elections in 2004.

The political void left by a lack of solid opposition could spark massive voter abstention, according to media in Algeria, where legislative elections in 2007 drew only 35% of voters.

Suspected US missile kills 6 in Pakistan

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – A suspected U.S. missile strike by a drone aircraft flattened a home in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least six people, two intelligence officials said.

An unknown number of people were also wounded in the attack in the troubled South Waziristan tribal region, where Pakistan has launched several military operations in recent years against the Taliban, al-Qaida and their local supporters.

It was not immediately clear who the dead and wounded people were, the officials said.

Taliban fighters surrounded the targeted home and were transporting the bodies and wounded out, said the two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

No government or military spokesmen were available for comment.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its fight against terrorism, but it has opposed missile strikes in the country's tribal regions where Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents operate.

The U.S. has launched more than 30 missile attacks in recent months.

Saturday's attack came days after Pakistani leaders told Richard Holbrooke, an American envoy dispatched by President Barack Obama to the region, that the U.S. attacks should be stopped as they were counterproductive and fueling anti-American sentiment in this Islamic nation.

It also came a day after a militant group holding an American employee of the United Nations warned it would kill him within 72 hours and issued a grainy video of the blindfolded captive saying he was "sick and in trouble."