Lava Fractures Suggest Martian Floods

SPACE.com staff

Distinctive fractures in ancient lava flows on Mars suggest that water occasionally flooded portions of the planet's surface. The research piles onto previous findings that suggest the same.

The fractures, called columnar joints, are the first that have been observed on a planet other than Earth.

"Columnar joints form as cooling lava contracts," said Moses Milazzo, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The characteristics of the column-like fractures can help scientists understand the role of water in geologic processes on Mars. Milazzo worked with the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera team to make the finding, which is detailed in the journal Geology.

The Martian columns, about 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter and about 100 feet (30 meters) high, were identified in the tilted inner walls of an impact crater.

"The HiRISE instrument just barely has the resolution to pick out the columns if they're facing the camera with the perfect orientation," said Milazzo. When the impact crater formed, the rocks were tilted backward, toward the sky, which is what allowed the identification.

The impact crater where the columns were discovered is in a region that has a history of extensive volcanic activity. Milazzo suspects that the columnar joints formed as lava flows were episodically flooded by liquid water, which quickly cooled the lava. Flooding cycles may have lasted from a few months to a few years, they estimate.

On Earth, columnar joints are common in the rocks of the Colorado Plateau, which provide a study site for comparisons to Mars.

Other geological evidence on Mars points to periods when floods washed across the surface, including similarities of certain canyons to Idaho's Box Canyon and modeling studies that suggest some areas were inundated for at least 10,000 years.

Bangladesh mutiny spreads, 50 feared dead

by Shafiq Alam

DHAKA (AFP) – A mutiny by thousands of members of Bangladesh's paramilitary border security force spread to areas outside the capital Dhaka Thursday, as officials reported nearly 50 army officers were feared killed.

The spread of the violence came despite the offer of a general amnesty for renegade troops from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also promised to address complaints over low pay and working conditions.

Police chiefs across the poor and chronically unstable South Asian nation said rank-and-file members of the Bangladesh Rifles, or BDR, had revolted in 12 border districts -- or roughly a quarter of the zones where border security forces are stationed.

"They are firing indiscriminately," said one of the police chiefs, from the northeastern Moulivibazar district. "Their commanding officer told me that he has fled the camp."

Another local police chief, Kamrul Ahsan from the southeastern town of Satkania, reported "heavy fighting" at a BDR training centre.

Officials were also struggling to bring an end to the initial revolt in Dhaka, a part of which had been turned into battle zone.

Deputy law minister Kamrul Islam said the situation remained tense as thousands of armed troops were still believed to be inside the BDR headquarters in the capital, keeping police and government negotiators waiting outside.

"The BDR troops began surrendering arms in our presence. But there are some 15,000 of them -- around 12,000 could have weapons," Islam told AFP.

"The situation is still very tense," he said, adding that at least 50 officers held hostage were feared dead.

"We talked to the BDR troops and they said some 50 officers have been killed," he told reporters, adding he could not confirm the deaths as he had not seen the bodies himself.

"We heard that the casualties were kept at a hospital inside the compound," he said. "There are no traces of the officers."

In total, 10 people have already been confirmed dead and dozens more wounded.

A rebel guard said he doubted a surrender would take place smoothly.

"They told us to surrender arms. But we have reports that army troops have attacked our camps outside the capital. We want peace but not bloodshed," the rebel BDR guard told AFP.

The unrest is the first major crisis to face Prime Minister Hasina since she took office less than two months ago, after a landslide election victory that ended two years of army-backed rule.

Hasina's office said she would address the nation on Thursday.

Officials said tensions in the BDR had been simmering for months but exploded into violence when senior officers dismissed appeals for more pay, subsidized food and holidays.

The stand-off highlights the frustrations felt by many people in impoverished Bangladesh -- a country suffering from high food prices, a slowing economy and rampant corruption within the country's ruling classes.

Since winning independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has had a history of political violence, coups and counter-coups.

The country was run by military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad from 1982 to 1990, before democracy was restored in 1991.

In January 2007, the army again stepped in, canceling elections and declaring a state of emergency following months of political unrest. Democracy was restored with elections last December.

Rare Shiite protests in Sunni-led Saudi Arabia

3 killed in Madina unrest: Sources

By DONNA ABU-NASR

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Informed sources have confirmed that security forces in Saudi Arabia have killed at least three Shia pilgrims in the holy city of Medina.

A prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia appealed to King Abdullah to put an end to ``extremist practices and insults'' by members of the Wahhabi religious police against Shiite pilgrims following repeated incidents at a revered cemetery.

Sheik Hassan al-Saffar's posted the appeal on his Web site on Monday, following reports of confrontations on Friday and Monday between Shiites and riot police at the al-Baqee Cemetery in Medina, Islam's second-holiest city.

Shiite Muslims are shouting anti-government slogans and demanding more freedoms in rare protests amid the minority's worst confrontations in years with authorities in this overwhelmingly Wahhabi kingdom.

Prominent Shiite clerics and intellectuals called on the government Wednesday to launch a fair investigation into a dispute last week that triggered the unrest.

Hundreds of protesters in the poor Shiite town of Awwamiya carried banners saying "Down with the government" and spray-painted the slogan on billboards Tuesday, witnesses said. One said youths threw stones at a police post before officers fired in the air to disperse the crowd, which included women. No casualties were reported.

Clashes between Shiites and religious police also were reported Monday and Tuesday outside a cemetery at the center of the latest uproar.

The Wahhabi majority has long had strained relations with Shiites , who are a small minority of the country's 22 million people. Considered infidels under the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam widely followed in Saudi Arabia, Shiites routinely complain of discrimination and outspoken Shiite critics have been jailed.

The latest eruption of tensions began with an argument Friday night near a cemetery in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, that contains the graves of revered imams.

Shiites say members of the religious police who maintain an office at the al-Baqee Cemetery filmed female pilgrims and refused to hand over the tapes or destroy them. A Saudi official blamed Shiite pilgrims for the trouble, accusing them of performing religious rituals offensive to other worshipers and authorities at the cemetery.

Shiites say riot police were heavy-handed in dealing with the pilgrims, beating them with batons and arresting some.

The protests came a week after King Abdullah ordered the most significant changes in government, the armed forces, the judiciary and the religious establishment since he became king in 2005, but left Shiites feeling left out of the reforms.

Shiites had hoped for appointments as ministers or representation in the council of senior scholars that had been restructured to include all schools of Wahhabi Islam. But no Shiites were chosen for those positions.

"There's a feeling that the Shiites' ambitions have not been realized as hoped, and that could have played an indirect role in inflaming emotions," said Najib al-Khonaizi, a Shiite columnist. "We have to admit that there's tension in the Shiite street."

Many Shiites say authorities deliberately provoked the dispute at the cemetery.

"There was a flagrant aggression on women's rights and the Shiite visitors," Sheik Hussein al-Mustapha, a prominent Shiite cleric, told The Associated Press. "It was a premeditated action by extremist men who want to put an end to visits by Shiite visitors."

"We demand an investigation into the incident in order to put an end to these ugly practices," he said.

A Saudi official put the blame on the Shiite pilgrims, saying they triggered the dispute by practicing rituals deemed by others to be "religious infractions, " such as the practice of Shiites to grab a handful of dust as a blessing and pray at the graves of the imams.

The official, who would not allow his name to be used, said such "infractions" are frequent at al-Baqee and usually are dealt with quietly by asking pilgrims to stop. But last week, he charged, a large crowd of Shiites was bent on provoking other worshipers and authorities at the cemetery.

Asked if members of the religious police had videotaped Shiite female pilgrims, the official said that if there was filming it was to take evidence of the infractions and not for voyeurism.

The official said nine of the Shiite visitors to the cemetery were arrested. He said the government was keen to find out the truth and the reasons for the escalation. He said the perpetrators would be held responsible, but did not elaborate.

A life of fear with no refuge: the Rohingya's struggle for survival and dignity

The Rohingya living in the north of Rakhine State of Myanmar are legally obliged to purchase expensive marriage permits, unlike the rest of the population. Children being born out of marriage often results in high informal fines or imprisonment and a two child only policy applies.

Weak, dehydrated and traumatized, the Rohingya people stepping off the boats that make it to Thailand's shores tell an alarming story. This is a story that begins across the Andaman Sea, that the Rohingya risk their lives to cross, in Myanmar.

Here, the Rohingya, a minority Muslim ethnic group, have suffered decades of restrictions and indignities that have led countless people to flee across the border to neighboring Bangladesh and further afield. Those who make the often risky and dangerous journey abroad find their suffering far from over, facing detention, deportation or life in overcrowded and unsanitary refugee camps.

Staff from the international humanitarian organization M'decins Sans Fronti'res (MSF) have witnessed first-hand the medical consequences of this groups plight from its projects in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. Contrary to claims that the Rohingya are solely economic migrants or opportunists, MSF's experience exposes the situation for what it really is - a chronic humanitarian crisis.

"I was relieved to make it to shore alive. At sea, I saw another boat carrying around 80 people sink in front of my eyes. I think everyone died." - Man, Thailand, 2008.

MSF has been granted access to groups of Rohingya detained by the Thai authorities in recent years.

"On arrival their medical condition speaks volumes about the experience that they have undergone at sea," explained Richard Veerman, MSF Head of Mission in Thailand. "We generally treat people for dehydration, skin disease and bruising, varying in severity - depending on the length of their journey.

"Last year we found out that one immigration detention center was holding 600 Rohingya: many had been detained for around three months and were showing signs of stress. Some appeared to be suffering from severe psychological trauma."

Over the past two years the number of Rohingya arriving in Thailand has reached an all time high.

"This is a clear indication that more needs to be done, not only to ensure adequate assistance on the spot, but to address the root cause of the problem back in Myanmar," said Veerman.

"I don't believe I'll ever go back. It is evident that things are still very bad in Myanmar and, even if we live with minimum support and help in Bangladesh, at least we don't have to fear." - Man, Tal Camp, Bangladesh, 2008.

Cox's Bazaar, on the eastern shores of Bangladesh, has seen countless Rohingya come and go over the years; those who have fled from Myanmar and those who pile into overcrowded boats headed for Thailand and beyond. For those who stay, living can be extremely tough.

MSF began providing health services for the Rohingya in Bangladesh in 1998, most recently assisting about 7,500 people who struggled to survive, otherwise unaided, in atrocious living conditions in Tal Makeshift Camp.

"The overcrowded, unhygienic living conditions were a breeding ground for respiratory tract infections and skin diseases. Diarrhea was rife and many of the children were malnourished. Mental health problems added to the burden, and an MSF program was started to support those struggling with the psychological impact of life in the camp," said Gabi Popescu, MSF Medical Coordinator in Bangladesh.

"Over the years I have heard many reasons why people fled from Myanmar. A woman and her three children left following her husband's arrest, in fear for her family. Another couple left, the woman some months pregnant, out of fear of the repercussions they would face for being unable to afford the official marriage license, not to mention the child birth license."

The Rohingya living in the north of Rakhine State of Myanmar are legally obliged to purchase expensive marriage permits, unlike the rest of the population. Children being born out of marriage often results in high informal fines or imprisonment and a two child only policy applies.

"My daughter was pregnant and took the root drink and was given a rough abdominal massage from a relative to kill the baby. When we went to see the doctor she was having fits and bleeding badly. I was scared the authorities would force us to pay a big fine or arrest her because she was pregnant and not married. We didn't take her to the hospital as the doctor told us to but we went to the local healer. She died the next day." - A woman in Tal Camp, Bangladesh, speaking about an experience in Rakhine State (NRS), Myanmar.

Despite the daily hardships people face in Bangladesh, returning to Myanmar is an option few Rohingya seem willing to consider. At the root of their reluctance lies fear.

"People fear that they will be punished for marrying without permission, for having children without permission, for traveling without permission, for having left without permission, for doing anything without permission, and permission costs money, something that the Rohingya have little of - partly due to the numerous other discriminatory measures imposed upon them," said Popescu.

MSF has worked in Rakhine State for the last 16 years, and encounters the fragile health status of the Muslim population on a regular basis. An estimated one million Muslims - known as Rohingya only outside of Myanmar - live here. The fact that they require authorization for so many things, including travel outside their villages, affects their access to healthcare - especially in emergencies - and increases their vulnerability.

In 2007, during MSF's last major nutrition intervention, 90 percent of the malnourished children treated were Rakhine Muslim, even though they constitute only 45 percent of the population in the affected area.

MSF has been providing medical assistance to the Rohingya for years and is witness to their ongoing suffering both inside and outside of Myanmar.

"Without a fundamental solution for the Rohingya not only in countries where they seek asylum but at their origin, there is no apparent end to this humanitarian crisis," said Hans Van De Weerd, MSF General Director in Holland.

Source: Alertnet.
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/MSFIntl/123555724325.htm.

Poachers Kill Five Elephants In Kenya

Poachers Kill Five Elephants In Kenya’s Most Critical Elephant Habitat

(Nairobi, Kenya – 25 February 2009) – Five elephants have been killed by poachers in the last six weeks in the Tsavo ecosystem of Kenya, alarming authorities and conservationists. The elephants, whose tusks had been hacked off, were found in three separate parts of the protected area.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers arrested two suspected poachers and one middleman from their hideout in the park, the middleman had already sold off the tusks to other dealers in the illegal ivory trade network.

“Since the one-off ivory sales from southern Africa countries late last year, we have noted an unprecedented rise of elephant poaching incidents in Tsavo,” said Jonathan Kirui, Tsavo Assistant Director. Earlier reports out of KWS indicated a 60 per cent increase in poaching in the country from 2007 to 2008.

These poaching incidents come barely three months after the auctions of 102 tonnes of ivory stocks from South Africa, Bostwana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This was the first time in nearly ten years that international trade had been sanctioned by the UN-backed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The total sum of ivory auctioned represented the deaths of approximately 10,000 elephants.

James Isiche, Director of IFAW’s Regional Office in East Africa, is concerned that the incident could mean a return to the elephant poaching era of 70s and 80s.

“The situation is dire, and needs to be arrested before it escalates further. We believe that there is a strong correlation between this upsurge and the ivory stockpiles sales allowed by CITES just a few months ago. We strongly maintain that ivory trade anywhere is a threat to elephants everywhere,” said Mr. Isiche.

Only last week, leading elephant researcher Dr. Cynthia Moss released a report indicating that an elaborate poaching syndicate had led to an upsurge in elephant killings in Amboseli National Park.

“We have information that a kilo of ivory is going for as low as US$37.50 from local middlemen to other dealers, and this could be an incentive to local people who were not involved in the illegal trade in previous years,” Kirui added. A kilo of ivory in the international black market fetches more than US$850.

Second to size to Kruger Park, Tsavo is home to Kenya’s largest single elephant population of about 11,700. Since 2005, IFAW has been undertaking a five-year collaborative project with KWS in Tsavo worth US$ 1.25 million to: enhance management operations in law enforcement and anti-poaching efforts, support infrastructural needs, mitigate human-wildlife conflict, research, and support community conservation and education.

Hitler plot movie omits key facts – expert

An expert on the background of the plot to kill Hitler says Tom Cruise’s Valkyrie movie omits key facts.

Waikato University academic Dr Norman Franke has a keen interest in the life of Karl Wolfskehl, whose poetry is considered by many to have been one of the inspirations for the 1944 bomb plot to kill Hitler. The Jewish exile spent the last 10 years of his life in Auckland.

Dr Franke says considering the story of the plot has had Hollywood - rather than arthouse - treatment, it’s not a bad depiction of a piece of history and it should stimulate more interest in the July 20 plot.

However, he says the movie is simplistic in depicting the motivations behind the assassination plot, and is very light on showing any actual atrocities committed by the Nazi regime.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences lecturer is also an expert on the three von Stauffenberg brothers, two of whom were executed for their part in the ultimately unsuccessful plot. Dr Franke says there were actually 15 separate attempts to kill Hitler over a period of 12 years. When the bomb was finally placed under a desk and detonated, Hitler survived, and recovered to have Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his brother Bertold executed.

Wolfskehl knew all the brothers well and correspondence between him and Alexander, who was left out of the plot, survives. “Wolfskehl had been part of a group of conservative elites – they were a group of writers who had a very anti-modernism outlook,” Dr Franke says. “The Stauffenberg brothers were also in this group from the mid-1920s.”

Dr Franke says many of the group were initially not opposed to the Nazi regime because it had conservative views, some of which matched their own. However, the Jewish members were soon forced out; Wolfskehl left Germany in 1993, spending some time in Italy before ending up in New Zealand. His long, moving, anti-Nazi poem, entitled Lebenslied, An die Deutschen (Song of Life, To the Germans) inspired members of the Stauffenberg group to actively oppose the dictator and eventually carry out the plot.

Dr Franke says the movie ignored important scholarly work on the background to the plot, such as that by German-born historian Peter Hoffmann, a detailed book by Edward Robert Norton, and Dr Franke’s own work on the Wolfskehl/Stauffenberg link. There were three more important books in the pipeline when the movie was being written, and good scriptwriters would have been aware of that, he says.

“Valkyrie doesn’t deal with the very complex background of the plot such as the group, the influence of the poetry, the fact that church leaders and Socialists were crucially involved, or even the fact that all these people who were underground were in constant danger and were always spied on.”

Valkyrie was the name given to the operation to deploy the German Reserve Army in the event of a national emergency – a plan which the Resistance modified, ready for use once Hitler had been killed.

Says Dr Franke: “It is good this movie was made, and it’s important to make history accessible to the wider public but over-simplification and over-mystification do not do justice to those men and women who opposed the dictator. Over-simplification and over-mystification also make it harder to draw parallels to today’s totalitarian regimes.”

The plot was also the focus of a book by Christchurch-born Michael Baigent, best known for claiming that popular author Dan Brown plagiarized some of his ideas for the Da Vinci Code. He co-wrote Secret Germany: Claus v. Stauffenberg and the Mystical Crusade against Hitler which also discusses some conspiracy theories.

Justice For Palestine Presents Viva Palestina!!

There are going to be several speakers, most of whom have first hand experience of living and working in Palestine including:

Ali Nissenbaum, a Jewish anti-Zionist who was recently in Israel and the West Bank during the recent war in Gaza. She will be speaking about Israeli and joint Israeli-Palestinian resistance to the occupation.

Omar El-Hadad who is one of the Imams at the Christchurch Mosque. Omar has been involved in political activities in Egypt against the American air bombing of Iraq in 1998, which resulted in him getting fired from the university. He will speak about the older history of the area, in particular it's 14 centuries of peace, except for the crusades and now the Arab-Israeli wars. The talk will focus on the Israeli claims that this piece of land was empty and the continuous denial of any non-Jewish history in that part of the world.

The Justice For Palestine group formed in response to the recent bombings and massacre of hundreds of Palestinian people living in Gaza by the Israeli Military. We stand in solidarity with Arabic and Palestinian peoples who have been living within a state of apartheid within their own country for the last 60 years. We support an end to State violence and war and the cycles of endless violence against the people living in Palestine including Gaza and we support the resistance spirit of all the Palestinians who stand for justice.