No we can't? UK think tank says US power is fading

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Writer

LONDON – A weakened United States could start retreating from the world stage without help from its allies abroad, an international strategic affairs think tank said Tuesday.

The respected London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said President Barack Obama will increasingly have to turn to others for help dealing with the world's problems — in part because he has no alternative.

"Domestically Obama may have campaigned on the theme 'yes we can'; internationally he may increasingly have to argue 'no we can't'," the institute said in its annual review of world affairs.

The report said the U.S. struggles against insurgent groups in Iraq and Afghanistan had exposed the limits of the country's military muscle, while the near-collapse of the world financial markets sapped the economic base on which that muscle relied.

The report also claimed that the U.S. had lost traction in its efforts to contain Iran's nuclear program and bring peace to the Middle East.

"Clearly the U.S. share of 'global power,' however measured, is in decline," the report said.

The head of another respected London think tank, Robin Niblett of Chatham House, said the rise in the relative power of China, India, Russia and the European Union has made it harder for the U.S. to exercise its influence.

"America should apply changes in leadership style, but I wouldn't overplay the decline because decline is relative," said Niblett — who was not involved in drawing up Tuesday's report. "One should not doubt that the U.S. remains the most powerful nation in the world, but it's difficult to use the power and to use it to influence others."

In addition to a rise in regional powers, Niblett said the U.S. has long been viewed as being part of the problem rather than the solution on many issues — including climate change, the financial crisis, and the failure of the Middle East peace process.

"It's also carrying the baggage of failed policies and of a failed financial approach," Niblett said, referring to the Bush administration. "There's a lot of catching up to be done."

The IISS report praised Obama, saying that he recognized there was only so much America could do "to impose its views on others."

After years of often thorny relationships between the U.S. and its allies during Bush's administration, Obama has talked of the need to work with other nations on such issues as the financial meltdown, climate change and nuclear proliferation.

"These are challenges that no single nation, no matter how powerful, can confront alone," Obama said in April after attending the G-20 summit in London.

"The United States must lead the way," he said. "But our best chance to solve these unprecedented problems comes from acting in concert with other nations."

The think tank's report said Obama could help restore the United States' standing by working with other nations to contain emerging threats to its position as the world's pre-eminent power. Controlling the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea would require help from regional allies, the report said. The same was true of Afghanistan, where the U.S. has had difficulty persuading its NATO partners to follow its lead in boosting the number of troops sent to fight a resurgent Taliban.

"In the next year or two, the greatest demand on U.S. talents and power will be to persuade more to become like minded and adopt greater burdens," the report said.

Niblett said Obama was moving in the right direction.

"This administration is far more frank about the U.S. interdependence with rest of the world, and that's a good thing," Niblett said.

107-year-old Malaysian woman seeks 23rd hubby

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – A 107-year-old Malaysian woman says she is ready to marry for the 23rd time because she fears her current drug addict husband might leave her for a younger woman, a report said Monday.

Wook Kundor made headlines four years ago when she married Muhammad Noor Che Musa, a man 70 years her junior in northern Terengganu state, with pictures of the couple's wedding splashed across regional newspapers.

But Wook is now looking for new love as she fears that Muhammad, 37, who is undergoing voluntary drug rehabilitation treatment in the capital Kuala Lumpur, will leave her once the program ends, she told the Star newspaper.

"Lately, there is this kind of insecurity in me," the paper quoted her as saying, showing a photograph of the smiling, wrinkled-faced centenarian wearing a Muslim headscarf.

"I realize that I am an aged woman. I don't have the body nor am I a young woman who can attract anyone."

"My intention to remarry is to fill my forlornness and nothing more than that," she said, adding that she felt lonely without her husband by her side to celebrate the coming Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr next week.

Wook said she planned to visit Muhammad on the second day of Eid if her neighbors were willing to drive her to the capital.

Muhammad, who was a lodger in Wook's house, had previously said it was "God's will" that the couple fell in love.

Medvedev not ruling out run in 2012 elections

By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW – President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday he hasn't ruled out running for a second term, Russian news agencies reported — adding new intrigue to the question of who will assume the presidency in 2012.

Medvedev's comments, made to a group of Western experts on Russia, came just days after his mentor and current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, indicated he was also interested in returning to the post, an announcement that sparked speculation about the possibility of behind-the-scenes Kremlin jockeying.

Medvedev is striving to carve out his own leadership style and step out of Putin's formidable shadow.

Medvedev, who some say is merely a mild-mannered placeholder for Putin, was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti and Interfax: "A while ago, I had no intention of running for the presidency, but fate decreed it. So I am not ruling anything out."

Putin is still widely popular even after serving the constitutional maximum of two consecutive four-year terms as president and then tapping his protege, Medvedev, to succeed him. Last week Putin said he and Medvedev would "come to an agreement" and "decide between us" who would run in the 2012 election.

One thing's for sure, Putin said — they won't run head-to-head.

On the same day he spoke, Russian newspapers published an article written by Medvedev that lambasted the country's outdated economy, a lack of competitive politics and excessive state influence in everyday life.

Medvedev reaffirmed those sentiments on Tuesday and said that "every leader should have his own plan" for Russia's development.

Some analysts said the article showed Medvedev was trying to steer Russia in a different direction than Putin. Others said the apparent divergence from Putin's line is purely for show.

"There is no way for differences to be cast between the two," political analyst Yulia Latynina said. Medvedev's task, she argued, is to continue implementing Putin's policies until Putin is constitutionally allowed to return.

After assuming the presidency last year, Medvedev was portrayed as a more liberal-leaning politician than Putin, who reversed many of the democratic achievements of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.

But his liberalizing touch has been hardly visible — and limited to words rather than actions, analysts said.

Few of Medvedev's inauguration promises of the greater rule of law and increased media freedoms have been realized. Critics also point to a series of murders of Kremlin critics and journalists — Novaya Gazeta reporter Anna Politkovskaya and Forbes Russia editor Paul Klebnikov, among others — and the fact that the murders' masterminds have not been found or prosecuted.

The recent killings of Chechen rights activist Natalya Estemirova and human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov has also added to an air of impunity for those targeting government critics.

Medvedev has also made several moves that echoed Putin's authoritarian tendencies, for example taking credit for the decision to go to war in Georgia last year. Last December Medvedev signed an amendment to the constitution extending the presidential term from four to six years — a legal change that will come into force for Medvedev's successor.

Moscow Carnegie Center analyst Lilia Shevtsova said discussions over future presidents were encouraged at the meetings with the Western experts — called the Valdai Discussion Group — so less time would be devoted to holding either leader accountable for the country's problems, such as the rampant violence in the North Caucasus.

"Why are all the media discussing this issue? It distracts the nation. The participants could have asked him, 'Where are your economic reforms? Why is there still no peace in the Caucasus?'" Shevtsova said.

Insurgents vow to avenge US raid in Somalia

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia – U.S. special forces aboard helicopters penetrated into Somalia and, guns blazing, attacked a convoy said to contain a top al-Qaida fugitive. A local official, citing intelligence reports, confirmed on Tuesday the target was killed and Islamist insurgents vowed to seek revenge.

Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan citizen, was wanted for questioning in connection with the car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and the near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002. Ten Kenyans and three Israelis were killed in the blast at the hotel. The missiles missed the airliner.

Monday's commando-style action took place amid growing concerns that al-Qaida is gaining a foothold in this lawless nation.

Many experts fear Somalia is becoming a haven for al-Qaida, a place for terrorists to train and gather strength much like Afghanistan in the 1990s. Last year, U.S. missiles killed reputed al-Qaida commander Aden Hashi Ayro — marking the first major success after a string of U.S. military attacks in 2008.

Two U.S. military officials said that forces from the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command were involved in Monday's raid in southern Somalia. The officials gave no details about the target, and they spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was secret.

But the deputy mayor for security affairs in Somalia's capital, citing intelligence reports, confirmed that 30-year-old Nabhan was killed. Abdi Fitah Shawey did not elaborate.

Somali witnesses to Monday's raid say six helicopters buzzed an insurgent-held village near Barawe, some 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Mogadishu, before two of the aircraft opened fire on a vehicle, killing two and wounding two.

Two senior members of al-Shabab, who asked that their names not be used because they are not authorized to speak publicly, said their fighters will retaliate for the raid.

"They will taste the bitterness of our response," one of the commanders told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Ernst Jan Hogendoorn, Horn of Africa Project Director of the International Crisis Group, said the "surgical" precision of Monday's raid shows that U.S. has specific intelligence in Somalia.

"I think it will certainly make al-Shabab leaders much more cautious when they are operating because obviously the United States has very precise intelligence about their movements," he said.

Like much of Somalia, Barawe and its surrounding villages are controlled by the militant group al-Shabab, which the U.S. accuses of having ties to al-Qaida. Al-Shabab, which has foreign fighters in its ranks, seeks to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islam in Somalia.

The U.N.-backed government, with support from African Union peacekeepers, holds only a few blocks of Mogadishu, the war-ravaged capital.

Mullen says more forces needed for Afghan war

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON – The top U.S. military officer says that winning in Afghanistan will probably mean sending more troops.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says he does not know how many more troops the commanding general will request. Mullen also told Congress Tuesday that a debate over the right mix of forces and other resources will be held in the coming weeks.

But Mullen says that if the general, Stanley McChrystal, is going to do his job of countering the Taliban insurgency correctly, more forces are probably required. Mullen has been sounding increasingly glum about the prospects for the war, which will enter its ninth year this fall and on Tuesday he asked the Senate Armed Services Committee for time and patience to turn the war around.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee says the United States shouldn't add more forces to the Afghanistan war for now.

Sen. Carl Levin used a nomination hearing for the nation's top military officer to repeat his call for a focus on the training of Afghan forces. The Michigan Democrat said Tuesday that his approach is a better policy than building up a U.S. force that outnumbers the Afghans in important parts of the country. Levin's Republican counterpart, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, disagreed with him. McCain said that capping U.S. forces in Afghanistan runs the risk of repeating early mistakes in Iraq.

Adm. Mike Mullen is expected to win easy reconfirmation ass the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Media: Singapore's native species in danger due to acid rain

Acid rain may be wiping Singapore's native species to extinction, local media reported on Monday.

A National University Of Singapore (NUS) study showed that the 20 species of animals plentiful in the Singapore's Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in the 1980s, including frogs, crabs and fish, are slowly being wiped out, local newspaper the Straits Times reported.

The NUS findings showed that that it may be due to the acidity of a stream in the 80 hectare nature reserve, which offers great biodiversity in plant and animal life.

The four-year study found that the stream, which covers 5 hectare of land, is more acidic after torrential rain. The researchers have found that the water in the stream on the nature reserve have a pH value of 4.4 to 4.7, which is said to be more acidic now than 20 years ago.

Leading researcher of the study David Higgitt suggested that one way to protect the biodiversity in the stream would be to add limestone, a naturally occurring alkali, to slow down acidification.

However, Singapore's National Environment Agency said that the acidity of rain water here, at pH 5, is no different from that of urban cities around the world. It also said that rain water is no more acidic now than in the 1990s.

Journey across northern Spain on foot along the Camino de Santiago

By Vic Parsons, THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Camino de Santiago has a way of humbling the proud. My feet had been trouble-free until the halfway point of the 800-kilometre trail, that runs from the French border across the mountains, valleys and plains of northern Spain.

Most fellow travelers had experienced foot problems, some serious enough to make them quit the journey to the city of Santiago de Compostela. Well, I mused, am I genetically superior to these, my hobbling comrades?

Now came my comeuppance. Outside Sahagun, on the broad plain called the Meseta, pain surged up my right foot from the big toe to the ankle. I was forced to the nearest clinic to deal with an infection.

The next day, thanks to a quick and free fix from a Spanish doctor, I was able to carry on to the trail's end, a humbler and wiser person.

Foot pain and other trials aside, few, if any, who complete one of the world's great treks regret the experience.

The Camino is not for everyone. But if you want to see Spain close up, crave a physical challenge and enjoy meeting people from all over the world, this could be for you. Not everyone will have time to do the whole trail in one go, but you can walk sections of it, as many Europeans do.

Christian pilgrims have endured the journey for over a thousand years but, before that, the Romans used the road to extend and maintain their empire and the Celts walked this way toward the setting sun and the supposed end of the world. With this history, it's not surprising that the Camino itself is a World Heritage site.

Today about 100,000 people a year, more on holy years, complete the walk. They come mainly from Europe but also from places as far apart as Nigeria and Korea. Many Canadians make the trek. When my wife and I walked, Canadians ranked only behind the Germans, French and Spanish in numbers.

In the tiny mountain village of Foncebadon, not only were we served supper by a volunteer waitress from Toronto, but the local bar owner proudly displayed a Canadian flag and Montreal Canadiens plaque on his wall.

The trail, marked by yellow arrows and scallop shells, is supposedly the route taken by disciples of St. James, Santiago in Spanish, when they carried his remains to the far reaches of the known world to protect them from discovery by hostile Roman authorities. His bones are said to be buried in the city that bears his name.

Today, people make the journey for many reasons - religious, spiritual, cultural, to meet people from other countries, or simply to see if they can do it.

"Everyone walks their own Camino," said Peter Schmitt of Sidney, B.C., whom we met on the third day of our walk.

Most pilgrims - peregrinos in Spanish - carry everything they need, except food, on their backs, which means travelers need to pack light.

Along the trail, there is a network of shelters called albergues or refugios, where you can stay the night, sharing accommodation with scores of others. Most are pretty basic, but if you prefer and are willing to go upscale, there are also private hostels and hotels along the way. The annual influx of Camino walkers is a great boon to the Spanish economy, so the locals are generally friendly, generous and helpful.

A typical day might start at 6:30 a.m., when you rise, pack and head out on the trail. We would take a break for coffee and breakfast after an hour, then carry on hoping to reach our daily target before the mid-day heat became too oppressive. We actually surprised ourselves with this routine, averaging more than 20 kilometres a day, and we were far from the fastest on the trail.

Despite the occasional grumble, you adapt to the pace. "Six kilometres to the next village?" said Helen Collins, a feisty young Irish lawyer we walked with for several days. "We scoff at six kilometres!"

After stopping sometime between noon and 2 p.m., we would rest, shower, wash clothes, and repair to a local bar for refreshment. A daily highlight was the opportunity to chat with fellow walkers. Or you see the local sights, before preparing for dinner. Most travellers were abed by 9 to 10 p.m.

OK. . . blisters, loud snoring by fellow travelers in dorms, up early, toting all your belongings on your back, sharing showers. Doesn't sound like a dream holiday. Are the pain and the trials worth it? Emphatically Yes!

Here's why: The Camino takes you across the Pyrenees, the range dividing France from Spain, either using a valley route traveled by Charlemagne where his friend Roland met his doom, or the spectacular road over the top taken by Napoleon, who'd learned from history. Then it is through the forested hills of the Basque country, and by mile after mile of vineyards and olive groves.

We stayed in a pensione in the tidy village of Burguete with its Napoleonic-era houses and a piano Hemingway played when he wasn't trout-fishing in local streams. We passed through the sparkling hilltop town of Cirauqui, surrounded by prosperous vineyards and complete with cobbled Roman road.

Then it was on to the golden plains of the Meseta (which resemble parts of Saskatchewan), and to the green hills of Galicia, called by some the "Ireland of Spain."

Along the way, we passed through Pamplona, where the running of the bulls occurs near the end of July each year; and the city of Burgos with its massive gothic cathedral - another World Heritage site - and the burial place of the Spanish hero, El Cid.

We ventured to the city of Santo Domingo, where chickens are kept in the church, a reminder of an old medieval legend. It's good luck if the rooster crows while you are in the church. (He obliged for us.)

Our favorite city was Leon, where we were fortunate to be when harvest celebrations began, and the townsfolk turned out in medieval or traditional costumes, often dancing to roving bands of clarinet, castanets, drum and bagpipes.

But the greatest gifts were the people met en route. Most were Camino friends - people you meet on the trail and walked with a few days. Others became fast friends and will be in touch again.

The Camino, after all, is a great equalizer. Whether you are a Dutch engineer, a Canadian restaurant owner, a retired Korean teacher or a young German aspiring actress, social status, age and wealth are not obstacles to sharing the common experience of the trail.

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If You Go . . .

Getting there: From Paris, take the fast train to Bayonne. Then a one-hour slower train through the foothills of the Pyrenees to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

From Madrid, take a train to Pamplona, a bus to Roncesvalles, then a taxi to St-Jean.

Money: Spain uses the Euro, trading at about $1.55 Cdn for a Euro. Along the Camino there are many ATMs in the towns, most of which accept Canadian bank cards.

Where to stay: Many albergues are situated along the trail. These offer bunk beds, showers and washing facilities and many have kitchens. You share these with many other pilgrims. Nightly charges per person range from a simple donation to nine Euros (about $14).

If you want more privacy, there are pensiones and modestly priced hotels in the towns. It's heaven to be able to stretch out in a hot bath from time to time.

Meals: Many restaurants offer pilgrim menus from 7 to 9 p.m. These are cheaper than regular restaurant meals and range from seven to 10 Euros ($11-16). A typical pilgrim meal starts with soup or salad, then a meat-fish course with fries, and dessert. Good Spanish wine, is usually included. Spaniards have not yet caught on to the vegetarian agenda, but people we met often would ask for two first courses.

In Spain the main evening meal generally starts about 9 p.m. For Camino walkers who want to hit the trail early this is not convenient.

We stopped at bars for breakfast and carried food (bread, cheese, ham and olives) for lunch.

Walking light: Remember you are carrying everything with you. A good knapsack is essential: We were able to find sleeping bags weighing half a kilo, which helped keep our total pack weights down to about seven-nine kilos. You will also want to carry food and water with you during the day.

Foot care: This is vital. We carried duct tape to cover blisters and hot spots, and rubbed our feet every morning with Vaseline cream. Some scoff at the idea that duct tape is good for this purpose but many swear by it. One day we gave a young Brazilian with terrible blisters some tape. Two days later he passed us running, stopped and came back to thank us. Wool or other socks that wick away moisture and sturdy boots are a must.

Information: Check the Canadian Company of Pilgrims website (www.santiago.ca) for information. The company also issues credentials that you have stamped along the route if you want a certificate saying you completed the Camino.

Books: Many books have been written about the Camino. One guidebook carried by many English speakers is Walking the Camino de Santiago by Canadian-based authors Bethan Davies and Ben Cole, published by Pili Pala Press.

Spain writes off Bolivia debt

By Jorge Sainz, Associated Press Writer

Spain writes off Bolivia bilateral debt of euro60 million to help country's development

MADRID (AP) -- Spain on Tuesday agreed to write off Bolivian debt of euro60 million ($87 million) to help the impoverished South American country's development.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said 60 percent of the debt would be forgiven outright, while 40 percent would go toward funding education projects.

"It's a gesture by Spain toward Bolivia's development, toward young people who have no schools or have difficulties finding decent schooling, Bolivians who have no access to water or health care services," Zapatero said during a press conference with visiting Bolivian President Evo Morales.

During their talks, the two also discussed the possibility of increased Spanish investment in Bolivia's energy and mineral sector.

Bolivia plans to nationalize its electricity sector and this is likely to affect some Spanish companies.

Zapatero said Spain was not asking for anything in return for the debt pardon, but he immediately went on to say he trusted Spanish companies would be able to operate with full guarantees in Bolivia.

Morales has met King Juan Carlos as well as parliamentary group leaders since arriving Sunday. He also met with the head of Spain's energy giant Repsol.

Morales has said Bolivia welcomes foreign investment in its energy sector but without foreign companies acting as owners. He said the country's relations with Spanish energy companies were excellent. Bolivia nationalized its hydrocarbons sector in 2006.

Zapatero said the two countries also signed an accord under which Bolivians and Spaniards residing in each other's country could vote in municipal elections.

On Sunday, Morales addressed a rally of around 2,000 mainly Bolivian supporters in Madrid -- he faces elections at home in December -- and vowed to defend immigrants' rights.

Some 220,000 Bolivians live in Spain.

Morales was to return to Bolivia later Tuesday.

Afghan rights group hails ICC plan on war crimes

An Afghan rights watchdog praised on Tuesday a decision by the International Criminal Court to gather information about possible war crimes committed by foreign forces and Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan.

The Hague-based ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said last week the ICC had received "allegations from many different sources" that crimes including massive attacks, excessive collateral damage and torture had been committed in Afghanistan.

Kabul-based Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), which deals with rights violations in Afghanistan, welcomed the decision.

The plight of civilians and crimes against humanity have been "largely ignored, unreported and unaddressed by the international human rights groups and the Afghan government" it said in a statement in English.

"Over the past several years civilian people have been increasingly killed, wounded, displaced, imprisoned, tortured and deprived of their basic human rights by armed insurgent groups and Afghan and international military forces," it said.

The ICC said that if a preliminary examination shows grounds, it would launch a full investigation.

Afghanistan is a signatory of a treaty that established the ICC, and any war crimes committed on its territory by Afghan nationals or foreigners is of interest to the court, according to the ICC.

Afghanistan's recent history was replete with appalling crimes from "disproportionate and indiscriminating use of military power to the large-scale crimes of mass-killing of civilians and prisoners of war to the destruction of essential civilian infrastructures" it said.

Over 100,000 foreign troops, more than a third of them Americans, under the command of NATO and U.S. military are battling a resurgent Taliban, overthrown by U.S. and Afghan forces in 2001.

The United Nations recorded 1,013 civilian deaths in the first six months of this year, about 60 percent of them caused by insurgents, the rest caused by government or foreign troops.

REVITALIZATION OF TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE

ARM called on the government, human rights groups and the United Nations to renew and revitalize the Action Plan for Truth, Justice and Reconciliation drawn up to address rights violations committed by Afghan factions before the Taliban's ouster.

Various regimes and guerrilla groups that have come and gone in Afghanistan in the past three decades of conflict, often backed by foreign powers, have been accused of widespread human rights violations and crimes.

Nearly two million people lost their lives in the war triggered by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Taliban commander surrenders to Afghan gov't: media

A Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Salam has laid down arms and surrendered to the government in Afghanistan's northwest Badghis province, a local newspaper said Tuesday.

"Mullah Abdul Salam along with one of his comrade surrendered to the government and handed over two pieces of weapons," daily 8 Subh reported in its edition.

Quoting the police chief of the province Syed Ahmad Sami, the newspaper said that mediation of elders had played a significant role in convincing Mullah Salam to lay down arms.

Taliban militants have yet to make any comment.

Dam will save endangered species from locals: Bligh

A controversial proposed dam in South-East Queensland would ensure the survival of endangered species of fish and turtles rather than threaten them further, says Premier Anna Bligh.

The Government's plans to dam the Mary River near Gympie, north of Brisbane, have progressed, with the coordinator-general handing a draft report to the federal government.

Ms Bligh says the $1.5 billion Traveston Dam will drought proof the south-east while opponents say they are more determined than ever to protect endangered species in the river.

In Parliament today, Ms Bligh said the dam would save the threatened species - which include cod, turtle and lungfish, from damage done by the locals.

She said Traveston would be "the greenest dam in Australia's history" by increasing suitable habitat for the species at risk.

"Without this project proceeding, the sad fact is these species could become extinct," Ms Bligh said.

"Farming practices in the region over the last 150 years have degraded their habitat and resulted in their endangered status.

"How did these species become endangered? From the practices that are happening right now in the Mary Valley.

"If the current land use practices are allowed to continue, these species are likely to die out."

Opposition primary industries spokesman Ray Hopper said the premier had demonised farmers in her push to secure the dam.

"Her speech to parliament was a disgrace and should be compulsory reading for anyone who cares about honesty in government and for anyone who cares about scientific facts and the future of the lower Mary River and the Great Sandy Strait," he said.

Mr Hopper said the greatest environmental threat to the Mary Valley was the dam.

Some scientists have argued the dam would fragment the lungfish population, reducing opportunities to reproduce.

Queensland's coordinator-general will send a final report on the dam to Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett within weeks.

Mr Garrett then has 30 days to consider the plan but can request a further 30 days, or stop the clock on the process.

Work on the dam could start in early 2010.

China key to protecting endangered species

Our planet is losing animal species at an astounding rate – about 27,000 become extinct every year. When you break that down, it is about 74 every day and three every hour that are lost forever.

Unfortunately, over the years, China has contributed significantly to the decreasing population of many animals, eating such "delicacies" as bear's paw, shark's fin, tiger bones and cubilose. People consume these exotic items not only because of the traditional belief in their medicinal and nutritional value, but also because consumption of such expensive foods shows ff one's wealth and social status.

However, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that work with the government, media and local communities, are trying to dispel these myths in order to protect the environment.

WildAid, an NGO based in the US, set up its office in China in 2004 and has been working on increasing people's awareness of wildlife protection. Up to 1 billion people from all over the world are privy to WildAid's public advertisements every week.

Campaigns displayed at bus stops and subway stations in Beijing feature a picture of basketball star Yao Ming and a shark swimming in the background. The ad reads, "When the buying stops, the killing can too." Other famous athletes such as Li Ning, Ding Junhui and Zhang Yining have also lent their faces to the cause.

WildAid's research in 16 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, found that consumers were misinformed about eating what have been traditionally thought of as "delicacies."

For example, 90 percent of shark's fin is eaten by Chinese. They assume the "delicacy" is extremely rich in nutritive value, but in fact, a bowl of chicken soup contains more calcium, carbohydrates, protein and energy than shark's fin soup.

Secondly, people assume deep-sea fi sh are completely safe because they do not venture near the numerous kinds of water pollutants found closer to the seashore. However, shark's fin contains a high level of mercury, which harms humans' brains and spines and is also fatal to fetus and affects men's fertility.

Thirdly, people think that it is reasonable to kill man's supposed natural enemy. What they do not know is that among the 490 shark species in the world, less than 30 of them attack people. In other words, only 6 percent of sharks are dangerous. Nevertheless, since 2000, the average number of people killed by a shark is 5.5 every year, while people kill more than 100 million sharks over the same period of time.

While some people eat shark's fin thinking it is beneficial for anti-aging and helpful in preventing cancer, the opposite is true.

It is these kinds of facts that WildAid is trying to get across to the Chinese public and by getting celebrities such as Yao to promise not to eat shark's fi n the NGO has already helped stem consumption.

Guo Man has heeded Yao's call. The founder, chairman and CEO of Air Media Group told the Global Times that he quit eating shark's fin a long time ago and urges many of his friends to do the same.

WildAid's education campaign is geared towards those who can afford such "delicacies," like Guo Man's friends.

"If you look at the way society works, those people also tend to have influence – they direct companies, or work in media agencies, or the government," explained Steve Trent, founding director of both WildAid and the Environmental Justice Foundation (UK).

"By educating them [those with infl uence] you educate a wide group of people," he added.

As WildAid's work focuses on saving endangered species, Trent said that it is vital and urgent to control consumption. People who are urban, relatively wealthy and relatively infl uential play a key role, Trent added.

If consumption is not severely curtailed, Trent warned that there would not be any of these exotic foods left to eat. "So, whether it's good for your health, whether it's good for social status, or whether it's good for how you feel, if you don't control it, then you won't have it again."

Trent has worked in environmental protection for 20 years and made his first visit to China in 1999. Since then he said that he has seen great changes, many of them positive.

He was in the Chinese capital recently to hand out awards sponsored by WildAid and Air Media Group for designs that won a public advertising competition to further raise awareness of protecting endangered species and the environment.

Now with awareness taking hold, China needs to take the next step, according to Trent.
"I believe the world needs China's leadership and the world needs China's conservation. The role the country has to play is genuinely a world – leading role.

China is making it to the next stage where the understanding is combined with leadership and real action to protect the natural world."

He firmly believes that if China takes a more active role, it can be influential globally.

"One of the reasons why I keep talking about leadership and believe it to be so important is because conservation will only be effective when it crosses national boundaries and where you have collaboration between countries."

Chinese ban transport of explosives in Urumqi

By HENRY SANDERSON, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – Chinese police on Tuesday banned explosives and weapons from being transported in the western region of Xinjiang, the scene of deadly ethnic rioting this summer and a spate of mysterious syringe attacks.

The Xinjiang Public Security Ministry said transport of weapons, ammunition, explosives and radioactive goods into or within Xinjiang would be suspended from Sept. 25 to Oct. 8.

The ministry did not give a reason, but the dates cover the 60th anniversary of Communist rule in China on Oct. 1 and the holiday period afterward. The ruling party has launched a nationwide security clampdown aimed at making the anniversary pass smoothly.

The notice comes as schools reopened this week in the Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi. They were closed for 10 days after traffic controls were imposed following massive street protests earlier this month by frightened residents demanding better security.

All primary and middle school classes resumed Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Concerns about the spread of swine flu had also been given as a reason behind the closures, and Xinhua said students would have their temperatures checked daily.

Urumqi has been on edge since riots in July left nearly 200 dead in violence between Han Chinese and Uighurs, a minority Muslim ethnic group that is native to Xinjiang. The violence started when a group of Uighurs gathered in Urumqi to protest the deaths of two fellow Uighurs at a factory in southern China.

The needle attacks began Aug. 20 and apparently ended earlier this month. Authorities blame the July violence and the needle attacks on people trying to split Xinjiang from China, but have not publicized evidence to support that allegation.

More than 500 people complained of being randomly stabbed by hypodermic needles, but only 171 people showed evidence of being pricked, and tests of samples from victims found no evidence of transmitted infections, Xinhua said.

Qian Jun of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences said there was no evidence that any of the syringes used in the attacks were contaminated. About 250 victims have been checked and found to have no wounds or illnesses.

On Saturday, the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi sentenced three people — all ethnic Uighurs — to up to 15 years in prison in the first trials over the attacks. One person was sentenced for stabbing a woman and the other two for using a syringe to rob a taxi driver.

Uighurs are culturally distinct from China's majority Han group who dominate life in Urumqi and positions of power, despite the fact that Uighurs make up the majority of the population in the wider region of Xinjiang.

Authorities are also looking for dozens of people allegedly involved in the July riot. The China Daily newspaper said Tuesday 825 suspects have been detained and 196 have formally been arrested for their alleged role in the riots.

Israelis, Palestinians present peace manual

By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer



TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli and Palestinian activists on Tuesday presented the most detailed vision yet of what a peace deal could look like — more than 400 pages crammed with maps, timetables for troop withdrawals and even a list of weapons a non-militarized Palestine would be barred from having.

The manual has no official standing, but has generated interest among Israeli and Palestinian leaders and is meant to show it's still possible to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, despite many setbacks, said those involved in the drafting.

The plan's details illustrated the many obstacles that have to be cleared: The plan is complicated and expensive, and the proposed borders would require the removal of tens of thousands of Jewish settlers. There is also the reality on the ground that Hamas militants remain in control of the Gaza Strip. Nonetheless, the activists stressed the progress that had been made and said the plan could serve as a ready-made model for the two sides to work off.

"If you want to resolve the conflict, here is the recipe," said Gadi Baltiansky, a leader of the Israeli team.

The core of the plan is a Palestinian state in nearly 98 percent of the West Bank, all of the Gaza Strip and the Arab-populated areas of Jerusalem. The plan was put together over the past two years by Israeli and Palestinian experts, ex-government officials and former negotiators. It builds on the 50-page outline of a peace deal published in 2003 by the same group, known as the Geneva Initiative.

The expanded version is being published at a time when the U.S. is pushing hard to restart peace talks.

Next week, President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York, but it's not clear whether they can find enough common ground for a three-way meeting.

Netanyahu is balking at U.S demands that he halt all Jewish settlement construction in areas claimed by the Palestinians, and Abbas says he won't resume peace talks without such a freeze.

The ready-made peace treaty is to be given to Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday and later this month to Abbas. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior European officials have already received copies.

Yet, in going into such detail for the first time, the plan also highlights how complex and expensive it would be to implement a peace deal.

For example, it had to resort to flow charts to describe a multilayered bureaucracy of thousands of international forces and monitors who would serve as referees. Partition of Jerusalem would require building border terminals in the city and dividing a major Jerusalem thoroughfare between the two states, with a wall in the middle.

A sunken four-lane highway, with bridges and tunnels, would be built through Israel to link the West Bank and Gaza, administered by the Palestinians but under Israeli sovereignty. Israeli motorists would have to carry tracking devices on designated transit routes through Palestine, to make sure they won't go astray.

Implementation of a peace deal would also require trust, good will and compliance with tight timetables — none of which have characterized the past 16 years of failed peace efforts.

The plan's envisioned eviction of 100,000 of the West Bank's 300,000 Jewish settlers would be a major hurdle for an Israeli government that has shied away from dismantling even small settler camps. And Hamas militants, who at best consider a two-state solution a temporary arrangement on their way to destroying Israel, remain firmly in control in Gaza.

The Geneva Initiative's plan echoes the outlines of a peace deal set out in late 2000 by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, several months after the failure of a Mideast summit he hosted at Camp David. Obama has not unveiled his peace vision, but is not expected to deviate dramatically from the Clinton parameters.

Under the Geneva Initiative, Israel would annex several large West Bank settlements near Jerusalem, and Palestinians would be compensated with an equal amount of Israeli land.

Of the new chapters in the peace plan, the one on security was the hardest to put together, said Baltiansky, the Israeli director general of the Geneva Initiative.

It tries to address Israeli concerns that in the event of a West Bank withdrawal, Palestinian militants would overrun the territory and launch rockets at Israel. Gaza was seized by Hamas in 2007, two years after Israel's withdrawal from the coastal strip, and the group has fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel.

Netanyahu wants a future Palestinian state to be demilitarized, and the security annex, formulated with the help of former Israeli military officials, goes into detail.

It lists the weapons the Palestinian security forces would be banned from having, including tanks, artillery, rockets and heavy machine guns.

It also stipulates that an Israeli infantry battalion of 800 soldiers would remain in the Jordan Valley, on the West Bank's border with Jordan, for three years after all other Israeli troops have left the Palestinian territory.

There's no chapter on the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants because the issue is still too sensitive to address in detail, said Nidal Foqaha, a leader of the Palestinian team.

Palestinian participants in the project chose to keep a low profile, apparently because of the tensions with the Netanyahu government.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Abbas aide who has been involved in the Geneva Initiative from the start, declined comment Tuesday, and none of the Palestinian experts attended Tuesday's release of the plan at a Tel Aviv news conference.

Netanyahu: East Jerusalem settlements not up for discussion

September 14, 2009

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Settlement construction in East Jerusalem will "go on as planned," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Knesset members in a meeting Monday, as the Israeli leadership continues to negotiate with the United States on a settlement freeze.

US President Barack Obama requested a complete settlement freeze in the West Bank including East Jerusalem according to Roadmap prescriptions. Additionally, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that only a complete halt to settlement construction in the Palestinian territories is enough to bring him back to the negotiating table. East Jerusalem is within in Palestinian territory according to the 1967 armistice line. The 1967 borders are what most believe will be used to determine the outlines of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu displayed defiance to pressure from US Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell who is currently in Israel, reporting that, "We were asked not to build at all. We made it clear that we would build some 2,500 units which are already underway, and several days ago we approved 450 additional units."

Mitchell is currently meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders with the hope of putting together tripartite talks in New York City later this month.

With respect to finalizing the terms of possible peace talks the Prime Minister said, "We have yet to schedule a meeting with Abu Mazen (Abbas), and the settlement construction issue has not been finalized yet."

Unrest Brewing Beneath Gaza Calm

By Mel Frykberg

GAZA CITY, Sep 14 (IPS) - The mile-long stretch that divides Israel's Erez border crossing into northern Gaza from the Hamas police border post is eerily quiet. But the mountains of rubble, twisted metal and craters which remain following Israel's intensive bombing campaign in January serve as a stark reminder that war between the two bitter enemies is still a possibility.

The streets of Gaza appear calm, clean and mostly deserted during the day with few pedestrians and vehicles, due in part to the siege and to the holy month of Ramadan.

But this deceptive appearance of tranquility was shattered last week when Israeli forces invaded northern and central Gaza, and exchanged fire with several Palestinian resistance groups.

According to Palestinian sources the Israeli soldiers razed large swathes of agricultural land and fired at farmers in the area before taking several young men across the border for questioning.

This was the biggest military confrontation between Gaza-based fighters and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) since Israel's Operation Cast Lead in December-January. It sparked fears that another major military confrontation might be in the offing.

This followed a hardening of attitude by the IDF as outlined in statements that any Palestinian gunmen who try to capture Israeli soldiers would be shot at if it endangered the lives of Israeli soldiers.

Israel has been trying to secure the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian guerrillas over three years ago.

On Wednesday Damascus-based Hamas politburo chief-in-exile Khaled Meshaal upped the ante when he addressed the youth wing of the National Congress party in Khartoum, Sudan.

Meshaal told them that despite Israel's blockade of Gaza and its continual bombing of smuggling tunnels, his organization had managed to smuggle weapons and armaments into Gaza through the tunnels which link the territory with the Sinai peninsula.

The military developments run parallel with political movement on the diplomatic scene.

"The Israelis are trying to provoke retaliatory rocket-fire so as to justify another ground invasion," says Dr Ahmed Yousef, political adviser to Gaza- based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

"This is related to the forthcoming UN General Assembly meeting to be held on September 23 in New York when the issue of the siege on Gaza will be discussed by the Europeans and the Americans," Yousef told IPS.

"Many in the international community now realise that discussing a resolution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians must on pragmatic grounds include Hamas as we are part of the political equation. The Israelis are not happy about this," added Yousef.

Dr Samir Awad from Birzeit University near Ramallah believes the UN General Assembly meeting will be crucial in that U.S. President Barack Obama will address the gathering. Regional peace including Israel's continued illegal settlement building will be on the agenda.

"The Americans are no longer using the hackneyed phrase 'The War on Terror' and this is indicative of a change in attitude by the Russians, Americans and the Europeans towards the Middle East and Hamas in particular," Awad told IPS.

"Hamas is trying to make political mileage out of the West's more tolerant attitude towards the resistance movement by appearing as a moderate force in the area with the same agenda against more extremist 'terror groups'," said Awad.

"This is one of the reasons Hamas publicly invited the media to cover its recent law and order campaign to keep the streets of Gaza free of crime and political unrest."

Last week Hamas security forces set up roadblocks and searched vehicles after several explosions outside government institutions in Gaza city.

The bombs were assumed to be retaliation for Hamas' brutal operation against Jund Ansar Allah, an allegedly Al-Qaeda affiliated Salafist group of gunmen in Rafah several weeks ago when 24 people died during an exchange of gunfire and missiles.

Some Fatah activists accused the usually media-shy Hamas authorities of staging the events to prove to the outside world that they are in control and that like the West Hamas won't tolerate "terrorism" from extremists.

Simultaneously, as Hamas makes political headway with the international community, there are some signs that forthcoming unity talks between Hamas and Fatah, to be held in Cairo in October, might actually be more positive this time.

"The Egyptian mediators have presented both sides with documents outlining the practical steps that need to be taken respectively. Their input this time has been far more substantive," Awad told IPS.

A reconciliation agreement and simultaneous presidential and legislative elections are to be held early next year as part of the Egyptian-sponsored unity plan.

The elections will comprise both proportional representation and constituency based voting. There is still disagreement between Hamas and Fatah over the breakdown of this, with Hamas wanting a 50-50 divide and Fatah arguing for a 75-25 ratio.

"During the last few years Hamas' rule over Gaza has failed to deliver basic needs to the Palestinian public and it is losing popularity as a result," says Awad.

"The extreme destruction caused by Israel during the war and Fatah's resurgence following its revolutionary conference in Bethlehem have also outlined the movement's vulnerability," he said.

"Both parties realize that unity is in their mutual interests. The continued division only serves Israel's interests," Yousef told IPS.

US Troops Attack Somalia

US Troops Attack Somalia
US Confirms Invasion, Won't Say Why
Jason Ditz

September 14, 2009

Following confirmation by the French military that they definitely weren’t in the process of invading Somalia, the United States military is now confirming that it is, in fact, American forces that are pouring into the southern portion of the country in a helicopter-backed invasion.

US military officials confirmed to the Associated Press today that forces from the US Joint Special Operations Command had invaded the lawless African nation, and were the ones responsible for the attack on the tiny village of Barawe this morning that was the first staging ground of the attack.

What the officials wouldn’t comment on was exactly why the United States, which launched a failed "peacekeeping" operation in the nation in 1993 and backed an Ethiopian invasion in 2007, had decided to launch yet another foreign adventure, though media outlets speculated that it was probably something to do with al-Qaeda.

The United States has recently been supplying the self-described Somali "government" with "tons of arms," according to the State Department. Yet reports on the ground suggest that forces loyal to this faction, which only controls a handful of city blocks in the capital city of Mogadishu, have generally just sold the US-supplied weapons on the open market.

Though without any concrete information about what the American military actually intends to do in Somalia it will be difficult to speculate about the size and scope of the invasion, with roughly 200,000 soldiers committed to Iraq and Afghanistan (and more escalations on the way in the later) it seems hard to imagine the nation is looking to commit to yet another long-term occupation.

North Korean ship fights off Somali pirates

By EILEEN NG, Associated Press Writer

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Somali pirates tried but failed to hijack a North Korean cargo ship when crew members fought back with improvised fire bombs and sped away, a maritime official said Tuesday.

Separately, other Somali pirates released a Greek-managed ship with 22 Filipino crewmen after five months in captivity, officials in the Philippines said.

The North Korean ship was adrift off the Somali coast near Mogadishu on Sept. 5 for engine work when the crew saw 10 pirates approaching in two speedboats, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The North Korean ship immediately started its engine and moved away, and the captain called the bureau for help when the pirates — dressed in military clothing — began firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, Choong said.

The crew fought back with improvised molotov cocktails — bottles filled with kerosene or similar fluid and set alight by a wick or rag. The crew also fired distress rocket flares at the pirates, and the ship escaped "after the captain increased speed," Choong said.

The captain later told the IMB a U.S. warship arrived at the scene, but the pirates had fled, Choong added. He could not confirm it was a U.S. ship.

One of the 30 North Korean crew members was injured, and the ship was damaged, Choong said. The ship was heading to the Middle East when it was attacked. It was not clear where the ship went.

The incident raised the number of attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden this year to 156. So far, 32 ships have been hijacked and five remain held by pirates along with 102 crew members, Choong said.

It was not immediately clear if the five ships still in custody are in addition to the Greek-managed ship that was reported by the Philippine government to have been released.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Tuesday the information came from Bright Maritime Corp., the local manning company of the St.-Vincent and Grenadines-flagged bulk carrier. It was not immediately known when the ship and crew were released.

The ship was headed to India from Jordan when it was seized April 14.

The Philippines supplies about 30 percent of the world's 1.2 million merchant sailors.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991 — a power vacuum that has allowed the pirates to operate freely around Somalia's 1,900-mile (3,060-kilometer) east African coastline, along one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The U.S. government last week warned of an increase in piracy off Africa's east coast because the monsoon has ended and Somali pirates will have easier access to passing ships.

Abduction rate on the rise in North Caucasus - human rights organization

MOSCOW. Sept 14 (Interfax) - The abduction rate has grown in the North Caucasus, Memorial Human Rights Center head Oleg Orlov told Interfax on Monday.

He said he was concerned about the disappearances of people after police operations in Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan.

"We are not against [anti-terrorist] fight - it is necessary to detain and try militants and their abettors, but everything must be lawful. Law enforcers, who think it possible to solve old crimes and to prevent new ones with such methods, make the same mistake again and again. Disappearances do nothing but increase support to militants," he said.

The Memorial address posted in Moscow on Monday said that the number of abductions increased in Dagestan this summer.

UNRWA To Distribute 20 Million Shekels Aid In Cash To 200,000 Gazan Students

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it will distribute 20 million shekels (5.3 million US dollars) to 200,000 students in Gaza schools on Tuesday.

In a statement from UNRWA spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna, the agency explained the donations as a mechanism to forestall the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as part of ongoing support UNRWA provides to Palestinian refugees.

Abu Hasna also noted UNRWA's operations in Gaza have been stepped up over the past months, now offering services to approximately 70000 Palestinians in the strip.

UNRWA also hosts Iftar dinners, the meal marking the end of a day's fasting during Ramadan, with support from the UAE Red Crescent, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

"Despite the financial crisis experienced by UNRWA, the organization focuses great attention on the Gaza Strip due to the collapse of all sectors of life and a nearly total destruction of industrial and agricultural sectors as a result of the continued siege imposed by Israel," Abu Hasna noted.

There is still, however, a financial crisis, and in the same statement Hasna plugged the 'Gaza Ramadan Appeal' program which aims to raise the 181 million US dollars it needs to continue emergency relief services throughout the year.

So far the UAE, USA, and Saudi Arabia have donated significant amounts of funds, the US alone pledged 81 million US dollars and Kuwait has 34 million this year.

Egypt opens Gaza border for Eid al-Fitr period

Rafah, Egypt (Earth Times - dpa) - Egypt opened its border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday for three days, Egyptian security officials told the German Press Agency dpa. The decision will allow "humanitarian cases" such as the ill or children separated from their families to cross, they said.

Egypt opened the border after coordinating with the Palestinian movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, for Eid al-Fitr, a three-day feast to start next Sunday, following the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The move also follows a contentious meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on Sunday.

In that meeting, Mubarak told the Israeli prime minister that Israel must stop all expansion of settlements in the West Bank, a move which Netanyahu has so far refused.

With brief exceptions, the Egyptian-Gazan border has been closed since Hamas security forces wrested control of the territory from Fatah security forces in 2007.

Palestinian NGOs launch campaign against internal split

Palestinian Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) announced on Monday that it will launch a national campaign in the Palestinian territories seeking an end to internal political strife, said an official from the Palestinian NGOs.

The new initiative is sponsored by local human rights groups from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It aims at protecting the general freedoms and restore the national unity between the two territories, according to Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs.

"The initiative is supported by about 200 influential independent personalities and nearly 280 legal and rights organizations in a bid to form a pressure group" to end more than two years of political power struggle between Islamic Hamas movement and president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said the official.

The internal crisis has been serious since June in 2007 when Hamas routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of the Gaza Strip, widening political split with the Fatah-ruled West Bank.

Al-Shawa told Xinhua that the initiative's would start after the end of Ramadan month (On Sept. 22) and will last for three months. The plan focuses on utilizing local media and forming public support for its goals.

The campaign will also address the effects of the split, especially the crackdown Hamas and Fatah exchanges against their supporters, clashes and high restrictions on public freedom, al-Shawa said.

"The Hamas-Fatah fighting violates the Palestinian law and harms the Palestinian causes," noted al-Shawa. Meanwhile, the majority of the Palestinian factions supported the initiative except Hamas and Fatah.

Algeria Probes Muslim Charities For AQIM Link

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria has launched an investigation into alleged links between Muslim charities and the Al Qaida network.

Security sources said the Algerian Interior Ministry has been ordered to examine any link between the sharp increase in Muslim charity and the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. The sources said authorities suspected that some of the millions of dollars in charity donated during the Muslim fast month of Ramadan reached AQIM.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban gives nod to polio immunization in south

KABUL, 14 September 2009 (IRIN) - In an unprecedented move Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan have endorsed a three-day polio immunization drive in areas under their influence in Afghanistan, according to aid agencies.

The insurgents issued a "letter of support" through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) before the immunization campaign started on 13 September, an official working for an international aid agency told IRIN.

As part of its humanitarian mandate, the ICRC acts as a neutral intermediary and maintains contacts with all warring parties.

According to UNICEF, in order to minimize the impact of insecurity, increase access and improve the safety of vaccination staff in conflict-affected districts, some negotiations with "anti-government elements" have taken place, and before the planned immunization campaign the Taliban released a "letter of support" through ICRC.

The insurgents have rarely negotiated with independent aid agencies and are widely accused of deliberate attacks on health facilities, aid workers and other civilian actors. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has said on previous occasions that it could not reach and vaccinate tens of thousands of children mostly in the southern provinces because of insecurity and threats by the insurgents.

Over one million under-five children in southern, southeastern, western and eastern parts of the country are being targeted in the current immunization drive, which will involve over 15,000 vaccinators and health workers, according to UNICEF.

About 660,000 children are being targeted in 13 high-risk and difficult-to-reach-districts in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan.

No security incidents so far

MoPH spokesman Ahmad Farid Raaid told IRIN no security incidents involving polio vaccinators had been reported on the first day of the campaign.

Health officials in the volatile provinces of Kandahar and Helmand told IRIN the vaccinators were doing their job in the targeted districts without any major security problems.

However, Enyatullah Ghafari, director of Helmand’s health department, said health workers were still concerned about their safety. "Some local Taliban fighters may be unaware about the `letter of support’ issued by their leadership and may cause problems."

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the three-day polio eradication drive had been initiated to mark 21 September, International Peace Day.

UNAMA has called on the warring sides to allow essential humanitarian work to take place around the country around this date.

So far this year 20 polio cases have been confirmed (31 were reported in 2008), and the virus is considered to be endemic in Afghanistan - as well as Pakistan, India and Nigeria, according to the UN World Health Organization.

WFP to shut Somalia food centers

By Martin Plaut

The World Food Program (WFP) is closing 12 feeding centers for mothers and children in Somalia.

The WFP says it has simply run out of money and now has to make cuts.

The decision has been made despite the ongoing crisis in Somalia, and the WFP says the reductions are now hitting people across east Africa.

Despite the depth of the need, the WFP says the international community has failed to rally round with the funding it requires.

Severe drought

The decision to close the feeding centers in Somalia was particularly difficult for the World Food Program.

But Peter Smerdon, a WFP spokesman in Nairobi, Kenya, says the organization had little option.

It had only received 40% of the funding needed for the year ahead.

The cuts could hardly have come at a more serious moment - the conflict in Somalia has driven tens of thousands to flee from their homes.

And the country is also suffering from a severe drought.

As a result the UN estimates that more than three million Somalis need food aid - half the total population.

Put another way, one child in five is acutely malnourished, yet the WFP is having to close the services on which they depend.

Nor is it just in Somalia that these cuts are being made.

In neighboring Kenya the organization is running out of food. And in Ethiopia and Uganda services are being restricted.

Iraqi shoe thrower released; says he was tortured

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush was released Tuesday after nine months in prison, and he said Iraqi security forces tortured him with beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his arrest.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, whose stunning act of protest last December made him a hero around the Arab and Muslim worlds, said he now feared for his life and believed that U.S. intelligence agents would chase after him.

"These fearful services, the U.S. intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary ... in a bid to kill me," he told a news conference at the TV station where he works.

"And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially or professionally," he said.

The 30-year-old reporter's act of protest deeply embarrassed Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who was standing beside Bush at a Dec. 14 news conference when al-Zeidi suddenly shot up from his chair had hurled his shoes toward the podium.

Bush, who was on his final visit to Iraq as American president, was unhurt but had to duck twice to avoid being hit.

Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground by journalists and al-Maliki's security men.

The reporter said Tuesday that he was abused immediately after his arrest and the following day. He said he was beaten with iron bars, whipped with cords and was electrocuted in the backyard of the building in the Green Zone where the news conference was held.

"In the morning, I was left in the cold weather after they splashed me with water," he said.

He promised to reveal the names of senior officials in the Iraqi government and army who he said were involved in mistreating him.

He explained that his actions were motivated by the U.S. occupation and said that while he is now free, his country is still "held captive."

"Simply put, what incited me toward confrontation is the oppression that fell upon my people and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by placing it under its boots," he said.

China's Uighurs pass Ramadan in isolation - Feature

Kashgar, China - In China's western Xinjiang region, where ethnic riots killed almost 200 people in July, the holy month of Ramadan is passing amid tight security and government calls for ethnic unity. Under the shade of trees near the main entrance to Kashgar's Id Kah Mosque, armed police wearing military fatigues and helmets, and carrying riot shields, watch worshipers file in for prayers.

Soldiers look out from various points throughout the city, and armed mobile units circle the streets in convoys of trucks bearing patriotic slogans.

"Safeguard security and unity," a red and white banner on the side of one vehicle read.

While the July 5 clashes between ethnic Uighur and Han Chinese residents took place in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, more Uighurs were arrested in Kashgar, a city on the old Silk Road with a history stretching back 2,000 years.

Around 90 per cent of Kashgar's 350,000 residents are Muslim Uighurs, and the earthen-walled houses and narrow labyrinthine alleyways in Kashgar's old city have for centuries been a hub for traditional Uighur culture and identity.

A cool oasis from the surrounding Taklamakan Desert, the streets of the old town still ring with the sound of blacksmiths' hammers, and as the sun sets and Ramadan restrictions on eating and drinking end, women wearing headscarves and men in skullcaps bargain with food vendors offering special Ramadan dishes, lamb kebabs, watermelon, figs, cakes and meringue.

But the very strength of Uighur culture here has raised government fears that Kashgar, and other towns in Xinjiang's predominantly Uighur south, may be hotspots for separatist, and even terrorist, activity.

The response has been to impose strict controls on the lives of Kashgar's residents, and to target separatist sentiment through a large-scale propaganda campaign.

Ramadan greetings and blessings from family and friends overseas will not arrive this year as Xinjiang's internet has - since the unrest - been restricted to a few local sites, and text messaging and international dialing services have been cut off.

For students on their summer break, the days have been passing slowly. "We don't know when the internet will be back, maybe after the national day," said a Uighur student who works part-time in a sweet shop, referring to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1.

The government has meanwhile stepped up its propaganda campaign. In the old city's narrow alleyways, mud-brick walls bear two types of writing.

Using white chalk, children have drawn pictures and used the walls to practice arithmetic. Employing red spray-paint, the government has stenciled signs calling on residents to strengthen ethnic unity and oppose ethnic separatism - a new type of rhetoric which residents say appeared quickly after the riots.

A large television screen outside the Id Kah Mosque shows footage of the children of exiled Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer, condemning their mother and asking her to give up her separatist activities. The government accuses Kadeer of orchestrating the deadly riots in Urumqi.

As usual at Ramadan, religious practice is another area which has come under tight control.

In the evening, as men recite the Koran inside a small neighborhood mosque, a man outside says that he cannot participate because he works for the government. His job is to note down the names of those who attend the prayer sessions.

Near a school, a student says that because he is less than 18 years of age, he is only allowed to pray one time per day instead of the usual five, and that older children who want to observe the Ramadan fast have been given food and water by teachers. On the streets, most Uighur girls cover their hair, but in Kashgar's schools, headscarves are not allowed.

There are some signs that the authorities are willing to be lenient in areas which do not undermine the overall level of control. While Muslim restaurants in some regions have been encouraged to remain open during Ramadan, all Uighur restaurants in Kashgar appeared to be closed until sunset. Some teenagers and government workers also said they ignored rules which forbid them from fasting.

But those are small areas of freedom in an otherwise heavily restricted environment. And while it is easy to understand the need for tightened security since the riots, it is harder to see how the other controls will bring about greater ethnic harmony, rather than provoke increased resentment.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/285681,chinas-uighurs-pass-ramadan-in-isolation--feature.html.

Fatwa forbids ties with Israel

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The normalization of ties with Israel is against Islamic law, a leading Hezbollah-backed cleric said in a recent religious ruling from Lebanon.

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued a weekend fatwa forbidding Arab states from normalizing relations with Israel, Hezbollah reported on its al-Manar news network.

"The normalization of ties with the Zionist enemy in any form is prohibited by Shariah (Islamic law)," the leading cleric said.

Washington called on Arab states to improve their relationship with Israel, while urging the Israeli government to halt its settlement activity in the West Bank as part of an effort to kick-start the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The cleric's comments come on the heels of a flare-up with Israel along the border with Lebanon. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon scrambled its peacekeepers to the border last week following reports of rocket attacks striking Israeli targets from south Lebanon.

Border tensions simmered during the summer of 2009. Beirut complained to the United Nations of Israeli violations of its commitments to Lebanon, while Israel warned of Hezbollah activity along the border.

Hezbollah and Israel fought a bruising 34-day conflict in 2006. The U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement ending that conflict calls on Israel to respect Lebanese sovereignty while demanding Hezbollah abandon its weapons.

Jordan's king blasts Israeli unilateral actions in East Jerusalem

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday rejected any Israeli "unilateral measure" in East Jerusalem and vowed to pursue steps to preserve the Arab identity of the city, which Israel captured from the Hashemite Kingdom in the 1967 Middle East war. The monarch made the remarks as he presided over a meeting between senior officials and representatives of Arab families in Jerusalem, to follow up on projects being implemented by Jordan in the holy city's al-Aqsa Mosque, a royal court statement said.

"The monarch expressed Jordan's rejection of any Israeli unilateral measure that seeks to change the historical status of the holy city and the (Arab) identity of the holy shrines by emptying the city of its Muslim and Christian inhabitants," the statement said.

Abdullah alluded to the determination of the right-wing Israeli government to push ahead with settlement activity in East Jerusalem, which is still considered by the United Nations as occupied territory, the demolition of houses built by Palestinians allegedly without licenses and forcing more Palestinians to leave their homes.

The Jordanian government has repeatedly accused Israel of violating international law by conducting excavations underneath and around al-Aqsa Mosque, amid widespread Arab suspicions that Israel plans to rebuild the biblical Solomon's Temple.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted Monday as saying that he had rejected US pressures on Israel to freeze settlements in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.

"They (Americans) asked us for complete freeze, and we told them that we will not do this," Netanyahu was quoted as saying by Israeli media.

Speakers during the meeting chaired by Abdullah focused on Israeli policies that target Muslim and Christian holy places and crack down on inhabitants of East Jerusalem as part of a scheme to "judaize" the holy city, the royal court statement said.

Former Prime Minister Taher Masri, who descends from a Palestinian origin, urged a "larger Arab role to confront Jewish schemes and boost the steadfastness of Jerusalem's Arab inhabitants."

Under the peace treaty that Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, the Jewish state acknowledged Amman's right to look after Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem.

Abdullah did not elaborate on the steps he intended to take to preserve the city's Arab identity.

Jordanian activity in East Jerusalem after its occupation in 1967 was confined to reconstruction and repair work at al-Aqsa Mosque and other Muslim shrines.

An office representing the Jordanian Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Religious Endowments supervises the day-to-day running of the shrines.

U.S. envoy meets Netanyahu over settlement freeze

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell began talks on Tuesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing resistance from the Israeli leader to a settlement freeze sought by Washington and the Palestinians.

Mitchell, who arrived in Israel on Saturday, has been trying to prepare a package under which Israel would halt construction in settlements in the occupied West Bank and Arab nations would take initial steps toward recognizing Israel.

"We hope to bring this phase of our discussions to early conclusion and to move forward in our common search for a comprehensive peace in the region," Mitchell told reporters at the start of the meeting, indicating he hoped to wrap up a deal.

Washington hopes to arrange a three-way meeting involving U.S. President Barack Obama, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week.

Those talks could depend on the outcome of Mitchell's meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and later in the day with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Defying Obama, Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would not halt all building in West Bank settlements as demanded by Washington but could limit its scope to help to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

But Abbas has said he would not return to negotiations suspended since December until Israel froze all settlement activity in line with a 2003 peace "road map."

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak drew a U.S. rebuke by approving 455 building permits in settlements in the West Bank, land Israel captured from Jordan in a 1967 war and which Palestinians want as part of a future state.

The move was widely seen in Israel as a bid to placate settlers before any deal with Washington on construction limitations.

But Israel also has made clear it would continue constructing 2,500 settler homes already being built and that any restrictions would not include Jewish housing in East Jerusalem, which it also captured in the fighting 42 years ago.

Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem, also captured in 1967, alongside some three million Palestinians. The World Court calls the settlements illegal and Palestinians say the enclaves could deny them a viable state.

Great White Sharks May Have Different Ancestry Than Previously Thought

“Like a locomotive with a mouth full of butcher knives.”

That is how a shark expert, Matt Hooper, described Carcharodon megalodon to the police chief in Peter Benchley’s novel “Jaws”. He was referring to the 50-foot-long, 50-ton body and enormous six- to seven-inch-long teeth that made the extinct megalodon shark perhaps the most awesome predator that has ever roamed the seas.

Hooper had just gotten his first glimpse of the massive great white shark that was terrorizing the residents of Amity Island. Hooper explained that the Latin name for the great white was Carcharodon carcharias and that “the closest ancestor we can find for it” was megalodon. So maybe, he speculated, this creature wasn’t merely a great white, but a surviving sea monster from an earlier era.

Hooper was toying with a simple and long-established idea: that the most feared predator in the ocean today, the great white shark, evolved from megalodon, the most fearsome predator of a few million years ago.

That is how the two species had been viewed, until recently, when new ways of looking at shark teeth, and new shark fossils from a Peruvian desert, convinced most experts that great whites are not descended from a megatoothed megashark. Rather, they evolved from a more moderate-size, smooth-toothed relative of mako sharks.

If true, then the mouth full of flesh-ripping razor blades that are the stuff of nightmares, and box-office blockbusters, are also a great example of one of the most interesting phenomena in the story of life, convergent evolution - the independent evolution of similar adaptations by different creatures.

The idea of a close relationship between great whites and megalodon started in 1835, when Louis Agassiz, a Swiss paleontologist and fish expert, formally named the giant species. The huge fossil teeth of megalodon had been known for centuries and were once believed to be the fossilized tongues of dragons. Agassiz, noting that great white shark teeth and the fossil megalodon teeth were both serrated, lumped megalodon into the same genus, Carcharodon, (from the Greek karcharos, meaning sharp or jagged, and odous, meaning tooth).

Agassiz was not, however, making an evolutionary judgment. In 1835, a young Charles Darwin was just then visiting the Galapagos Islands. There would be no theory of evolutionary descent for nearly 25 years. In fact, the brilliant Agassiz, who later became a professor at Harvard and the leading figure of natural history in the United States, forever resisted Darwin’s revolutionary ideas. Rejecting biological evolution, Agassiz defined species as a “thought of God.” His classification scheme signified nothing about shark origins.

But, over the next century, the idea that great whites evolved from megalodon took hold. Because shark skeletons are largely made of nonmineralized cartilage that isn’t preserved in the fossil record, the principal evidence has come from their teeth. Shark teeth are heavily mineralized, preserve well, and sharks may shed thousands of them over their lifetime. Megalodon teeth are highly sought by collectors, so we have lots of their teeth.

Great white teeth reach a maximum size of about two and half inches. Scary enough, but adult megalodon teeth dwarf them. The most obvious characteristics the species’ teeth have in common are their pointed shape and serrations. The points facilitate the puncturing of flesh and grasping of prey. The fine, regularly spaced serrations aid in cutting and ripping it into pieces.

Based primarily on these characteristics and some similarities in specific tooth shapes and roots, many experts supported the idea that great whites were, in effect, dwarf megalodons.

But a small minority had their doubts. It was noted that great white teeth also bore similarities to the teeth of an extinct mako shark, Isurus hastalis, some of which had weak serrations. An alternative proposal for great white origins was offered - that they evolved from an extinct group of mako sharks.

Many debates about interpretations of the appearances of structures in the fossil record boil down to the emphasis on different characters by different researchers, the great white origins debate included. It is often similar to a discussion at a family reunion of which child looks more like one parent or grandparent. It depends upon the feature and the viewer.

Such subjective arguments are hard to settle without more quantitative measures. Kevin Nyberg and Gregory Wray, of Duke University, and Charles Ciampaglio, of Wright State University, used new computer-assisted imaging and measurement methods to better assess the similarities and differences among great white, megalodon and extinct mako teeth. They determined that the extinct mako and great white teeth and roots were similar in shape and clearly distinct from megalodon.

Furthermore, high-resolution electron microscopy revealed that the shape and spacing of serrations of great white teeth were markedly different from those in megalodon teeth. The serrations that impressed Agassiz now appear to be just a superficial resemblance. The great white did not inherit its sharp cutting tools from megalodon.

Rather, it appears that great whites evolved from a less ferocious-looking ancestor and independently evolved sharp serrations. A remarkably well-preserved fossil of what a great white ancestor may have looked like was recently brought to light. The desert region of southwestern Peru is a graveyard of marine animals from the past 40 million years, including spectacularly preserved whales, dolphins, walruses, seals, turtles and sharks. It was there that Gordon Hubbell, a shark expert, collected the four-million-year-old fossil that had not only its jaws intact with 222 teeth, but also 45 vertebrae - both rarities for shark fossils and rare opportunities for shark experts.

The preservation of the teeth in their proper place, as opposed to being found scattered in sediments, allowed an unprecedented analysis of individual teeth and the pattern of tooth development in the shark. Similarities were found to both extinct mako sharks and living great whites, including weak serrations, suggesting that the Peruvian fossil might be a transitional form, a link between a smooth-toothed mako ancestor and the great white.

The serrations of great white teeth undoubtedly evolved to exploit expanding populations of marine mammals. That adaptation appears to have given the predators an advantage as they, like megalodon in its day, enjoy a broad ocean-wide distribution. At least for now.

I say “for now” because great whites are declining along with most shark species, some of which have experienced alarming drops in their numbers in just the past two decades. Biologists are not sure what caused the once dominant megalodon to become extinct two million years ago, but there will be no debate about who is to blame if today’s top predator is gone tomorrow.

China VP set to get military post in a step to top

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

BEIJING – China's communist elite opened an annual conclave Tuesday at which they are expected to appoint the vice president to a powerful military commission — a move that would cement his status as heir to the presidency of the world's most populous nation.

If the Central Committee ignores precedent and doesn't name Xi Jinping to the Communist Party's military commission at an annual meeting this week, it could signal discord among the leadership over who will succeed President Hu Jintao in 2012.

But the consensus among China-watchers ahead of the closed-door gathering seems to be that Xi, who became heir apparent when he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee two years ago, has avoided any missteps that would derail his elevation.

"I have no reason to believe Xi has made any major mistake," said Steve Tsang, a China expert at Oxford University. "As long as he does not do so, he will take over from Hu in 2012."

The official Xinhua News Agency announced the meeting's opening Tuesday, but conformed with the party's traditional secrecy surrounding leadership issues and made no mention of Xi or the military commission.

Xinhua said attendees would discuss a draft document on "party building" — which covers everything from recruiting for the 75 million-member party to fighting the corruption that fuels many protests. They also will hear a report on the work of the committee's nine-member Politburo led by Hu, it said.

A report last week in the Wen Wei Po, a party-backed newspaper in Hong Kong, said new measures to require officials to declare their assets would be among reforms discussed.

The meeting of the 204-member Central Committee comes at a fraught time. The party is preparing for the 60th anniversary of communist rule on Oct. 1, and it wants to showcase its rising power with a military parade through Beijing's Tiananmen Square and other celebrations.

But recent ethnic unrest in the country's west, violent strikes in steel factories and mass protests in other cities have made Hu's call for a "harmonious society" ring hollow. The economic growth the leadership relies on to ease social tensions remains tentative as key export markets in the U.S. and Europe struggle.

The 56-year-old Xi already holds two of the three posts Hu held as heir-apparent — the Politburo portfolio handling party affairs and the vice presidency. Hu added the vice chairmanship of the Central Military Commission three years before his anointment as party leader, and many presume Xi will now assume this post because he appears to be following in Hu's footsteps.

A smooth succession should help the party maintain its control over a rapidly changing society and an economy that is poised to overtake Japan's as the world's second largest. Some scholars think a lack of friction could even encourage leaders to enact political reforms, including opening some posts to competitive elections within the party. Discord, on the other hand, could breed fear among the leadership that they're losing control and lead to a clampdown.

One expert says Xi's artfully arranged succession narrowed competition for leadership posts.

"If it happens in the same way as what happened to Hu 10 years ago, it can undermine the so-called inner-party democracy," said Cheng Li, a China politics expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

The son of an influential party elder, Xi led the economically vibrant eastern regions of Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai before emerging somewhat late as the leading candidate for successor at the 17th Congress in the fall of 2007.

Thus far, he has been handed several high-profile and politically risky assignments, among them overseeing final preparation for last year's Beijing Olympics and this year's anniversary celebrations.

The new post would make him deputy to Hu at the military commission, which is in charge of the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army. The army is politically influential and is thus an important base for any future leader.

China Launches Mine-Clearing Training Course For Afghanistan, Iraq

BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Bernama) -- A humanitarian mine-clearing training course for Afghanistan and Iraq sponsored by the Chinese government was inaugurated here Tuesday in Nanjing, capital of the eastern Jiangsu Province, Xinhua news agency reported.

About 40 military officers from Afghanistan and Iraq are on the two-month course at the University of Science and Technology of the People's Liberation Army in Nanjing, said China's Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said in a press release that the course was a concrete measure of China to actively taking part in international humanitarian mine clearing, and it showed that the Chinese government attached great importance to friendly cooperative relations with Afghanistan and Iraq.

It also showed the positive attitude of the Chinese government to assist the two countries' economic recovery and social reconstruction.

In 10 years, China had trained about 300 mine clearers for 15 countries and offered various kinds of humanitarian mine clearing assistance for nearly 20 countries, said the press release.

China will also donate mine detection and clearing equipment to the two countries when the training is over.

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=440497.

Ramadan, An Opportunity For Street Hawkers In Algeria

ALGIERS, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- As Muslims around the world observe Ramadan, they take a journey within - to discover their inner strengths and understand the plight of those in need. However, over the years traditions and lifestyles have changed, altering along with it the way Ramadan is celebrated.

Now, in Algeria, the holy month becomes an opportunity for street hawkers, who spread through cities, with a hope of selling their merchandises which quality is often a source of doubt and concern.

According to the Algerian news agency APS, this well-established trade multiplies rapidly during the fasting month when households' consumption becomes ever bigger.

The scourge is not loosing in spite of measures taken by government authorities. It takes more roots; hawkers invade the capital's different markets, making difficulties to legal trade and being detrimental to the national economy.

A tour in several markets in Algiers helped us to note that this kind of activity is spreading well, to the detriment of legally working merchants.

Thus, the municipal market of Staoueli (west of Algiers) was transformed, in this holy month of Ramadan, into a true Capernaum where we can find everything from fish merchant to vendor of "Dioul" through other hawkers who display on the floor perishable products.

These practices, becoming commonplace, are detrimental to the health of powerless citizens, merely observing the scene.

This market which has always been the main shopping place of Staoueli has become in recent times, a real "catchall", causing great harm to the image of this tourist town.

These sellers can showcase the same products as those sold in stores but at cheaper prices.

According to a local shop, "they (the sellers) were chased by police, but they returned in force this month of Ramadan, they have squatted openly and publicly in the sidewalks."

Source: Bernama.
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=440215.