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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Rhino poaching surges in Asia and Africa

GLAND, Switzerland, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A report by two Switzerland-headquartered conservation groups says worldwide rhinoceros poaching is increasing, especially in Asia and Africa.

The report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund says the poaching is being driven by Asian demand for horns and is made worse by increasingly sophisticated poachers, who are using veterinary drugs, poison, cross bows and high caliber weapons to kill rhinos.

The organizations said since 2006, 95 percent of the poaching in Africa has occurred in Zimbabwe and South Africa, new data indicates.

"These two nations collectively form the epicenter of an unrelenting poaching crisis in southern Africa," said Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network established by the two conservation groups to ensure trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.

The report also raises concerns regarding the low and declining numbers as well as the uncertain status of some of the Sumatran and Javan rhino populations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

However, the conservationists note in some areas populations of rhinos are increasing. "Where there is political will, dedicated conservation programs and good law enforcement, rhino numbers have increased in both Africa and Asia," they said.

NASA fails again in attempt to free Spirit

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- NASA is again reporting failure in the latest of its attempts to free the stuck Mars rover Spirit from a sand trap on the surface of the Red Planet.

Scientists at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Spirit's right-rear wheel stalled Nov. 28 during the first step of a two-step extrication maneuver. But officials said the stall is different in some characteristics from a Nov. 21 stall. NASA said the most recent event occurred more quickly and the inferred rotor resistance was elevated at the end of the stall.

Investigation of past stall events, along with the new characteristics, suggest the latest stall might not be result of the terrain, but might be internal to the right-rear wheel actuator, NASA said.

"Rover project engineers are developing a series of diagnostics to explore the actuator health and to isolate potential terrain interactions," the space agency said, noting plans for future driving will depend on the results of the diagnostic tests.

The space agency said earlier its attempt to extract Spirit from the martian sand trap is expected to take weeks or even months, with uncertain probability of success.

Spirit has been stuck in loose martian sand since April 23.

Christian extremist LRA tormenting south Sudan

Sudanese southerners still besieged by suspected Christian radical Lord's Resistance Army.

JUBA, Sudan - Suspected Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters have attacked Nzara region of Southern Sudan at least three times this month, forcing civilians to flee their homes, local officials said.

Several armed groups operate in the region – including Ugandan and southern Sudanese soldiers hunting the LRA since peace talks failed in 2008. The recent attacks, however, bore the "typical signs" of LRA raids, they said.

"The LRA continue to harm us, killing and burning homes," said Col Sentina Ndefu, commissioner of Nzara county, one of the hardest hit regions in Western Equatoria state.

The November attacks, she added, left at least seven people dead and eight abducted, indicating that the LRA were still active - despite ongoing military operations against them and humanitarian efforts to support those affected.

"Our people are suffering very much; even those they have not attacked have been forced from their homes for fear of a raid," Ndefu told IRIN.

"The attacks have been putting great pressure on services in Nzara because people do not feel safe outside town," she said. "There is [over]crowding - there are too many people for the boreholes, the health clinics, and too many children for the schools."

Attacks blamed on the LRA have also occurred in several regions in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR).

More than 220 people have been killed and at least 157 abducted this year in Southern Sudan by the LRA, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Of at least 81,500 displaced in Western and Central Equatoria States, 17,000 are refugees, according to a November assessment by OCHA.

The UN Security Council on 17 November called on UN missions in DRC, CAR and Sudan to coordinate strategies to protect civilians from the LRA.

It expressed "deep concern at the direct and serious threat the activities of the LRA pose to the civilian population, the conduct of humanitarian operations, and regional stability".

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, echoed similar concerns following a recent visit to Sudan.

"I spoke to girls and boys formerly abducted by the LRA in Juba who recounted that they lived in fear of death every day," Coomaraswamy told reporters on 22 November.

The main force of LRA fighters and their commander Joseph Kony – who is wanted by the International Criminal Court - are believed to be in CAR, but with autonomous units operating across a wider area.

Sudanese officials said these units had changed tactics. "In the years before, the LRA would abduct people, but now they are simply coming to loot and to kill,” said Ndefu.

"This could be either because the Ugandan army is disrupting life as it was in the LRA camps before, or it could be because they are carrying out the attacks in revenge.”

Several reports claim at least one unit of LRA fighters has moved into Sudan’s South Darfur state, but this was impossible to verify.

Meanwhile the US Foreign Relations Committee on 17 November passed a bill to develop a "new multifaceted strategy" to tackle the LRA, the bill’s author US Senator Russ Feingold said in a statement.

It authorizes US$10 million in additional funding for humanitarian assistance for those areas outside Uganda "affected by the LRA’s brutality", and $30 million for "transitional justice and reconciliation".

Jon Elliott, Africa advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, welcomed the bill, saying: "This bill offers an opportunity to put civilian protection where it should be, at the top of the agenda, and much-needed American leadership to finally bring Joseph Kony and his co-accused to justice."

Analysts, however, remain skeptical.

"The Ugandan media make out that the LRA are about to collapse," said one western security analyst in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity. "The fact that Kony has not made contact for fresh talks suggests that the LRA retains strength enough to continue: their supply lines have been disrupted but the forces are far from destroyed."

The "supply trail" suggested there were six forces, with an estimated 500-600 fighters, he added.

Delegates to the former LRA peace talks – bitterly divided and largely discredited - also say there is little hope for a peaceful solution soon.

"Instructions from General Joseph Kony were often at times confusing and he kept on shifting the goal-posts," former spokesman David Matsanga said in a November statement. "A golden opportunity was thus lost and it’s doubtful that any nations of the world will in future pay for any other [LRA] peace talks."

Saudi king visits area of Yemen border conflict

King Abdullah goes on ‘inspection visit’ to Jizan province where Saudi forces have been battling Huthis.

RIYADH - Saudi King Abdullah flew on Wednesday to the southern province of Jizan, where Saudi forces have been battling Yemen's Huthi rebels for four weeks, the government announced.

He was going on an "inspection visit," according to the announcement on the state news agency SPA.

It is the king's first visit to the area since Saudi forces began shelling the Zaidi Shiite militants along the rugged border with northwest Yemen in early November.

The Saudi military undertook its largest mobilization since the 1990-91 Gulf War following a minor border incursion by the Huthis, deploying fighter bombers, heavy artillery, special forces and naval vessels against the rebels.

The Saudis say they are acting to prevent the Huthis and other threats from crossing into Saudi territory, after a band killed a Saudi border guard and temporarily occupied two Jizan villages on November 3.

The Saudis have evacuated thousands from the border and want to establish a broad no-go zone on either side of the porous frontier to stop both militants and smugglers from crossing.

Analysts say the Saudis are also closely assisting Yemen's government in its effort to crush the rebellion.

Saudi-owned regional daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday that Saudi bombers and artillery continued to hit Huthi positions this week and that ground troops using Bradley armored vehicles were patrolling the region to search for Huthi fighters.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=36016.

Winning Somalis’ hearts, minds with medical care

AU peacekeepers seek to improve their image in Mogadishu through treating patients, including Shebab fighters.

By Herve BAR - MOGADISHU

Too weak to hide her mutilated face with her scarf, saliva dribbling from her atrophied mouth and blood seeping through her bandage, the woman lies in the peacekeepers' hospital next to Mogadishu airport.

Dhicisay Salat, 35, was selling khat to armed men on a market in the capital when "someone threw a grenade", explained her sister, who brought her to the base of the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia, AMISOM.

A grenade fragment shattered her jaw.

Alongside sick and wounded peacekeepers from the AMISOM force, this field hospital is also treating around 100 other patients, most of them war wounded like Salat.

The most serious cases can just show up at one of the entrances to the base, which are sandy tracks with Ugandan machine guns trained on them.

Less urgent cases can consult an AMISOM doctor at the base three times a week.

Currently hundreds of people are queuing up for treatment; some of them have been there since daybreak.

The most serious cases are escorted to the field hospital - a collection of big canvas tents housing lines of camp beds. Ugandan nurses in camouflage trousers and T-shirts, their hair hidden under a scarf, move from bed to bed.

The operating theatre has been set up in a container, the laboratory in a prefabricated unit. Two special wards house women suffering from suppurative inflammations.

"The majority of those we take in have bullet or shrapnel wounds," explained the military doctor, Colonel James Kiyengo. "Others have been wounded in road accidents or are suffering from serious illnesses."

Many of the male patients, grouped together in the same tent, are fighters.

"We even treat the Shebab (insurgents)," said Kiyengo, pointing to a smiling adolescent who has had his right leg amputated.

Then there are the patients with cancer in its terminal stages or other incurable diseases.

Twenty-year-old Muslimo Isak has an angelic face but her chest is deformed by ugly cancerous growths. A widow with no relatives, she has nowhere else to go.

"We take care of these hopeless cases like their neighbors would in the village," Kiyengo said.

Eleven Burundian and Ugandan military doctors work in the field hospital, where medical treatment is free. "Some patients come from a very long way away; AMISOM is their only hope," said Kiyengo.

"If you don't have money, you can't go to Medina," one of Mogadishu's three hospitals, said Ise Abdi, a patient whose thigh was half ripped away by a mortar bomb.

For AMISOM it's a case of trying to "win the hearts and minds" of Somalis, explained the spokesman of the force, Major Ba-Hoku Barigye.

"If the districts of town around the base are quiet, it's largely because of the medical care given by the force," said the military doctor.

These operations are also aimed at counter-balancing the devastating effects on Somali public opinion of the civilians killed by mortars fired by AMISOM in retaliation for insurgent attacks.

Unsurprisingly, Mogadishu's Islamist insurgents take a dim view of medical care administered by AMISOM, a force they have vowed to chase out of town.

Just a few days ago a man had his throat cut after he was found with a prescription written by an AMISOM doctor.

Israeli discrimination against Arab women increases their poverty

Researchers, women’s groups say Israel putting obstacles for Arab women seeking work.

By Jonathan Cook - NAZARETH, Israel

Israel’s finance minister was accused last week of trying to deflect attention from discriminatory policies keeping many of the country’s Arab families in poverty by blaming their economic troubles on what he described as Arab society’s opposition to women working.

A recent report from Israel’s National Insurance Institute showed that half of all Arab families in Israel are classified as poor compared with just 14 per cent of Jewish families.

Yuval Steinitz, the finance minister, told a conference on employment discrimination this month that the failure of Arab women to participate in the workforce was damaging Israel’s economy. Eighteen per cent of Arab women work, and only half of them full time, compared with at least 55 per cent of Jewish women.

He attributed the low employment rate to “cultural obstacles, traditional frameworks and the belief that Arab women have to remain in their home towns”, adding that such restrictions were characteristic of all Arab societies.

But researchers and women’s groups pointed out that employment of Arab women in Israel is lower than almost anywhere else in the Arab world, including such employment blackspots for women as Saudi Arabia and Oman.

“Most Arab women want to work, including a large number of female graduates, but the government has refused to tackle the many and severe obstacles that have been put in their way,” said Sawsan Shukha of Women Against Violence, a Nazareth-based organization.

That assessment was supported by a survey this month revealing that 83 per cent of Israeli businesses in the main professions – including advertising, law, banking, accountancy and the media – admitted being opposed to hiring Arab graduates, whether men or women.

Yousef Jabareen, an urban planner at the Technion technical university in Haifa, who has conducted one of the largest surveys on Arab women’s employment in Israel, said the problems Arab women faced were unique.

“In Israel they face a double discrimination, both because they are women and because they are Arabs,” he said.

“The average in the Arab world [for female employment] is about 40 per cent. Only women in Gaza, the West Bank and Iraq -- where there are exceptional circumstances -- have lower rates of employment than Arab women in Israel. That gap needs explaining and the answers aren’t to be found where the minister is looking.”

He said a wide range of factors hold Arab women back, many of them the result of discriminatory policies by successive governments to prevent the 1.3-million Arab minority, which comprises one-fifth of Israel’s population, from benefiting from economic development.

These included widespread discrimination in hiring policies by both private employers and the government; a long-standing failure to locate industrial zones and factories in Arab communities; a severe lack of state-supported childcare services compared with Jewish communities; a shortage of public transport in Arab areas that prevented women reaching places of work, and a lack of training courses aimed at Arab women.

According to a study by Women Against Violence, 40 per cent of Arab women with degrees are unable to find work.

When interviewed, Mr Jabareen said, 78 per cent of non-working women blamed their situation on a lack of job opportunities.

Maali Abu Roumi, 24, from the town of Tamra in northern Israel, has been looking for a job as a social worker since she finished training two years ago.

A report by Sikkuy, an organization promoting civic equality in Israel, revealed this month that Israel’s Arab population received 70 per cent less government funding for social services than the Jewish population, and that Arab social workers – in a poorly paid profession that attracts mainly women – had a 50 per cent higher workload.

Ms Abu Roumi added that, in addition, cash-strapped Arab schools, unlike Jewish schools, could not afford to employ a social worker, and that Israel’s Arab minority lacked the equivalent of the welfare institutions and foundations funded by wealthy overseas Jews that offered work to many Jewish social workers.

“Most of the Jews I studied with have found work, while very few of the Arabs on my course have been employed,” she said. “When a job comes up, it’s usually part time and there are dozens of applicants.”

The Alternative Planning Center, an Arab organization that studies land use in Israel, reported in 2007 that only 3.5 per cent of the country’s industrial zones were in Arab communities. Most attracted small businesses such as workshops for car repairs or carpentry that offered few opportunities for women.

“Israel’s private sector is almost entirely closed to Arab women because of discriminatory practices by employers who prefer to employ Jews,” Mr Jabareen said. He added that the government had failed to provide leadership: among governmental workers, less than two per cent were Arab women, despite repeated pledges by ministers to increase Arab recruitment.

Ms Shukha said: “The civil service is a major employer, but many of these jobs are in the center of the country, in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, a long way from the north where most Arab citizens live.”

She noted that there were no regular buses from Nazareth, the largest Arab town in the country, to Jerusalem. “The transport situation is even worse in the villages where most Arab women live.”

In addition, she said, most could not travel long distances to find work because of the scarcity of child-care provision. Only 25 government-run daycare centers have been established for preschool children in Arab communities out of 1,600 operating across the country. Ms Shukha also criticized the trade and industry ministry, saying that, although it had invested heavily in training for Jewish women, only six per cent of Arab women were attending courses, and then mostly for sewing and secretarial work.

Mr Jabareen said that, according to his survey, 56 per cent of non-working Arab women wanted to work immediately.

“Since 1948 Israeli governments have been blaming poverty on ‘cultural barriers’ stopping Arab women from working, but all the research shows that the argument is nonsense,” he said. “There are hundreds of Arab women competing for every job that comes on the market.”

He said Arab men faced massive discrimination, too, but found work because they filled a need in the economy by doing hard manual labor that most Jews refused, often traveling long distances to work on construction sites.

“Women simply don’t have that option,” he said. “They cannot do that kind of work and they need to stay close to their communities because they have responsibilities in the home.”

Mr Jabareen added that on average Arab women in Israel had a higher number of schooling years than those in Arab countries and the Third World. There were even slightly more Arab women at Israeli universities than Arab men.

“All the research shows that the more educated the population, the more it should be able to find work. The case with Arab women in Israel breaks with the trend. It’s unique.”

A study by the Bank of Israel published this month suggested additional reasons for the high levels of poverty among Arab families. It showed that Arab men were typically forced into retirement in their early 40s, at least a decade before Israel’s Jewish workers and workers in Europe and the United States.

The researchers attributed Arab men’s early unemployment to the fact that most are restricted to physically demanding laboring jobs, and because they are rapidly being replaced by Third World workers who are paid less than the minimum wage.

No peace for the peacekeepers in Somalia

African Union forces boast of penetrating 'no-go area' of Somalia but admit restrictions.

MOGADISHU - In a khaki tent shielded by sandbags, four Ugandan officers are watching "Black Hawk Down," the Hollywood account of the devastating ambush of US troops in the chaotic streets of Mogadishu.

In 1993, two US Black Hawk choppers were shot down in Somalia, killing 18 US soldiers.

It's maybe not the ideal cinematic fare when you are a peacekeeper in the lawless Somali capital.

That doesn't seem to bother these officers, almost transfixed in front of the screen in the mess where they came to grab a cup of milky tea.

"They know they don't have enough forces to engage us and move us back one foot," said Major Ba-Hoku Barigye, part of an African Union force shoring up President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed's government against insurgents.

"Our major achievement is that we have been able to demystify the idea that Somalia is a no-go area," he boasted.

"Three years after (deployment) we're still here, and I'm sure we will be here for three more years."

President Sharif, who is also a cleric, is in control of only pockets of the capital however, with the rest held by the rebel Shebab movement and the more political Hezb al-Islam militia.

Today's African Union peacekeeping force is made up from just Burundi and Uganda and has 5,300 troops, well below the 8,000 initially planned.

Installed near Mogadishu airport, the force's headquarters is a mixture of tents, containers and prefabricated units in a forest just a few meters from the Indian Ocean.

Every morning the troops don helmets and flak-jackets for patrols on board their white armored vehicles which they use to resupply forward positions in central Mogadishu or escort Somali officials.

"Without us the transitional government would collapse immediately," said one colonel, whose men in forward positions regularly come under gunshot and mortar fire. The airport and seaport remain open, at least.

The headquarters complex had been largely spared the effects of the daily clashes between pro-government militia and rebel fighters, due to what one officer involved in military-civilian operations described as their friendly ties with local villagers.

That was until a double attack in September killed 17 peacekeepers, including their second in command, a Burundian general.

The gutted white facade of the former command center carries the scars but the officers insist that while the attack cost lives, it failed to achieve its aim of killing the force's commander in chief.

"We could have done better but remember that we are the only peacekeeping mission with the same risks as Afghanistan or Iraq," said Major Barigye.

"I'm convinced this mission can be achieved in less than a year," he added. "It's just a question of capacities and human power."

The force lacks both manpower and equipment, he said.

Barigye's mobile phone rings again. He picks it up. "The Shebab have taken to calling me with threats," he shrugged.

Every now and then there's a buzz overhead. US drones are watching and monitoring.

The Shebab has been taking extreme stances since it broke away from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), who ruled much of Somalia with relative peace and prosperity until the Ethiopian invasion late 2006.

After the Ethiopian troops ousted the ICU, Somalia plunged into unprecedented chaos, where warlords and pirates have returned to the scene.

The US-backed Ethiopian troops in Somalia had resorted to throat-slitting executions and gruesome methods that include rape and torture.

As a result, the Shebab has become increasingly radicalized and has spearheaded an insurgency against the Somali government, whose president today is a former ICU leader.

Despite the Ethiopian withdrawal, it is unlikely that Somalis would soon be returning to the period of calm and security enjoyed under ICU rule.

The US and its allies in the region, who were not happy with the then relatively popular and stable ICU, will likely to face a non-negotiating force when dealing with the Shebab.

Lebanon cabinet adopts policy statement

Policy statement grants Hezbollah right to use its arms against Israel despite Christian ministers’ reservations.

BEIRUT - Lebanon's cabinet on Wednesday adopted a policy statement granting Hezbollah the right to use its arms against Israel, despite the reservations of Christian ministers in the Western-backed majority.

"The council of minister today adopted the proposed policy statement," Information Minister Tarek Mitri said in a news conference after a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government is now to face a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday, press reports said.

Five Christian members of the majority, including those of the Phalange Party and Lebanese Forces, "expressed reservations" around a clause in the statement on Hezbollah's arsenal, Mitri said.

They argue the arsenal undermines state authority and runs counter to UN resolutions.

A 13-member cabinet committee tasked with drafting the policy statement, which will be made public on Monday in its entirety, met 10 times in November to draft the statement, stumbling upon how to phrase a clause on the weaponry of the Shiite militant group.

Clause six of the final draft states the right of "Lebanon, its government, its people, its army and its resistance" to liberate all Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, is commonly referred to as the resistance in Lebanon.

But Hezbollah, which has two ministers in the 30-member unity cabinet, regularly states its weapons are not open to discussion.

It argues its arms are necessary to protect the country against any future aggression by Israel, which withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.

Lebanon's new cabinet is headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, whose US- and Western-backed alliance defeated a Hezbollah-led opposition supported by Syria and Iran in a June vote.

'Islamophobic policies show Europe losing values'

A notable religious authority in Bosnia has lashed out at the EU's recent discriminatory moves against the continent's Muslim community.

Bosnia's head of the Islamic Community, Dr. Mustafa Ceric said he hoped Europe would restore its values, citing the recent Swiss ban on the construction minarets and the European Union's exclusion of three overwhelmingly-Muslim Balkan countries from a visa-free regime, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

Bern on Saturday declared the construction of any new minaret on Swiss soil illegal. The same day saw the EU banning citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo from travelling visa free across Europe, while granting the privilege to the citizens of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, reported the English-language Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman.

The Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina said, "The message from Brussels told us we are worth less than our Serbian, Montenegrin, Macedonian and Croatian neighbors, and the one from Switzerland told us that our religious and cultural symbols are unwanted.''

"Bosnia's Muslims should be given assurances that they have the right to live in Europe,'' added Ceric, who is renowned for his peace efforts and contributions to interfaith understanding.

The Swiss move drew sharp criticism from Muslims around the world and European countries, as well as the UN and the Vatican. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast branded the move as an "Islamophobic act."

A notable opposition came from Ankara with the Turkish State Minister Egemen Bagis saying Muslims have to respond to the move by withdrawing their money from their Swiss bank accounts.

Stem cells can repair damaged hearts

Bone marrow stem cells can be used to help the heart that has been damaged after a heart attack repair the injury, a new study finds.

Previous studies had reported that the injection of stem cells extracted from the patient directly into the heart can treat heart attack patients.

The new study, however, benefited from the intravenous infusion of a stem cell product known as Prochymal harvested from a single healthy donor and cultured in laboratories.

According to the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, stem cells can engraft to the heart and repopulate the dead cells with new live ones in order to treat the parts damaged during a cardiac arrest.

"Stem cell-treated patients had ... significant improvements in heart, lung, and global function,” said lead researcher Joshua M. Hare, adding that an improved heart function was reported following the treatment particularly in those patients with large amounts of cardiac damage.

The technique was reported to be safe without placing patients at a greater risk of suffering from side effects such as cardiac arrhythmias.

Scientists are optimistic that their findings will pave the way for finding new treatments to help cardiac patients.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=112693§ionid=3510210.

Currency reform sparks anger in North Korea

North Korea's currency revaluation has sparked anger and frustration in the communist state, as its citizens are seeing much of their savings being wiped out.

Foreign embassies in Pyongyang have confirmed that North Koreans have been given a week to exchange old notes for the new ones.

Analysts say the revaluation is aimed at curbing inflation and clamping down on growing free markets in the country.

The move is set to destroy much of whatever people have managed to save in one of the world's poorest countries.

The North Korean government has already taken steps to curb free markets. The marketplaces sprang up after the state food distribution system collapsed during famines in the 1990s.

The authorities initially limited the total sum that an individual can exchange to 100,000 Won.

But the limit was raised to 150,000 Won in cash and twice that in bank savings following widespread protests.

Sri Lanka lets Tamils leave detention camps

The Sri Lankan government has allowed over 120,000 Tamil civilians to leave the state-run detention camps and return to their homes.

The Tamils, who had been restricted to the camps since the government's victory over separatist Tamil Tiger fighters earlier in the year, were given authorization to leave the facilities on Tuesday, officials said.

"There will be no restrictions on displaced people from December 1," said N. Thirugnanasampanther, a government civil servant, quoted by the AFP. He noted that many people had already left.

"They have to inform the army post they are leaving and can come and go as they wish. Transport out of the camps is a problem, but people seem to be very happy,” he said.

The Tamils have been held in the heavily-guarded camps in the Vavuniya district, 260km north of Colombo, since the government defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, ending the island's long-running civil war.

About 128,000 men, women and children displaced by the conflict are thought to be in the camps. Although the gates have been opened, the journey back home remains a hazardous task with the threat of mines lurking at every corner.

According to Thirugnanasampanther, however, a government effort is underway to clear the former combat zone of more than a million land mines planted during the war, and to rebuild the ruined infrastructure.

Nearly half of the country's 280,000 displaced civilians that were trapped in the refugee camps were released back in November.

Since the end of the three-decade-long conflict, the camps were under tight security, and civilians were forced to be screened before they were released.

The government says it is concerned that the Tamil Tiger rebels might be hiding among the refugees.

The government has promised to resettle all the refugees by January 2010.

FIFA announces seedings for 2010 World Cup

The world football's governing body FIFA has announced the eight top seeds for South Africa's 2010 World Cup draw, which will be held in Cape Town on Friday 4th of December.

Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England were announced as the seeds for the tournament, alongside the host nation South Africa according to FIFA's rankings as of October.

"(The Netherlands) had a great qualifying campaign, like Spain, the first team having won all their matches, so (they) are in Pot 1," FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, he denied that France had been relegated from the seeds due to Thierry Henry's handball which helped them qualify for the World Cup.

According to Valcke, the remaining pots had been drawn with geographical criteria respected.

Pot one: (seed) South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot two: (AFC, Oceania and Concacaf) Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, USA, New Zealand

Pot three: (CAF and rest of South America) Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria

Pot four: (rest of UEFA) Denmark, France, Greece, Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland

NATO pledges 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan

Wed Dec 2, 2009

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the alliance will send at least 5,000 more troops to fight militancy in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels that the NATO member states were ready to throw their support behind US President Barack Obama's new Afghan strategy.

"I can confirm that the allies and our partners will do more, substantially more. In 2010, the non-US members of this mission will send at least 5,000 more soldiers to this operation, and probably a few thousands on top of that," he said.

On Tuesday, Obama announced that he would deploy 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to end the conflict there, adding that he would start a partial withdrawal in July 2011.

The NATO chief, meanwhile, said the exact number of troops to be contributed by each nation would be announced after a summit on Afghanistan is held in London on January 28.

Although nearly 110,000 foreign troops are currently fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan, they have not been able to establish stability in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/112689.html.

Seven killed in Puntland violence

Unidentified attackers have killed at least seven people and injured 33 others in Bosasso and Galakacyo towns in Somalia's Puntland region.

Most of the victims were from the neighboring Ethiopia and were killed when a bomb exploded at a mosque in Bosasso on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Bosasso is in semi-autonomous Puntland, which has been relatively quiet compared to the rest of Somalia. Hundreds of Ethiopians live in Puntland.

However, the region is a major base for pirates who have been terrorizing the strategic shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa.

Last month, unidentified gunmen shot dead a local member of the parliament and an influential judge who had jailed pirates and al-Shabab rebels.

Experts say the region is also home to organized criminal gangs, including money counterfeiters and human traffickers.

Hamas commander killed in central Gaza

A senior commander for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Hamas movement, has died in the central Gaza Strip.

"Yasser Sabri Radi, 37, a field commander in the Qassam Brigades from Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza, was martyred on Wednesday morning while undertaking a jihad-related task," AFP quoted a statement released by the resistance group.

The statement did not specify the cause of the death, but Palestinian medics said Radi died in a tunnel collapse, the news agency added.

Israel's fighter jets regularly bombard cross-border tunnels in southern Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinian fighters use them to hide out, store weapons and launch attacks against the Israeli troops.

But Palestinians reject the allegations and describe the tunnels, mostly across the border with Egypt, as live-breeding tubes to push in food and other basic needs into the long-blockaded Gaza Strip.

In June 2006, fighters from Hamas and two other armed Palestinian groups launched a cross-border attack on an Israeli military post, killing two soldiers and captured a third Israeli soldier.

Gilad Shalit is still being held in Gaza, awaiting a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas, who has demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in return.

Tehran police warns against Student Day unrest

Tehran's police chief has warned against any possible instigation of unrest as Iran is preparing to mark the national Student Day on December 7.

“The police will provide security on the national Student Day like the previous years,” Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) quoted Azizallah Rajabzadeh as saying on Wednesday.

“December 7th is a day to fight arrogant powers,” he said.

Rajabzadeh further warned about any illegal gatherings on December 7.

“If there is insecurity in a place, the police will be present there to provide security,” he noted. “I believe there will be no special problem on December 7th."

Rajabzadeh's warning comes after thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidates, Mehdi Karroubi and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, held a rally in Tehran as the country commemorated the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover on November 4.

The date marks the day in which revolutionary Iranian students in 1979 took over the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, following the overthrow of Iran's US-backed monarch.

Israeli police arrest mayor in West Bank settlement

Israeli police have apprehended the mayor of a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank after protesters prevented security forces to enter the community and enforce a construction freeze.

Mayor of the Beit Arieh settlement in the central West Bank, Avi Naim, was arrested on Wednesday after he and a number of settlers blocked the entrance to the settlement when Israeli troops arrived. Naim later engaged himself in a quarrel with a police officer.

The incident comes as Israeli settler leaders vowed on Monday to resist a Tel Aviv decision to impose a 10-month freeze on West Bank settlement construction activities following months of pressure from the international community.

Senior settler leaders decided to bar government construction inspectors from the settlements during an emergency meeting. "The council heads decided that Bibi's inspectors will not be allowed into the communities," they said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that Israel has agreed to freeze all settlement activities for 10 months, except in Jerusalem Al-Quds, in a bid to re-launch the stalled Israeli-Palestinian 'peace' talks.

Palestinians have nonetheless refused to start peace talks with Netanyahu unless he freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered as the main obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for the Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and freeze all settlement activities'.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and approximately 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967. All of these settlements and outposts are illegal under the international law and have been condemned by numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around Jerusalem Al-Quds, and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

India-controlled Kashmir has 2,000 HIV positive cases

SRINAGAR, India-controlled Kashmir, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The number of HIV positive cases across India-controlled Kashmir is at 2,000, health officials said Tuesday.

The figures were revealed by medical experts during World AIDS Day function in Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir.

Though the number is lower compared to prevalent scenario world over, the experts fear the trend of HIV positive cases in the state is on the increase.

"AIDS figures in Kashmir are very low as compared to over all figures, but that doesn't mean we remain complacent and watch silently as things move on," said Shahida Mir, Principal government medical college, Srinagar.

The health experts stressed upon creating mass awareness about the pandemic.

The Health department in 2002 set up state aids prevention control society (SAPCS) to tackle the diseases. The society has set up detection centers across the region in government-run hospitals where patients are screened for this particular disease.

The society is working in sync with the religious preachers to spread awareness about AIDS.

"We urge religious preachers to spread the awareness about the disease. They are being impressed upon to convey ill effects of promiscuity and drug abuse," said a Medical practitioner associated with SAPCS.

So far 85 persons have died in the region due to AIDS since 1999.

The medical experts also revealed that many HIV positive cases were detected among the Indian troopers stationed in the region.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/02/content_12571970.htm.

Somalia: Al-Shabab says they are not intending to attack Kenya

The administration of Al-Shabab in the southern Jubbah regions in Somalia, a vigorous Islamist movement in Somalia has on Tuesday said that they have pardoned their opponent Hizbul-Islam and is not intending to crossover the boarder between Kenya and Somalia and yet not willing to attack Kenya.

Al-Shabab also sent warning message to the government of Nairobi to abstain from
the uncertain politics of Somalia and to keenly observe the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

“Starting from Birta Dheer where we have started our combat with Militants commanded by Ahmed Madobe to the Kenyan Somali border town of Dobley there is reliable security, and the inhabitants of these areas are very delighted with our move, and we have pledged for them the security of the region” said Sheikh Abdi Fatah Ibrahim Ali the vice Chairman of the department of information for Al-Shabab.

Eventually Sheikh Abdi Fatah has wrapped up his press conference and reiterated that they are not intending or planning to attack Kenya, however he has added that if Kenyan government does the slightest aggression in the boarder between the two countries they will carryout reprisal attack in full swing.

Indian rebel leader arrested in Bangladesh

New Delhi - One of the leaders of a separatist group operating in India's north-eastern state of Assam has been arrested in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, Indian media reported Wednesday. Arabinda Rajkhowa, chairman of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), and its publicity secretary Apurba Baruah were arrested by the special branch of the Bangladesh police recently, the IANS news agency reported quoting official sources.

Both were expected to be handed over to Indian security forces soon, the report said.

The arrests come after Bangladesh decided to crackdown on Indian insurgent groups operating on its soil.

The ULFA is under pressure as its leadership is split and key leaders are in prison.

Founding members Rajkhowa and Paresh Baruah have fallen out, the NDTV network reported.

Rajkhowa founded the ULFA in 1979 with five others including Baruah, the outfit's commander-in-chief, who is believed to have fled Bangladesh and is either in Malaysia or China.

Indian media described the arrest of 56-year-old Rajkhowa as a big breakthrough as he had eluded security forces for the past two decades.

Recently, two ULFA leaders, Chitrabon Hazarika and Sasha Chowdhury, were arrested in Bangladesh and handed over to India's Border Security Force.

ULFA leaders have been residing in Bangladesh since the Indian army launched an offensive against them in Assam in the early 1990s.

The arrests by Bangladeshi authorities are seen as a move by Dhaka to improve ties with New Delhi.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit India in mid-December. India has been requesting that Bangladesh act against Indian rebels on its soil.

France reconsiders Afghan troop deployment after Obama speech

Paris - The French government is considering augmenting its operational strength to fight the Taliban insurgency, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said Wednesday, following US President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. However, Paris will wait until after an international conference on Afghanistan, to be held January 28 in London, to make a decision.

At that conference - which was called by Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - Afghan President Hamid Karzai will have to make "clear commitments" on economic and social development and the fight against drug-smuggling, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

Paris also expects to hear at the conference "precise orientations on the Afghanization of the most stable regions" in the country.

"It is within that new framework that France will examine its contribution to the international strategy, in giving priority to the training of Afghan security forces," Sarkozy's office said.

The statement described Obama's speech late Tuesday as "courageous, determined and lucid" and noted that it would "lend a new spirit to the international commitment" in the region.

Speaking on France Info radio Wednesday, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner noted, "There is nothing that says we must not readjust" the French military contingent in Afghanistan.

He noted, however, that in the area of the country where French soldiers are currently deployed "there is, for the moment, no need to increase the number of troops."

Civilians, police and technicians could be sent to the region if conditions in the villages are suitable, he said.

The daily Le Monde recently reported that, last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had requested from Kouchner that Paris deploy an additional 1,500 French troops in Afghanistan.

According to official defense ministry figures, France currently has about 3,750 soldiers engaged in its Afghan mission, which includes troops stationed outside the country.

Denmark hopes to avoid Brazil, Spain in World Cup draw

Copenhagen - Spain and Brazil are two teams that Danish coach Morten Olsen hopes to avoid in the upcoming draw for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, reports said Wednesday. "I would rather not be in the same group as Spain," Olsen told Danish news agency Ritzau ahead of Friday's draw.

"Spain are terrific when you look at the individual players they have and the common sense each player has," he added, saying the Spanish side was almost unbeatable when the team gels.

Denmark has had a poor track record against Spain in the later stages of major championships, with losses in Euro 1984, the 1986 World Cup and Euro 1988. Olsen was on the pitch in all three games.

As national coach, a post he has had since 2000, Olsen has seen Denmark lose four times to Spain.

Powerhouse Brazil is also not a favorite opponent.

"Brazil could field four or five teams that could be among the top seeds," Olsen said.

Denmark secured an automatic qualifying berth from its group that included Portugal and Sweden.

China sends five house church leaders to labor camp

Beijing - China has sentenced five organizers of an illegal house church to two years at a labor camp, after accusing them of "gathering people to disturb the public order," a US-based Christian support group said on Wednesday. Public security officials in the northern city of Linfen, Shanxi province, sent the four women and one man to a "re-education through labor" camp after they led Christians who were protesting the demolition of church buildings by local authorities, the China Aid Association said in a statement.

Last week, a local court sentenced five other leaders of Linfen's Fushan house church to between three years and seven years in prison last week after they were convicted on similar charges.

Sentences to labor camps are "administrative" and are normally passed by a local judicial committee without any court hearing or right of appeal. They are often used to silence local dissidents, rights activists and religious activists, as well as for minor criminals.

"To arbitrarily send five innocent citizens to labor camps is in direct violation against the international human rights covenants and norms the Chinese government has signed and even ratified," Bob Fu, China Aid's president, said of the Fushan church leaders.

Fu accused the ruling Communist Party of using such measures for "suppressing the basic freedom of religion and conscience for Chinese citizens."

The church leaders organized some 1,000 people who protested on September 14, the day after 400 paramilitary police enforced the demolition of church buildings, the group said.

China officially has about 16 million Christians, but activists claim the true figure is at least 40 million.

All religious organizations must register with government supervisory bodies, but many Christian groups refuse to do so, claiming their religious freedom is too restricted within China's official churches.

Police and officials forcibly disband house churches and other illegal Christian groups. Their leaders face criminal charges, and buildings used for underground religious activity are often demolished.

FIFA confirms seeded teams for World Cup draw

Cape Town - Football's world governing body FIFA Wednesday confirmed the seeded teams for the World Cup draw on Friday. World champions Italy, European champions Spain, Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany, Argentina and England join hosts South Africa as seeded teams for the draw.

FIFA's organizing committee also approved the composition of the other pots as well as the procedure for the draw.

Pot 2 will be composed of teams from Asia (Australia, Japan, South Korea, North Korea), North, Central America and the Caribbean (Honduras, Mexico, USA) and Oceania (New Zealand).

Pot 3 will include teams from Africa (Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria) and South America (Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay).

Pot 4 will consist of the remaining European teams (Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland).

In the draw, no two teams from the same confederation will be drawn in the same group, except European teams, where a maximum of two will be in a group.

Philippines to resume talks with Muslim rebels next week

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Poland plans to send 600 more soldiers to Afghanistan

Warsaw (Earth Times-dpa) - Poland will send around 600 additional troops to Afghanistan, government spokesman Pavel Gras told a Polish radio station Wednesday. Gras said this was the "most likely" number, basing it figures from Defense Minister Bogdan Klich. The final decision lies with President Lech Kaczynski, who has repeatedly advocated sending additional troops.

Poland already has 2,000 soldiers stationed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO mission there. It has 200 additional reserve soldiers readily deployable from Poland within hours.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday evening said his country's participation in the Afghanistan was an "investment in Poland's security."

Czech government approves swine flu vaccination for children

Prague - The Czech Republic's caretaker government Wednesday approved an expansion of its voluntary H1N1 flu vaccination program to children between 10 and 17 years of age. Vaccines against the so-called swine flu will be available from next week to some 66,000 children with diagnoses such as chronic heart and kidney disease, cancer and asthma, Health Minister Dana Juraskova said.

Health authorities began vaccinating selected adults against the H1N1 flu last week. However, the interest in the program, which aims to vaccinate one-tenth of the population has been low, the CTK news agency reported on Tuesday.

Many health-care staff declined to be vaccinated, arguing that the program came too late to be effective. To health authorities' frustration, others have feared the vaccine's alleged side effects.

The Czech Republic's swine flu death toll has climbed to 11 as of Wednesday, a spokesman for the Health Ministry said.

Meet the world's top World of Warcraft player

by Ben Silverman

That's an unofficial title, though I think it's pretty safe to say that "Little Gray" has played more Warcraft than you. A lot more.

Courtesy of Gamepro comes word of the Taiwanese player's absolutely insane Warcraft accomplishments. In addition to having nabbed every single one of the game's achievements (minus a brand new one that cropped up in the game's latest patch), he's the first player to complete all 986 tasks listed in the game's Armory. Considering that over 11.5 million people play the game worldwide, that's one heck of an honor.

And that's just the tip of this online gaming iceberg. Playing as a Tauren Druid, Little Gray has racked up some staggering numbers: he's completed nearly 6,000 quests at the rate of about 14.5 per day and killed nearly 500,000 enemies while dying only 8,543 times himself.

How? By doling out an awe-inspiring 7,255,538,878 points of damage...but before you label him some sort of mindless brute, know that he at least had the heart to heal 1,377,435,762 points of that back. Unsurprisingly, he's also a bit of a loner, having "waved" at other players only once.

If it's tough to put these massive numbers into a real-world context, consider this: a member of our Yahoo! Games team (who will remain unnamed) once logged an average of six hours a day playing the game over the course of a year -- and never came close to achieving so much with his character.

We could hazard a few guesses, though. At 14.5 quests per day, it would take about 414 days to reach Little Gray's 6,000 quest mark. Speaking conservatively, a veteran Warcarft player can pretty handily knock out three quests in an hour, which would mean about five hours a day for Little Gray.

But that's just for quests. You do a LOT more than that in Warcraft, such as going on raids, engaging in player vs. player combat, and tinkering with your abilities and gear. It wouldn't be even remotely surprising to find out that Little Gray has spent in upwards of ten hours a day playing the game.

Israel settlers obstruct building curbs inspectors

Jewish settlers have sought to prevent building inspectors from enforcing recently announced limits on construction in the occupied West Bank.

Groups of settlers, who have vowed to ignore the curbs, gathered at the entrance to one settlement and said they had forced inspectors to leave.

A government official said there had been some "low level friction".

The Palestinians say Israel's 10-month building pause is not enough and are refusing to restart peace talks.

The building restrictions do not apply to East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want to locate the capital of their future state.

'Without violence'

Settler groups have reacted angrily to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of the new policy last week.

He had been under heavy pressure from the US, with the settlements issue becoming a major sticking point in attempts to resume peace negotiations.

On Monday, the Yesha Council settler group dubbed the new policy, "illegitimate, immoral, anti-Zionist and inhuman", and said the settlers would "continue building the country with the government or without it".

On Tuesday it said it had called on all residents of Israeli settlements in the West Bank to try to "prevent, without violence" the entry of the inspectors.

An Israeli government official said that teams from the civil administration in the West Bank, which is tasked with enforcing the restrictions, had inspected 80 settlements in the past two days.

'Resistance'

He said the teams, which are operating with police escorts, had served at least 60 notices demanding that construction work be halted, and seized five heavy construction vehicles.

The official said residents and local council leaders had "showed some resistance" but "most cases were resolved peacefully".

In the settlement of Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank, the head of the regional council, Malachi Levinger, told the Israeli media residents had forced a team of inspectors to "retrace their steps" by using "passive resistance".

"We would like them to disappear to where they came from," Mr Levinger said.

Under the Israeli new policy, backed by the security cabinet on Wednesday, permits for new homes in the West Bank will not be approved for 10 months.

In an effort to ease the fears of the settlers, many of whom are political allies of his right-wing Likud party, Netanyahu told an audience in Tel Aviv the moratorium was "a one-time decision and it is temporary".

"We shall resume building once the moratorium is over," and the future of the settlements in occupied land "shall be determined only through peace negotiations and not a single day beforehand", Netanyahu said.

Israeli courts

But municipal buildings and about 3,000 homes already under construction will still be allowed to go ahead.

Last week the Defense Ministry approved the construction of 28 educational establishments.

Separately on Tuesday, scuffles broke out at a disputed house in East Jerusalem, which a Jewish family has been attempting to take over.

Television footage showed a Palestinian hitting one of the settlers on the head with a stick.

The house is one of a group of properties which both Palestinian and Jewish families claim to own. Israeli courts have recently ruled in favor of the Jewish claims in some of the cases.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his "dismay" at the "continuation of demolitions, evictions and the installment of Israeli settlers in Palestinian neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem".

Nearly 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built on occupied territory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Settlement building in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law - although Israel disputes this.

The Palestinians have refused to return to peace negotiations unless Israel completely ends all settlement activity.

Rwanda - first landmine-free country

Rwanda has been declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve this status.

The announcement was made at the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World in Columbia.

Hundreds of people have been killed and horrifically injured by landmines in Rwanda.

Landmines were laid between 1990 and 1994 in Rwanda and over the past three years more than over 9,000 have been destroyed by Rwandan soldiers.

Ben Remfrey of the Mines Awareness Trust, which supervised the clearance, says although other countries have had far more mines laid, this is a significant step.

"Rwanda has made history by becoming the first country in the world to be officially declared free from landmines," he told the BBC World Service.

"Rwanda had a problem, it wasn't huge but it was still significant... and had a big social and economic impact."

Land scarce

Landmines have been devastating for Rwanda since their existence prevented many people from being able to live from their land.

Since 80% of the population earn a living by through agriculture, and Rwanda is Africa's most densely populated country, land is already scarce.

Nteziyaremya Alphose, a 40-year-old farmer living in a village north of Kigali, had mines on his farm.

Two adults lost legs and a child and a cow were killed on his farm.

Now his land has been cleared, he says his family are able to grow enough produce to feed themselves.

"I can now use every piece of my land without becoming a victim of landmines, my livestock can now graze on this land and not be taken away from me," he says.

Destroying the mines

The landmines were cleared by Rwandan soldiers who were specially trained in Kenya at the International Mines Action Training Center.

One hundred and eighty soldiers were involved in the clearance process in which 20 minefields were surveyed and de-mined over three years.

The mines, mostly anti-personnel landmines, were either neutralized or destroyed where they were found by qualified personnel.

To be declared as landmine-free, Rwanda had to meet the conditions of the Ottawa Landmine Treaty.

These stipulate that not only does a country have to ensure its land is free of mines but also that it destroys its landmine stockpiles.

The Mines Awareness Trust say that all Rwandan stockpiles were destroyed either by burning or controlled explosions, ensuring these items could never be used again.

A dog specialist and a team of Mine Detection Dogs provided a final check of all the land surveyed and manually cleared so that the land could be signed off to international standards.

Overall, 1.3m square meters of land were tested and cleared.

Gareth Thomas, Africa Minister at the Department for International Development which funded the program, said that this project was important for Rwanda.

"This means that Rwandans from those areas are now able to farm their land," he told the BBC's World Today program.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban convention, better known as the Ottawa Convention, was brought into force 10 years ago.

Its aim was to help rid the world of landmines on the ground as well as stockpiled mines.

Since then, a total of 165 states have ratified the convention and production of anti-personnel mines has ceased in 38 countries.

But according to Landmine Monitor's estimates, more than 160m mines are held by countries not party to the convention and 13 states are still producing mines or retain the right to do so.

Settling the "infidels" question in Islam

by Maher Y. Abu-Munshar

Kuala Lumpur - Despite the substantial number of scholarly works and news stories to the contrary, many people still have the unfortunate misconception that Muslims cannot tolerate, coexist, or cooperate with followers of other religions. This is partly because Muslim extremists themselves often (mis)use Qur’anic verses to justify acts of violence against non-Muslims.

Simply put, these interpretations are wrong. In fact, many verses in the Qur'an call for friendship, fair treatment and cooperation with non-Muslims but are ignored by those wishing to create division in order to fan the flames, so to speak.

Examples of the misused Qur'anic verses include, for example: "Let not the Believers take for allies or helpers Unbelievers rather than Believers" (3:28) and "O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are but allies to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them [for alliance] is of them" (5:51).

These verses should be seen as providing the necessary support for the survival and cohesion of an early vulnerable community of Muslims–the Prophet Muhammad and his followers who arrived as refugees in Medina–in a potentially hostile environment.

In other words, the Qur'an was advising a particular community of Muslims in 7th century Arabia to be wary of entering blindly into political alliances. And indeed they were betrayed at that time by some of their Jewish allies. In fact, these verses were revealed in particular because some Muslims, for personal gain, were keen to establish or keep alliances with non-Muslims at the expense of their co-religionists and the newly formed state. These verses therefore were instructing these early Muslims to be self-reliant and to not depend upon others' protection in order to establish a strong, lasting community.

Like the verses cited above, others are also quoted out of context, easily misleading the uninformed reader. One such verse, "And slay them wherever ye find them..." (2:191), is quoted extensively by many extremist Muslims and non-Muslims alike to showcase Islam's supposed hatred of non-Muslims.

However, this verse too is taken out of context, because the ones just before and after it maintain that Muslims should never be aggressors and should only protect themselves against persecution. The context then becomes clear: this verse was revealed for a specific incident relating to the pagan Arabs who continuously breached the peace and reneged on truces at that particular time. In other words, this instruction is only applicable to this specific incident.

The Egyptian Muslim jurist Yusuf al-Qaradawi points out that these verses are not unconditional and certainly cannot be applied to every single Jew, Christian or non-Muslim. Taking them out of a specific context that relates to some event in earlier Muslim history, they contradict other instructions in the Qur'an that call for kindness to those who wish Muslims no harm.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims must learn to differentiate verses in the Qur'an that are specific to a particular context from those that are universal by also reading those verses that frame the contentious ones.

It is also important to remember that a prevailing message of respect for freedom of religion abounds in the Qur'an: "There is no compulsion in religion" (2:256); "Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans–whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right–surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve" (2:62); among others.

But the ideal relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is best captured by two Qur'anic verses in particular (60:8-9). These verses–which advise Muslims to treat those of other faiths justly–employ a word which comes from the root word birr, which refers to a deep-rooted type of kindness and justice. The Qur'an counsels that birr be the basis of the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims–the same instruction it gives for dealing with one’s parents.

Today, when violent extremists quote these verses out of context to justify terrorism, it is essential to look at the Qur'an closely. All Muslims need to combine recitation of the holy text with full understanding of its injunctions. As the majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic, the language of the Qur'an, it is essential that they refer to trusted sources of interpretation and translation and not follow an unsupported, misguided reading of this text. This will surely pave the way toward eliminating misunderstanding and the misuse of the Qur'an for violent ends and instead promote the universal vision of Qur'an: genuine tolerance and peaceful coexistence between all of humanity.

Jordan- Ministerial panel to revisit Elections Law

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Tuesday formed a ministerial committee tasked with amending the Elections Law.

The premier's decision, made during yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting, came in the wake of His Majesty King Abdullah's decision last week to dissolve the Lower House.

The committee, which will be headed by Dahabi, also includes ministers of interior, media affairs and communications, legal affairs, parliamentary affairs and political development.

According to the government, the committee will soon begin revisiting the current Elections Law and administrative divisions as a step towards amending the controversial law, which has been for the past few years subject to a nationwide debate that yielded no tangible results.

King Abdullah instructed the government last week to amend the Elections Law in preparation for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In a letter to Dahabi, the King stressed that these elections "should be a model of transparency, fairness and integrity, and a promising step in our process of reform and modernization, the aims of which are to achieve the best for our nation and to expand the horizon of progress and prosperity for Jordanians".

"In order to achieve this objective, we hereby give you the responsibility of taking the necessary steps, foremost of which is amending the Elections Law," the King said.

He also directed the government to develop the electoral process "in such a manner that the next legislative elections will be qualitatively improved and all Jordanians will practice their right to campaign and to elect their representatives in Parliament".

The government is authorized to enact temporary laws under Article 94 of the Constitution, which stipulates: "In cases where the National Assembly is not sitting or is dissolved, the Council of Ministers has, with the approval of the King, the power to issue provisional laws covering matters which require necessary measures which admit of no delay or which necessitate expenditures incapable of postponement. Such provisional laws, which shall not be contrary to the provisions of the Constitution, shall have the force of law, provided that they are placed before the Assembly at the beginning of its next session."

By Hani Hazaimeh

New service from Nokia goes live in Jordan

(MENAFN Press) Nokia’s Jordan Ovi Maps featuring Drive and Walk Navigation, Discover and Share

Amman, December 2009 - Nokia, the world leader in mobility, today announced the introduction of new services for the Jordanian market using the latest Ovi Maps application. Nokia's maps and navigation solution gives consumers navigation features, local content and world maps directly on their mobile device.

“By taking the navigation experience out of the car and into the pockets of the consumers, Nokia is enabling Jordanian consumers to explore and discover,” said Bruce Howe, Head of Marketing – Nokia Levant. “Having Ovi Maps on their device gives our consumers a new sense of their surroundings, with the possibility to discover new places and share them with their friends using SMS, MMS or Bluetooth.”

Ovi Maps application for your Nokia device is enhanced through additional features and services, opening up a new world of possibilities with better maps than never before: high resolution satellite and terrain maps, rotation, tilting, night view and fly-overs and fly-throughs. Nokia’s Jordan Ovi maps will be available during the month of November.

Walk from one place to another using WALK, the pedestrian navigation with routing optimized for those on foot, providing better orientation in a city or outdoors.

Or use DRIVE, the fully fledged world class navigation system. The navigation efficiently takes you from A to B with visual turn-by-turn guidance. It helps you to locate yourself by giving information about the surrounding buildings, roundabouts and streets and in newer handsets points the direction in which you are walking using the handset’s built in compass for orientation.

Ovi Maps uses vector maps are provided by Navteq, which was acquired by Nokia in end of 2007. The map data of Jordan, will be offered free of charge and includes detailed Road coverage of 28,621 Km covering 100 municipalities, including street names and street directions.

By this, Nokia has 100 percent of the total road network of Jordan covered including all the major highways connecting Jordan’s major cities. With 13.500 Points of Interests including hotels, restaurants, places of worship, shopping malls, petrol stations and many others, Nokia consumers have will explore Jordan in a new and exciting way.

Maps can be downloaded free of charge over the air directly to selected devices or by using the Nokia Map Loader on a PC.

Later in November 2009, Nokia will launch the ‘Get to good things’ website to Jordanian consumers, so that they can add their personal POI’s from Jordan and share with the world. The URL is http://maps.ovi.com/goodthings

Nokia is the world largest global GPS devices manufacturer is rolling-out Ovi services across the world, “We are continually ensuring that these services are delivered to Nokia users in the region in a manner that is relevant and easy to access. With Maps and Navigation, we have delivered voice-guided navigation in a number of locally relevant languages to enable our consumers to navigate in their native language wherever they are in the world. With these latest services Nokia is fulfilling its promise to provide Jordanian consumers with unique navigation solution wherever they are in the world”, said Mohamed El Sheakh, Services Marketing Manager, Nokia Middle East & Africa.

Ovi Maps for mobile is enhanced through additional features and services, opening up a new world of possibilities with:

•Better maps than ever before with hi-res satellite and terrain maps
•Enriched Global POI information by Lonely Planet, Michelin and Wcities.
•Global Weather service with 24h and 5-day forecasts.
•Walk from a place to another - easy to use pedestrian navigation with routing optimized for pedestrians for better orientation in a city or anywhere outdoors.
•Drive with enhanced safety – car navigation with enhanced safety features.

Hamas to ban January election in Gaza: Ministry

Wednesday, 28 October 2009

Interior ministry says vote issued without Hamas approval
Hamas to ban January election in Gaza: Ministry

Hamas told Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday they should not take part in January elections called by Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the rival Fatah movement.

The move raised doubts about whether the vote decreed by Abbas would take place on Jan. 24 and threatened to further deepen the bitter rift between his secular Fatah party and its Islamist rivals.

Abbas issued a decree ordering elections in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, in a move seen by some as turning up the heat on the Islamist group to sign the deal.

The Interior Ministry said Abbas's call for parliamentary and presidential ballots was issued without the agreement of Hamas and other factions and was illegal.

"Any preparations, any committees, any collecting of names will be regarded as an illegal action that we will pursue," said spokesman Ehab Al-Ghsain.

He said the ministry had instructed local officials not to cooperate with Abbas, whose secular party dominates political life in the West Bank but has been all but driven out of Gaza.

Hamas said its decision would include banning the current Central Election Commission (CEC), which has five offices in Gaza, from operating on orders from Abbas.

Ghsain said the current CEC was no longer entitled to carry out preparations for an election, since Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah had agreed in Egyptian-mediated unity talks that a new body should be formed.

In the West Bank, the CEC meanwhile asked staff who worked on past elections to get in contact in the West Bank and Gaza in order to prepare for the forthcoming campaign.

Hamas drove Fatah out of Gaza in 2007 and the two factions remain bitter rivals.

Unlike Fatah, Hamas has so far resisted signing a draft reconciliation pact brokered by Egypt, which would have set June 28, 2010 as the date for the next election.

Hamas approves law to execute drug dealers

Monday, 30 November 2009

Israeli law abolished & Egyptian law enacted
Hamas approves law to execute drug dealers

The Islamist Hamas-run government ruling Gaza has approved a legal change that will allow for the execution of convicted drug dealers, its attorney general said on Monday.

"The government has approved a decision to cancel the Zionist (Israeli) military law with regard to drugs and enact Egyptian law 19 of 1962," Mohammed Abed, the attorney general, said in a statement.

"The latter law is more comprehensive in terms of crime and criminals and the penalties more advanced, including life sentences and execution."

Egypt administered the Gaza Strip from 1948 until 1967, when Israel seized the territory in the Six-Day War along with the Sinai peninsula, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

"The Zionist law included light punishments that encouraged rather than deterred those who take and trade in drugs, and there is no objective, national or moral justification for continuing to apply it," Abed said.

Israel withdrew its settlers and soldiers from Gaza in the summer of 2005. Two years later, Hamas seized control after a bloody internal struggle with the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Abbas' remit has since been limited to the West Bank.

Hamas, meanwhile, has cracked down on drugs, saying it has arrested more than 100 alleged drug dealers and users, with dozens of kilograms (pounds) of contraband, mostly marijuana, seized.

Abed said the Egyptian law on drugs would remain in effect until a new law could be passed by the Palestinian parliament, which has met only rarely since elections were held in 2006.

Iraqi shoe-thrower finds out what it was like

PARIS – The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush in Baghdad last year had a taste of his own medicine Tuesday when he nearly got beaned by a shoe thrower at a news conference in Paris.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi ducked and the shoe hit the wall behind him.

"He stole my technique," al-Zeidi later quipped.

The identity of the new shoe-thrower — and his motivation — weren't immediately clear, but he appeared to be an Iraqi. It was not known if the intruder was a journalist or just pretended to be one to attend the news conference at a center for foreign reporters.

Whatever his motive, the confrontation didn't stop there.

Al-Zeidi's brother, Maithan, chased the attacker in the audience and — what else? — pelted him with a shoe as he left the room.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, a TV reporter, became a hero to many opponents of the Iraq war when he hurled his shoes at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December 2008 while shouting: "This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." Al-Zeidi was quickly wrestled to the ground by security guards, then imprisoned for nine months before being released in September.

The Paris news conference was held so he could talk about his experiences.

Russia shifts stance on Iran, Ahmadinejad defiant

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia will join any consensus on more sanctions against Iran, a senior Russian diplomatic source said on Tuesday after Tehran declared it would expand nuclear activity in defiance of a U.N. rebuke.

It was a thinly veiled Russian warning to Iran of waning patience with its failure to allay fears it aims to develop atom bombs in secret, and hinted that Iran could no longer rely on Russia to stop tougher world action against it.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced defiance on Tuesday, saying sanctions would have no effect and that no more talks on the nuclear dispute were needed with the West. Speaking on state television, he also criticized Russian action.

Governors of the U.N. nuclear agency passed a resolution on Friday censuring Iran for covertly constructing a second enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, in addition to its IAEA-monitored one at Natanz, and demanding a construction halt.

Tehran said on Sunday it would build 10 more uranium enrichment sites -- a pledge that Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday was "not a bluff".

Iran's announcement had been in retaliation for the 25-3 vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors, which sailed through with unusual Russian and Chinese support.

"If there is a consensus on Iran sanctions, we will not stand aside," said the Russian diplomatic source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

By referring to "consensus", Russia could be leaving itself an escape hatch since China has been the most resistant to punitive steps against Iran among the six world powers.

The source made clear Moscow would not move so fast to embrace harsher sanctions as the United States and EU powers, who want to act early next year if Tehran has not begun fulfilling IAEA demands for nuclear restraint and transparency by then.

"We will be thinking about sanctions but this is not an issue of the next few hours or weeks," he said.

Russia did not want to complicate the situation with threats against Iran.

"We would rather have Iran cooperating more openly and consistently with the IAEA and showing clear steps to lift concerns -- which are gaining greater foundation -- than introducing sanctions against Iran," the source said.

AHMADINEJAD RESPONSE

In his televised comments, Ahmadinejad dismissed the threat of sanctions and warned any "aggressor" against Iran.

"Sanctions will have no effect. Aggressors will regret their action as soon as they put their finger on the trigger," he said.

Israel has hinted at the possibility of attacking Iranian facilities if it deems diplomacy at a dead end.

Ahmadinejad said Western attempts to isolate Iran were in vain and he criticized Russia.

"Russia made a mistake by backing the anti-Iran resolution and we believe that their analysis in this regard was incorrect," he said.

The Russian source said Iran's plan for 10 more enrichment plants did "not add optimism to talks", in a reference to talks with Tehran revived in October but stalled by disputes.

The United States and its allies fear Iran will divert its declared civilian nuclear energy program to yielding atomic bombs, not electricity. Tehran says it has no such intention.

Concerns have deepened over Iran's retreat from an October deal in principle that would see its low-enriched uranium -- which is potential fissile material for bombs -- sent abroad for processing into fuel for a nuclear medicine reactor in Tehran.

"The situation surrounding the agency is stormy now. We have a lot of difficult challenges," new IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano told reporters on his first day in office after succeeding Mohamed ElBaradei. Amano declined to elaborate.

IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said Iran had not yet informed the U.N. nuclear inspectorate directly of its new enrichment plans and that it would seek clarification from Tehran.

Western diplomats and analysts believe the new enrichment plan may be largely bluster, possibly a negotiating gambit by Iran, and would take many years if not decades to execute.

But analysts said the risk remained of Iran using an array of above-board civilian enrichment plants to camouflage one or two small covert sites geared to enriching uranium to the high purity suitable for nuclear warheads.

Military families brace for Obama's Afghan surge

By KEVIN MAURER and RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writers

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. – Battle-weary troops and their families braced for a wrenching round of new deployments to Afghanistan, but many said they support the surge announced Tuesday as long as it helps to end the 8-year-old conflict.

As President Barack Obama outlined his plan to send 30,000 extra troops to Afghanistan — while pledging to start bringing them home in 2011 — soldiers, Marines and their families interviewed by The Associated Press felt a tangle of fresh concerns and renewed hopes. Some took in the televised announcement as they played darts in a barroom near their base, while others watched from their living rooms.

"All I ask that man to do, if he is going to send them over there, is not send them over in vain," said 57-year-old Bill Thomas of Jacksonville, N.C., who watched Obama's televised speech in his living room, where photos of his three sons in uniform hang over the TV.

One of his sons, 23-year-old Cpl. Michael Thomas, is a Marine based at neighboring Camp Lejeune. He'll deploy next year to Afghanistan.

An ex-Marine himself, Thomas said he supports Obama's surge strategy. But he shook his head when the president announced a 2011 transition date to begin pulling out troops.

"If I were the enemy, I would hang back until 2011," Thomas said. "We have to make sure that we are going go stay until the job is done. It ain't going to be as easy as he thinks it is."

Military officials say the Army brigades most likely to be sent as part of the surge will come from Fort Drum in New York and Fort Campbell in Kentucky. Marines, who will be the vanguard, will most likely come primarily from Camp Lejeune.

As the wife of a Marine stationed at Camp Lejeune, where some of the first surge units could deploy by Christmas, Jamie Copeland says she wished the war "would be over and done with."

Copeland's husband, Sgt. Doug Copeland, is already scheduled to return to Afghanistan later this fall. She hates to see him go — he just returned from his last seven-month tour in August — and miss more time with their 1-year-old son. But she also concedes that American forces need more help fighting Taliban insurgents.

"We need to be in Afghanistan," said Copeland, 24. "Our Marines are getting slaughtered out there. I would say we need more out there. Iraq is done."

At the John Hoover Inn, a bar in Evans Mills, N.Y., near Fort Drum, a dozen soldiers watched the speech on a large-screen TV, drinking beer out of red cups. When Obama announced the troop increase, only one cheered, and the rest remained silent. They continued to play darts while the president was speaking.

"I'm just relieved to know where we're going," said Spc. Adam Candee, 29, of Chicago.

Theresa McCleod said she worries what Obama's plans might mean for her husband, a soldier in the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. She said he's already done a long combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, leaving her to care for their three children.

"First he was supposed to be pulling everyone out, and now all the sudden he's throwing everybody back into Afghanistan and it's like nobody can really make up their minds," McCleod said of Obama.

Obama's plan calls for deploying 30,000 troops to Afghanistan in the next six months, boosting total U.S. forces there to about 100,000. The first waves of Marines are expected to arrive by Christmas, with the rest coming by summer.

The president also began outlining an endgame to the war, saying troops would begin pulling out of Afghanistan in July 2011 — though he did not say when a withdrawal could be completed.

Army 1st Lt. Emily Stahl, who is preparing to deploy from Fort Campbell next spring, said she's not going to focus on the timetable.

"We have to get the job done," Stahl, 24, said after watching the speech from her home outside the Army post, where she serves in the 101st Airborne Division. "If we do what we're supposed to do, the end of the war will come when it comes."

At home with her two young children in rural Byron, Ga., Traci Watson hopes the surge does work — and brings a swift end to the war.

Her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Dwayne Watson, is midway through a yearlong tour in Afghanistan with the Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade, which has 2,400 troops helping to train Afghan security forces. While she's a little concerned the surge could delay her husband coming home around March, she also hopes it means he won't have to deploy again.

"There's always the worry that his orders might be extended and he might have to help transition between the ones they have coming and the ones that are leaving," Watson said. "But if staying an extra 30 or 60 days meant he wouldn't have to be gone from our family a year later, absolutely."

US troop surge 'not making any sense'

Wed Dec 2, 2009

The US decision to assign another 30,000 soldiers to Afghanistan is politically motivated, says American politician and renowned anti-war activist, Medea Benjamin.

President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday the surge in American troops in Afghanistan, saying the additional forces would be deployed in the first part of 2010.

"Sending 30,000 more troops is really a political decision to make Obama look tough on security, to try to quiet some elements of the right in this country," Benjamin told Press TV.

"But, in terms of a war strategy, it really does not make any sense," added the former Green Party candidate and co-founder of the female-dominated advocacy group Code Pink.

The commander-in-chief has devised a six-month timetable for the surge, said one US official on Tuesday on condition of anonymity, the AFP news agency reported.

There are currently around 110,000 American and other foreign soldiers deployed in Afghanistan under the US command.

Afghanistan is nevertheless grappling with nine-year-high violence. Many thousands of Afghan civilians have died in the crossfire between the US-led forces and the Taliban or as a result of miscalculated attacks on alleged militant lairs.

A CNN-commissioned poll recently showed that 49 percent of Americans objected to further troop deployments. Vocal opposition against the surge has also risen within the president's former party.

"It really does not make any sense. When you talk to these counterinsurgency folks, they will tell you that…hundreds and hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed for a counterinsurgency strategy," Benjamin had said earlier in her remarks.

The campaigner represented the Green Party in Senate elections in 2000.

As a co-founder of the Code Pink, Benjamin and her co-activists advocated winding down of the Iraq war, preventing new hostilities and channeling the federal budget into "healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities".

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/112653.html.

'Muslims should withdraw their money from Swiss banks'

Turkish State Minister and Chief Negotiator for EU talks Egemen Bagis has urged Muslim nations to withdraw their money from Swiss banks.

Bagis' comments came in response to a recently approved ban on the construction of new minarets in Switzerland.

Following a weekend referendum, the construction of any new minaret was declared illegal in Switzerland, a move which drew sharp criticism from Muslim and European countries, as well as the UN and the Vatican.

"This will prompt our Muslim brothers who have deposited their money in Swiss banks to rethink their decision,” the Turkish daily Zaman quoted Bagis as saying on Tuesday.

He suggested that Muslims could deposit their money in Turkish banks instead of Swiss banks.

“In 2008, when banks around the world were falling, no bank was affected in Turkey, and the door of Turkey's banking system is open to them,” Bagis added.

Prisoner deal with Israel likely in December, Hamas says

The Hamas interior minister says that a prisoner exchange with Israel is likely to take place this month as a German mediator is in Gaza City to deliver Israel's final response to Hamas' demands over the impending deal.

“We hope, and we are endeavoring to complete the deal on December 14, which commemorates the 22nd anniversary of Hamas. It will also be close to the first anniversary of the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip on December 27. The two anniversaries will mark a holiday for liberating prisoners,” Fathi Hammad said.

Israel would likely release 980 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas more than three years ago, the Israeli State Prosecution said.

The Israeli government is likely to free the 450 prisoners that Hamas has asked for in exchange for Shalit, as well as an additional 530 prisoners as a gesture to the Palestinians.

The decision was made by the Israeli High Court of Justice in response to a petition filed by the Amagor Israeli group and three bereaved families against the prisoner swap deal.

The bereaved families wanted the court to reveal why the criteria for the prisoner release was not made public and why there is military censorship on information that should be available to the public.

Gilad Shalit has been a prisoner of war since he was captured by Hamas fighters on June 25, 2006 near the Israel-Gaza border.

Over 11,500 Palestinians, including women and children, are currently imprisoned in Israeli detention facilities under harsh and life-threatening conditions.

Irish churches desperately look for priests

Ireland's Catholic churches may soon be left without sufficient priests to run their routine affairs, the Time magazine writes.

Earlier this month, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, had made a grim prediction about the future of the church in Ireland: "If more young priests aren't found quickly, the country's parishes may soon not have enough clergy to survive," Archbishop Martin said.

The archbishop told the congregation at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin that his diocese had 46 priests ages 80 or older but only two under 35.

It is a similar story all over the island. According to a 2007 study of Catholic dioceses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, about half of all priests are aged between 55 and 74.

The ordination of a family member was once regarded as a moment of great prestige, especially in rural areas.

Even as recently as 1990, over 80% of Irish people said they attended Mass at least once a week. But the country's relationship with the church began to change dramatically in the mid-1990s, when Ireland's economy began to take off, ushering in years of unprecedented growth.

Soon, disaffection replaced devotion among Ireland's newly rich younger generation. Most devastating of all, however, were the sex-abuse scandals involving pedophile priests that surfaced around the same time.

But more was still to come. Last May, the government published the findings of a nine-year inquiry into child abuse at church-run schools, orphanages and hospitals from the 1930s to the 1990s.

The report, which described "endemic sexual abuse" at boys' schools and the "daily terror" of physical abuse at other institutions, shook Ireland to its core and left the reputation of the church and the religious orders that ran its schools in tatters.

Then, this week, another government inquiry found that the church and police colluded to cover up numerous cases of child sex abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004, prompting the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, to apologize to the Irish people.

"No one is above the law in this country," he said. There are now calls for similar inquiries to be held in every diocese in Ireland.

Vincent Cushnahan, 29, the youngest serving priest in Ireland, says the church needs to carry out structural reforms, such as cutting the number of parishes (and, therefore, the number of priests required to fill them) and giving greater responsibilities to laypeople.

In some Irish parishes, for example, non-ordained church members are now responsible for roles like youth ministry.

Cushnahan knows how hard it is for the church to recruit young men these days and he himself had to face the challenging decision. "I had to forsake married life, my own house and money," he says.

"[Being a priest] can be more isolating and countercultural than it has been in the past. It's more challenging, but also more rewarding because of that."