Malaysia drafts law on prisoner transfers to ease overcrowding

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's prisons department has drafted a law which would allow convicted foreigners to be transferred to their countries of origin in a move to ease overcrowding in jails, a news report said Tuesday. The draft, which is due to be tabled in Parliament by 2011, would enable foreigners convicted in Malaysia to be sent back to their own countries to serve out their sentences, said Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop.

He said the law would also allow Malaysians in foreign prisons to be brought home, but added that the transfers would depend on individual cases and countries.

"It's not automatic. The law will give us the power to establish cooperation with the respective countries.

"Once we have the law, we will discuss the matter with the various countries and if they agree to the transfer, we will sign a memorandum of understanding with them," Abu Seman was quoted as saying by the Star online news portal.

Convicted foreign prisoners from 20 different countries currently make up 26 per cent, or 8,454 out of 32,443 inmates, in prisons nationwide, the report said.

Rights groups have often criticized the overcrowded and unsavory living conditions of Malaysia's 10 prisons.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302154,malaysia-drafts-law-on-prisoner-transfers-to-ease-overcrowding.html.

Spain protests to Cuba over parliamentarian's entry ban - Summary

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Madrid - Spain will protest to Cuba over its decision to refuse entry to a Spanish member of the European parliament, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. The Cuban ambassador to Madrid has been summoned to a meeting on Tuesday with Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, a secretary of state responsible for Ibero-American affairs, the ministry said.

De Laiglesia was due to ask Cuba to explain the "unjustified" decision to bar entry to European MP Luis Yanez early Monday.

Yanez had tried to enter Cuba with a tourist visa, according to sources of his Socialist Party.

The sources said the Cuban authorities did not give any explanation for their decision, but electronic media reports claimed they had suspected Yanez planned to meet with dissidents during his private visit.

Yanez' wife, a Socialist member of the Spanish parliament, was reportedly allowed entry. However, she decided to accompany him back to Spain.

The expulsion came just days after Spain took over the rotating European Union presidency on January 1. Madrid has said it intends to upgrade relations between the EU and the Caribbean island.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302048,spain-protests-to-cuba-over-parliamentarians-entry-ban--summary.html.

World's tallest building opens in Dubai - Summary

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Dubai - Thousands of people craned their necks Monday evening in Dubai to watch fireworks shoot from the sides of the world's tallest building, now called the Burj Khalifa, after United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The tower had hitherto been called the Burj Dubai, but after a few brief remarks, Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, pulled aside a curtain covering a plaque commemorating the inauguration of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan Tower.

Sheikh Khalifa, the ruler of the neighboring city-state of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, stayed close by Sheikh Mohammed's side throughout the ceremony.

Seated next to his cousin, Sheikh Mohammed at one point appeared to have a tear in his eye as he watched what should have been an unqualified testament to his city-state's rise as a world financial center.

It was Sheikh Khalifa, who Forbes magazine estimates is personally worth 19 billion dollars, who made the decision to bail out Dubai last month, as creditors clamored following state-owned giant Dubai World's November announcement it was seeking a freeze on payments on 59 billion dollars of liabilities.

In a celebration more in keeping with the culture of the Emirates' conservative rulers than the freewheeling expatriates who have flocked to Dubai looking for a piece of the credit-fed gold rush in recent years, the event began with children singing as Sheikh Mohammed entered.

Men performed a traditional sword dance while others glided into the ceremony on parachutes emblazoned with the UAE flag and its rulers' images. A similarly festooned hot-air balloon floated quietly into the night air.

As an orchestra played, a video screen proclaimed the building's height after years of mystery: 828 meters, a full 319 meters taller than the Taipei 101 tower, formerly the world's tallest building.

Only at the climax was the UAE's more recent reputation for razzmatazz on display: A spectacular, synchronized, light, fountain and fireworks show greeted the climax, with fireworks shooting off the sides of the building.

Like so much in Dubai, the tower was designed by a Briton, in this case architect Adrian Smith. And like so much in Dubai, the tower was built by migrant workers, many of them from South Asia.

They toiled 22 million hours over the course of 1,325 days, pouring 330,000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete and fitting 103,000 square meters of sheet glass nearly a kilometer off the ground to produce 1,000 luxury residences, 160 swish hotel rooms, and 37 office floors with corporate suites.

And as with other mega-projects in the city-state, as the Dubai property market continues to fall, investors in the Burj Khalifa, the Emirates' pride, will be watching to see if the millions of square meters of new office and residential space will be filled.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302059,worlds-tallest-building-opens-in-dubai--summary.html.

UN urges change of mindset in Afghanistan to ensure success

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

New York - To succeed in Afghanistan, the international community and Kabul need to change their mindset on how to end the conflict in the war-torn nation, the United Nations said Monday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to both the UN General Assembly and Security Council that maintaining the status quo is a recipe for failure in Afghanistan.

An international conference is to be held in London on January 28, with a second one in Kabul, to review foreign assistance and Afghanistan's taking over of security responsibility from international forces now operating in that country.

"We are at a critical juncture," Ban said in the report. "The situation cannot continue as is if we are to succeed in Afghanistan."

"There is a need for a change of mindset in the international community as well as in the government of Afghanistan," Ban said. "Without that change, the prospect of success will diminish further."

The report called on Kabul and the international community to make the best use of the coming months "in a concerted effort to focus on agreed priorities and to coordinate in a way that avoids waste of resources and is impact-oriented."

One proposal is to reinforce international cooperation under the UN umbrella in Afghanistan, which is headed by Kai Eide, a Dutch diplomat. Eide has called for the appointment of a senior civilian official in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to improve coordination of political and development efforts.

ISAF, composed mostly of NATO troops, is responsible for security in Afghanistan but it has been criticized for causing high numbers of civilian deaths during military raids.

"I believe that in order to be successful, any form of international coordination must be properly linked to the government of Afghanistan," Ban said emphasizing the need for a civilian coordination structure.

The report defended UN involvement in the presidential elections last September, in which President Hamid Karzai won a runoff after his rival withdrew. Both the UN and Kabul's electoral commission had denounced fraud during the electoral process.

The report rejected reports and analyzes that condemned Kabul's state-building process because of the flawed elections.

"This is incorrect," the report said. It said the fault remained in Afghanistan's weak state-building process, including the "ongoing culture of impunity, the still inadequate security forces, corruption and the insufficient pace of institution-building, that undermined the electoral process."

It said the flawed elections revealed in a snapshot what had not been achieved in Afghanistan.

"Despise the flaws, however, this is not a reason to abandon what has been achieved and what must now be built upon," it said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302072,un-urges-change-of-mindset-in-afghanistan-to-ensure-success.html.

Five more exoplanets found in Milky Way, but no Earth twin

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Washington - NASA scientists said Monday they have identified another five planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. But none of them appears to be the long sought after Earth-twin that could support life the way the home planet does, Kepler telescope specialists said at a news conference in Washington.

The data came from the Kepler telescope, which was launched in March into a wide orbit around the sun. In addition to the five newly confirmed planets, Kepler has delivered data on another 125 or so space bodies that have not yet been analyzed to determine if they are actually planets circling other suns, the astronomers said.

William Borucki, the lead scientist for the telescope, said the five new "exoplanets," as they are called, are orbiting "quite close to their stars" and are "quite hot."

"The planets we found are all hotter than molten lava ... they all glow with their temperatures," he said. "Certainly no place to look for life."

Because of their low density and fast orbits - 2.3-to-4.9-day orbits - the five planets in fact represent "the first of a new breed," one of his colleagues said.

Borucki was excited that the five planets were found in data from the first six weeks and have been confirmed by ground-based telescopes. That means the 590-million-dollar Kepler program is delivering accurate clear pictures from outer space, he said.

In August, Kepler was able to pick out the exoplanet HAT-P-7b, a body previously identified by Earth-bound telescopes. Kepler for the first time was able to measure the amount of light being emitted by the planet itself.

Scientists hope the three-and-a-half-year Kepler mission will answer the question: "Are we alone in the universe?"

It "could tell us that we have lots of neighbors or that we are perhaps the only one," researcher Ed Weiler said in March.

Since 1995, more than 340 planets have been found outside our solar system, but they have been large, gaseous planets, like Jupiter, which tend to be closer to their stars and easier to spot because of their size.

Planets like Earth, which could support life, can exist only in a small "habitable zone" within a certain distance from their sun. They are also harder to spot because they are smaller and denser.

Kepler carries the most advanced cameras ever used in space, focusing them on a small swatch of the galaxy - some 100,000 to 150,000 stars -deemed most likely to have orbiting planets. Data from the cameras is used to find planets by looking for distortions in the light being emitted as an orbiting planet crosses in front of the star.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302073,five-more-exoplanets-found-in-milky-way-but-no-earth-twin.html.

Clinton calls Yemen situation a threat to global security - Summary

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Washington - The unstable situation in Yemen poses a threat to regional and global security, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday. International efforts to support the Yemeni government in confronting extremism must be strengthened to prevent al-Qaeda from using the country "as a base for terrorist attacks far beyond the region," Clinton said.

"The instability in Yemen is a threat to regional stability and even global stability," she said after meeting with the prime minister of Qatar, Hamad Bin Jassim Jabr al-Thani.

US officials have long been concerned about the growing presence of al-Qaeda in remote areas of Yemen, and their apprehensions were highlighted in the failed Christmas Day plot against a US airliner.

The Nigerian suspect, 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, reportedly told authorities he received training from al-Qaeda in Yemen and the explosives materials that failed to detonate on the flight bound for Detroit.

The US embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana'a was closed for a second day on Monday because of al-Qaeda threats against American interests. Clinton said the environment is under continuous review and the embassy will reopen "when security conditions permit."

The British, French and Japanese embassies in Sana'a were also closed.

President Barack Obama returned to Washington after a two-week winter break in Hawaii with the attack on the Delta/Northwest Airlines flight on the top of his agenda.

He was to hold a high-level meeting with his top national security team Tuesday to review how the suspect was able to breach security.

Obama has ordered an internal government review and acknowledged there were "systemic failures" in the intelligence community. US agencies reportedly received information about a Nigerian man training in Yemen to carry out an attack on the United States, but were unable to stop it.

Abdulmutallab's father had reportedly warned US officials at the embassy in Nigeria that he feared his son could be involved in terrorism.

Clinton said the State Department complied with its responsibilities to share information with other US government agencies about potential terrorism, but it was reviewing the procedures.

"We are not satisfied," she said.

Clinton said pressure must also be kept on the Yemeni government to show that international assistance is yielding progress in stabilizing the country.

"It's time for the international community to make it clear to Yemen that there are expectations and conditions on our continuing support for the government," she said.

The Obama administration was providing Yemen with 52.5 million dollars in development aid, up from 40.3 million in 2009, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. On top of that, Washington gave Yemen 67 million dollars in 2009 to support counterterrorism efforts.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302081,clinton-calls-yemen-situation-a-threat-to-global-security--summary.html.

South Korea sees 'turning point' in relations with North in 2010

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Seoul - South Korea plans to push for continual dialogue with North Korea in 2010, President Lee Myung Bak said Monday after a year of rising tensions amid a North Korean nuclear test, missile launches and threats against its neighbor. Both countries should work to usher in a "turning point" in their relationship, the South Korean leader said in a television address for the New Year.

At the same time, Lee called on South Korea's Stalinist neighbor to return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons program.

Those talks have been stalled for more than a year, and Pyongyang unilaterally withdrew from them in April after new UN sanctions were ordered after it conducted a long-range missile test.

Lee said he hoped that denuclearization could also lead to the development of inter-Korean relations into full cooperation and an improvement in the living conditions of North Korea's impoverished population.

"There should be a forum for permanent discussions between South and North," Lee said.

Lee's address followed a New Year's message from state-controlled North Korea media in which Pyongyang called for an improvement in relations with both South Korea and the United States.

"It is the consistent stand of the DPRK to establish a lasting peace system on the Korean Peninsula and make it nuclear-free through dialogue and negotiations," it said, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The statement was a marked contrast to its New Year's message a year earlier when North Korea accused Lee's government of being responsible for the deterioration of relations and planning to "re-establish the era of fascist dictatorship."

Relations between the two Koreas dramatically declined after the conservative Lee took office in February 2008, as he took a harder line toward the North than his liberal predecessors.

They soured further in 2009 with North Korea's second nuclear test in May and a series of missile tests. They saw an improvement in August, however, as North Korea made cautious overtures to the South.

Not only are communist North Korea and the capitalist South, which has Asia's fourth-largest economy, on different sides of the ideological divide, but they are also remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301946,south-korea-sees-turning-point-in-relations-with-north-in-2010.html.

100 dead as cold wave grips India

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

New Delhi - At least 100 people, mostly the homeless and elderly, have died in a cold wave sweeping across the northern and eastern regions of India, media reports said Monday. The deaths have been reported since Wednesday from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh; the national capital, New Delhi; and the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Dense fog and temperatures dropping to zero degrees Celsius were registered in several places, including Amritsar in the northern state of Punjab.

The weather bureau said the cold conditions would persist over the next few days.

Uttar Pradesh was hit the hardest with a death toll of at least 72 after 16 more deaths were reported since Sunday, the CNN-IBN network reported.

Most of the victims were homeless people in districts such as Banda, Fatehpur, Sonabhadra and Kanpur, the report said.

Temperatures across major towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh have ranged from 1 to 4 degrees.

The states of Jharkhand and Bihar reported 13 and 11 deaths, respectively, over the past few days, the IANS news agency reported.

The remaining deaths were reported from Delhi and the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand were arranging for shelters for the poor and issued orders for bonfires to be lit along roads for the homeless.

Delhi and neighboring areas witnessed spells of rain Sunday that brought down the minimum temperature to 9.5 degrees.

Heavy fog also hampered vehicular traffic and delayed 100 flights and 22 trains across northern India Sunday.

The cold weather played spoilsport for holiday tourists visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra as the world-famous monument remained cloaked in fog over the weekend.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301976,100-dead-as-cold-wave-grips-india.html.

Report: Spain's Zapatero to seek expert advice on EU questions

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country took over the rotating European Union presidency on January 1, will create a group of veteran experts to advise him on how to lift the EU out of its economic crisis, the daily El Pais reported Monday. The "group of wise persons," whose members include former European Commission president Jacques Delors and former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, was to hold its first meeting in Madrid on Tuesday.

Delors presided over the European Commission between 1985 and 1995. Gonzalez, who was Spanish prime minister from 1982 to 1996, heads a think tank on Europe's future.

The other members of Zapatero's group were to include former European economic affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes and Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado, El Pais said.

Zapatero was expected to seek advice on common policies in industry, innovation, energy, agriculture, on a reform of the financial monitoring system, and on improving the exchange of tax information, according to the daily.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301978,report-spains-zapatero-to-seek-expert-advice-on-eu-questions.html.

Bridge collapse kills seven in southern China

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Beijing - A bridge under construction at the new airport in Kunming in southern China collapsed Monday, killing seven construction workers, the official Xinhua news agency said. Thirty-four people were injured, eight of them severely.

The cause of the accident, which saw the collapse of a 38-meter section of a 13-meter-wide flyover, was not yet known.

The new airport, whose construction costs were estimated at 23 billion yuan (3.37 billion dollars), was scheduled for completion in 2011 in the capital of Yunnan province. It is to have a capacity of 38 million passengers per year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301981,bridge-collapse-kills-seven-in-southern-china.html.

European Parliament delegation postpones Tehran visit

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Tehran - A delegation from the European Parliament has postponed a scheduled visit this month to Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Monday. The IRNA news agency quoted the spokesman as saying that a new date was to be set soon for the visit but he did not give a reason for the postponement.

However, IRNA said the delegation has reportedly canceled the visit because of protests by members of the US Congress.

The EU delegation was supposed to explore ways to boost cooperation with Iran's parliament and also discuss the dispute over Iran's nuclear programs.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301982,european-parliament-delegation-postpones-tehran-visit.html.

Report: Sinai Bedouin attack government buildings

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Cairo (Earth Times - dpa) - A group of Bedouin opened fire at government buildings in northern Sinai, injuring several government employees, al-Arabiya television reported Monday. The attack, which occurred late Sunday, was in retaliation for the deaths of two Bedouins during a recent security crackdown, the station reported on its website.

The security headquarters and local council for the Egyptian province of North Sinai were among the buildings hit by gunfire, al-Arabiya said. Cultural and educational offices were also hit.

An unknown number of Ministry of Interior officers were injured in the shooting, the station reported.

Witnesses said the attack was in retaliation for the deaths of two Sinai Bedouin shot while fleeing from security forces two days ago.

Egyptian security forces said the two, Mohammed Wali and Salma al- Talimi, were drug smugglers trying to cross illegally into the Gaza Strip.

Witnesses told al-Arabiya that the families of the slain men left their funerals angry and shot up the government buildings.

Relations between Sinai's Bedouin and the Egyptian state have been strained in the decades since Sinai returned to Egypt. Many Bedouin complain of high-handed treatment from security forces, and that the Egyptian government's economic policies favor citizens from the Nile Valley.

China's richest village to finish its skyscraper in June

Huaxi Village in East China's Jiangsu Province, allegedly the richest village in the country, saw its skyscraper rise to 250 meters on Tuesday, the Yangtze Evening News reports.

The 74-storey skyscraper is expected to reach 328 meters upon completion this June. Costing more than 1.5 billion yuan, the mega-building is scheduled to go into operation in 2011 to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the village.

Now the village is looking to Taiwan for investment and cooperation opportunities.

Wu Renbao, the former village leader who has transformed the sleepy farming community into an industrial hub of Jiangsu Province and a model for industry throughout China, has just visited Taiwan's city of Taichung.

He told the city's mayor, Jason Hu, that Huaxi intends to build a 100-meter gilded pagoda in Taichung.

If viable, the new building will be the tallest of its kind in the world and will feature high-end restaurants on the premises that cater to businesses and tourists.

Mayor Hu has welcomed the proposal and suggested several sites for the pagoda. The construction site has not been decided yet.

Source: People's Daily Online.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6861230.html.

China, Singapore seek to further military ties

China and Singapore pledged to further boost military cooperation at a high level meeting of senior military officers on Wednesday.

"The Chinese and Singaporean armed forces have conducted diversified and pragmatic cooperation, and maintained a good momentum of development of their relations, " said Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie when meeting with Singapore's Chief of Army Neo Kian Hong in Beijing.

Liang said China was willing to work with Singapore to further expand fields of military cooperation and exchanges to contribute to the comprehensive and in-depth development of China-Singapore relations.

Liang said China appreciated Singapore's support on issues concerning China's core interest.

Neo said the two armed forces had played a positive role in safeguarding regional peace and stability and the Singaporean armed forces would like to boost their friendly military cooperation with China.

Source: People's Daily Online.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6861590.html.

Endangered species protection assured in HK

Acting Secretary for the Environment of Hong Kong Kitty Poon Wednesday said there were 69 successful prosecutions related to illegal import of endangered species in the first 11 months of 2009.

Poon told lawmakers on Wednesday that the numbers of prosecutions were 73 and 61 for 2007 and 2008 respectively and reiterated the government's commitment to the protection of endangered species and implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The convention's Conference of the Parties will consider in March the listing of other shark species, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature-listed threatened shark species, including the scalloped hammerhead, said Poon.

She said the government will closely follow the international control as required by the convention on the trade in endangered species. Species listed in the convention appendices at the Conference of the Parties will be put under the control of the ordinance accordingly.

Illegal import of endangered species warrants two years' jail and a 5-million U.S. dollar fine.

Source: People's Daily Online.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6861568.html.

Record snowfall brings chaos to Beijing, northern China

Mon, 04 Jan 2010

Beijing - The heaviest snowfall in nearly 60 years brought chaos to Beijing and much of northern China for a second day Monday, forcing the cancellation of flights and severely restricting road traffic. A meteorological station in southern Beijing on Sunday recorded the highest snowfall in January since 1951, state media reported.

Temperatures in the Chinese capital plummeted over the weekend and were forecast to reach a low of minus 16 degrees Celsius early Tuesday, which was expected to be the coldest day in Beijing in about 30 years.

Schools in Beijing and the nearby city of Tianjin were closed Monday while many expressways were also closed to traffic as the government mobilized 300,000 people to clear snow from Beijing's largely empty streets.

Snow up to 33.5 centimeters accumulated in parts of central Beijing while the outlying Huairou district reported snow lying up to 37.5 centimeters deep.

Slush, snow and ice still covered even major roads by late Monday afternoon.

The city government sent text messages to many of Beijing's 17 million residents Monday, asking them to use public transport if they needed to go out and urging them to keep warm and take care not to slip on the icy streets.

About 90 per cent of flights to and from Beijing's Capital International Airport were delayed or canceled Sunday and Monday.

Aviation authorities said 655 flights from Beijing were canceled Sunday with the airport only able to operate one of its three runways.

One of the people affected was Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang, who was forced to cancel talks Monday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao because he could not fly into Beijing.

The main airports in Tianjin and the northern city of Hohhot, the capital of China's Inner Mongolia region, were closed Sunday.

About 1,400 passengers were rescued from a train stranded by heavy snow in Inner Mongolia.

Temperatures in Hohhot were forecast to drop as low as minus 23 degrees Monday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301984,record-snowfall-brings-chaos-to-beijing-northern-china.html.

US troops in Iraq no longer a 'multi-national' force

Fri, 01 Jan 2010

Baghdad - US forces in Iraq officially renamed their military command during a ceremony Friday at their base on the outskirts of the capital. The 110,000 troops in the country will now be known as United States Forces - Iraq (USF-I), changing the name from "Multi-National Forces - Iraq" (MNF-1), which had been the designation since the US- led 2003 invasion of the country.

Senior military officials from both countries were on hand for the Baghdad ceremony, including General David Petraeus, the top US military commander for Central Asia and the Middle East, who led US forces in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.

The change reflects new realities on the ground after British and Australian forces became the last major contingents of foreign forces to leave Iraq in July.

US forces also began reducing their presence over the summer as the security situation improved, pulling troops out of Iraqi cities. Troop numbers are expected to be cut to about 50,000 by the end of August and a near-complete withdrawal is planned by the end of 2011.

The multi-national designation had long been controversial as the bulk of the 2003 invasion consisted of US troops. The so-called "coalition of the willing" that invaded Iraq originally included 39 countries, but many contributed just a handful of soldiers.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301766,us-troops-in-iraq-no-longer-a-multi-national-force.html.

Philippines lowers alert level at volcano

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Manila - Philippine volcanologists on Saturday lowered the alert level at the country's most active volcano amid decreasing activity three weeks after it began spewing lava and plumes of ash. The lowered alert level prompted local authorities to start allowing more than 34,000 villagers to return to their homes after they had been forced to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays in evacuation centers.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said there was "less probability of a hazardous explosive eruption" of the Mayon Volcano in Albay province, 360 kilometers south-east of Manila.

The institute noted that for the past four days, no ash explosions had been recorded at Mayon and the number of volcanic earthquakes and sulfur dioxide emissions have declined.

"In view of the observations, Phivolcs is lowering the alert status of Mayon from alert level four to alert level three to reflect the overall gradual decrease of activity," the institute said.

But it warned that Mayon's "overall state of unrest remains relatively high" so people should still stay away from areas within 6 kilometers of the volcano's summit.

A total of 47,563 people were forced to evacuate their homes after Mayon began ejecting lava and ash on December 14.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda on Saturday immediately ordered municipal officials to allow 34,482 displaced residents to go back to their homes around Mayon after receiving information on the lowered alert level.

Only 12,803 people who live within 6 kilometers of the volcano would have to stay in evacuation centers, he said.

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

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

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301775,philippines-lowers-alert-level-at-volcano.html.

Germany: Security command transfer to Afghans should begin in 2010

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Berlin - A transfer of responsibility for security in Afghanistan from NATO-led forces to local authorities should begin this year, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was quoted as saying Saturday. "At the Afghanistan conference in London we should be working towards beginning the hand-over process for security responsibility from 2010 on," Westerwelle said in an interview with the Focus news magazine.

"It's about the beginning of a process which has an exit strategy for our soldiers at its end," he said.

An international conference on the NATO allies' strategy in Afghanistan is to be held in London on January 28.

Germany, with up to 4,500 troops in the north of Afghanistan, has the third-largest NATO contingent there, but has so far resisted calls to make a troop commitment to augment US President Barack Obama's plan to send an additional 30,000 soldiers.

According to recent opinion polls, up to three quarters of the German population are against the country's involvement in the Afghan conflict.

Westerwelle has insisted that a comprehensive approach to building governance, fighting corruption, and economic development in Afghanistan must be key parts of the allies' strategy, rather than merely sending more troops.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301805,ten-killed-40-injured-in-train-crashes-in-northern-india.html.

Ten killed, 40 injured in train crashes in northern India - Summary

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

New Delhi - Five passenger trains collided in three accidents amid dense fog in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh Saturday, killing at least 10 passengers and injuring more than 40. Railway spokesman Rajesh Dutt Bajpai said the Gorakhdham Express rammed into the Prayagraj Express near the Panki railway station in Kanpur, 90 kilometers south of the state capital, Lucknow.

"The Prayagraj Express was standing near the station when the Gorakhdham Express hit it from behind due to reduced visibility owing to the fog," Bajpai said.

Officials at the Railway Ministry headquarters in national capital New Delhi confirmed that seven men and three women were among the victims.

Over 30 injured were moved to three local hospitals and the death toll was likely to rise as nearly a dozen passengers sustained "serious injuries."

Rescue operations continued till late in the afternoon after which the tracks were cleared of the coaches that had derailed after the impact.

In the second accident Saturday, the Lichchavi Express and the Magadh Express passenger trains collided in the eastern district of Etawah.

Thirteen passengers, including the train driver, were injured in the collision, the NDTV network reported.

Railway officials said visibility at both sites was only about 30 meters because of dense fog.

Later on Saturday, a third train accident due to fog involving Sarju Express and a railway maintenance trolley was reported from near the Allahabad city. Four people suffered minor injuries in the incident.

"Although fog appears to be the main reason behind the accidents, the railways has ordered probes into the accidents," Bajpai said.

"The commissioner of railway safety has been tasked with the investigations," he said. Railway authorities announced compensation of 500,000 rupees (10,730 dollars) to the families of those killed.

Scores of passengers were likely to be stranded at railway stations as traffic on the busy train route was suspended after the accidents.

Dense fog created havoc across India's northern regions on Saturday, hitting air and road traffic as well.

Three people died in road accidents in Delhi caused by the blinding fog, the IANS news agency reported.

Railway authorities said 54 trains, most of them connecting Delhi with other key northern cities were delayed.

More than 35 domestic and international flights were also delayed or canceled, as no flight could take off or land for nearly eight hours from the Delhi international airport due to reduced runway visibility.

Several parts of four northern Indian states including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir faced power cuts early Saturday due to problem with the regional power grid.

Electricity was restored in most regions except the Kashmir valley by early afternoon, officials said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301805,ten-killed-40-injured-in-train-crashes-in-northern-india.html.

Turkish, Saudi foreign ministers meet on Mideast peace

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Riyadh - Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held talks Saturday with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saudi al-Faisal, which focused in part on the stagnated Middle East peace process. "Riyadh and Ankara seek security and stability in the region and to achieve the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people," Davutoglu said.

The two minister, who convened their talks in Riyadh, also discussed bilateral relations, officials said after the meeting.

Davutoglu was expected to meet Saudi King Abdullah on Sunday, the last of a three-day trip, and discuss Turkey's position on Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

Turkey had hosted the talks, and was making progress, the sides said at the time, though negotiations were called off after the conflict in Gaza began in late 2008.

Davutoglu also met with Ekmaleldin Ehsanoglu, head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, in Jeddah on Friday, during which they discussed the turmoil in Somalia and the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur ahead of a donors' conference.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301810,turkish-saudi-foreign-ministers-meet-on-mideast-peace.html.

Hunters shoot 14 Swedish wolves on first hunt in four decades

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Stockhom - Hunters benefited from good snow cover Saturday to track and shoot 14 of the 27 wolves allowed to be culled under the first licensed wolf hunt in Sweden for over four decades. The first wolves were shot in the western provinces of Varmland and Dalarna, local media reported.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in December announced the quota of 27 wolves, slightly more than 10 per cent of the Scandinavian wolf population.

The licensed hunting period ends February 15. Controlled hunting of wolves has been allowed previously, including that of animals that attack livestock.

Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren has said the current wolf population, consisting of some 220 animals, needs to be renewed, noting that genetic defects like heart and kidney problems threaten the long-term viability of the wolf population.

Scandinavia's current wolf population traces its origins to three wolves that migrated from Finland and Russia in the 1980s and 1990s, replenishing a population that had declined precipitously. The population suffers from inbreeding.

The Swedish parliament last year approved licensed hunting of wolves as part of the government's program to manage large carnivores.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301816,hunters-shoot-14-swedish-wolves-on-first-hunt-in-four-decades.html.

One injured after clash in Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon

(NOTE): Jund al-Sham means Soldiers of the Levant.

* * * * *

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Beirut- A Palestinian was injured Saturday when members from his mainstream Fatah movement clashed with followers of the Sunni fundamentalist terrorist group, Jund al-Sham, in southern Lebanon, a Palestinian source said. The armed clashes erupted in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh. Heavy machine guns were used in the fighting, which lasted about half an hour, the source said.

Members of a security committee made of various Palestinian factions inside the camp moved to intervene to stop the fighting.

Mounir Maqdah, who commands the main Palestinian police force in Ain al-Hilweh, said the clash was eventually contained, adding that it started when Jund al-Sham members fired at a Fatah office in the camp.

Security inside the Palestinian camps is in the hands of the Palestinian factions, but the Lebanese army has the authority to control all entrances.

There are some 367,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps across Lebanon. Ain el-Hilweh is the largest camp, housing some 75,000 Palestinian refugees.

Jund al-Sham (Soldiers of Greater Syria), is a terrorist group believed to have first appeared in Afghanistan in 1999. The group was established by Syrians and Palestinians with links to Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, who went on to found al-Qaeda in Iraq and was subsequently killed by a US airstrike in 2006.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301818,one-injured-after-clash-in-palestinian-refugee-camp-in-lebanon.html.

Afghan parliament rejects 17 of Karzai's 24 cabinet nominees

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Kabul - Afghanistan's parliament on Saturday rejected 17 out of 24 cabinet nominees proposed by President Hamid Karzai, including a powerful ex-warlord and the only female candidate put forward. Defense Minister General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, and Finance Minister Mohammad Omar Zakhelwal, three key ministers favored by the West, were among the seven approved by the lower house of the parliament, government spokesman Haseeb Noori said.

More than 200 parliamentarians cast their votes of confidence in a secret ballot after two weeks in which the candidates made presentations on their platforms, he said.

Ismail Khan, the powerful former warlord who served as minister for water and energy in Karzai's first five-year term, failed to get the approval for the same post. Other rejected candidates includes those for the ministries of justice, commerce, economy, public health and higher education, Noori said.

Husn Bano Ghazanfar, the only female candidate in the proposed cabinet, had been set to take over the Ministry of Women Affairs before failing to win approval.

The move is seen as the last opportunity for the country's parliamentarians to use their political muscle, as their term comes to an end in a few months.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced on Saturday that it had set May 22 for the country's parliamentary elections, chief electoral officer, Daud Ali Najafi told a press conference in Kabul on Saturday.

The decision came amid international concerns about an electoral system which many analysts showed signs of needing reforms after a contentious presidential election in August.

More than 1 million, or around a quarter of all votes cast in those polls, were found fraudulent. Those votes were mostly in favor of Karzai. The IEC, which conducted the elections, was accused by other presidential candidates and international observers of bias in favor of the incumbent.

Since taking office for his second term, Karzai, who was declared the winner of the election only after his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, dropped out of the second round of the balloting, has been under mounting pressure by his government's Western backers to clamp down on widespread corruption in his administration.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301825,afghan-parliament-rejects-17-of-karzais-24-cabinet-nominees.html.

Basques demonstrate against Spanish detention policies

Sat, 02 Jan 2010

Bilbao, Spain - Thousands of people Saturday protested in Spain's Basque territories against Spanish detention policies which they say amounts to an inhumane separation of prisoners from their loved ones. At issue is government detention policies which have most of about 600 people found guilty of terrorism and supporting terrorism incarcerated hundreds of kilometers from their homes.

In the past, relatives of the prisoners received government subsidies to make the trip to visit their detained relatives. But a court ruling blocking those subsidies was recently upheld by a higher court. The ruling Socialist Party of Spain's Basque Country also opposes the subsidies.

Protesters called the separation inhumane. Many called for amnesties for activists of the Basque ETA organization, calling them "political prisoners."

The demonstrations were called by a collection of Basque parties.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301829,basques-demonstrate-against-spanish-detention-policies.html.

Auschwitz camp saw record 1.3 million visitors in 2009

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Sun, 03 Jan 2010

Warsaw - International interest in the most prominent symbol of the Nazi death machine, the Auschwitz concentration camp, remains high, with a record number of visitors in 2009, officials said Sunday. The erstwhile Auschwitz-Birkenau complex drew 1.3 million visitors last year, a record for the 62-year history of the memorial, the facility's press office reported.

Well more than half the visitors - 821,000 - were young people, a matter of satisfaction since they are the world's future, said museum director Piotr M A Cywinski.

"Without a deepened knowledge about Auschwitz, Europe of today cannot be understood," the historian said.

Among the visitors were 58,000 Germans - for fifth place among the nationalities visiting the site, after Poland, Britain, Italy and Israel.

In addition, there was a steadily rising number of visitors from Asia, in particular South Korea, the memorial office said.

The memorial site was again in the international headlines in December when thieves stole the infamous wrought-iron "Arbeit macht Frei" (work makes free) sign above the entrance gate.

Five suspects were later arrested and the damaged sign was recovered in a forest.

In the industrial-scale mass annihilation carried out at the Auschwitz and nearby Birkenau camps, some 1.1 million people, chiefly European Jews, were sent to their deaths between 1940 and 1945.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301890,auschwitz-camp-saw-record-13-million-visitors-in-2009.html.

India condemns killing of student in Australia

Sun, 03 Jan 2010

New Delhi - The government of India has condemned the killing of an Indian student in Melbourne on Sunday and asked Australian authorities to take action against the perpetrators of the attack. Nitin Garg, 21, was stabbed to death by unidentified assailants at a park in the city in south-eastern Australia. He is the first victim to succumb to injuries amid a string of racist attacks on India students and immigrants in Australia, the PTI news agency reported.

Garg who was beaten by a group of men on a previous occasion had migrated from northern India and had permanent residency in Australia.

"The Minister of External Affairs (SM Krishna) strongly condemned the brutal attack on Mr Garg and called on Australian authorities to speedily bring to book person/s responsible for the crime," a statement issued by India's Foreign Office said.

Krishna directed the Indian embassy in Australia to coordinate with Australian authorities and extend assistance to Garg's family as well as the Indian community in the city, the statement added.

According to the PTI news agency, nearly 100 cases of attacks on Indians were reported in Australia in 2009 against 17 similar assaults in 2008.

On a visit to India in November, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his government was committed to taking all possible measures to ensure safety of Indians, seeking to allay Delhi's concerns over the attacks.

Several Australian ministers have visited India in recent months as the issue threatens both the billion-dollar education industry and bilateral ties. An estimated 90,000 Indians study in Australia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301891,india-condemns-killing-of-student-in-australia.html.

Two trains collide in northwestern Turkey: one killed - Summary

Sun, 03 Jan 2010

Istanbul - Two trains collided in north-western Turkey on Sunday, killing a train driver and injuring 14 people, according to officials. The crash took place in the rural Bilecik region, near the city of Eskisehir, some 400 kilometers south-west of Istanbul.

A train failed to heed a red stop signal and slammed head-on into a stationary train.

Officials have given conflicting reasons for the crash.

Bilecik governor Musa Colak, who provided the casualty figure, said an electrical fault caused a switch to malfunction. But officials from the national train company said there was no problem with the signaling system in the area of the crash.

Although Turkey has been upgrading its train system, there have been several deadly accidents in recent years.

A derailment in January 2008 resulted in the death of nine passengers.

Thirty-seven people were killed in July, 2004 when a new high- speed train went off the tracks in north-western Turkey.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301903,two-trains-collide-in-northwestern-turkey-one-killed--summary.html.

US, British embassies in Yemen shut over al-Qaeda threat - Summary

Sun, 03 Jan 2010

Sana'a,Yemen - The US and British embassies in the Yemeni capital Sana'a were closed Sunday amid terrorism threats threats from the regional branch of al-Qaeda, a Yemeni security source said. The source, who asked not to be named, said the two embassies had received intelligence about potential attacks.

"They informed Yemeni authorities that they had received intelligence tip-offs about possible attacks," the source told the German Press Agency dpa.

The US embassy said in a so-called warden message posted on its website that is has closed "in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen."

It did not say when it would reopen and officials could not be reached for comment. A local employee of the embassy said local and American embassy staff members were asked to stay away for the day.

Hours after the US embassy closed, the British embassy also closed "for security reasons", the BBC reported, citing Britain's Foreign Office in London.

Armoured police vehicles were seen patrolling streets surrounding the two embassies in the Sheraton neighborhood.

Speaking to US broadcaster Fox News, an adviser to US President Barack Obama said the US has no plans to open a new military front in Yemen, preferring to rely on Yemeni forces to counter the terrorism threat there.

"We are not talking about that at this point at all," White House aide John Brennan said when asked whether US troops would be sent to Yemen.

"The Yemeni government has demonstrated their willingness to take the fight to al-Qaeda," he said. "They are willing to accept our support. We are providing them everything that they have asked for."

US aid to Yemen is on the rise, as Washington wants Sanaa to step up its anti-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda bases in the country's south. Military assistance is now estimated at 70 million dollars and could go up further.

A proposed new Yemeni counterterrorism unit would be paid for jointly by the United States and Britain, London announced. Britain will also host a conference on terrorism in Yemen later this month.

AQAP has taken responsibility for the attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day and US President Barack Obama has also placed the blame on the group.

The closures came a day after General David Petraeus, the US commander in the Middle East, met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301917,us-british-embassies-in-yemen-shut-over-al-qaeda-threat--summary.html.

China's Yellow River threatened by oil leak

Sun, 03 Jan 2010

Beijing- Diesel oil was threatening to spill into China's Yellow River on Sunday, after a leak contaminated a tributary in the country's north-west, local media reported. The leak, which was discovered in a pipeline on Wednesday morning, had already contaminated the Weihe River, located 73 kilometers upstream from the Yellow River, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The pipeline owned by state oil giant PetroChina was shut down and more than 700 people were at the scene trying to control the spill and clean up the pollution, the report said.

Oil was detected 33 kilometers downstream from the leakage site, Xinhua quoted the local authorities as saying.

In a statement on its website, PetroChina's parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), said the leak was caused by a "third party" during construction work.

There were concerns about the amount of time between the contamination's discovery and its reporting by local media.

"There has been zero coverage of the accident on television or in newspapers in Chishui township or Hua county," the Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post quoted one local as saying.

In 2005, toxic chemicals spilled from a CNPC petrochemical plant into the Songhua River in north-eastern Jilin Province caused massive water contamination and affected millions of people in Harbin and Russian cities downstream.

Then-environment minister Xie Zhenhua resigned amid criticism of negligent handling of the crisis, including failure of ecological authorities to sound the alarm immediately after the spill.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301847,chinas-yellow-river-threatened-by-oil-leak.html.

Egypt police scuffle with pro-Gaza activists

By ASHRAF SWEILAM, Associated Press Writer

AL-ARISH, Egypt – International pro-Gaza activists and Egyptian security clashed at this Mediterranean port when Egypt refused to allow part of an aid convoy to pass through its land to the Hamas-ruled seaside territory, witnesses said Wednesday.

The intermittent clashes lasted for a couple of hours and left than 50 activists and over a dozen members of the security forces injured. Activists briefly seized some policemen as well.

The clashes add to the embarrassment of Egypt, which has come under fire from Arab and Muslim groups for cooperating with Israel in its 28-month blockade of the impoverished territory.

More than 500 international activists accompanied the convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina, bringing tons of humanitarian supplies, as well as vehicles, to Gaza. The group includes British, American, Jordanian and Turkish activists and lawmakers.

The scuffle broke out late Tuesday at al-Arish port building when authorities told the organizers that out of the nearly 200 vehicles, some 59 can't enter Gaza through Egypt, but must go through Israeli terminals.

A security official said the vehicles in question are carrying pickup trucks, sedans, generators and other equipment, which are not allowed to pass through the Egyptian crossing at Rafah and had to go via Israel. Only medical aid and passengers are allowed through, the official said.

British MP George Galloway told Sky News television that the activists were negotiating with authorities and refusing to leave behind their vehicles.

"We refused this because it's a breach of the agreement which we reached in Aqaba between the government of Egypt and the Turkish side," he said. "It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza, because nothing that goes to Israel ever arrives in Gaza."

Activists said the new conditions violate an earlier agreement with the Egyptian authorities, which agreed to allow the whole convoy into Gaza.

Egyptian authorities had already refused the convoy entry into the country from the Red Sea, forcing it to change course to the Mediterranean port.

"We are activists. We condemn the Israeli siege to start with. We will only enter through an Egyptian-Palestinian crossing," said Wael al-Sakka, a Jordanian activist.

Alice Howard, a spokeswoman for the group, said organizers were negotiating with an Egyptian security official, who said he would come back with answers. But instead, 2,000 riot police returned, spraying the activists with water cannons, and hurling rocks.

Television reports showed images of both riot police and activists hurling stones at each other and said clashes began when angry protesters attempted to leave the port area and were driven back by riot police.

Howard, speaking from London, said more than 50 activists were injured in the scuffle, including to the head and neck. The group's Web site showed images of injured activists.

In a statement, the group said it has blocked the entrance to the port to prevent the riot police from entering.

An Egyptian security official said the activists used two trucks to block the port gates, burned tires, and briefly detained a police officer and four of his men. They were later released, some with broken ribs.

The official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Al-Sakka, the Jordanian activist, said the police charged a peaceful sit-in at the gates of the port. He said the group was not allowed to get out of the port building, denying government claims they have took control of the premise.

"The Egyptians were too high-strung. The police is the reason for the tension," al-Sakka said.

He said six activists were detained, including Americans and British citizens. The security official said five were detained, but didn't identify them. U.S. embassy officials were not immediately available for comment.

Algerian police dismantle drug trafficking network

(Magharebia) Algiers police dismantled an important drug-trafficking network last week, El Moudjahid quoted police officials as saying on Monday (January 4th). Six alleged members of the network were arrested and a vehicle loaded with 100kg of cannabis was seized during the operation.

Libya to host Turkish trade delegation

(Magharebia) Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan will lead a delegation of contracting companies to Libya on Tuesday (January 5th), Turkish press reported. Caglayan will meet with Libyan Prime Minister Ali al-Baghdadi al-Mahmudi and attend a Turkish-Libyan contracting business forum. Turkish contracting projects in Libya over the last three years are reportedly worth more than $11 billion.

King Mohammed VI replaces 5 cabinet ministers

(Magharebia) King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Monday (January 4th) appointed five new cabinet ministers. Supreme Court president Taib Cherkaoui replaced Chakib Benmoussa as interior minister, while lawyer Mohammed Naciri replaced Abdelouahed Radi as justice minister. Yassir Znagui was appointed tourism minister, Driss Lachguer was named minister in charge of relations with parliament and Mohamed Saad Alami was appointed deputy minister for modernization of the public sector. The partial cabinet reshuffle aims to "give greater momentum to major development projects and structural institutional reforms", the royal council said in a statement.

Morocco moves to create regionalisation program

Supporters of a recently announced plan to give Morocco's regional governments more control over their future say such moves will boost sustainable development.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/01/10

Morocco is moving ahead with an initiative to give regional authorities more power to determine their own paths to development based on local conditions.

King Mohammed VI on January 3rd addressed a 22-member advisory committee tasked with drafting a regionalisation plan within six months.

The king said regionalisation would include the division of power and resources among local councils, within a decentralized system of government. The initiative would also encourage inter-regional coordination, and a more participatory approach to government.

One of the key objectives of the program will be to benefit the "southern provinces," according to the king.

The advisory committee will have to devise "a model that takes account of the situation in Morocco and is inspired by other, successful models on the international stage," said political science professor Fouad Madani.

"Regionalisation will help ensure that development targets are met, because each region will run its own affairs in accordance with its particular circumstances and resources while observing the principle of inter-regional solidarity," added Madani.

The committee must find ways to boost the power of regions so they can effectively contribute to Morocco's socio-economic and cultural development, Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi said in a press statement released on January 3rd.

"The committee will listen to the parties concerned and local, regional and national experts," he said. "It has much work to do."

The committee, which is led by Morocco's ambassador to Spain, Omar Azzamine, is expected to deliver its report within six months.

Observers and politicians welcomed the initiative and said it would have a positive impact on development.

"Regionalisation will enable each region to run its own affairs effectively and allow regions to make the best use of their human, economic and cultural resources," said Zineb El Adaoui, who heads the regional body of auditors in Rabat.

"The enhanced regionalisation plan will create a precedent for how the regionalisation process will be implemented nationwide," said Party of Authenticity and Modernity secretary general Mohammed Cheikh Biadillah. "This will help achieve sustainable development."

Political analyst Mohammed Grine said the purpose of the committee was two-fold. Its first aim, a strategic one, will be to transform initial efforts made towards regionalisation into a concrete and large-scale system.

In this vein, Morocco initiated the regionalisation of health care and services in 2006, which encouraged regions to take responsibility for their own medical infrastructure. It also launched an urban decentralization program in 2009.

The second aim, Grine claimed, is linked to Morocco's concerns about the Western Sahara issue.

"It [the regionalisation initiative] sends out a message to the Polisario," said Grine. "Morocco will not wait forever for negotiations. While seeking a solution through the United Nations, Morocco is taking concrete action."

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/01/05/feature-03.

A Sikh Leader: India Is Behind The Fake Taliban, Why Are Pakistan Officials Silent?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
By OmEr Jamil

A Sikh Leader: India Is Behind The Fake Taliban, Why Are Pakistan Officials Silent?

The suicide bombers and throat-slitters are not Arab Mujahedeen or Afghan Taliban. This ‘expertise’ has been introduced by the Indians and the Israelis in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The crimes of the Indian-groomed Taliban have nothing to do with the Afghan Taliban fighting inside their own country and the Kashmiri freedom fighters inside their own territory. The question is: Why is the Pakistani government continues to feel ashamed in standing up for Pakistan?

By Dr. Awatar S. Sekhon

July 18, 2009

Proof of Indian weapons and special-ops agents have been discovered in Swat and Balochistan. The evidence is so damning that US officials had no choice but to oblige Pakistan and directly ask Indian Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Defense Miniser to tame Indian terror-breeding operations in Afghanistan aimed at Pakistan. Manmohan Singh, confronted by the Pakistani Prime Minister with evidence in Egypt, had no choice but to agree to refer to Indian terrorism in Balochistan in the joint statement.

It was an amazing revelation by a serving Maj. General of Pakistan army in-charge of the Swat operation during an interview with Aaj television news channel.

Maj. Gen. Sajjad Ghani has revealed the following points backed by evidence:



1. Swat valley was occupied by criminals with full money and logistical support of India.
2. The entire operation was planned by Indian military officers posted to several locations in Afghanistan
3. The Indian ‘footprint’ in Swat and the Pakistani tribal belt includes: Indian currency, Indian bullets, Indian small explosives, Indian heavy explosives, and other items that indicate links to Indian army’s command and control setup.
4. Special hideouts [tunnels, caves, underground passageways] created by Indian expertise and machinery. This technology cannot be available to amateur fighters.
5. Blood banks and all the supporting products, i.e., fresh frozen plasma, etc., to help the fighters sustain a long term war.

All this evidence helps in reaching the following conclusions:

1. Sufi Muhammad, Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah are all Indian agents, fully in contact with senior officers from R&AW and Defense Intelligence Agency posted in Afghanistan
2. All crimes on Pakistani soil, including the destruction of schools of girls and boys and the slaughter of innocent people were done on orders from Indian assets on the ground and inside the nearby Afghan provinces. These were effectively Indian actions of war against Pakistan
3. This Indian free hand in Afghanistan and inside Pakistan’s Balochistan and NWFP says a lot about the inefficiency of the Pakistani government
4. All suicide bombings in Pakistan are linked to fake Indian-groomed Taliban in Afghanistan, which was built by recruiting brainwashed young men misled into believing they are fighting a jihad against America. The suicide bombings in Pakistan are Indian acts of war. Make no mistake about it.
5. Islam and Muslims are defamed by Indians and their allies. Unfortunately, the Pakistani government and media are hands in glove with this demonization of Pakistan. Instead of asking questions they simply repeat what is fed to them like parrots.
6. Pakistan is losing the support of the mujahedeen who are keeping the Indians at bay in Kashmir and Afghanistan.
7. This tactic of pitching the fake Taliban with the Pakistani military has resulted in a confrontation between the Pakistani army and the Mujahedeen. The fact is that the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and Kashmir have nothing to do with the crimes of the Indian-groomed fake Taliban.

The Indian activities in Afghanistan have gone undetected for a long time. But now enough evidence has been collected to indict the Indian government and military for indulging in the worst forms of terror breeding.

Here are some signs of the crimes the Indians are involved in inside U.S.-occupied Afghanistan:

1. Many psychological-operations experts and experts in Islamic indoctrination and what generally is known as ‘mind-messing professionals’ have been deployed in special training camps. These people introduce themselves as Mujahedeen to new recruits, brainwash them and then use them inside Pakistan.
2. The slitting of throats is a new tactic introduced by the Indian terrorism trainers to demoralize Pakistan and show the Afghan Taliban in a wrong light. The suicide bombings are not the result of Arab influence here as the British and American media claims. It is also the result of Israeli experts bringing in their expertise in penetrating Islamic groups. How silly it is that Arabs would arrive in this region to kill Pakistanis and spare the Am-Brit occupiers of Afghanistan all these months.
3. The Mumbai terrorist act appears to be a joint Israeli and Indian event. Both countries have secret close cooperation in the areas of intelligence and countering Muslim groups. The Israeli eagerness to help India against Pakistan is amazing both in Kashmir and Afghanistan is amazing.
4. It is not clear yet if the lone surviving terrorist, Ajmal Qassab, is indeed Pakistani. India has offered no solid evidence proving this and it is shameful that the Pakistani government is not making this public despite the fact that independent investigators from Interpol verify this fact.
5. Qassab means butcher in Urdu/Arabic. In Pakistan, hardly anyone retains this surname. If Qassab is not an Indian who played the role of a Pakistani terrorist, then he certainly is someone who has been duped into joining the group that conducted the operation. Indian explanations regarding the bodies of the rest of the terrorists, their DNA samples, their origins, are misleading and confusing at best, which destroys the entire Indian case against Kashmiri freedom fighters inside Pakistan.
6. Important parts of the Mumbai operation were planned and conducted outside Pakistan. Also, the Indian security failures in Mumbai are suspicious at best. There is more in this case than meets the eye. Pakistan should be under no compulsion to accept the Indian version of events and should advise the same to the international community. Instead, the Pakistani government has chosen complete surrender.

A large number of uncircumcized professionally-trained foreign fighters have been found within the ranks of the so-called ‘Pakistani Taliban’.

All of the above raises serious questions about the silence of the Pakistani government on the disturbing and treacherous Indian behavior:

1. Why the Pakistan Government is not protesting against Indian invasion into Swat and other cities of Pakistan?
2. Why Pakistan Government is silent over the Indian attack on the Sri Lankan Cricket team?
3. Why Pakistan Government is not using Interpol services to get Altaf Hussain and hang him for his numerous murders and acts of terrorism? Why the Pakistani Government is not asking Kabul to hand over the terrorist Brahamdagh Bugti and hang him for killing innocent Pakistanis, and for the crimes of his grandfather the tyrant Akbar Bugti who killed hundreds of poor Pakistani Balochis and displaced thousands of poor Pakistani Balochis?
4. Why hardcore criminals have been protected under the umbrella of Musharraf’s NRO?
5. Why Mr. Nawaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders have sold themselves to the devil, keeping totally silent, deaf and dumb on these issues? Why is power more important to them than anything else?
6. Why are we helping those forces which are supporting Indian and Israeli terrorism in Pakistan? We know the forces behind the so-called BLA and MQM. The question is: Why is the government supporting these forces?
7. Why Hamudur Rehman Commission recommendations have not been implemented in letter and spirit?
8. And why did we not learn lesson from East Pakistan bitter experience?

Source: Haqeeqat.org.
Link: http://www.haqeeqat.org/2009/07/22/a-sikh-leader-india-is-behind-the-fake-taliban-why-are-pakistan-officials-silent/.

Moon rock going back to space

A moon rock collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission more than 40 years ago will be heading back to space and a new home aboard the International Space Station, sharing quarters with a piece of Mt. Everest.

On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return to space.

On Jan. 6 at Space Center Houston, Parazynski will present both rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 mission Commander George Zamka. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station during space shuttle Endeavour's mission next month.

Collected from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface, the moon rock and its Mt. Everest companion will be displayed inside the station's Tranquility module, which the STS-130 crew will deliver to the station.

During the presentation, Parazynski shared the story of his journey to the top of the world and what inspired him to carry along the lunar sample, followed by an audience question and answer session. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon CST in the Blast Off Theater in the Mission Status Center at Space Center Houston.

NASA Television will air a recording of the event at 3:30 p.m.

Source: Houston Community Newspapers.
Link: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2010/01/05/bay_area_citizen/news/1moonrock7.txt.

Spain takes over EU presidency as Turkey eyes progress

January 4, 2010

Spain assumed the presidency of the European Union, the first presidency under the 27-nation’s new structure created by the Lisbon Treaty.

Spain, a staunch supporter of Turkey’s membership bid, which also co-sponsors the UN Alliance of Civilizations together with Ankara, took over the rotating presidency from Sweden. It will hold the position for the next six months.

Turkey’s accession negotiations, however, are unlikely to make drastic progress during the Spanish presidency, although Turkish leaders say the process needs to speed up to avoid a further decline in public support for membership at home. The entry talks risk coming to a standstill now that a number of negotiating chapters have been frozen. The EU suspended talks on eight chapters in 2006 due to Turkey’s refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from member Greek Cyprus, while France and Greek Cyprus have unilaterally blocked the opening of talks on a total of 10 other chapters.

Turkey and the EU opened talks on only two chapters in 2009 and progress is expected to slow down further in the coming years given the small number of chapters left open for negotiations and the level of complexity of the available chapters.

In a short video posted on the official Web site of the Spanish presidency of the EU, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero outlined the priorities for his country’s term at the helm of the EU as a smooth implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which went into force on Dec.1, and tackling Europe’s economic woes. Zapatero said that under the Lisbon Treaty, the EU must work to assert itself more on the global stage as it deals with powerhouses like the United States and China.

“We have to make Europe an ever stronger factor in the international context; a Europe that defends and extends the values of peace, cooperation, and dialogue among all peoples and nations,” Zapatero said.

One of the key goals of the Lisbon Treaty is to streamline the EU’s decision-making procedures so the bloc can act more quickly. It also created the post of full-time president, Belgium’s Herman Van Rompuy, and named a new foreign policy chief, Britain’s Catherine Ashton, but retained the system of rotating presidencies for handling the bloc’s day-to-day affairs.

Spain will continue to chair important EU ministerial meetings on the economy, the environment and energy during its presidency and will host several summits, including one between the bloc and the United States in May which President Barack Obama is expected to attend.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=211319.

Hamas pledges loyalty to Arabs

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has assured Saudi Arabia his movement is loyal to Arab states, the kingdom's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said on Tuesday.

"I asked Khaled Meshaal whether the movement stood with Arabs or with others," Prince Saud said, referring to Iran, a strong regional backer of Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza.

"Meshaal insisted that Hamas was an Arab movement and that the Palestinian question was an Arab issue," the Saudi minister said at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The exchange between Prince Saud and Meshaal occurred on Sunday during a visit by the Hamas leader to Saudi Arabia.

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite non-Arab Iran have been traditional rivals in the Middle East.

Tensions have recently mounted between the two as Saudi Arabia accuses Iran of supporting Huthi rebels in northern Yemen, which the kingdom has fought along its border with Yemen.

Prince Saud's visit to Egypt is part of a string of regional meetings aimed at reviving peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which have been stalled for a year.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II were in Egypt on Monday for talks with Mubarak, a week after a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Sunday in Riyadh, Meshaal said Egyptian-led talks aimed at reconciling the Palestinian Islamist movement and its rival Fatah were close to bearing fruit.

US President Barack Obama has repeatedly called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, but the Palestinians have demanded Israel first freeze all settlement activity and commit to a framework for the talks.

The Palestinians have insisted the borders of their promised state encompass all of their land Israel occupied in 1967, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem -- which Israel later annexed in a move not recognized by the international community -- as their capital.

Hamas's takeover of Gaza in 2007, which shrank Abbas' powerbase to the West Bank and deepened Palestinian divisions, has also hampered peace talks with Israel.

Source: The Himalayan Times.
Link: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullNews.php?headline=Hamas+pledges+loyalty+to+Arabs&NewsID=219133.