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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Indian paramilitary admits to shooting teenager in Kashmir

Srinagar, Kashmir - India's Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday admitted that one of its troopers shot dead a 16-year-old schoolboy, an incident that had led to protests in India-administered Kashmir. PPS Sandhu, a top official with the force, told reporters that a soldier, Lakhwinder Kumar, was involved in Friday's killing of Zahid Farooq Sheikh in the state capital Srinagar.

Local media outlets said this was a rare admission by an Indian security force in the region. Indian troopers are often accused by the Muslim-majority population of human rights violations.

"Prima facie evidence points to the involvement of Lakhwinder Kumar, a soldier from the 68th Battalion of the BSF, in the death of Zahid Farooq Sheikh here Friday," Sandhu said at a press conference in Srinagar.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Zahid had died from a bullet fired at him by the soldier from an AK-47 rifle.

"The soldier has been placed under suspension," Sandhu said. "We have decided to hand him over to the local police for further investigations."

The PTI news agency reported that officers in the paramilitary force have termed the killing an accident.

Srinagar and other major towns in Kashmir had been tense after a public outcry over the killing.

Hundreds of locals participated in protest marches as angry mobs hurled stones at police and security forces in Srinagar.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had promised an inquiry into the incident, assuring that the guilty would be brought to book.

Large numbers of soldiers have been deployed in Kashmir to check militancy and terrorist attacks.

More than 45,000 people have died in the Kashmir region since a separatist movement launched an insurgency in the 1980s. The victims include civilians, police, soldiers as well as militants.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308451,indian-paramilitary-admits-to-shooting-teenager-in-kashmir.html.

UAE man divorces blushing, bearded bride

Dubai - A diplomat in the United Arab Emirates has divorced his new bride after discovering her full-face veil, or niqab, concealed a beard, local media reported Wednesday. The man, identified only as "an Arab ambassador," had not seen his new wife's face until after he had signed a marriage contract, the Dubai daily Gulf News reported.

He told a Dubai family court that his mother-in-law had deceived his mother, who helped arrange the union, by showing her pictures of the bride's sister.

"Every time the couple met, the bride would do her best not to reveal her entire face," a source close to the case told the daily.

"He claimed to the sharia court officials that when he wanted to kiss his wife-to-be, he discovered that she was bearded and cross- eyed as well," the source said.

The man then called off the wedding party and lodged a divorce claim alleging that he was tricked by the bride's family and had suffered emotional and moral damage.

The court granted the man's request for a divorce, but rejected his request that the bride repay him 500,000 dirhams (136,098 dollars), he had spent on gifts to the bride and her family.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308460,uae-man-divorces-blushing-bearded-bride.html.

Iranian opposition plans new protests on revolution anniversary

Tehran - Opposition groups plan to take advantage of official rallies marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution to renew protests against the government, political websites reported Wednesday. The official rallies are to be held nationwide Thursday and were expected to draw millions of people. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to be the main speaker at the ceremony in Tehran's Azadi Square.

Police warned that they would decisively confront any protests.

Police chief Ismaeil Ahmadi-Moqaddam told the Fars news agency that some of the planners of Thursday's protests had already been arrested but gave no details.

During protests in December, at least eight people were killed and 300 arrested. The opposition said more than 900 people were arrested.

Opposition websites claimed that 3 million opposition supporters would demonstrate Thursday, especially sympathizers of the Green Movement, led by Mir-Hossein Moussavi, who ran unsuccessfully against Ahmadinejad in June's presidential election.

The international media is banned from directly covering the protests and is to only be allowed in Azadi Square for Ahmadinejad's speech.

Widespread protests started immediately after the June 12 election, which was tainted by charges of massive fraud and the opposition's refusal to recognize Ahmadinejad's victory.

Several reformist officials were arrested after the election and sentenced to heavy jail terms for having allegedly planned to topple the Islamic establishment.

The latest case was former industries minister Behzad Nabavi, who was sentenced to five years in prison. Nabavi served under former prime minister Moussavi from 1985 to 1989.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308466,iranian-opposition-plans-new-protests-on-revolution-anniversary.html.

Religious leaders persuade Mauritanian inmates to renounce violence

2010-02-05

Most of the radical Islamist inmates who participated in Mauritania's first-ever "spiritual dialogue" with Islamic scholars have signed a "renunciation of violence", Journal Tahalil reported on Thursday (February 4th). "The young people have largely abandoned their ideas based on extremism, violence and takfir", said Mohamed El-Moctar Ould M'Balla, spokesman for the commission of theologians. All but 3 of the 67 inmates who attended the recent talks at Nouakchott's central prison repented when the imams showed them errors in their understanding of the religious concepts that underlay their actions, Ould M'Balla told the press.

Suspects in the 2007 ambush slaying of a French tourist family in Aleg and the fatal shooting of an American teacher last year in Nouakchott are among the 67 alleged jihadists awaiting trial who attended the landmark dialogue. Inmates who signed the renunciation of violence could reportedly receive a presidential pardon.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/05/newsbrief-04.

High-speed rail project on track in Morocco

Morocco is planning a high-speed rail project costing 20 billion dirhams, but some argue that the money should be spent on higher-priority needs like education.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/02/10

Morocco's plan to construct a high-speed rail network is drawing mixed reviews, with some legislators and ordinary citizens saying the money is needed to meet other goals.

The project will cut travel times between Tangier and Casablanca from more than five hours to just over two. By 2016, some 8 million passengers per year are expected to use the new line, which is the first step in a master plan aimed at building over 1,500km of new tracks by 2035.

The government is convinced of the need for the project. "Faced with the rapid growth of rail transport, we closely studied the most suitable technology for developing the sector," Transport Minister Karim Ghellab said on Monday (February 1st) in Tangier.

"The study concluded that there would be higher socio-economic productivity for the high-speed technology in comparison with classical railways," Ghellab said at a signing ceremony of the contract for the planned high-speed rail project. "In spite of the former's reasonable additional cost, it's characterized by economic features that greatly exceed the advantages of the latter."

"Work on the high-speed train will kick off next June, while the exploitation of the project will begin in December 2015," the minister added at the ceremony, which was presided over by King Mohammed VI.

The contract signed on Monday between the state and the National Railway Office is for a 20 billion-dirham, 2010-2015 project under a wider government program for social and economic development. The project is to be funded by the state, the Hassan II Fund for Social and Economic Development, and foreign loans. A total of 33 billion dirhams will be invested in developing rail transport as a whole.

Despite the upsides offered by the transport minister, some Moroccans contacted by Magharebia this week said that the huge sums involved should have been allocated to other sectors.

"It's a good thing that Morocco is modernizing," said Lahcen Daoudi, a leader of the Party of Justice and Development. "But I'd like to see the reaction of the poor, who need the most basic necessities for living, when we go to them and say we're going to build a high-speed train for them."

"Morocco has to advance in a comprehensive way, because these classes will feel marginalized if we develop certain things at the expense of others," he added. "Therefore, no region should be developed at the expense of others."

The editor-in-chief of the Tangier daily Fadaa al-Boughaz, Ismail Tahiri, called the high-speed rail project "part of the major projects that are important in and of themselves, given that it will reduce the distances, especially for businessmen, between the economic center that will be created by Tangier on the Mediterranean Sea and Casablanca, which is the economic capital of Morocco. However, these projects strain the state's economy."

"The construction of this project is a form of luxury, given that it will cost 20 billion dirhams," he continued. "These sums should be spent on more vital projects for citizens, such as education, health and infrastructure, now that it's going to be completed using public funds."

"How can such a huge project be carried out in a country where the illiteracy rate is about 30%, and where 2 million students quit school every year; a country that was ranked in 106th out of 128 countries on UNESCO's index of educational development?" he asked.

For his part, Mohammed Hammouchi, vice-president of the Rif Association for Human Rights, said the project "will greatly contribute to citizens' movement. It will boost the movement of domestic and international tourism in the region, and also fill the gaps in regular trains and the rest of the means of transport."

"However, the only negative point is how much the cost of the train took into consideration the purchasing power of citizens, who are already complaining about the high prices of regular trains," he added.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/02/05/feature-03.

US slaps new sanctions on Iran Revolutionary Guard

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Wednesday slapped new sanctions on several affiliates of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, targeting one person and four companies for penalties over their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.

The Treasury Department said it is freezing the assets in U.S. jurisdictions of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Rostam Qasemi and four subsidiaries of a previously penalized construction firm that he runs. The sanctions expand existing U.S. unilateral penalties against elements of the Guard Corps, or IRGC, which Western intelligence officials believe is spearheading Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

The announcement came as the administration is pressing to impose fresh international sanctions on Iran over its failure to prove its nuclear program is peaceful. U.S. officials are lobbying for action at the U.N. Security Council, which has already hit Iran with three sets of sanctions.

Qasemi commands the Guard Corps' Khatam alAnbiya Construction Headquarters, which Treasury described as its engineering arm that is involved in the construction of streets, tunnels, waterworks, agricultural projects and pipelines. Its profits "are available to support the full range of the IRGC's illicit activities, including WMD proliferation and support for terrorism," Treasury said in a statement.

Khatam alAnbiya was hit with U.S. sanctions by the Bush administration in 2007. Wednesday's penalties apply to Qasemi and Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries, the Fater Engineering Institute, the Imensazen Consultant Engineers Institute, the Makin Institute and the Rahab Institute.

"As the IRGC consolidates control over broad swaths of the Iranian economy, displacing ordinary Iranian businessmen in favor of a select group of insiders, it is hiding behind companies like Khatam al-Anbiya and its affiliates to maintain vital ties to the outside world," said Stuart Levey, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

"Today's action exposing Khatam al-Anbiya subsidiaries will help firms worldwide avoid business that ultimately benefits the IRGC and its dangerous activities," he said.

Iran reduces jail term for Iranian-American scholar

Tehran - An appeal court in Tehran has revised the initial sentence against Iranian-US scholar Kian Tajbakhsh and reduced the jail term from 12 to five years, Fars news agency reported Wednesday. Defense lawyer Houshang Azhari confirmed the sentence reduction.

Tajbakhsh was convicted and sentenced last October to 12 years in prison for his involvement in political unrest following the June 12 presidential election won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He was arrested in Tehran during a July demonstration against alleged election fraud, and later charged by the revolutionary court with joining opposition groups trying to topple the Islamic system through a so-called soft revolution.

It was not the first jail term for Tajbakhsh, a sociologist and former urban planning consultant with George Soros' Open Society Institute.

In 2007 he was arrested on charges of cooperating with US think tanks to topple the Islamic system.

He was released after four months on bail amounting over 100,000 dollars and reportedly returned to the United States.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308471,iran-reduces-jail-term-for-iranian-american-scholar.html.

Egypt opens Rafah border crossing to Palestinian patients

Al-Arish, Egypt (Earth Times) - Egypt on Wednesday opened its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow Palestinian medical patients on both sides to cross in and out of the territory, police said. The border would remain open to patients until Thursday, to allow those who have completed their treatment at Egyptian hospitals to return to Gaza, and to allow patients from the Gaza Strip to be treated in Egyptian hospitals, police told the German Press Agency dpa.

With brief exceptions, the border crossing at the divided town of Rafah has been closed since 2007, when Hamas took control of Gaza's security forces, prompting Israel and Egypt to blockade the territory.

Kenya rounds up zebra and wildebeest to feed hungry lions

Nairobi (Earth Times) - Kenyan rangers have begun the capture of 7,000 zebra and wildebeest to feed hungry lions, which have been attacking livestock after a drought in Amboseli National Park killed their wild prey, an official said Wednesday. A drought last year decimated the herbivore population in Amboseli, leaving rotting corpses scattered across the plain in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro and forcing lions and hyenas to look elsewhere for food.

"Last year's drought was one of severest in recent history and we lost as many as 60 per cent of the herbivores in Amboseli," Kenya Wildlife Service spokesman Paul Udoto told the German Press Agency dpa.

"The lions and hyenas lost their preferred food, which is mainly wildebeest and zebra, and of late have been raiding the local communities' compounds."

The rounding up of animals kicked off in the private Soysambu Conservancy, close to Lake Nakuru - famous for its huge population of pink flamingos.

Udoto said that the operation would run until February 28, taking animals from four different locations and transporting them to Amboseli, hundreds of kilometers away, at an estimated cost of 103 million shillings (1.35 million dollars).

Wildlife tourism is one of Kenya's biggest earners, and Amboseli, with its views of Africa's highest mountain and huge elephant herds, is one of the most popular parks.

The Masai tribes living around Amboseli lost up to 80 per cent of their livestock in the drought, Udoto said, and can ill afford to lose any more animals to lions.

Human-animal conflict has been a major factor in the decline of lion populations in Kenya, and there have been cases where lions have been poisoned by communities keen to protect their livestock.

Kenya is next week expected to launch a strategy aimed at protecting carnivores such as lions from such conflicts.

"Lions are the most endangered: from a population of 2,000, we are losing 100 every year, so we won't have a single lion in our wild in 20 years if urgent measures are not taken," Udoto said.

Malaysian police arrest seven Iranians in drug bust

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police arrested seven Iranians including one woman and seized a total of 3.8 million ringgit (1.08 million dollars) worth of methamphetamines, a news report said Wednesday. The suspects were nabbed in five separate raids in the central Selangor state and at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday and Tuesday, the Star daily reported.

The suspects arrested at the airport arrived on different international flights posing as tourists in transit to other countries, state narcotics chief Nordin Kadir was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

"We are investigating if they belong to the same syndicate," Nordin said, adding that police were also investigating whether the suspects were linked to the Malaysian drugs scene.

"We also suspect some of the drugs were meant for the local market while some tried to bring the drugs to another country via Kuala Lumpur," he said.

Nordin said police had arrested a total of 41 Iranians for suspected drug trafficking over the past two months.

Malaysia has a mandatory death sentence by hanging for those found guilty of trafficking in most types of illegal drugs.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308474,malaysian-police-arrest-seven-iranians-in-drug-bust.html.

Russians fully briefed on missile plans, US official says

Brussels - Russia has been kept fully informed of United States plans to site anti-missile systems in Europe, a US official said Wednesday as Moscow ramped up its criticism of the plans. The US is to site SM-3 anti-missile missiles in Romania from 2015 and in Poland from 2018, a move which the chief of the Russian general staff, General Nikolai Makarov, said Tuesday was plainly directed at Russia.

The Russian government "has been briefed on the phased adaptive approach (of missile deployment) very often ... We keep a very close conversation with our Russian friends," US Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher said.

The US government maintains that the deployment is part of a broader plan to set up NATO-wide defenses against a possible nuclear strike from a Middle Eastern state, such as Iran.

Tauscher insisted that the US plan was entirely open and public, with no hidden agenda or secret details.

"It is an unclassified document which anyone can download, and I'm sure our Russian friends have," she said.

At the same time, she insisted that talks between the US and Russia to draw up a successor to the START agreement on nuclear disarmament were moving smoothly into their final phase. "We think the finish line is in sight," Tauscher said.

Makarov on Tuesday suggested that Russia would only sign the new START agreement if the US dropped its missile defence plans.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308477,russians-fully-briefed-on-missile-plans-us-official-says.html.

Turkish military surrendered and agreed to be out of politics?

4 February 2010

Turkish authorities want to remove the army from politics, agreeing it with the officials of the army, says a former analyst of the National Intelligence Committee of Turkey Mahir Kaynak.

"Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff of Turkish Army Ilker Bashbug came to an agreement on removal of the army from politics," Kaynak told Trend News by telephone from Ankara.

According to the Turkish governmental newspaper "TARAF", Turkish Armed Forces have prepared a special plan under the name "Balez" to overthrow the government of the country. Under this plan, after exploding mosques Fatih Dzhamisi and Bayazid in Istanbul during Friday prayers, attacking on a military museum of the country, blowing up several fighter aircrafts belonging to Air Forces of Turkey and laying the blame on Greece, the Turkish Armed Forces had to take advantage of the resulting chaos in the country and overthrow the government. According to the newspaper, the preparation and implementation of the plan involved the former general in the Armed Forces of Turkey Chetin Dogan, and this plan was prepared in 2002-2003. According to the plan, after the military coup in Turkey, mass arrests had to begin.

If coup "Balez" was carried out successfully and the government was changed, 36 writers and Communists had to be arrested, including such famous writers as Abdurrahman Dilipak, Ahmed Tashgetiren, Akif Amr, Fahmy Koru.

Currently there is no chance of a military coup in Turkey. Prime Minister Erdogan and Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Army Bashbug met several times and each time talked about the presence of a certain agreement, said Kaynak.

Kaynak also added that the current government, which is considered the political elite of Turkey, actually exposes the old plans, and it is specially prepared operation of the authorities.

Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/04/11363.shtml.

High-ranking ringleader of apostates eliminated in Dagestan

5 February 2010

Police Lieutenant Colonel Gapiz Isayev, ringleader of the "inter-regional department for control over extremism" gang, has been eliminated in Dagestan as a result of an attempt on his life. The incident took place in the city of Izberbash at 10.30, local time, Friday, a representative of the puppet authorities told news agencies.

According to his information, unidentified persons set off an explosive device in the Lermontov Street, near a market place, when Isayev's Niva car was passing by. Isayev died of wounds right on the spot.

Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/05/11375.shtml.

Moscow 'recognizes' the Caucasus Emirate

8 February 2010

An inquisitive message has arrived from Moscow on Monday. As per official release of the "Kremlin mob," the so called "supreme court" of Russia, it gives a formal recognition to the Caucasus Emirate as an "international terrorist organization."

Besides the recognition in itself, the "supreme court" deemed it important to "outlaw" the Caucasus Emirate.

The Russian sources have informed that the session of the "supreme court" occurred behind closed doors. During the process, the representatives of the various Kremlin "gangs" were given stage time to voice their concerns. Amongst these were the FSB, MIA, Department of Justice and Prosecutor-General's Office.

None of the representatives of the Caucasus Emirate were present at "court", indicated Moscow sources.

The report further indicates that the "court's" simultaneous decision to recognize and prohibit the Caucasus Emirate, can be appealed within the next 10 days.

Russian mass media has recalled that the Caucasus Emirate was proclaimed in the fall of 2007 by Emir Dokka Umarov.

Russia's recognition and prohibition of the Caucasus Emirate can be attributed to the absurd propaganda practices to generate "criminal cases" as a retaliation for the destruction of military convoys of the occupant's forces. However this subsequent ludicrousness from Kremlin, has a reasonable explanation.

Moscow's present acknowledgement of the Caucasus Emirate is the second evident sign that Kremlin felt realness and tangibility of the Islamic state of the Caucasian Muslims. It came after two years of attempts to ignore, ridicule and silence the "virtual fantasies" of the militants.

The first apparent sign was the formation of the "North-Caucasus district" which fully coincided with the borders of the Caucasus Emirate, defined by Dokku Umarov as early as fall 2007. The leader of Kremlin essentially duplicated the decree of Dokku Umarov.

As per assessment of former diplomat, expert on the issues of the Caucasus, Doctor of the French Institute for Higher Studies in Social Science, Georgi Mamulia, the decree of Russia's leader Medvedev, in regards to the creation of the "North-Caucasus District" demonstrates that "Kremlin is having tougher and tougher of a time in controlling that stormy region."

According to Mamulia, Moscow's decision, "without a doubt indicates the panic, that in the present time exists in Kremlin in relation to the problems of the North Caucasus."

Even for the most notorious skeptics and lovers of muddying the waters, it is obvious today the latest actions and decisions of Moscow are dictated by the desire to somehow resist the rapidly developing process of crystallizing the new "Caucasus format", which leaves no room for the infidels of Russia and their local puppets.

Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/08/11386.shtml.

'Prohibiting' the Caucasus Emirate, Moscow wants to destroy the 'Kavkaz Center'?

Russian media continue to extensively discuss the sudden "recognition" by Russia of an Islamic state on the occupied by Russia territory of Northern Caucasus express and unexpected views.

So, standing close to the KGB's Lubyanka, the Moscow edition of Kommersant, citing the opinion of the Chechen refugee from the former circle of minister of the Foreign Ministry of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Akhmed Zakayev, repeated the worn-out tale that the Caucasus Emirate "created by the Federal Security Service (FSB, former KGB)" and in fact pointed to the mental inadequacy of Russian invaders:

"Announcing "Caucasus Emirate" an "outlaw", "Attorney General's office" and the "Supreme Court" made it their goal to destroy first of its information resource - website Kavkazcenter.com, registered in Europe.

However, the result will appear opposite: "prohibiting" Caucasus Emirate, "Russia's Supreme Court" actually acknowledge its existence and gave him free advertising, Zakayev's human rights activist complained in an interview with Kommersant.

He has also said that after the proclamation of the Caucasus Emirate, "CRI fighters" offended and all have gone abroad to Europe and now there are some "terrorists" fighting in the mountains".

"The ideologists of the Caucasus Emirate, Movladi Udugov and Isa Umarov, are trying to influence young people, encouraging them to commit terrorist acts allegedly for the sake of religious ideas," the informant explained to Kommersant.

Zakayev's human rights activist has also believed that Caucasus Emirate would allegedly "never solve" political problems and Emirate had been created "solely in order to carry out propaganda activities through the Internet."

In turn, chairman of the "Islamic Committee of Russia" Heidar Jemal, in turn, called the command of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus Emirate "influential and effective organization structure, conducting successful military and sabotage operations in Nokhchicho (AKA Ichkeria/Chechnya), Dagestan, Ghalghaycho (Ingushetia) and in other North Caucasian Provinces.

According to his testimony, "Emirate's ideological work is yielding results - there are a lot of young men, not just Caucasians, but also the Slavs. According to Jemal, Caucasus Emirate is not in need of advertising, because its leaders are already well known", the Moscow edition wrote.

The belated recognition by Russia of an Islamic state in the North Caucasus, raised eyebrows even among inveterate criminals, the murderer Sulim Yamadayev, a cousin of Kadyrov and his successor, personal executioner and part-time State Duma deputy, Adam Delimkhanov, declared wanted of Interpol by UAE police:

"It is strange that ... they acknowledged it only now," Kommersant quoted criminal's words.

Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/09/11394.shtml.

Space shuttle Endeavor pulls in at space station

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Shuttle Endeavor arrived to a warm welcome at the International Space Station early Wednesday, delivering a new room and observation deck that will come close to completing construction 200 miles above Earth.

The midnight rendezvous occurred as the two spacecraft sailed over the Atlantic, just west of Portugal. It took longer than normal to lock the shuttle and station together because of the relative motion between the two. The space station's five residents filled the time, before their guests came aboard, by trying out camera angles and interviewing one another.

"What are you expecting from the shuttle?" Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi asked Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev. "My cucumbers," Suraev replied, getting a big laugh.

The two crews shook hands and embraced when the hatches finally opened, greeting each other with "good to see you" and "how goes it" while floating inside the space station.

Space station commander Jeffrey Williams said he was happy to see his friends — "really happy because we haven't seen many people other than the crew for a long time."

The shuttle's six astronauts were impressed with what they saw.

"We couldn't believe how spectacular and shiny the space station was," said Endeavor's commander, George Zamka.

Back at Mission Control, NASA said that standard checks hadn't revealed any launch damage so far. All the pictures and information collected during the first two days of the flight indicate Endeavor suffered no serious damage during Monday's liftoff. But the analysis is continuing, and a few hundred photos taken from the space station during Endeavor's final approach will yield additional data, said LeRoy Cain, chairman of the mission management team.

Endeavor's crew will spend more than a week at the space station, installing the compartments — worth about $400 million — and helping with space station maintenance.

This represents the last major construction work at the orbiting outpost. Once the room, named Tranquility, and the observation deck are in place, the station will be 98 percent complete.

Before docking, Zamka guided Endeavor through a 360-degree back flip so two of the space station crew could photograph the shuttle's belly with zoom lenses. The photos were transmitted immediately to Mission Control so experts can scour the images for any scrapes or holes.

A few pieces of foam insulation came off the external fuel tank during the launch, but none appeared to strike Endeavor.

The only oddity in the pictures from orbit was a protruding seal on the top of the left wing. The seal is part of a door for an access panel; about 4 inches of the 2- to 3-foot seal is sticking out.

Cain said the flapping seal poses no concern, but engineers will look into the matter to find out how it happened. Mission Control asked the station crew to take pictures of the seal, as the shuttle performed its somersault.

As for the rest of the wings and nose — the most vulnerable parts of the shuttle during re-entry — the laser inspection conducted earlier in the day by the astronauts was coming up empty. "Nothing that threw any unusual flags for us," Cain told reporters late Tuesday afternoon.

The rigorous checks were put in place following the 2003 Columbia disaster.

Three spacewalks are planned to hook up the 23-foot Tranquility — named after the Apollo 11 moon landing site — and the seven-windowed dome. The first will get under way Thursday night.

Both compartments were built in Italy for the European Space Agency. Tranquility cost $380 million and the lookout $27 million.

Blizzards pound snowbound Mid-Atlantic to New York

By NAFEESA SYEED, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Snow, wind and slush hounded eastern commuters Wednesday as blizzard warnings from Baltimore to New York City heralded the second major storm in a region already blanketed by historic weekend snowfalls

More than 10 inches of new snow fell before dawn in parts of Maryland that had received up to 30 inches just a few days earlier. Plows and salt spreaders fought heavy snow in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the flakes briefly turned to rain to make a slushy mix.

The manager of a Staten Island 7-Eleven, Yagnesh Patel, had a slippery drive to work ahead of the plows. "It's going to be a tough day ahead," Patel said.

The wind started blowing in gusts from 25 to 45 mph in and around snowbound Washington, whipping fresh powder and making driving treacherous as visibility was only about a block in many places. Driving conditions got so bad that officials in Washington and some nearby suburbs pulled plows off the roads.

Chris Matherne, a Washington property manager, was walking to work to ensure shoveling got done. Matherne had only walked a few blocks, but his clothes and even his eyebrows were already covered in snow.

"My brain is a little frozen," he said.

Ted Romer, 53, a military contractor from Schererville, Ind., was stuck in a hotel in Bel Air, Md., with little to do because the Army's nearby Aberdeen Proving Ground was closed.

"I've got e-mails in my inbox I need to read. I've got a newspaper and a book — stuff that I call the rainy-day activities, administrative things," Romer said.

Jeff Salgado, 24, a doorman at the Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Baltimore, said guests had resorted to walking.

"All of them. I haven't seen a cab all day," Salgado said as he shoveled the latest layer of snow from in front of the hotel.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter urged residents to stay home if possible.

"It's going to be pretty horrendous out there," he said. "The roads are pretty rough right now, although our city forces are out."

Plows have been rolling around the clock for days in the nation's capital, Philadelphia and Baltimore after nearly 3 feet of snow fell in some areas last weekend — and they won't be stopping anytime soon.

In Chicago, a pickup truck plowing snow backed into and killed a 71-year-old woman. Police say Yuliya Polzikova was crossing a street Tuesday when she was struck by the truck as it backed out of the parking lot it was clearing with a plow attachment.

Snow was falling from northern Virginia to Connecticut by early Wednesday after crawling out of the Midwest, where the storm canceled hundreds of flights and was blamed for three traffic deaths in Michigan.

The storm has buried Baltimore under record snow for the season and put Washington within inches of a high from 1898-99, according to the National Weather Service.

More than 5 inches fell in both cities since Tuesday, making the total for Baltimore 65.6 inches since December, breaking the previous record of 62.5 inches from 1995-96. Washington is only about 4 inches away from its record of 54.4 inches from 1898-99.

"It's hard to find anything in the history books of these types of storms back-to-back," said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Konarik.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings Wednesday that extended into New York City, where 10 to 16 inches could fall. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights at airports on the Eastern seaboard and schools in New York City were closed, only the third snow day in six years for the district's 1.1 million students.

Along the East Coast, thousands of workers were scrambling to plow and salt roads. Maryland officials said salt supplies used by road crews were dwindling in some parts of the state. A spokesman for Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation said drivers' shifts were running as long as 16 hours.

"It can be exhausting, mentally and physically," said Jerry Graham, a state plow truck driver in Pennsylvania's Lehigh County.

Michael Giambattista, 56, a truck driver from Elizabeth, Pa., had been without power since Friday and was staying at a Red Cross shelter near his home with his girlfriend and 13-year-old son.

"I've never been without power like this," said Giambattista, who was trying to help keep spirits up among the more than 50 people at the shelter. "Mother Nature, you can't battle her. She's going to win."

The storms have kept some workers and students home for the better part of a week. About 230,000 federal workers in Washington have been off since Friday afternoon, when the first storm began. The U.S. House announced it was scrapping the rest of its workweek. Several hearings and meetings in Congress and federal agencies were postponed, including one planned to address Toyota's massive recalls.

"It's embarrassing that the world's largest superpower closes from a few feet of snow," said Alex Krause, 23, of Los Angeles, who was stranded in Washington and visiting the National Mall. "The Kremlin must be laughing."

But the effects of the federal government's closure were negligible since about 85 percent of federal employees work outside the Washington region. An IRS spokeswoman said tax returns should not be affected.

Thousands remained without power from the last storm in parts of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and other areas. Utilities said deep snow was hindering some crews trying to fix damaged power lines even before Tuesday's storm arrived.

Their task could grow even more difficult with new snowfall and winds gusting up to 50 mph that create blizzard conditions in the Mid-Atlantic.

In West Virginia, where 40 counties were under winter storm warnings, Gov. Joe Manchin urged people to make sure snow was cleared from roofs of public buildings to avoid a repeat of 1998, when roof collapses were blamed for at least three deaths.

Kenya relocates thousands of animals to game park

By TOM MALITI, Associated Press Writer

SOYSAMBU, Kenya – Kenyan authorities on Wednesday began a plan to restore the predator-prey balance in one of the country's premier game parks after a recent drought — by moving thousands of zebras and wildebeests closer to the lions.

As the sun rose over the 44,000-acre Soysambu Conservancy, a herd of dozens of terrified zebras stampeded as a helicopter buzzed overhead, herding them into a funnel-like trap and into waiting trucks. After three trips, the helicopter had helped capture 88 zebras. Earlier in the week, 49 were herded.

At the end of a three-week operation, the Kenya Wildlife Service aims to relocate 4,000 zebras from different parts of the country to Amboseli National Park. In March, after the wildebeests have finished giving birth, the service plans to move 3,000 of them to the same park.

The more fortunate animals will enjoy the environs of Amboseli, a key sanctuary for animals in southwestern Kenya during the dry season because it usually has pasture and water when surrounding areas are dry.

The less fortunate ones will end up in the stomachs of the park's hungry lions, who have been forced by drought to hunt the goats and cattle kept by the nearby Maasai herdsmen.

"We have been hearing reports of a few carcasses (of livestock) found each day," said Charles Musyoki, a senior scientist at the Kenya Wildlife Service.

"When we move the zebras and wildebeests we will now be increasing the number and thereby making them available to the carnivores and this will make the carnivores reduce their dependence on livestock (for food)," Musyoki said.

Dr. Frances Gakuya of the Kenya Wildlife Services says the relocation process will cost 100 million shillings ($1.3 million), which will go toward financing transport to and from Amboseli as well as the upkeep of the 22-member team working to move the animals.

Amboseli is among the top revenue earners of Kenya's more than 40 national parks and reserves.

Musyoki said the decline in Amboseli's zebra and wildebeest populations has been as high as 90 percent compared to a peak recorded in 2007.

That year there were an estimated 10,000 zebras. He said that when KWS scientists did a count on Feb. 6 there were 982. Similarly in 2007, there were 7,100 wildebeests compared to 143 on Feb. 6, Musyoki said.

He said such a devastating drought has never been recorded before in Amboseli and elders in surrounding areas have told him they do not remember anything like it.

"We've never seen such drastic climate in recent times," Musyoki said.

NATO launches anti-Taliban operation in Helmand

Thousands of US and NATO-led forces have kicked off their biggest anti-Taliban offensive in the militant-infested southern Afghanistan.

Local eyewitnesses told Press TV on Wednesday that heavy smoke is billowing out of the city of Marjah, in the heart of Helmand province.

The assault follows earlier reports that US Marines in the region had come under fire from militants armed with sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

The Marines were targeted by sniper fire as they arrived in helicopters. US Cobra helicopters were called in to attack militant positions.

US forces are reportedly searching houses in the area for weapons and explosives.

Last week, the US-led presence and Afghan security forces unveiled plans for the operation, codenamed “Battle of Marja,” which is to take place in several stages and aims at placing the national security forces at the frontline of the conflict.

The Taliban say they have developed a new bomb that cannot be detected by Western mine sweepers. The militants have shown no signs of backing down or any interest in peace talks ahead of the big showdown.

Hundreds of Afghan families have fled their homes in Helmand to avoid being caught in crossfire. The US-led NATO forces are frequently condemned for their lack of concern for civilian lives.

A UN report released in January has painted a grim picture of the stepped-up military action aimed at killing militants. The report showed that the number of civilians killed in 2009 was higher than in any year since the 2001 US-led invasion.

The United States and its allies argue militant hideouts are being targeted in their military operations, which include the imprecise drone attacks that result in civilian casualties.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118328§ionid=351020403.

Students arrested in LA for heckling Israeli envoy

At least eleven students have been arrested over their interruption of a lecture by the Israeli ambassador to the US at the University of California, Irvine.

Michael Oren was invited to the university by the Jewish Federation of Orange County to speak about Israeli views on the status of the Middle East and Tel Aviv's relationship with Washington.

However as the ambassador was addressing the crowded auditorium, he was interrupted for at least ten times by anti-Israeli students.

"Michael Oren, propagating murder is not an expression of free speech," the first of the ten students yelled before being led away by university police.

The remainder of Oren's speech was drowned by similar remarks, with some students shouting "killer" and "how many Palestinians did you kill?"

By the end of the night, 11 students were arrested and cited for disturbing a public event.

They could face misdemeanor charges as well as university disciplinary hearings that could result in suspensions or dismissals, Cathy Lawhon, Media Relations Director at the UC-Irvine campus said.

The University's Muslim Union was not available for contact but it did issue a statement prior to the event, saying that it strongly opposed and condemned the ambassador's visit, a Press TV correspondent reported from Los Angeles.

"Israel continues its human rights violations, thereby breaking international law and law of Israeli accord," the group had said.

It also added that Israel has committed war crimes against the Gaza Strip and is responsible for the massacre of thousands of Palestinians.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118327§ionid=3510203.

Hariri vows united Lebanon against Israeli threats

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri voices concern about escalating Israeli threats but insists that Tel Aviv will be confronted by a united Lebanon if a war breaks out.

"We hear a lot of Israeli threats day in and day out, and not only threats," Hariri told the BBC on Wednesday.

"We see what's happening on the ground and in our airspace and what's happening all the time during the past two months — every day we have Israeli planes entering Lebanese airspace," Hariri added.

The Lebanese leader noted that such moves by Israel were on the rise and warned, "This is something that is really dangerous."

The remarks come after repeated threats from Israeli officials in recent weeks of a full-fledged war against Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, and amid Tel Aviv's war of words with the Damascus Government.

Hariri said Israel counts on Lebanon's confessionally-divided politics and the assumption that the Lebanese could not unite in case of a foreign attack.

"I think they're betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us…Well, there won't be a division in Lebanon."

"We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people," he vowed.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118319§ionid=351020203.

Israel raps US charity for aiding UN Gaza panel

A US-based group that funded Israeli NGOs has come under fire by Tel Aviv for allegedly providing evidence against Israel to a UN Gaza war panel.

On January 29, a report issued by Im Tirtzu - a self-described centrist Zionist group - accused the New Israel Fund (NIF) philanthropy of providing most of the evidence to the United Nations' Goldstone Commission that issued a report highly critical of Israel's Gaza war a year ago.

Leaders of the Washington-based group have, however, denied the charges, saying that they are being unfairly targeted by the Israeli conservatives who seek to silence any opposing viewpoints, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

"It's an attempt to stifle dissent," said Daniel Sokatch, the chief executive of the fund, which donates about $15 million annually to "human rights and civil society groups" in Israel.

While acknowledging that some recipients of the charity group had cooperated with the Goldstone inquiry, the NIF Spokeswoman Naomi Paiss said that the human rights groups were just doing their job.

"This is what human rights group do. They are supposed to monitor and report," she explained.

Last fall, the UN Human Rights Council led by the South African judge Richard Goldstone charged Israel and also Hamas of war crimes during the 22-day assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The Goldstone Report also accused the Israeli military of using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians and firing phosphorus munitions on Gazans.

About 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, were killed during the deadly offensive.

The extremist Im Tirtzu leaders, however, believe the "unpatriotic" New Israel Fund had financed a "propagandist campaign" aimed at "de-legitimizing Israel, negating its right to exist and its right to self-defense."

Following the Goldstone Report, many foreign aid workers, journalists and charities have encountered Israeli threats and crackdowns.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118325§ionid=3510203.

Saudi schoolgirl gets 90 lashes for cell phone

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

A Saudi court has sentenced a 13-year-old Saudi schoolgirl to 90 lashes and two months in prison after she was caught with a mobile phone equipped with a camera.

The girl, who has not been named, is sentenced to 90 lashes in her school in front of her classmates followed by two months in detention.

The sentences come after she was caught with a cell phone equipped with a camera. The gadget is banned in girls' schools.

The austere desert Kingdom's use of such punishment has been widely condemned by human rights organizations.

The world has witnessed several cases of human rights violations. In 2006, a Saudi teenager was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison after she was the victim of a gang rape.

The judge sentenced the female victim to more lashes than her assailants. A court had originally sentenced the rapists to jail terms of between 10 months and five years.

Publicity and publication of the event changed the 19-year-old girl's situation. The court had originally sentenced the woman to 90 lashes, but increased the punishment after an appeal, saying the woman had tried to use the media to influence them.

In March, 2002, at least fourteen schoolgirls died at a school in Saudi Arabia after religious police stopped them from fleeing a fire. The religious police maintained that they could not leave the building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress.

Saudi Arabia appoints religious police, commonly known as mutaween, to patrol public places in teams to enforce the Kingdom's brand of ultra-conservative Islam.

In February, 2008 religious police arrested a Saudi psychology academic for having coffee with a female student. He faced 180 lashes for the act.

Contact between unrelated Saudi men and women in public places is severely restricted. It is an illegal act in the Kingdom which enforces a strict Islamic moral code.

In an April, 2008 report, Human Rights Watch documented that the guardianship system requires Saudi women to obtain permission from male guardians before they can carry out a host of day-to-day activities, such as education, employment, travel, opening a bank account, or receiving medical care.

The report demonstrated the negative consequences for women whose guardians - fathers, husbands, brothers or male children - refuse to give such permission.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116704§ionid=3510212.

Canada, Netherlands supply vehicles for Darfur peacekeeping

February 10, 2010

The governments of Canada and the Netherlands have handed over equipment valued at more than 12 million U.S. dollars to the Uganda Police Force towards peacekeeping efforts in Darfur.

A statement from the Canadian Embassy in Nairobi said on Wednesday the in-kind contribution consists of armored and non- armored vehicles, tents, and engineering, logistical, medical, dental and protective equipment.

"We are pleased to support vital peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, in a partnership with African peacekeeping nations like Uganda. Together, we can make a difference in advancing our common goal of stability, security and a just and lasting peace in Sudan," said Canadian High Commissioner to Uganda Ross Hynes.

"Uganda's important contribution to peacekeeping efforts in Sudan is very much appreciated," Hynes said in the statement.

The equipment is for use by the Uganda contingent in the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) Formed Police Units which will be the first large-scale peacekeeping deployment for the Uganda Police Force.

In addition, a six-month supply of critical spare parts along with equipment-related operator and basic equipment training has been provided.

"We are also pleased that six new armored personnel carriers have arrived in Kampala as part of our important contribution to the police units provided to UNAMID by African countries," Hynes said.

"Along with these vehicles, we are also providing equipment and basic operator and maintenance training as part of a 40 million dollar package to three African Countries including Uganda."

Currently, Uganda has 135 personnel deployed in Darfur with UNAMID and 17 with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).

In the spring of 2010, for a period of six months, a 150-person Formed Police Unit (FPU) will be deployed to Darfur after which the Ugandan government will have the choice of using the vehicles and equipment received yesterday to extend the deployment or take part in other peacekeeping missions around the world.

Canada is part of a concerted international effort to support a just and lasting peace in all of Sudan.

Canadian contributions focus primarily on resolving the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Darfur, and supporting the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended the southern civil war in January 2005.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90855/6892776.html.

Israel: Karni crossing to remain shut till Hamas rules

Israeli army officials say the principal cargo terminal into the blockaded Gaza Strip will not reopen as long as Hamas is in power in the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The major Israeli daily Ha'aretz quotes unnamed army officials in a Wednesday article as saying that the Karni border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip was not slated to reopen in a near future.

"The Karni crossing won't resume operating …at least not as long as Hamas controls the Strip," said one of the officials.

Karni was formerly the main cargo crossing into Gaza but has been closed by Israeli authorities since June 2007, when Hamas had to concentrate its forces in the coastal sliver after a coup by the rival Fatah Party.

The Tel Aviv regime now favors to keep Karni closed, claiming high risk of attacks on Israeli positions through the crossing and its 'inability' to coordinate operations with Hamas.

The army has been fortifying the depot, explaining that the border terminal is located near Gaza City's Sajiyeh neighborhood and thus prone to Palestinian sniper fire and underground tunnels.

The main transit route into Gaza is currently the farther Kerem Shalom crossing, which is more difficult for the Palestinians to access.

The years-long blockade of the Gaza Strip has pushed the 1.5 million Palestinians in the impoverished territory — almost half of whom depend on food aid handouts — on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

Israel refuses to ease the siege despite mounting condemnations by the international community and human rights groups against the collective punishment of the Palestinians and hindering the transport of food, fuel and other basic needs into Gaza.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118312§ionid=351020202.

Lieberman: Turkey cannot continue bashing Israel

The Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has criticized Turkey's repeated condemnation of Israeli policies, claiming Ankara cannot continue bashing Tel Aviv at every opportunity it gets.

"Every week to sharply condemn Israel, to say Israeli military forces have carried out genocide, to call operations to protect our citizens a crime against humanity... This sharp anti-Israeli line cannot be repeated every week," the visiting Lieberman complained on Azerbaijan's Lidar television.

Relations between Tel Aviv and Ankara turned sour in 2009 after Israel launched a massive onslaught against the Gaza Strip that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left thousands more injured.

The offensive drew sharp criticism from Turkey and prompted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to lash out at Israel's President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos before storming out of the session.

"The recent changes in Turkey's foreign policy concepts were unexpected to us and not entirely clear. We are doing everything we can in order to preserve relations at the previous, very trustful level and to maintain close cooperation in all areas," Lieberman asserted on Tuesday. "We hope that Turkey from its side will make certain amendments to its foreign policy concept," he added.

The appeal by the hawkish Israeli minister for closer ties with Turkey comes despite a deepening division between the two military allies.

In January, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador to Tel Aviv and made him sit in a lower chair than those of his own and three other Israeli officials confronting the Turkish envoy.

The humiliating meeting was further flavored with a deliberate absence of the Turkish flag. Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake.

The move irked officials in Ankara who denounced the "undiplomatic behavior" and demanded a formal apology from Tel Aviv.

"Israel should give some thought to what it would be like to lose a friend like Turkey in the future. The way they recently treated our ambassador has no place in international politics," Erdogan said on the future of Turkish-Israeli ties on January 31.

On Turkey's condemnation of the Israeli crimes during the Gaza war, the Turkish leader said his nation could not close its eyes on what it deemed as incompatible with human rights.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118310§ionid=351020406.

Israel plans to raze 200 homes in Jerusalem Al-Quds

Israeli officials have given the go-ahead for the demolition of 200 Palestinian homes in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem Al-Quds.

According to the Ma'an news agency, most of the homes that are threatened with imminent demolition are located in Silwan, a deprived and overcrowded Palestinian community lying just outside the walls of Old Jerusalem Al-Quds and in the shadow of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Meanwhile, human rights groups have warned that around one third of the population of the Shiyah neighborhood in central Jerusalem Al-Quds is threatened with displacement.

Israeli officials have issued orders for the demolition of 100 buildings in Shiyah that provide shelter for 4,000 of its 15,000 inhabitants.

The Palestinians of Shiyah say that the Jerusalem Al-Quds municipality is also trying to gain control of land near Shiyah in order to expand the nearby Jewish cemetery.

Israel frequently orders hundreds of Palestinians to leave their homes in Jerusalem Al-Quds, claiming that they do not have proper documentation for their houses. The move is part of its Judaization campaign targeting the holy city.

The residents say that Israeli officials have been withholding their documents or are refusing to issue documents for their houses.

The final status of Jerusalem Al-Quds is one of the thorniest issues of the peace process.

The Palestinians insist that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital.

Israel captured East Jerusalem Al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed it, but the move was never recognized by the international community.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118309§ionid=351020202.

US offers to help Iran procure medical radioisotopes

US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has announced that the international community is willing to help Iran procure medical radioisotopes from foreign countries.

Crowley said he hoped the offer would help to “build some confidence."

The proposal is also meant to show that Iran's plan to enrich uranium to 20-percent purity for a reactor making radioisotopes for cancer patients is “unnecessary,” he added.

On Tuesday, Iran began enrichment of uranium to the 20-percent level required for the fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor, which produces radioisotopes for the treatment of cancer patients.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said, “Iran tailors its enrichment program to meet its needs, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency supplies 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel to Iran, it could focus only on the production of 3.5-percent enriched uranium.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118297§ionid=351020104.

Iran to launch home-built anti-missile system

In response to the US military buildup in the Persian Gulf, Iran will soon launch a domestically-built air defense system to counter the ballistic missile threat in the future.

On Tuesday, more than a week after Washington started ramping up its military hardware in the Persian Gulf region, senior Air Force Commander Mohammad-Hassan Mansourian announced that the country will set up a sophisticated system "to detect and deter ballistic missiles" before they reach their targets.

"At the end of the day, it all comes down to how strong your air command is," Mansourian told Fars News Agency. "The better your air deterrence capabilities, the more chances you have to gain the upper hand in combat."

Mansourian said Iran's military and government officials have emphasized on the need to strengthen the defenses around vital spots, particularly the country's various nuclear sites.

"To protect our nuclear installations, particularly the ones in Tehran and Esfahan, we have devised a set of defense strategies to sabotage any attempt or plan to attack us," he said.

The Iranian commander said it is of utmost importance to reduce the effectiveness of a planned strike, be it on the country's nuclear sites or any other sensitive location.

After years of accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons, Washington has taken silent steps in the past weeks to upgrade its missile systems and war machine in the Persian Gulf, under the pretext of defending its regional allies against missile strikes by Iran.

The US allegations come despite insistence by Iran that neither its missile program, nor its uranium enrichment pose a threat to regional stability.

On a different note, Mansourian said the growing threat of cruise missiles could be easily neutralized by studying the enemy's standard methods of using these weapons in recent warfare and also by building applicable ground-based systems such as heavy artillery units.

His remarks come one day after Heshmatollah Kassiri, another senior military official, announced that Iran has plans to develop an air defense system that is comparable to and even more sophisticated than the advanced Russian S-300 system.

"The domestically-built air defense system, which will be unveiled in the near future, is as powerful as the S-300 system, or even stronger," IRNA quoted Heshmatollah Kassiri as saying.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118275§ionid=351020101.

US senators urge action on Iran Internet

Thu, 21 Jan 2010

Five US Senators publically urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to expedite aid flow to fight Internet restrictions in Iran, amid accusations that Washington interferes in Iran's internal affairs.

In a letter made public on Wednesday, the senators urged Clinton to swiftly spend $45 million that has been earmarked over the last two years to fight Internet restrictions in countries like Iran, the New York Times reported.

In July 2009, the US Senate ratified a plan to curb what it called "censorship" in the Islamic Republic.

A bill dubbed the Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act is aimed at funding measures "to counter Iranian government efforts to jam radio, satellite, and Internet-based transmissions."

It also allocates $30 million for the US government to expand activities of Radio Free Europe's Persian-language radio broadcasts into Iran.

Washington will also take measures to counter Tehran's "efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran" with another $20 million, the ratification said.

Republican Senator John McCain, one of the sponsors of the bill, said the VOICE Act would help to open up the Iranian society "by providing assistance for broadcasting and new Internet and communications technologies."

The move comes amid an assertion by Iranian officials that Washington has not changed its approach toward Tehran, and it continues to meddle in the country's internal affairs.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116700§ionid=3510203.

Endeavor arrives at space station with picture window

Washington - The space shuttle Endeavor arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing a new room and a picture window that are to be installed on the station during three spacewalks on the shuttle's 13-day mission. Endeavor, which blasted off from Florida before dawn Monday, docked at the space station at 0506 GMT.

Endeavor's six-member crew brought along the Tranquility node, which is to make the orbiting space lab 90-per-cent complete. The Italian-made addition is designed as a connecting element that is to also provide the station's permanent crew with more space as well as house life-support and environmental control systems, a treadmill and other equipment.

Tranquility includes a six-window viewing area that would give astronauts a panoramic look at Earth, the station and visiting spacecraft. It would allow astronauts to operate robotic controls and get a 360-degree view like a crane operator sitting in a cabin.

The mission is the first of the year for a nearly 29-year-old space shuttle program that is to be mothballed in September. The Endeavor's current mission is to be followed by four more shuttle flights to complete construction of the space station.

Endeavor was scheduled to return to Earth on February 20.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308425,endeavour-arrives-at-space-station-with-picture-window.html.

Spanish king concludes visit to Lebanon by inspecting UNIFIL

Beirut - King Juan Carlos of Spain concluded a two-day visit to Lebanon Tuesday by visiting the headquarters of his country's UNIFIL contingent in southern Lebanon. "We in Spain are determined to work with the countries concerned to reach a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East," the king was quoted as telling Lebanese president Michel Suleiman before heading south.

The king, wearing a military uniform, placed a wreath at the memorial for soldiers who have died in Lebanon since the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed in 1978 to monitor the borders between Lebanon and Israel.

The king and his Defense Minister Carme Chacon visited the headquarters of the Spanish battalion in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, where the monarch met with the commander of UNIFIL in Lebanon, the Spanish General Alberto Asarta Cuevas.

Juan Carlos' trip comes after the UN Spanish battalion took command of UNIFIL from the Italians last month.

Spain is also currently heading the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is accompanying the king, held talks Tuesday with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Lebanese counterpart Ali Chami.

"The time now is for ... all the parties to engage in serious talks" on both the Palestinian-Israeli and Israeli-Syria tracks, he said.

Moratinos said that his talks with Hariri touched on the recent Israeli threats against Lebanon.

Last week, Israel accused Beirut of allowing the fundamentalist Hezbollah to work on smuggling weapons into Lebanon in "violation of (UN Security Council) Resolution 1701."

Resolution 1701 ended 33 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in July 2006.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308349,spanish-king-concludes-visit-to-lebanon-by-inspecting-unifil.html.

European Parliament approves new EU commission - Summary

Strasbourg, France - The European Parliament approved Tuesday the new European Commission led by former Portuguese prime minister Jose Manuel Barroso, clearing the way for it to take office for the next five years. The commission is the European Union's executive, which manages the bloc's 130-billion-euro (178-billion-dollar) annual budget, drafts its laws and makes sure member states obey them.

The appointment of the 27-strong team - one commissioner from each EU member state - was backed by the assembly in Strasbourg with 488 votes in favor, 137 against and 72 abstentions.

That wide majority gives the commission "a real mandate for boldness," Barroso said immediately after the vote.

The parliament's main political families - conservatives, socialists and liberals - voted in favor of the commission. All members of the EU executive have links to these three parties.

A euroskeptic minority group headed by Britain's Conservative party, along with like-minded politicians from Poland and the Czech Republic, abstained. The assembly's other minority factions, including the Greens and far-left and -right parties, voted against.

The parliamentary debate was livened up by the head of the Greens, former 1960's firebrand leader Dani Cohn-Bendit, who called the three big parties "a coalition of hypocrites" for supporting Barroso out of political opportunism.

British euroskeptic leader Nigel Farage likened the EU to the Soviet Union, drawing angry reactions. The commission chief said people who make such comparisons "do not know what living under a totalitarian regime was like and do not know what is democracy."

Tuesday's vote concluded an appointment process delayed by several months. First because the Lisbon Treaty - a legal text that reforms the EU's workings - came into force on December 1, 11 months later than expected.

Then the Barroso team was hampered by the parliament's rejection of the Bulgarian candidate, Rumiana Jeleva. She resigned after being accused of incompetence and financial impropriety, and was replaced by World Bank vice-president Kristalina Georgieva.

"The EU's institutions are working at full speed now," parliament president Jerzy Buzek noted, relieved that the saga over the new commission is over.

In exchange for MEP's support, Barroso promised "radical change", vowing to embark on an ambitious legislative program. He announced measures to strengthen economic coordination within the eurozone, an item high on the agenda since Greece's budget crisis shook confidence in the single currency.

But the commission chief remained guarded about other proposals, such as a euro-bond issue to help countries in financial dire straits.

"I do not want to feed speculation that could be negative for the country concerned," he said.

Before giving their go-ahead, MEPs extracted from the commission a pledge to give them more powers in the context of a so-called inter-institutional agreement. The deal is to be finalist in May or June and is expected to run until 2014.

The 53-year-old Barroso is to lead the commission for a second consecutive term. Over the next five years his team is set to steer EU common policy on major issues such as financial reform, economic revival and climate change.

It is also expected to plan the overhaul of the EU's budget and its costly farm policy, which currently soaks up around one-third of all spending.

The debates over financial and agricultural reform are likely to be particularly venomous, putting two of the EU's biggest hitters, France and Britain, on a collision course.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308354,european-parliament-approves-new-eu-commission--summary.html.

Parliament dissolved in Sri Lanka - Summary

Colombo - Parliament in Sri Lanka has been dissolved with effect from midnight Tuesday ahead of new elections, officials said. The vote for the 225-seat legislature is likely to be held in April, but an official announcement is expected by the Commissioner of Elections in the next few days.

Two weeks ago, President Mahinda Rajapaksa of the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) was re-elected for a second term.

The dissolution comes after the arrest of former army commander Sarath Fonseka, who led the military victory over the separatist Tamil rebels before unsuccessfully running in the presidential election.

Fonseka was arrested at his Colombo office Monday while discussing plans to contest the parliamentary vote, said Somawansa Amarasinghe, head of the opposition Marxist JVP party, who was present at the time of the arrest.

"The military police stormed into the meeting and took him away. He agreed to surrender to the police, but they (the military police) insisted they had power to arrest him took him away," Amarasinghe said.

"From our point of view it is an abduction," he said.

A separate statement said Fonseka was arrested on charges of "committing alleged fraudulent acts and military offenses," but did not give details of the offenses.

Government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella accused the ex- army chief of leaking information discussed at Security Council meetings, thereby posing a threat to President Rajapaksa's life.

The director general of the Media Center for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, said Fonseka, who ran as the presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, would appear before a military court on charges of conspiring against the government.

Hulugalle said Fonseka was arrested for conspiring to topple the government and for creating divisions within the army when he was the commander.

The government had earlier claimed that Fonseka and the opposition planned to assassinate Rajapaksa.

Fonseka was expected to contest the presidential election results in the courts this week.

At least 10 political parties, including three main opposition parties, plan a sit-in against Fonseka's arrest near the Supreme Courts complex in Colombo on Wednesday.

Fonseka's wife, Anoma, claimed that she had not been able to meet her husband.

"I have not been able send his medication to him so far and have appealed to International Committee of the Red Cross to intervene," she said.

Fonseka, who was injured in a suicide bombing inside the army headquarters in April 2006, continues to need medication for the after-effects of the injuries.

However, a government statement said the family has been "granted unhindered access to the detainee (Fonseka) and full medical assistance as required."

Fonseka commanded the army in its defeat in May of the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which had been fighting for a separate state for Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority.

He was demoted soon afterward to the ceremonial post of defence chief of staff and decided in November to challenge the president with the backing of three main opposition political parties.

The ex-army chief managed to win 40 per cent of the vote against 58 per cent for Rajapaksa, according to official data.

Since the elections, more than 20 members of Fonseka's staff, including a retired major general, have been arrested.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308356,parliament-dissolved-in-sri-lanka--summary.html.

Former Iranian minister given five-year jail term

Tehran - Former Iranian industries minister Behzad Nabavi has been given a six-year jail term for his involvement in the post-election protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the news agency ISNA and opposition websites reported Tuesday. Nabavi, who served under premier Mir Hussein Moussavi from 1985 to 1989, was a supporter of Moussavi in June's disputed presidential election.

The 68-year-old Nabavi was also deputy parliament speaker between 2000 and 2004 and heads the secular opposition group of MIRO.

Along with the opposition, Nabavi accused the president of election fraud and refused to acknowledge his victory.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308359,former-iranian-minister-given-five-year-jail-term.html.

Palau willing to take remaining Uighurs at Guantanamo

KOROR: Palau's President Johnson Toribiong said his country was willing to take the remaining five Uighurs being held at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay.

"We have an outstanding invitation to the remaining Uighurs in Guantanamo," Toribiong told journalists Monday.

Last week US lawyer Susan Baker Manning, a lawyer representing one of the five men, said she understood there was no offer from the Pacific island state to take the men.

The five detainees are the last of a group of 22 from the Turkic-speaking Chinese Muslim minority who were captured in Afghanistan after the US invasion in 2001 and held at the controversial "war on terror" detention center in Cuba.

The men, from the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, were cleared of any wrongdoing in 2004 but the US has had trouble finding new homes for them after ruling out returning them to China for fear they would be persecuted.

Six of the Uighurs went to Palau last year for temporary resettlement and Toribiong reiterated Monday they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted.

Albania and Bermuda had also agreed to take some of the Uighur detainees and last week Switzerland agreed to take two of the remaining seven.

Beijing has argued they should be returned to China for questioning as suspected terrorists.

Palau, a former US-administered Trust territory in the western Pacific, wants the Uighurs to be eventually resettled in other countries with an existing Uighur population.

But Toribiong said Monday there had been no offers yet from any other country to resettle the men.

Source: Channel News Asia.
Link: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1036300/1/.html.

Libya moves to protect creative artists' rights

2010-02-09

Libyan legislators approved new measures to safeguard intellectual property rights and protect literary and artistic works from piracy, ANSA reported on Monday (February 8th). In a statement, the General People's Committee said the new "Africa Information Center" would also promote cultural and media-related projects.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/09/newsbrief-05.

Algeria convicts water sector executives

2010-02-09

As part of Algerian governmental efforts to curb administrative corruption, a Bechar court on Monday (February 8th) sentenced several water sector officials to prison for embezzlement, abuse of power, forgery and other convictions, APS reported. Three managers received 10-year prison terms. The scandal involved some 50 defendants.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/09/newsbrief-04.

Spain frees Moroccan allegedly linked to Madrid bombing

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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2010-02-09

The Spanish Supreme Court on Monday (February 8th) acquitted Moroccan-born Mohamed El Idrissi, one of four terrorists convicted of helping one of the 2004 Madrid bombers to escape, MAP reported. The court upheld the sentences of Algerian Kamal Ahbar and Moroccan Samir Tahtah for recruiting suicide bombers for Iraq. The Maghreb men were arrested when their terrorist network was dismantled in Barcelona in 2005.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/09/newsbrief-03.

Morocco, Polisario resume informal talks Tuesday

2010-02-09

Delegations from Morocco and the Polisario Front will meet near New York on Tuesday (February 9th) to begin their second round of informal talks on the Western Sahara territorial dispute. Morocco hopes to achieve a "realistic and feasible political solution of compromise for the benefit of peace, stability and the development of the region", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

For his part, Sahrawi representative to the UN Mission for Western Sahara (MINURSO), Mohamed Khadad, on Monday reaffirmed the readiness of the Polisario Front to co-operate with the UN-brokered talks and proceed to the fifth round of direct negotiations. "The issue of human rights should not be put aside during these talks, otherwise we won't move forward," Sahara Press Service quoted Khadad as saying.

Algeria and Mauritania are also sending delegations to the session. In a TV interview on Monday, Algerian Maghreb and African Affairs Minister Abdelkader Messahel said he hopes that the talks, "which are in preparation for the fifth round of negotiations between the two parties, will be substantive and fruitful".

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/09/newsbrief-02.

Tunisia pushes green energy, cuts solar panel prices

The government is working to spread the use of solar power, which can enable consumers to save up to 70% on their hot water bills.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 09/02/10

The Tunisian government has slashed the prices of solar panels in a bid to cut dependence on imported power and lower ordinary people's household expenses.

In addition to providing a sizable 30% discount on solar panels, which cost between 1,350 and 1,850 dinars, the Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company is working with banks to provide customers with an affordable five-year installment plan for such purchases.

The deals are part of a general energy plan, revised by Parliament in February 2009, which includes 40 projects in the period 2010-2016 to bring more solar energy to homes and cut carbon emissions by 1.5 million tonnes per year. Solar energy is the power source of choice for just 1% of Tunisians, according to the Transatlantic21 Association, which monitors the global use of clean energy.

Economist Jannet Ben Abdellah told Magharebia that solar energy "enables the consumer to save up to 70% of hot water consumption costs".

Despite such incentives, ordinary Tunisians' reaction to the government measures has been mixed. According to engineer Assil Shihabi, the demand for solar panels will depend largely on geography.

"People in urban areas have started to demand [solar] services", she told Magharebia. "But ... in remote areas, especially in southern Tunisia, which is rich in solar energy and where temperature is higher than 40 degrees Celsius, people still don't know much about solar heaters".

Tunis homeowner Hamida Laouati is among those who have decided not to take advantage of the government measures. "Winter in Tunisia is short," she said, and solar power will "only provide hot water".

"However, if one day they manage to use [solar power] in lighting, I'll be the first one to participate without any hesitation," she concluded.

Other Tunisians have been happy to give solar power a try. Faicel Ben Zina has been using it for a year, and supports the government's project.

"I will have a refund of the costs I paid [for the panels and installation] in 10 years' time," he told Magharebia. "After that, I'll consume [electricity] for free."

Electricity costs are a concern for plugged-in Tunisia, which was ranked first in Powering Africa Foundation's annual ranking of electricity-dependent nations. According to the foundation, 99% of Tunisians have access to electricity.

Green Party chief Mongi Khamassi said this latest push for solar technology underlines Tunisia's commitment to environmental goals.

"Tunisia ... has high capabilities to develop the use of solar energy to produce electricity", he said in a statement to Magharebia on February 4th, observing that Tunisian soil receives the equivalent of 2,000 watts of sun rays per hour per day.

Solar energy "seems to be promising", Khamassi said. "Especially since many researchers have found solutions to the problem of storing huge quantities of renewable energies".

Tunisia is not alone in the Maghreb in terms of its solar ambitions. Morocco recently rolled out plans to spread the use of the greener, more renewable energy source. The kingdom's $9 billion solar project targets creating capacity of 2,000 MW by 2020 and reducing reliance on imports of electricity, oil and gas.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/02/09/feature-02.

Damascus hosts Armenian delegation

DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Damascus welcomed a delegation from Armenia on Tuesday to discuss strengthening bilateral relations and regional issues.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem welcomed Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan to Damascus to take part in bilateral discussions on regional affairs.

Kirakosyan said high-level exchanges between the two countries gave new quality to their level of friendship, the Public Radio of Armenia reports.

Damascus hopes to strengthen its regional position in the community. Washington dispatched top diplomats to Damascus last year in the hopes of reaching a variety of agreements with Syrian officials on issues ranging from Lebanon to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Armenia, for its part, is wrestling with its own regional complications over Nagorno-Karabakh.

War broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, and the regional fallout from that row remains tense despite a 1994 cease-fire.

The Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, led by France, Russia and the United States, is leading peace negotiations aimed at settling the conflict of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/02/09/Damascus-hosts-Armenian-delegation/UPI-30671265738888/.

Armenia, Syria to develop bilateral relations

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Tuesday, February 9 Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem met with Armenian delegation led by RA Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan.
The meeting centered around development of bilateral relations in political, economic, scientific and cultural spheres.

Arman Kirakosyan emphasized the importance of Armenia-Syria collaboration, especially noting opening of Armenian consulate in Deir ez-Zor.

On the same day, representatives of Armenian and Syrian Foreign Ministries started the next round of political consultations, RA Foreign Ministry press service reported.

Source: PanARMENIAN.net
Link: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=42703.

Macedonia hopes to complete EU accession talks within five years

Prague - Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Tuesday that he would like his country to start and complete accession talks with the European Union within five years. Macedonia has been a candidate for EU entry since 2005, but the Balkan country's accession to the 27-member bloc has been blocked by a long-standing dispute with Greece over its name.

Greece, a home to a historical region also named Macedonia, wants the former Yugoslav republic to change its name prior to joining the EU.

Speaking to reporters during his two-day Prague visit, Gruevski said that he would like his country to begin and end the EU accession talks during the incoming European Commission's five-year term.

He also indirectly called on Greece to try to solve the problem.

The Czech Republic, which became a member of the EU in 2004, has strongly backed EU and NATO aspirations by Balkan countries such as Macedonia.

Former Czech minister for European affairs, Stefan Fuele, is set to hold the enlargement portfolio in the new European Commission, the bloc's executive arm.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308360,macedonia-hopes-to-complete-eu-accession-talks-within-five-years.html.

Google takes on Facebook and Twitter with new Gmail Buzz

San Francisco - Google on Tuesday launched a set of social networking tools for Gmail users, hoping to coax them to share photos, links and status updates without the need to visit sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Called Google Buzz, the new features were rolled out to a small number of Gmail account holders Tuesday and to the majority of users within the week.

It allows users to share photos, videos, web links, conversations with "friends" - defined as pre-existing Gmail contacts. Google said it may open Buzz up to outside users in the future.

The shared information goes into a special Buzz section of Gmail and also appears on Google's profile pages.

Google also launched special mobile phone apps for Buzz for Apple's iPhone and for smartphones powered by its own Android operating system.

Analysts said the move by Google was designed primarily to head off Facebook's advantage in the huge amounts of user data that it has amassed and which is highly attractive to advertisers.

Gmail has 167 million users, compared to Facebook's 400 million members.

"Our belief is that organizing the social information on the web - finding relevance in the noise - has become a large-scale challenge, one that Google's experience in organizing information can help solve," said Buzz project manager Todd Jackson.

"There's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308377,google-takes-on-facebook-and-twitter-with-new-gmail-buzz.html.

Massive solar storms subject of new NASA launch - Summary

Washington - NASA planned to launch a solar probe on Wednesday to help unlock more secrets about the sun, whose massive storms affect Earth's weather and can pose danger to Earth dwellers. The Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) is the "crown jewel" of a fleet of NASA satellites planned to collect more details about what's going on underneath and above the surface of the sun, said Michael Luther, a NASA official who is overseeing the program, in a webcast briefing.

Under the Living With a Star program, scientists said they hope to better predict the sun's periodic release of billions of tons of matter that can endanger human life and health, corrode oil pipelines, disrupt communications and cause power surges.

After an earlier launch was delayed due to bad weather, a NASA meteorologist said high winds could also threaten Wednesday's launch.

From Earth's orbit, the SDO will collect data over five years and download 1.5 terabytes every day - the equivalent of 500,000 songs onto an iPod, said Elizabeth Citrin, project manager.

A special receiving center on Earth will manage the data. For iPhone owners, there will be a special app to see the current-time behavior of the sun as interpreted from the data flow.

"This is way cool," said Madhulika Guhathakurta, lead program scientist for Living With a Star, holding up an iPhone.

While various elements of the sun have been studied over the years, the SDO will be the first to present a "comprehensive view" of all the elements, she said.

The solar probe will collect 60 images a minute with 10 times the resolution of high-definition television, 24 hours a day, measuring the sun's extreme ultraviolet light and mapping its plasma flows and magnetic fields.

"This is the whole picture," Guhathakurta said. It will show "what happens on the sun and what happens to us here."

Dean Pesnell, another project scientist, said the project is vital to figuring out how to predict solar disruptions.

"Our sun affects our lives as we depend more and more on technology," he said. "Every time we look at the magnetic field of the sun, it's different."

The scientists noted the Halloween solar disruptions of 2003, which knocked out GPS systems across the US. In that case, the sun's magnetic field stretched and snapped back like a rubber band, sending billions of tons of gas and particles at 8 kilometers an hour earthwards.

In 1989, a similar storm shut down Quebec's power grid.

"The sun's magnetic fields are the equivalent of tectonic plates on Earth," said Alan Title, another astronomer on the project. When they shift, they are "capable of releasing massive amounts of energy."

Under the normal 11-year cycle of solar disruptions, also known as sunspots, the SDO's mission will coincide with the next storms in 2013 or 2014.

At times in history, however, the sun has skipped its sunspot cycle, scientists say. During one such period, called the Maunder Minimum, from 1645 to 1715, observers also recorded winters that were unusually and bitterly cold. But the link between the sun's dormancy and the so-called "little ice age" has never been proven.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308379,massive-solar-storms-subject-of-new-nasa-launch--summary.html.

Clinton to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar later his month and speak at a US-Islam forum, the State Department said Tuesday. Clinton will meet with Qatari officials on February 14 before her address at the US-Islamic World Forum, an event designed to improve Washington's relations with the Muslim world.

Clinton then heads to Saudi Arabia on February 15 for a two-day visit that includes a meeting with King Abdullah.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308380,clinton-to-visit-saudi-arabia-qatar.html.