Australia to deport heart surgeon's killer to Malaysia

Sydney - One of two men jailed in the killing of renowned Australian heart surgeon Victor Chang after a bungled 1991 extortion attempt is to be deported to Malaysia, court officers said Monday. Phillip Choon Tee Lim, 50, had served the minimum 18 years of his 24-year jail sentence, and the New South Wales Parole Authority had decided to release the Malaysian national in November until a state government challenge and public anger delayed the decision.

The Supreme Court now has agreed to release Lim for deportation.

China-born Chang, 54, who was shot dead on a Sydney street, performed 260 heart transplants and was head of heart surgery at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.

The other man convicted of his murder was Australian national Liew Chew Seng.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311842,australia-to-deport-heart-surgeons-killer-to-malaysia.html.

Freight train hits elephants in India; one dead, another gives birth

New Delhi – A female elephant was killed and another pregnant pachyderm injured when a speeding freight train knocked them down while they were crossing a rail track after having a bath and drinking water in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, media reports said Monday.

While one died on the spot, the pregnant injured gave birth to a calf after it too was hit by a Guwahti-bound train. The injured female later crossed the tracks and disappeared in to the jungle.

Divisional Forest Officer, Narayan Mahanta, has been quoted by local newspapers as saying that the rescued newborn was stable and had been shifted to the local zoo.

The injured mother has been spotted and moves were on to tranquilize it in order to medicate it for its injuries.

Northeast Frontier Railway spokesman S S Hajong, quoting local witnesses, said the elephant that got killed apparently put its trunk forward while the goods train was passing that area.

"Local people told us that while a herd of wild elephants which had come to the Deepor Beel (Wildlife sanctuary) for bathing and drinking water was trying to cross the tracks, one of the elephants somehow moved its trunk towards the tracks as the train was passing by," the Indian Express newspaper quoted him as saying.

Herds of elephants come down to the Deepor Beel almost every day, prompting the railways to run trains in the area at just 10 km per hour.

Sunday's elephant was the sixth victim of trains in Assam in the past three months. While four elephants including two calves were mowed down by a speeding train between Diphu and Doldoli stations in Karbi Anglong district in central Assam on January 2, one male elephant was killed by a train near Hojai in Nagaon district on December 22.

Assam incidentally accounts for about 37 per cent of the total elephant deaths, the highest in India, caused by trains in the country, followed by West Bengal, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.

India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, although their number has dropped to half in the last two decades mainly due to poaching, shrinking space for movement and urbanization of forest land.

The country has identified 88 dedicated elephant corridors. Many of them are yet to take shape.

The World Land Trust (WLT) is working with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to safe-guard traditional elephant routes as corridors where the elephants can move safely between national parks and other protected areas. But it is facing increasing protests from villagers and others who see this as usurping their land in the increasing animal-human habitat conflict.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311849,freight-train-hits-elephants-in-india-one-dead-another-gives-birth.html.

Border troopers now to guard rhino park in India to end poaching

New Delhi --The Assam state government in north-east India has signed a pact with the country's para-military organization for providing manpower and intelligence assistance in protecting the Great one-horned rhinoceroses and tigers in the world-famous Kaziranga National Park which has witnessed incidents of poaching in the past few days.

There are about 500 guards to guard Kaziranga forests but with increased poaching, the state government has turned to the Border Security Force (BSF) for help. There are over 2,100 one-horned rhino in the sanctuary.

Kaziranga lost two rhinos to poachers this year, while a third rhino was killed by villagers on the fringes of the national park last month. It is home to over 2,000 rhinos and at least 86 tigers, according to the Indian Express newspaper. Poachers killed six rhinos last year.

The Indian border guard troop not only will provide manpower for patrolling both inside and outside the 860 sq km national park, but also provide its dog squad to help track down poachers.

“Our primary objective is to bring poaching incidents to the zero level and create an environment where poachers and other criminals do not dare to stare at Kaziranga,” the report quoted a official as saying.

The park is home to nearly one-third of the world's one-horned rhinoceroses. It is criss-crossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra and also includes numerous small water bodies.

The history of Kaziranga as a protected area begins in 1904, when Mary Victoria Leiter Curzon, wife of then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, visited the area but failed to see a single rhinoceros, for which the area was renowned.

She reportedly asked her husband to take measures to protect the dwindling species. In June 1905, the Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest was created with an area of 232 km (90 sq mi).

Over the next three years, the park area was extended by 152 km (59 sq mi), to the banks of the River Brahmaputra. In 1908, Kaziranga was designated as a reserve forest.

Eight year later in 1916, it was renamed as the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary until gaming was banned in the area in 1938.

The Kaziranga Game Sanctuary was renamed the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950 in a bid to get rid of the hunting connotations.

In 1954, the Assam government passed the Assam (Rhinoceros) Bill, which imposed heavy penalties for rhinoceros poaching.. In 1985, Kaziranga was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO or its unique natural environment.

Kaziranga has witnessed several natural and human-made calamities in recent decades. Floods caused by overflowing of River Brahmaputra have led to significant losses of animal life. Encroachment by humans along the periphery also has led to a diminished forest cover and a loss of habitat.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311872,border-troopers-now-to-guard-rhino-park-in-india-to.html.

Coup leader warns Niger is facing famine

Mon Mar 1, 2010

Niger's new military ruler Salou Djibo says that millions of his countrymen are threatened by famine.

Addressing the nation on state television Sunday, Djibo said all means were urgently being deployed to tackle the famine, which "threatens the existence of millions of Nigeriens in virtually all regions."

This comes as an official report leaked to a Nigerien newspaper in January said that more than half of Niger's 15 million people would face food shortages this year.

Aid agencies are also bracing for food shortages and acute malnutrition after poor rains last year.

This is while the government of then President Mamadou Tandja continuously reassured the public that the country was not facing any food shortages.

The subject was of extreme sensitivity to the ousted leader after he was strongly criticized, both domestically and internationally, for his mishandling of a devastating famine in 2005.

This along with Tandja's altering of the Constitution of the country in August, which allowed him to remain in power indefinitely, triggered the February 18 military coup, leading to his ouster.

The coup has been well received in the West African nation, but the international community has slammed the political shake-up, calling for a return to civilian rule.

Djibo has so far vowed to restore democracy in Niger, but has given no date for the elections.

Djibo also said the junta was committed to tackling impunity, corruption and the abuse of power during an unspecified transitional period before the promised elections.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119755&sectionid=351020506.

2 suspected Dubai assassins escaped to US

At least two of the 26 suspects sought for the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai reportedly entered the US shortly after the killing.

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was killed in a Dubai hotel back in January. Now, the Wall Street Journal says records shared between international investigators show that one of the suspects entered the United States a day later, using an Irish passport.

The second suspect entered the US on a British passport in February.

Dubai police have already identified the two US companies that issued credit cards to the suspects.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a person familiar with the situation that there aren't records of either man leaving the US, though investigators can't be sure the two are still in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119750§ionid=351020206.

Separatist shutdown affects life in Kashmir

Normal life was hit in the Kashmir Valley Monday after separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani called for a shutdown to protest the damage done to houses allegedly by security forces in Sopore town.

Public transport remained off the roads in Srinagar city. Shops and other business establishments were closed.

Reports from other parts of the valley indicated that the shutdown had adversely affected normal activities.

Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were deployed in the Old City areas of Srinagar, Senior Superintendent of Police Javaid Riyaz told IANS here.

Four soldiers and two separatists were killed in Chinkipora locality of Sopore town in a gun battle Feb 23.

Geelani, who is also chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, alleged that security forces damaged 35 houses in the fighting, leaving many homeless.

Source: Hindustan Times.
Link: http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/srinagar/Separatist-shutdown-affects-life-in-Kashmir/Article1-514159.aspx.

Winter recess for Kashmir schools extended

Winter recess for schools in the Kashmir Valley has been extended by a week in view of adverse weather conditions, an official said Monday.

'All government and private schools up to Class 12 in the valley will now open next Monday,' an official of the school education department said.

According to the weather department, the valley will witness heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours.

'This is because of a western disturbance which persists in the region,' said Sonum Lotus, director of the weather office here.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar city was 6.0 degrees Celsius Monday. The temperature reached a low of minus 0.4 in Leh and minus 2.4 in Kargil in Ladakh region.

Source: Calcutta News.
Link: http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/607022.

An euphoric end to a bittersweet Olympics

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – They were the resilient Winter Games — beginning in shock, ending in euphoria.

Opening day was overshadowed by the death of a luger in a training-run crash. The finale couldn't have been more festive — a tribute to the organizers, who persevered despite first-week setbacks, and to the Canadian team, which surged to glory after a shaky start.

A crowd of 60,000 filled BC Place Stadium for Sunday's closing ceremony, many of them Canadians reveling in the overtime victory over the United States just a few hours earlier by their men's hockey team. That win, in the games' final event and in Canada's most cherished sport, gave the host nation a Winter Olympics record of 14 gold medals and set off wild celebrations across Vancouver.

The gaiety in the stadium — capped by a rock concert with Alanis Morissette, Nickelback and Avril Lavigne — contrasted sharply with the moment of silence at the opening ceremony Feb. 12 for Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger killed in a horrific crash on the sliding track in Whistler just hours before that ceremony.

The speakers of honor on Sunday, chief Vancouver organizer John Furlong and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, each paid tribute to the 21-year-old athlete.

"We are so sorry for your loss," Furlong said, addressing the nation of Georgia. "May the legacy of your favorite son never be forgotten and serve to inspire youth everywhere to be champions in life."

Furlong — who even tried to reach out to francophone Canada with some halting words in French — quickly shifted to a more upbeat tone.

"I believe Canadians tonight are stronger, more united, more in love with our country and more connected to each other than ever before," he said. "These games have lifted us up."

He paid tribute to moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau, winner of Canada's first gold medal at these games.

"Alexandre, your gold medal gave us all permission to feel and behave like champions," Furlong said. "Our last one (the hockey gold) will be remembered for generations."

The stadium literally shook as fans cheered and stamped their feet in appreciation.

Rogge then pronounced the games closed, after describing them as "excellent and very friendly."

Neil Young, the durable Canadian folk-rock star, followed with a wistful version of his "Long May You Run" — and the Olympic flame faded away as he ended.

Canadian officials ensured an extra measure of poignancy at the ceremony by selecting figure skater Joannie Rochette as their flagbearer. Her mother died of a heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver last weekend, but Rochette chose to carry on and won a bronze medal, inspiring her teammates and fans around the world.

"Yes, it's been a tough week for me," she said before the ceremony. "But I walk tonight into that stadium with a big smile on my face. ... I accomplished my goals, and I want to celebrate with my teammates."

The team was greeted with a mighty roar when they joined the fast-moving, informal parade of athletes into the stadium. Among the cheerleaders was Prime Minster Stephen Harper, wearing a Canada jacket.

The U.S. flagbearer was Billy Demong, a veteran of four Olympics who won a gold and silver medal in Nordic combined.

There were plenty of reasons for Canada and the United States to celebrate after 17 days of competition. The U.S. won 37 medals overall — the most ever for any nation in a Winter Olympics.

Canada, after a slow start, set a Winter Games record with 14 golds and sparked public enthusiasm in Vancouver that veterans of multiple Olympics described as unsurpassed.

The comeback by the Canadian athletes was mirrored by the determination of the Vancouver Organizing Committee. It struggled with a series of glitches and weather problems early in the games, adjusted as best it could, and reached the finish line winning widespread praise for an exceptional Olympics — albeit one tinged with sadness.

Right from the start of the closing show, there was a spirit of redemption as the producers made up for an opening-ceremony glitch in which one leg of the Olympic cauldron failed to rise from the stadium floor. On Sunday, the recalcitrant leg rose smoothly and former speedskating medalist Catriona LeMay Doan — who missed out on the opening-night flame lighting because of the glitch — got to perform that duty this time.

Later came the traditional handover ceremony, during which the Olympic flag was lowered and presented to the hosts of the next Winter Games in 2014.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson handed over the five-ringed flag to IOC president Jacques Rogge, who passed it on to Anatoly Pakhomov, the mayor of Sochi, Russia. That was followed by the Russian national anthem and a presentation about Sochi featuring opera, ballet, ice skating and giant glowing spheres called "zorbs."

Other key moments in the closing:

_The awarding of medals for the men's 50-kilometer cross-country ski race, won by Petter Northug of Norway.

_The swearing-in of two new members of the International Olympic Committee chosen by their fellow athletes — U.S. hockey player Angela Ruggiero and British skeleton racer Adam Pengilly.

_The singing of the Olympic anthem by renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner.

_A tongue-in-cheek revue of Canadian icons and symbols, featuring singing-and-dancing Mounties, tabletop hockey players, dancing canoes and flying moose and beavers.

_A segment in which Canadian actors — including William Shatner and Michael J. Fox — made fun of national stereotypes.

Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, received a huge ovation.

"I lived in the U.S. for 30 years," Fox said. "But if the U.S. is playing Canada in hockey, I'm sorry, I'm wearing a maple leaf on my sweater."

Second Moroccan mosque collapse kills one

2010-02-28

A mosque collapsed Saturday (February 27th) in Morocco's Nador province, killing one person and injuring three others. Contractors were working to expand the dome of the Al-Amal mosque when it collapsed, MAP reported. The mosque was built in Zayo in 1994. On February 19th, the minaret of the 400-year old mosque near Bab El Berdiyine in the Meknes medina collapsed during Friday prayers, killing 41 people and injuring more than 80.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/28/newsbrief-04.

Algerian experts show rising youth drug use

With new reports showing that drug use is on the rise among Algerian youth, particularly among women, activists and doctors met last week to raise awareness about the troubling trend.

By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 28/02/10

Nearly half of all Algerian high school students have used drugs, according to a new report from the National Office for the Fight against Drug Addiction.

Of these young users, 8% are women. Females also account for 13% of drug users among the university-student population.

The number of adolescent drug users grew from 35% in 2007 to 45% in 2008, the February 8th study showed.

To discuss these new findings, as well as strategies to eliminate the blight of drug addiction in Algeria, the Wedadia Association for Combating Social Problems organized a two-day conference for anti-drug activists in Algiers on February 17th.

"We cannot hope to redress the problem of drug use or addiction in general without direct communication, which should reveal the actual reasons behind the aggravated social problems in Algerian society," the Algerian Organization of Youth Care Associations chief said at a post-conference press briefing.

Mr. Obaidat called for the expansion of the 2007 National Plan for Monitoring and Protection to uncover the reasons behind the spike in drug use. He also unveiled his group's new campaign to fight drugs and addiction, titled "Let Us Save One Youth through Another".

"We are hoping that 2010 will be crowned by launching a national plan, because the phenomenon of drug addiction that is daily encroaching on adolescents and youths requires extensive field efforts" across all Algerian provinces, he added.

For his part, mental health physician Dr. A. Messaoudi of the Oued Aïssi psychiatric hospital, who first presented the study findings in Tizi-Ouzou, called for a "multi-faceted approach...to help reintegrate those adolescents in society".

"Strictly applying punishments against promoters of these poisons" would help fight the spread of the scourge, Messaoudi said.

He also stressed the need for "awareness-raising campaigns on the level of the family and the school to guide drug-consuming youth".

Algeria should "introduce new activities and designated spaces for youths' benefit… that would keep them away from drugs, which they use to take them to another fantasy world", Dr. Messaoudi explained.

In 2008 alone, he noted, rehabilitation centers received 25,000 youths.

Cannabis remains the most popular drug among all youth, with 71% of all survey respondents claiming to have used it.

Ten per cent of respondents used inhalants such as glue, gasoline, paint thinners or solvents in nail polish, while 6% used psychotropic drugs such as LSD.

Of the young people questioned for the study, 35% said that they consumed drugs "out of mere curiosity or purely for fun".

"Drug use among adolescents is a complex problem," Messaoudi said, adding that at this point in their lives, as their adult personalities are forming, adolescents have a greater need to be heard and understood than to be judged and condemned.

The important thing now, the doctor added, is "to cure the evil by offering alternatives to everyday difficulties, such as employment, education and healthy recreation".

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/02/28/feature-01.

Canadians want to represent Ireland in Olympics

By SEAN O'SHEA, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

A number of Canadian athletes, who have Irish ancestry, have told the Olympic Council of Ireland they would like to compete on the country’s behalf at the next Winter Olympics in Russia in 2014.

Jack McGouran, spokesman for the Olympic Committee, said the popularity of the Irish team in Vancouver’s Olympic Village is such that many Canadians have shown interest in joining it, today’s Mail on Sunday reported.

“The Irish team have been remarkably popular here because of the close links between our country and Canada,” he told the Mail, adding, “They want to help Ireland become a bigger nation in winter sports.

“They have plenty of second generation Irish people here, who have asked about applying to compete for us,” he continued.

McGouran explained the Canadian team is extremely competitive, excluding many good Canadian athletes from the contests.

“We will certainly look favorably on any applications from first generation athletes, and a number of Canadians have already indicated their interest,” McGouran stated.

“It’s something we are going to look at,” he said. “It’s done in every other sport, so why shouldn’t it be done in winter sports?"

If Canadian Irish were to join the Irish Winter Olympics team, they would almost certainly improve it. Ireland received no medals this year.

Source: Irish Central.
Link: http://www.irishcentral.com/sport/Canadians-want-to-represent-Ireland-in-Olympics-85768787.html.

Stop murdering Palestinians, Spanish kids say

The Israeli Embassy in Madrid has recently been received hundreds of schoolchildren's letters protesting against Tel Aviv's conduct toward the Palestinians.

One letter directed at Israel's ambassador in Madrid, Rafael Shotz, asked, "How many Palestinians have you murdered today?"

Another read, "Mr. Ambassador, you should think about not killing the Palestinian children and elderly. I don't know if it doesn't bother you, having to murder people. You should leave Palestine."

Israel has blockaded all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Three weeks of Israeli air strikes and a ground incursion into the Gaza between late December 2008 and early January 2009 resulted in the death of over 1400 people — mainly women and children.

The carnage also inflicted more than $1.6 billion of damage on Gaza's economy.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119746§ionid=351020202.

Two Koreas agree to hold talks on Tuesday

The two Koreas have agreed to hold military talks to ease access to a jointly-run industrial park despite escalating tension on the peninsula.

A South Korean military source said on Sunday that talks will be held on Tuesday at the joint Kaesong estate.

Some 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the complex.

Pyongyang and Seoul postponed the talks last week due to differences over the venue for the meeting.

North Korea has criticized the South for planning joint military war games with the United States.

The North Korean military says the drill is a rehearsal for an invasion of the North.

Pyongyang also stated that it will respond to any aggression with nuclear weapons if necessary.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119744§ionid=351020405.

Istanbul demonstrators support arrest of coup plotters

Thousands of people have demonstrated in downtown Istanbul to voice their support for a wave of raids rounding up military officers tied to a 2003 coup plot against the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The demonstration came as prosecutors questioned more officers in the probe on Sunday.

It also marked the 13th anniversary of a show of strength by the staunchly secular military, which sent tanks rumbling through streets near the Turkish capital on February 28, 1997, forcing the country's first pro-Islamic prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, to step down.

A total of 33 military officers, nearly half of them retired and active duty generals and admirals, were charged and jailed last week over the alleged "Sledgehammer" coup plot.

The plot was drawn up in 2003 shortly after the Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power. The alleged masterminds of the plan were retired Gen. Cetin Dogan, then commander of the Turkish army, retired former Air Forces Commander Gen. Ibrahim Firtina, and retired Gen. Ergin Saygun.

They allegedly agreed on the coup plot at a military meeting attended by 162 active military members, among them 29 generals.

According to the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) plan, the military was tasked with inciting bedlam in society through organized acts of violence, including bombing assaults on the Fatih and Beyazit mosques in Istanbul.

The bombings were code-named "Carsaf" (Black Chador) and "Sakal" (Beard) and were supposed to be carried out after worshipers attended Friday prayers.

A nine-member gang was to place a remote-control bomb in a shoe cabinet at the Fatih Mosque.

The bomb would go off only seconds after the completion of the Friday prayers. A number of agents provocateurs would add to the hectic ambiance inside the mosque.

At the Beyazit Mosque, a similar bomb would be placed in the garden of the mosque by a team of gendarmerie officers under the command of a major identified only by his initials, H.O.

The bomb would be detonated around 10 minutes before the call to Friday prayers. This time agents provocateurs were to call on the public to pour into the streets in condemnation of the deadly blast.

The desired result of these rallies would be an increase in domestic pressure on the AK Party government over their failure to ensure security across the country and their eventual expulsion from the political scene.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119741§ionid=351020204.

Niger junta vows to stay out of presidential election

Mon Mar 1, 2010

Niger's coup leader says no member of the military junta will be allowed to stand in the country's presidential election.

Junta leader Salou Djibo says the decision has been taken to ensure an impartial transition of power to civilian authority.

"To ensure a serene and impartial transition, we pledge that no member of the Supreme Council or of the transition government will be a candidate in the coming presidential elections," Djibo said on state radio on Sunday.

However, the date of the presidential election has not yet been announced.

The junta seized power on February 18, overthrowing long-time president Mamadou Tandja.

President Tandja had remained in office by amending the part of the Constitution that had barred him from running for re-election.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/119740.html.

Iran offers condolences to Chile over deadly quake

Iran has offered condolences to Chile over Saturday's devastating earthquake, which has claimed the lives of more than 700 people in the Latin American country.

"I would I like to express my condolences to the people and government of Chile on behalf of the Iranian nation and government," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in a statement issued on Sunday.

"We hope and pray that those injured in the incident will recover as soon as possible," he added.

Mehmanparst also said that Tehran was reviewing how it could help alleviate the people's suffering in the aftermath of the quake by sending humanitarian assistance to the country.

Iran, a country which sits on some of the world's most dangerous fault lines, has itself been the victim of some catastrophic earthquakes over the past few decades.

One of the deadliest was the 2003 Bam earthquake, which left over 28,000 people dead.

The Iranian offer of help came after President Michelle Bachelet announced the new death toll following a meeting with aides and emergency officials.

The outgoing president, who leaves office on March 11, said that her country faced a "catastrophe of such unthinkable magnitude that it will require a giant effort" for it to fully recover.

She also said that Santiago would accept some of the offers of aid that have poured in from countries around the world.

Saturday's deadly 8.8 magnitude quake, which was definitely one of the most powerful earthquakes Chile has experienced in centuries, has left large parts of the country in ruins with roads, hospitals, airports, and water supply systems damaged.

The official death toll from Saturday's earthquake is now 708, the Chilean president told reporters on Sunday.

In addition, many others are missing and some are believed to be trapped alive under rubble.

According to early estimates, it will cost around $30 billion to repair the damage caused by the earthquake.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119739§ionid=351020101.

Ahmadinejad: Palestinian unity to send evil Israel to hell

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blasted Israeli inhumane crimes, insisting that the era of the Israeli regime and its allies is inching towards an end.

"Your [Israelis and their allies] time is over… You should respect the Palestinian people and go back to your own home," Ahmadinejad said during an international conference on Palestine in Tehran on Sunday.

"You have no repute among the regional nations…You should recognize that regional nations are wise. The Zionist regime will face no other fate than collapse if it continues its aggression," he added.

Ahmadinejad said that Israel has no mission but occupation, aggression and spreading warmongering policies, adding, "Anti-terrorism slogans are just pretexts for presence in the region and support for the Zionism."

He emphasized that the Israeli regime is on the decline and has reached an impasse, calling on the Palestinians and regional nations to strengthen their unity to achieve victory over Israel.

"Unity and readiness of the Palestinian people are the only ways to control this evil demon and send it to the bottom of hell," said the Iranian president.

He expressed Iran's full support for the Palestinian resistance against Israel.

Ahmadinejad reiterated that the European and American people intend to put an end to Zionist thoughts and added, "If the European governments and the US have doubts about this fact, they should allow their people to express their views about the fake Zionist regime in a free referendum."

He stressed that Zionists are the root cause of all wars, terror acts, crimes and destruction in the world.

"Their (Israeli) presence even in one inch of the region's soil causes threat, crisis and war," he said. "The only way to confront them is through the heroic resistance of the Palestinian youths and that of the regional nations."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119731§ionid=351020101.

Dubai calls for Netanyahu prosecution over terror

Dubai police say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be prosecuted should it be determined that the regime had been behind the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

The emirates' police Chief Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said Sunday that the world will "witness significant steps in the prosecution of criminals" who masterminded the assassination of al-Mabhouh in his hotel room last month.

The general said the investigation is internationally underway to identify the criminals who were behind the operation.

Khalfan assured that the Israeli prime minister and Mossad Chief Meir Dagan "will be together at the head of an international wanted list" should it be determined that the regime was behind the terror operation.

He had formerly said that Dubai police were in possession of dozens of items of incriminating evidence against the terror squad which attest to Mossad's involvement in the operation.

The police released photos and information of 26 suspects in the terror, most of them European passport holders, saying they were Mossad agents carrying fake documents.

Israeli and European media last week reported that Netanyahu had authorized the assassination of the Hamas commander in a meeting with Mossad's chief in early January in Tel Aviv.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119693§ionid=351020202.

Egypt overturns ban on gas sales to Israel

Sun Feb 28, 2010

Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court has overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court that had banned gas exports to Israel.

The court overturned the ruling on Saturday, also saying the decision cannot be appealed, MENA news agency reported.

It said that the lower court had no jurisdiction over what it described as an act of sovereignty.

Under the new ruling, the government should specify the amount and price of gas it exports to Israel.

Oil and gas export treaties and the peace treaty with Egypt "gave Israel the right to acquire Egyptian oil and gas like any other country, without the slightest discrimination," the court was quoted by AFP as saying.

The decision is bound to anger Egyptians who oppose ties with the Tel Aviv regime which has imposed a crippling three year siege on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt began exporting fuel to Israel's Electric Corp in May 2005, agreeing to supply 1.7 billion cubic meters (5.6 billion cubic feet) a year for 20 years.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/119676.html.

Hamas calls for action over assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque

Mon Mar 1, 2010

Hamas has called on Arab and Muslim states to impose pressure on Israel to force it to stop the raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to end its occupation of Palestine and its holy sites.

The current scenario is part of a dangerous Zionist plot to Judaize the entire occupied city of Jerusalem Al-Quds and to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Sunday.

Barhoum added that Israel started the plot a long time ago when it intensified its settlement activities, displaced Palestinians, demolished their homes, cancelled their ID cards, increased its assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and Judaized the names of streets in the holy city.

He stated that these new Israeli attacks on the holy mosque, Jerusalem Al-Quds, and its people are being carried out to attain the Israeli premier's declared goal of Judaizing Palestine.

He went on to say that the inaction of Arabs and Muslims in regard to what is happening in the holy city as well as the Palestinian Authority's "connivance" have encouraged Israel to increase its assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

On Sunday, at least 17 Palestinians were wounded and seven others were detained during fierce confrontations between Palestinian activists using stones, shoes, and bare fists and armed Israeli troops in and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Muslims believe the frequent Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound are part of the Judaization campaign that targets the holy city of Jerusalem Al-Quds.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/119742.html.

YEMEN: Saada schools reopen

SANAA, 28 February 2010 (IRIN) - Hundreds of schools in the northern Yemeni province of Saada have reopened after five months of closure following an 11 February ceasefire between Yemen's army and Houthi-led Shia rebels, according to local officials.

More than half the 121,000 students in grades 1-12 who were due to start the current semester last October were invited to return to school on 27 February, Mohammed al-Shamiri, head of the Saada education office, told IRIN.

"We issued a circular calling on all teachers of these schools to come back to their work and resume classes," he said. "We reopened only those schools we can supervise, but not those in districts that are still controlled by Houthis."

During a meeting chaired by Saada governor Taha Abdullah Hajer, provincial education officials agreed that the revised date for the start of the first semester be 27 February and that it should end on 18 May. The second semester is scheduled to run from 23 May to 15 August 2010. The school year usually begins in October and ends in June.

School tents

According to al-Shamiri, some 220 of the governorate’s 725 schools, which were all closed during the war, were completely or partially destroyed or looted.

"The Saada governorate leadership and education ministry are contacting donor organizations on the issue of providing tents to be used as classrooms in locations where schools were destroyed," al-Shamiri told IRIN.

As part of its planned humanitarian response, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has requested funds from donors to support the resumption of education in Saada through the provision of temporary learning spaces such as school tents, teaching kits and basic educational items for children, Aboudou K Adjibadé, UNICEF representative in Yemen, told IRIN.

"Funding is also sought for rehabilitating schools, deploying teachers, including female teachers in order to promote girls attendance, and offering capacity development to the Ministry of Education and local education offices to resume schooling in the wake of the ceasefire," he said.

According to Adjibadé, school tents were provided to relevant bodies in the neighboring governorate of Hajja, where an estimated 120,000 displaced people live.

IDP returns

Abdullah Dhahban, a local council member in Saada, said the government and humanitarian organizations should accelerate the return of thousands of displaced children who cannot access education where they are.

"Very few students had access to education in their areas of displacement,” he said. "After the fighting broke out on 11 August, children who fled with their families couldn't get their files and documents from schools in their home districts so that they could enroll in new schools after displacement."

According to a 22 February report by local NGO Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection (SOCP), some 383,332 children in Saada (about 97 percent of the governorate's school-age children) have been unable to go to school over the past five months. The figure includes those 121,000 children who were due to start this semester in October and those who had never enrolled in schools.

Source: IRIN.
Link: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88255.

Hamas to extend British journalist's detention

Hamas authorities plan to renew holding a British journalist in Gaza as a 15-day arrest warrant is about to expire, a spokesman said Sunday.

Paul Martin was arrested on Feb. 14 moments after arriving willingly at a Hamas military courthouse to testify for a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel.

"The prosecution will ask the court to extend Martin's detention to continue investigation with him," Ihab al-Ghussein, a spokesman for Hamas Interior Ministry, said.

Al-Ghussein refused to reveal the charges against Martin, but he said the British film-maker "poses a security threat."

Sources told Xinhua that Martin had produced a documentary on a Palestinian fighter who Hamas later charged with collaboration with Israel. Hamas accused Martin, who maintained contacts with the former fighter after he finished filming, of being "the connection ring between the spy" and Israel.

Meanwhile, Martin's lawyer, Sharhabeel al-Zaeem, said his client has not confessed anything during his interrogation.

"Martin came to Gaza voluntarily and I don't think that a convicted man would come by his own to the place where he is wanted," al-Zaeem told Xinhua.

The lawyer added he will raise an objection to any warrant extending Martin's detention.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6904906.html.

Venezuela says ready to help Chile after earthquake

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday that his country was ready to help Chile which was hit Saturday morning by a magnitude-8.8 earthquake.

"Venezuela is at Chile's order in this tragic situation and put to its disposition of all the human and material means we have, which could be used to save human lives and repair the damages caused by this terrible earthquake," Chavez said Sunday.

On Saturday, Chavez said in a statement issued by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister that "Venezuela's heart is with Chilean people."

A 8.8-magnitude tremor rocked Chile at Saturday morning, razing homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami.

On Sunday, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said the earthquake's death toll rose to 708.

Unlike Haiti which was also struck by a quake recently, Chile said it can handle the relief efforts for the moment and hasn't asked for any external help.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/6904653.html.

Dubai police: Hamas leader was drugged, suffocated to death

Dubai - Dubai police announced on Sunday that Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mahbouh, found dead in his hotel room last month, had been given large amounts of an anesthetic drug and then suffocated to death. Major General Khamis al-Mazina, Deputy Commander of Dubai police, said in a press conference that al-Mahbouh had been injected with the drug succinylcholine, used to relax patients' muscles and induce total anesthesia.

The murder unleashed international outrage, as it appeared as if the identities of European and Australian nationals had been stolen to act as cover for the assassination gang.

Al-Mazina said the drug was fast-acting, and caused a loss of consciousness for a period of time depending on the amounts administered.

"The victim was injected with this drug and then suffocated in a manner to make the death appear natural, with no signs of a struggle from the victim," he said.

Police said the drug "was mostly used in surgeries and emergency medical cases," and that "experts were able to detect the drug in the victim's body before it mixed with other materials."

Dubai has named 26 people suspected of the murder.

Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai's police chief, has said he is "99-per-cent, if not 100-per-cent" certain that Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, was responsible for the murder.

In remarks published Saturday in al-Khaleej newspaper, he called on Mossad head Meir Dagan to "be a man," and admit Mossad carried out the assassination.

Israel has said there is "no proof" that Mossad was involved.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311738,dubai-police-hamas-leader-was-drugged-suffocated-to-death.html.

Arrests made as police and youths clash in Jerusalem - Summary

Jerusalem - Israeli police have arrested at least seven Palestinians in East Jerusalem after a day of violence in which youths threw stones at tourists and clashed with police, leaving two officers injured. Early Sunday police confronted stone-throwing Palestinian youths near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, a police spokesman said.

Mickey Rosenfeld told reporters that the youths had thrown stones at groups of tourists in the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, a complex of holy sites revered by Jews and Muslims.

Later in the day further confrontations took place in East Jerusalem, where the arrests were made. Reports said that two police officers were injured, and some 30 Palestinians had suffered the effects of tear-gas.

Palestinian leaders claimed that hard-line Jewish activists had planned to advance on the Temple Mount complex, on the occasion of the Purim festival which begins on Sunday, and had barricaded themselves since Saturday evening in in protest.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that some 200 police had arrived at the complex on Sunday morning, and had called on the protesters to leave the site, which contains the al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.

Arab inhabitants of Jerusalem were called on from mosques to "defend al-Aqsa," reports said.

Palestinian accounts said that the attacked tourists were groups of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount.

According to Jewish belief, the Temple Mount site is where God created Adam, the first man, and is considered the holiest site in Judaism.

In Islam, the Haram al-Sharif (noble sanctuary) site is where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.

Jerusalem Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen said "We will bring to justice those who incite to violence and go beyond the legitimate rules of protest."

In the past week tensions have risen between Israelis and Palestinians over the government's decision to declare two sites, common to both Islam and Judaism, in Bethlehem and Hebron, as Israeli national heritage sites.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311745,arrests-made-as-police-and-youths-clash-in-jerusalem--summary.html.

Al-Maliki courts coalition partners ahead of March vote

Baghdad - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday said the "door would remain open" to new coalitions after the results of the March 7 parliamentary elections are announced. "Alliances must be struck for a government to be formed," al-Maliki said in remarks carried by the Iraqi state news agency.

"Alliances with the (former prime minister Ayad Allawi's) Iraqi National Coalition or the Kurdish Coalition will be necessary for nation-building, especially since these groups have historic ties which are needed ... for the sake of national unity," he said.

He further warned opponents against "putting pressure on the will of the voters through threats, jeopardizing the voting process," and against outlawed groups' striking alliances with popular preachers.

"The next government will be a political majority government," al-Maliki predicted.

"It is not necessary for everyone who wins in the elections to be a member of the executive authority. One of the most important factors that detracted from the achievements of the current government is that some ministers participating in the beginning did not posses enough understanding to get along with the head of government, and they committed unprofessional transgressions," he said.

Al-Maliki also describe Iraq's relationship with Syria as "heading for the better."

"As the atmosphere improves, there is less need to talk about international courts. There are more shared interests to bring the two countries closer than there are reasons for souring the relationship," he said.

After coordinated truck bombings killed some 100 people and wounded more than 500 more last August, al-Maliki accused Syria of not doing enough to stop Iraqi Baathists in Damascus from plotting the attacks, and requested a UN investigation.

Each country withdrew its ambassador from the other in the ensuing diplomatic row, which coincided with a split in al-Maliki's coalition over whether he should be named as the prime minister should they form a government after the elections.

"We welcome a return of good relations between all Arab and Islamic countries and the efforts in that direction since stability was achieved," al-Maliki said Sunday.

"We will make conflict-resolution and the development of relations built on mutual respect and shared interests our priority for the coming period," he concluded.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311758,al-maliki-courts-coalition-partners-ahead-of-march-vote.html.

Clinton heading to Latin America after Chile quake

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's weeklong, five-nation tour of Latin America is certain to focus on the earthquake in Chile, even as she tries to build support for fresh penalties against Iran.

Clinton will briefly visit Santiago, Chile's capital, Tuesday morning. "We want to show America's support for the people of Chile while mindful of the realities on the ground," Clinton aide Philippe Reines said Sunday.

The secretary had been scheduled to go to Chile late Monday for talks with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who takes office March 11. But that meeting has been canceled as Chile struggles to recover from the quake.

Before Clinton left Washington on Sunday evening, she made clear she would show U.S. support for disaster rescue and recovery operations in Chile.

"Our hemisphere comes together in times of crisis, and we will stand side-by-side with the people of Chile in this emergency," Clinton said Saturday after President Barack Obama called Bachelet to offer assistance.

The State Department issued a travel alert Sunday urging U.S. citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Chile.

Clinton starts her tour in Montevideo, Uruguay, at Monday's inauguration of the country's new president, ex-guerrilla Jose Mujica. Mujica's election in November won praise from other left-leaning populist leaders in the region, including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, a perennial thorn in the side of the U.S. who is cultivating closer ties with Iran.

U.S. officials say Clinton will meet with Mujica but has no plans for separate meetings with other inauguration guests — for example, Chavez or other like-minded leaders, such as Ecuador's Rafael Correa or Bolivia's Evo Morales.

The Obama administration has been pleased by Uruguay's contributions to U.N. peacekeeping forces, and Clinton will encourage Mujica continue that policy, U.S. officials said.

Later Monday, Clinton will travel to Buenos Aires for a meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez. The U.S. has praised Argentina's stance on Iran's nuclear program.

Fernandez may raise Argentina's dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands, but Clinton is not expected to bring it up. "This is a matter for Argentina and for Britain and it's not a matter for the United States to make a judgment on," the top U.S. diplomat for the Americas, Arturo Valenzuela, said Friday.

After her brief stop in Santiago on Tuesday morning, Clinton heads to Brasilia, Brazil, for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose support the U.S. is seeking for a new round of U.N. Security Council penalties against Iran over its nuclear program.

Brazil, a voting member of the Security Council, has been reluctant to additional penalties. Its leaders have expressed a desire to improve relations with Iran, and Lula plans to visit Tehran in May.

Clinton hopes to win Brazil's backing for sanctions as well a commitment to press Iran to comply with international demands to prove that its nuclear intentions are peaceful.

"We will be telling our Brazilian counterparts that we encourage them to encourage Iran to regain the trust of the international community by fulfilling its international obligations, which we feel that they have not fulfilled," Valenzuela said before Clinton's trip.

Clinton also will attend a meeting in Costa Rica of regional foreign ministers that will focus on improving economic conditions in the hemisphere. She expects to see outgoing President Oscar Arias, who brokered an accord that ended the political crisis in Honduras last year.

Clinton will also meet with incoming Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla before wrapping up her tour in Guatemala on Friday.

In Guatemala, Clinton will meet a group of Central American leaders, including Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, who took over in late January from an interim government that had ousted leader Manuel Zelaya in a coup last June, leading to a political crisis.

Iraqi PM calls pre-vote candidate ban legitimate

By REBECCA SANTANA and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writers

BAGHDAD – Iraq's prime minister Sunday defended a ban of candidates with alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's former regime, calling it a legitimate decision that would not affect Sunni turnout at the polls.

In an interview with The Associated Press just a week before March 7 elections, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also said he did not see any need at this point for U.S. forces to stay in the country past their planned 2011 departure date.

Al-Maliki, who came to power in 2006 as a compromise candidate, has overseen a return to relative stability since the height of the insurgency, but is facing stiff competition in his bid for another four-year term.

The decision to bar hundreds of candidates from the election, including two prominent Sunni lawmakers, for alleged ties to Saddam's ruling party has dominated Iraq's political debate for weeks and reflects the deep sectarian differences that still divide the country.

"This will never affect the turnout of the Sunnis in the elections. The decision was taken because some of these people were blatantly propagating Baath party ideas, and there is information that some of them are involved in actions that serve the Baath party," al-Maliki said.

Many in the country's Sunni minority, which dominated the Baath Party leadership, were outraged by the decision, which they felt unjustly targeted Sunni political figures in an attempt to politically sideline them. A sectarian breakdown of the list, which includes Shiites as well, has never been released.

The murky process — about which little information was disclosed — raised questions about whether Sunnis would feel disillusioned by the vote and stay away from the polls. At one point, a prominent Sunni politician on the list even pulled his party from the race, and urged others Sunni parties to withdraw as well, raising fears of a Sunni boycott. That decision has since been rescinded.

In discussing the ban, al-Maliki appeared to distance himself from the two men who initiated the process — Shiite politicians Ali al-Lami and Ahmed Chalabi. Both are running in the election, raising questions about why they were being allowed to sideline their competition.

As the heads of the Accountability and Justice Committee that vetted candidates for ties to the former regime, al-Lami and Chalabi shocked the Iraqi political system when they announced a blacklist containing hundreds of names.

But al-Maliki emphasized that the legal justification for the eventual ban came not from the pair's initial decision but from a later committee, set up with parliamentary backing, to investigate their findings. The question of whether the Accountability and Justice Committee had a legal basis to take action has been a key source of contention in this debate.

How to deal with the former members of the Baathist regime has been a long-running political dispute in Iraq. In 2003, the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority disbanded the Iraqi army and purged the government of tens of thousands of former Baath Party members — steps that were widely considered to have helped foster the insurgency.

In 2008, thousands of former party cadres were allowed to resume government jobs as part of a national reconciliation process, but last fall tensions escalated again when al-Maliki accused Baathists of being behind a series of bloody bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad.

The Shiite prime minister gained popularity as a leader who was able to bring relative security and stability to this nation shattered by years of vicious sectarian fighting, in partnership with U.S. forces. The winner of next Sunday's vote will preside over a drawdown of U.S. forces that will see all combat troops leave Iraq by the end of August and all American forces go home by 2011.

When asked whether he might request some U.S. forces remain beyond 2011, al-Maliki said he would not be afraid to ask for troops if needed but that he thought it would not be necessary.

"Let us not forget that Iraq is sticking to the strategic security agreement between Iraq and the United States and Iraq considers it as a partnership guarantee in several levels. If Iraq is subjected to any security threat, it can ask for help," al-Maliki said. "But my estimation as a prime minister and my knowledge about the building of the Iraqi security forces and the help presented by the United States to build the Iraqi army and police indicate that we will not need this."

The prime minister said security cooperation in the future between the U.S. and Iraq might not require American forces on the ground, but rather an agreement that could be activated if Iraq were in danger.

The prime minister also charged that there was a great deal of foreign interference in the election — but gave no indication as to who he was referring to. Candidates across the political spectrum have alleged interference from neighboring countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

No one political party or alliance is expected to win an outright majority in the upcoming election so a period of extensive political maneuvering is likely to follow. Al-Maliki said if he were to win the most votes and be tasked with creating a new government, he would focus on partners who were committed to "national unity."

"Those who adopt a sectarian approach or those who violate the security of the country, I will not approach those people because they are against the principle of building a democratic state," he said.