Algerian cities to celebrate Francophone films

2010-03-14

Algiers will open Francophone Film Week on March 19th, L'Expression reported on Sunday (March 14th). The diplomatic missions of Cameroon, France, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and several other countries joined organizer Canada in sponsoring the event, which features 17 feature, documentary, children's and short films. After Algiers, the cinema festival moves to Oran on March 29th and then to Constantine on April 25th.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/03/14/newsbrief-05.

Arab SME conference opens in Algiers

2010-03-14

The 5th Arab Conference on small and medium-sized enterprises and industries (SME/SMI) opened in Algiers on Sunday (March 14th), APS reported. The two-day event is organized by the Islamic Development Bank and the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization (AIDMO), in co-operation with host Algeria's SME Ministry.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/03/14/newsbrief-04.

In changing times, Moroccan women play dual role

Morocco's working wives see progress on the job front but little change at home.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 14/03/10

For many Moroccan working women, the trade-off between home lives and jobs occurs at the expense of time and peace of mind.

While women have acquired some freedom in the working environment, attitudes have not changed as regards the role of a woman within the family. The equality they seek has not yet been achieved on the domestic front.

However, generalizations should be avoided, since an increasing number of young husbands are attempting to counter tradition by helping their wives perform daily tasks.

"Women have more responsibility than men. When men come home, they relax, whereas women must cook and take care of the house and children on their own. Women have gained freedom, but attitudes have not kept pace. Equality must come about in the home," said bank clerk Halima Bernoussi.

A similar view is shared by a number of women who accept their daily lives with resignation. They blame the hypocrisy of Moroccan society in this respect.

Fatima Moustaghfir, a lawyer and Member of Parliament, said that tradition is very important and that only women themselves can change this. In her view, they must teach their children that boys and girls are equal so that the future will be different. "In Morocco, it's still taboo for a man to help his wife with the cooking. Others take a ruthless view on this. Often, even those who help their wives with chores avoid doing so in front of other people," she said.

Sociologist Hamid Ghoulam explained that Morocco is going through a transitional phase, and that women may feel pressure in their daily lives due to their conservative upbringing.

"Many women who work feel deep down that their dual mission is a duty that they must accomplish without batting an eyelid," he said. "Moroccans raise their daughters to be good cooks, whereas it is instilled into boys that they must avoid these womanly tasks."

Nevertheless, Ghoulam said, the current generation is behaving differently.

An increasing number of young husbands are attempting to counter tradition by helping their wives perform daily tasks.

Siham M., a public-sector worker, said that the mothers of the future will face less stress, since the way in which children are being brought up is changing. The mother of two boys and a girl, she tries to teach her children the important of equality in the home: "I treat my boys and my daughter just the same. I involve all of them in the housework. In future, I think my sons will help their wives."

Women's arrival in the workplace has enabled them to broaden their horizons and improve their skills, said Rachida Benmasoud, writer and member of the political office of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces.

Change will take time to occur in the home, Benmasoud conceded. Society, she said, is certain of women's role in development, but the cultural system retains a strong presence with regard to traditional roles. She concluded that the state should play a greater role in boosting equality.

An increasing number of young husbands, however, are attempting to counter tradition by helping their wives perform daily tasks.

Many men oppose the notion that women are victims, said teacher Hicham Choubami.

"Women's access to jobs has enabled them to strengthen their position both in society and at home," Choubami noted.

He claims that men are increasingly helping their wives go about household chores. "The attitude of Moroccans is changing. Women should not make a drama out of the situation. It's simply a question of organization."

Halima Essaid, a nurse, agrees. She said that women must organize their time so that they do not fall victim to daily pressures. In her opinion, discussing this subject with their husbands should help women.

"At first, my husband didn't help me; I had to do everything myself," she said. "When I talked things over with him, I persuaded him to get more involved around the house for the happiness of our family."

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/03/14/feature-01.

Former Iraqi premier leading in Kirkuk

Early results from Iraq's general election show former premier Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya Alliance is leading in the northern province of Kirkuk.

Iraqiya garnered 123,862 votes, while the Kurdistania Alliance, which had been expected to secure most of the votes, was second with 120,664 votes, followed by Goran with 20,152 votes.

About 61 of the ballots have been counted with complete results expected on March 18 and the final ones at the end of the month.

Kirkuk accounts for 13 parliamentary seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Rule of Law coalition is leading the polls in major Iraqi provinces, including Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Babil, Karbala and Muthanna.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120823§ionid=351020201.

Israel orders demolition of Nablus mosque

Israeli authorities ordered the demolition of an under-construction mosque in the northern West Bank village of Burin on Sunday, head of the Palestinian Authority's settlement portfolio said.

Ghassan Daghlas explained that the Israeli Civil Administration ordered a stop on construction work at the Salman Al-Farisi Mosque, demanding the demolition of the three-story mosque's already built structures.

The order was issued under the pretext that the mosque's renovations were done without the proper licensing, Daghlas said.

The PA official believes that given the current circumstances, Israel's decision was a "dangerous procedure."

Tawfiq Jabarin, a Palestinian lawyer, who has taken over the case, said that the Israeli Construction and Structure department in Beit El had issued the demolition order.

The order gave the Palestinians seven days to dismantle the mosque building, Jabarin said.

The mosque — surrounded by Palestinian homes built since 1967— was being funded by local residents and is the second-largest mosque in the village.

Burin's mayor, Ali Eid said Israeli authorities claimed the mosque was in area C, thereby falling under Israel's full purview.

Jabarin said Israeli courts dismiss "verbal agreements," adding that a stop-order must be officially issued by the Civil Administration detailing the demolition's suspension.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120825§ionid=351020202.

UN monitors criticize 'weak' Somali govt.

Sun Mar 14, 2010

A report by the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia links the unending civil strife in the Horn of Africa Nation to the transitional government's “weakness”.

The report, which is set to be presented to the Security Council this week, maintains that the ongoing civil strife in the country was a clear indicator of the government's “weakness” rather than “opposition's strength.”

The 75-page study adds that while relying on foreign presence in the country, the Somali government forces remained “ineffective” due to corruption and lack of discipline.

"Despite infusions of foreign training and assistance, government security forces remain ineffective, disorganized and corrupt," a section on the country's military notes.

The report described the Somali forces as only a composite of pro-government independent militias and profiteering military officers.

A mere 2,900 operational troops and less than 10,000 militiamen make up the Somali military, according to the UN group.

More than a year after the Mogadishu-based transitional government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed took power with the hope of ending two decades of almost non-stop civil unrest, security forces are still battling al-Shabab fighters over control of the country.

The fighters control most of the south and some parts of the capital.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/120821.html.

'Coffee Party' kicked off to counterweight Tea Party

The liberals and pro-Obama activists across the United States have launched their Coffee Party initiative as a response to the conservative conventional Tea Parties.

The party, which boasts more than 141,000 Facebook fans as of Saturday, said in its statement that "today's coffee houses have been a huge success — both for Coffee Party USA and for democracy. All across the US, Americans from all political sides sat down for civil conversation and, of course, coffee," reported CNN.

Coffee Party founder Annabel Park, who was a volunteer campaigner in Barack Obama's presidential team, dismissed claims that her party is "aligned" with any party, describing the US bipartisan political system as outdated.

Park said the disputed healthcare plan is indicative of the fact that the government is not working.

"We feel like the health care debate showed not only that we are a very divided country, but there's something really wrong with our political process. We kind of got to see the innards of the political process and realize there's something very broken. I think that's what we're responding to."

Reacting to the move, people in the conservative Tea Party camp characterized it as a weak attempt and a fabricated response to their own cause.

"This Coffee Party looks like a weak attempt at satire or a manufactured response to a legitimate widespread grassroots movement," says Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns for FreedomWorks, that organizers Tea Parties.

Jim Hoft of the St. Louis Tea Party said argued that the Coffee Party "is driven from the top down and it's not a grass-roots movement driven from the bottom up."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120819§ionid=3510203.

Jammu and Kashmir to have direct phone link with Pakistan

Shujaat Bukhari

It will promote trade across LoC: Minister

For the first time in the last 20 years, Jammu and Kashmir will have direct trunk dialing facility with Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (Pok), State Finance Minister Abdur Rahim Rather said in the Legislative Assembly on Friday.

Presenting the annual budget for 2010-11, the Minister deliberated on the government steps to boost trade. “A new trade policy is under formulation for which a committee stands constituted involving all officers concerned and representatives of trade and commerce.”

“Special phone lines have been authorized for reliable communication for trade.” Five landline booths would be set up and one would be able to make calls to Pakistan.

The Minister told The Hindu that all aspects, including security were taken into consideration. “This will be a major confidence building measure to narrow down the gaps in communication.”

Source: The Hindu.
Link: http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article244352.ece.

Hamas confirms its commander arrested by Israeli troops in Ramallah

RAMALLAH, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Sunday confirmed that Israel arrested one of its senior commanders in the West Bank after a decade-long tracking.

Maher Ouda, 47, was arrested last night in a village to the south of Ramallah city. The Israeli "occupation forces' success in kidnapping Ouda in the dead of night is only a sign of perfidy, fear and cravenness from confrontation," Hamas said in a statement sent to the press.

The Israeli army, Shin Bet security agency and police jointly conducted the detention of Ouda, who founded a Hamas cell that was directly responsible for killing 10 Israelis, a statement by the Israeli army said.

Ouda's activities in the second Palestinian Intifada, which started in 2000, included dispatching suicide-bombers to Israel, killing more than 70 people, according to the Israeli army statement.

Meanwhile, Hamas accused the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), dominated by President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, of aiding Israel in seizing Ouda.

The detention of Ouda "after tens of failures could never has happened without the huge security efforts that Fatah apparatuses in the West Bank, especially in Ramallah, to chase down Ouda and all colors of resistance."

Israel considered Ouda's arrest as "the final stage of thwarting Hamas' military headquarters in Ramallah," the army's statement says. In 2006, Israel napped Ibraheem Hamed, chief of Hamas' military wing in the West Bank, also in Ramallah.

Hamas said the detention of its leaders in the West Bank "is a tax we paid proudly for honor and steadfastness."

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/14/c_13210522.htm.

Kyrgyz elders want US base shut, troops gone

The Council of Elders in Kyrgyzstan has demanded that the country's authorities shut down a US base at Manas International airport outside the capital, Bishkek.

Besides the closure demand, the council is also calling for an immediate withdrawal of the US troops from their country.

"Until the entire contingent leaves [Kyrgyzstan], all flights of combat airplanes must be banned, but civilian airplanes can be authorized to deliver humanitarian and other peaceful supplies," they said.

However, Commander of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, has visited Kyrgyzstan for talks with the Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev on the extension of the lease.

The Kyrgyz president says it is in Kyrgyzstan's interest to maintain security in Afghanistan; therefore, it will not stand against the US using its airport for transshipment of troops and military cargo to Afghanistan — meaning that Kyrgyzstan will not terminate the agreement.

The agreement expires on June 22 but can be automatically prolonged for another year unless one of the sides terminates it.

The Council of Elders believes that the presence of the US military facility in Kyrgyz territory "threatens the national interests of the republic" and has left a negative image.

"If the deployment of Russian military bases in our territory can be justified from a historical standpoint, and it meets our strategic interests, the military presence of the U.S. and other NATO member states in the territory of Kyrgyzstan poses a threat to our national interests," the council said in a statement read at a news conference on Wednesday.

However, opponents of the US military presence have become more active in Kyrgyzstan.

The so called "US Transit Center" at Manas International Airport became functional following an agreement signed in June 2009 by the Kyrgyz and US governments.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120813§ionid=351020406.

China's premier rejects call for faster currency rise

Beijing - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday rejected pressure from the United States and other nations for a faster appreciation of China's currency. "A country's exchange rate policy and its exchange rates should depend on its national economy and economic situation," Wen told reporters at the end of China's 10-day annual parliament.

Wen said he opposed "finger-pointing" by nations which claim the relatively low value of China's yuan has made its exports cheaper and fueled its large trade surplus.

He said China planned to "further improve the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism and keep the yuan exchange rates basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level."

The stability of China's currency had "played an important role in facilitating the recovery of the global economy from the worst financial crisis in decades," Wen said.

The real exchange rate of the yuan rose by 14.5 per cent against the dollar between July 2008 and February 2009, he said.

Last week, China said it expected the slow recovery of its exports from the global financial crisis to take up to three more years.

In his economic report to the congress, Wen outlined measures designed to stimulate domestic demand and reduce the nation's dependence on exports.

China has more or less pegged its currency to the US dollar since the middle of 2008, but the euro has increased in value against the yuan around 20 per cent since the beginning of 2009.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313978,chinas-premier-rejects-call-for-faster-currency-rise.html.

China's parliament approves economic policy, budget - Summary

Beijing - China's nominal parliament on Sunday endorsed policies designed to bolster the economy against the global recession and approved an annual budget that included a 7.5-per-cent hike in military spending. Reports on the budget and economic performance were approved by a large majority of the nearly 3,000 members of the National People's Congress, who took part in rapid electronic voting at the end of the parliament's nine-day annual session.

The economic report was approved by 97.5 per cent of the 2,909 delegates present, while 84.5 per cent of them endorsed the budget report.

A relatively low 78.7 per cent of the delegates approved a legal report by the Supreme People's Court. Nearly 500 delegates voted against accepting the court's report, in a traditional reflection of concerns over judicial corruption.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the congress, Premier Wen Jiabao said China aimed to strike a balance this year between "maintaining a relatively fast and stable development, economic structural adjustment, and management of inflation."

"We must maintain the continuity and stability of macroeconomic policy, which means we will continue implementing proactive fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy to consolidate the trend of economic recovery," Wen said.

The government's priority would be to resolve "imbalances, incoherence and unsustainability" in China's economy, including a potential asset bubble, growing income gaps, and corruption.

He said the government would be "very cautious and flexible" in moving out of a two-year, 4-trillion-yuan (580 billion dollars) economic stimulus program.

In his economic report, Wen said the government would encourage job creation, support the growth of service industries, expand consumer demand, fight corruption and improve government accountability, he said.

He announced a record budget deficit of 1.05 trillion yuan (154 billion dollars) for 2010 with planned central and local government spending of 8.453 trillion yuan, up 11.4 per cent from last year.

China said its economy showed signs of recovery from the global slowdown last year. Despite a 16-per-cent fall in export values in 2009, its gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.7 per cent, stimulated by a 4-trillion-yuan infrastructure-centered spending package.

Wen said the government would target GDP growth of about 8 per cent this year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313980,chinas-parliament-approves-economic-policy-budget--summary.html.

Miracle baby elephant meets his fans

Sydney - The elephant that experts said could not possibly be born alive tottered out to greet well-wishers at Sydney's Taronga Zoo on Sunday, a full three weeks ahead of schedule. Mr Shuffles, so nicknamed because of his awkward way of walking, was not expected to be strong enough to leave the heated birthing barn until next month.

But as with so much else, the death-defying 116-kilogram wonder baby defied veterinarians with his zest for life after surviving nine horrendous days of labor, during which he slipped into a coma and fooled keepers into thinking he was dead.

"He's just excited to be alive," elephant manager Gary Miller said. "He's looking around and seeing the world."

Because the calf was upside-down and back-to-front in mother Porntip's womb, experts said a stillbirth was inevitable and were not even present at the delivery that ended a 22-month pregnancy.

The calf not only survived but is thriving. Despite veterinarians' doubts about whether Mr Shuffles would see out the week after the traumatic birth on Wednesday, the plucky elephant has suckled from his Thai-born mum, put on weight, made a fleeting pop-star style appearance for fans and even had his first bath.

"The fact that he's as alert as he is, and responding to all the different stimulus - us, the sounds all around him - he's going to be a very bright little kid," Miller conceded. "He's not going to be dull at all, which was a concern in the beginning."

Vets had worried that the world's longest-ever recorded pregnancy for a land animal would result in brain damage.

"Because of his compromised position as he came out and was born, we didn't know if he had brain damage from lack of oxygen from such a prolonged birth," Miller told reporters. "I'd say he's going to be 100 per cent."

Taronga Zoo officials are confident that Mr Shuffles is going to survive, and they have invited people to joint a competition to select a moniker for the newborn.

Pathi Harn, Tay Wan, Ming Khwan, Nam Chok, Mongkon, Boon Thung or Chok Dee will be the new name for the zoo's never-say-die tot.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313981,miracle-baby-elephant-meets-his-fans.html.

India prepares for interceptor missile test

New Delhi - India planned to test an interceptor missile in the eastern state of Orissa, where at least 3,000 people living in villages near a test range had been shifted to temporary camps, news reports said Sunday. The indigenously developed Advanced Air Defense missile was to be fired from an offshore test range, the IANS and PTI news agencies reported, quoting defense sources.

Range integration work for the proposed trial had been completed and the test could be conducted Sunday, the sources said.

The missile is part of the multi-layer ballistic missile defense system that India has been developing for over a decade.

It is capable of destroying any hostile ballistic missile at a low-altitude trajectory, PTI quoted defence sources as saying.

The target, a version of the short range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Prithvi, would be fired from a mobile launcher at a test range on the coast of Balasore district.

Soon after, the interceptor missile, using a radio frequency seeker, would be launched from Wheeler Island in the Bay of Bengal about 70 kilometers away, the sources said.

The missile was expected to intercept and destroy the target at low-altitude over the Bay of Bengal.

"Officials have shifted about 3,000 people living within a 2-kilometer radius of the Chandipur test range to temporary camps," Balasore district police official Rajesh Kumar was quoted as saying by IANS.

The 7-meter interceptor is a single stage, rocket-propelled guided missile. It has a secure data link for interception, independent tracking and homing capabilities and radars, the sources said.

Nuclear-capable South Asian neighbors India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars, routinely engage in tit-for-tat missile tests. They have an agreement under which prior notice is given to about such tests or other defense exercises.

Pakistan test-fired naval missiles and torpedoes in the Arabian Sea on Friday.

The tests came around a month after India fired its nuclear-capable surface-to-surface Agni-III missile.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313993,india-prepares-for-interceptor-missile-test.html.

Iranian MPs want secularism advocates out of universities

Up to 130 Iranian parliamentarians have called for strict action to be taken against proponents of secularism in universities throughout the country.

The lawmakers made the call in a letter signed and addressed to the Minister of Science, Research and Technology Kamran Daneshjou.

The MPs warned Daneshjou of the activities that were carried out in universities by "certain individuals who are hostile toward the Islamic system."

"The cultural message of the [1979] Islamic Revolution is the most important topic that university professors and the elite must seek to promote," IRNA cited the letter as saying.

"Activities of individuals, who feel enmity toward the Islamic establishment, are unacceptable. What is more, nowhere in the world are resources and opportunities generously handed out to those who seek to bring down the establishment and the principles that society is governed by," added the lawmakers.

They urged the minister to take "serious and decisive" action against "the enemies of the Islamic establishment," "proponents of secularism," and "those who work to weaken the government."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120798§ionid=351020101.

Indonesians protest Obama visit

Thousands of Indonesians have held rallies in cities across the country to protest a visit by the US president later this month.

The rallies have been staged by the Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir. The protesters shouted slogans against Barack Obama and his war policies.

Obama spent several years of his childhood in Jakarta in the late 1960s.

He is scheduled to visit the country next week. The trip has already been delayed due to debates over the healthcare reform bill at home.

Hundreds of armed police forces secured the area, with a water canon and anti-riot equipment. Obama is scheduled to visit Asia on March 23-25.

Obama's trip also includes stops in Guam and Australia. Regional security is expected to be a key focus of the visit.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120794§ionid=351020406.

Thailand protesters demand govt. step down

Tens of thousands of supporters of deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have gathered in Bangkok to demand the government to step down.

Some 45,000 protesters have reportedly turned up at the rally site on Sunday. Organizers say protests would continue for several days and that they expect some 600,000 to turn to the streets.

Security forces have also been deployed outside government offices to ward off potential violence. The government has enacted the Internal Security Act for the rallies.

The Act allows authorities to set up checkpoints, impose curfews, and limit movements.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has refused to bow to the protesters' calls for his resignation.

Pro-Thaksin rallies come two weeks after Thailand's top court confiscated some one-and-a-half billion dollars of his assets. Thaksin was toppled amid allegations of corruption and abuse of power in 2006.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120789§ionid=351020406.

Malaysia urges action against Swedish cartoonist

Malaysia adds voice to the tidal wave of global condemnation of Swedish newspapers that recently republished a sacrilegious cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Speaking out against the Swedish government more strongly than ever, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said late Saturday that his country “strongly denounces the reprinting of the caricature of the Prophet by three Swedish newspapers on 10 March 2010,"

Under the banner of freedom of expression, he said, the move was a "despicable act to disregard to the sensitivity of the Muslim world” and thus a cause for serious concern.

Aman urged the Swedish government to take adequate measures in preventing the recurrence of such publications, which he described as ”irresponsible, provocative, and offensive in nature.”

The publication of the sacrilegious cartoon, which was first drawn by Swedish caricaturist Lars Vilks in 2007, has enraged Muslims around the world, prompting widespread protests and worldwide demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the governments of Iran, Egypt, and Pakistan, have made formal complaints to the Swedish government over the offensive incident.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120791§ionid=351020406.

Iran to launch in space 2nd payload of living organism

After of series of breakthroughs in space research and technology, Iranian scientists prepare to send a rocket carrying a new payload of living organisms into orbit.

Mohammad Rezaei, a senior expert with Iran's Aerospace Organization, said Sunday that the space mission may take place as soon as next year, Mehr News Agency reported.

“As soon as the Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer 3) satellite carrier completes its current operation in space, we will launch our second mission with a new load of live organisms,” he said.

With the exclusive ability to transfer electronic data and live footage back to earth, Kavoshgar 3 was launched in space in February while carrying a rat, two turtles and worms onboard.

In February 2009, Iran joined a small group of countries that have the ability of both producing satellites and sending them into space using domestic launchers after placing its first domestically-made Omid (Hope) satellite into orbit.

The Omid data-processing satellite was designed to circle the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and to transmit data via two frequency bands and eight antennas to an Iranian space station.

The country is also studying preliminary plans to send its very first astronaut into orbit in near future.

Iran's space-related accomplishments have come as a surprise for European powers and the US, mainly because the country has been under Western sanctions for nearly 30 years.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120799§ionid=3510208.

PNA condemns Israeli closure of Jerusalem schools

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Saturday condemned the Israeli closure of two schools in East Jerusalem as well as the closure of al-Aqsa Mosque gates in the old city.

Taysir Tamimi, the Palestinian chief of justice, said in a press statement sent to Xinhua that "the Israeli actions of closing two schools as well as the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque aim at seizing control of the whole area of the old city."

He said that the Israeli authorities in the old city of Jerusalem shut down on Saturday two secondary schools surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque in the old city, and closed the gates that lead to the mosque.

Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian witnesses in the old city said that several Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli police near Damascus gate and al-Musrara market in the old city of Jerusalem.

The witnesses said that Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli police forces, who fired tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at the stone-throwers to disperse them.

Following the clashes, the Israeli police backed by border police forces closed the gates that lead to al-Aqsa Mosque and prevented worshipers who are less than 50 years old from entering.

Meanwhile, Tamimi warned that some radical Jewish groups are planning to break into the yard of al-Aqsa Mosque within the coming few days to inaugurate a Jewish temple that is several meters far from the mosque.

He held the Israeli government responsible for what he termed as "the consequences of the new Israeli decisions and the crimes of the ethnic cleaning that are carried out against the residents of the city."

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6918885.html.

Israel detains Hamas leader in WB

Israel has arrested a leader of Hamas in the occupied West Bank as it imposes a lockdown on the territory for what it cited as security measures to avoid tensions over its new settlement plan.

Maher Uda, 47, was arrested in the West Bank on Sunday, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The arrest came amid rising tensions over Israel's closure of the territory and its restrictions on the holy al-Aqsa mosque compound which follows the announcement of building 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem al-Quds.

Israel, which seized al-Quds and the Holy City area in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community, considers it its eternal and indivisible capital.

The Palestinians however see al-Quds as the capital of their promised state and insists on settlement freeze on its occupied lands.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120784§ionid=351020202.

EU to go unilateral against Iran, following US model

Finland's foreign minister claims consensus in the European Union for new Iran sanctions over its nuclear program vowing to act unilaterally without a UN resolution.

Following the footsteps of the US, Alexander Stubb, whose country is hosting a meeting of EU foreign ministers and Turkey, announces that the European bloc will impose unilateral sanctions on Tehran in case Beijing and Moscow refuse to support a similar move at the UN Security Council.

"I think we'll be able to convince Russia and China and I'm quite hopeful that we'll get something in the Security Council," he said in Lapland in northern Finland, where the event is being held.

"But failing that, we'll just have to do it unilaterally and by unilateral I mean the EU directly on Iran," he added, according to local media reports.

Washington and its European allies have been pushing for a fourth round of sanctions against Iran to restrict its nuclear work.

The Western powers claim Tehran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, a charge that the inspectors of UN's nuclear watchdog stationed in Iran have been unable to substantiate.

Many observers in US and Europe have highlighted the West's double standards regarding Iran's nuclear issue. They point to West's inaction regarding three countries, namely Israel, India and Pakistan, which not only possess nuclear arms but have refuse to sign any international treaty regulating nuclear activities and controlling proliferation.

Iran, on the other hand, is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. No country, evidently, has ever been subjected to more voluntary IAEA inspections than Iran. The Islamic Republic has always maintained the civilian nature of its nuclear program and has repeatedly called for the elimination of all nuclear arms globally, a call ignored by nuclear powers and the West.

It is incredible, the observers argue, how so much pressure is being fiercely mobilized by the West against a country that has voluntarily accepted international inspections but refuses to succumb to unreasonable demands mostly pushed by countries that possess and continue to develop atomic arms.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120782§ionid=351020104

Iran to unveil national truck next year

Iran's Saipa Diesel Company has declared that it will unveil the country's "national truck" in the next Iranian year, which begins on March 21.

Ali Malek, the head of the company announced that the new truck will be unveiled by June, Fars news agency reported.

He said that the new truck will have a 400-horsepower engine.

Malek added that Saipa Diesel will produce 10,000 trucks next year, half of which will be European brands like Volvo and the other half will be Iranian and Chinese brands.

He said that the company's exports during the current Iranian year amounted to $ 26 million despite the global economic downturn and stiff competition among the world automakers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120777§ionid=351020102.

Stolen Sarcophagus Returns To Egypt From US

3,000-Year-Old Wooden Coffin Seized At Miami Airport
HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO (News4Jax) -- A 3,000-year-old wooden sarcophagus confiscated at the Miami airport was returned to Egypt Saturday, as the antiquities chief pressed forward with his campaign to recover Egypt's stolen heritage.

The brightly painted sarcophagus dates back to the 21st Dynasty (1070-945 B.C.) and belonged to a noble called Imesy, a Culture Ministry statement said.

Customs officials at Miami International Airport seized the coffin in October 2008 from a shipment coming from Spain after the importer could not present proper documentation to prove ownership.

An investigation found the coffin had been stolen from Egypt 126 years ago and taken to Spain before it was shipped to the U.S.

Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, led a legal campaign to have the coffin returned in November 2009 and the importer dropped its claim.

Hawass traveled to Washington on Wednesday to receive the sarcophagus and bring it back to Cairo.

Hawass announced in Saturday's statement that Egypt will also take back a number of other antiquities illegally shipped to the U.S. The items, which are now being held in New York, include wooden coffins, pottery and ancient art pieces.

Thousands of antiquities were spirited out of the country during Egypt's colonial period and afterward by archaeologists, adventurers and thieves.

Hawass has made recovering the stolen artifacts the centerpiece of his tenure as antiquities chief.

In one of his most high-profile efforts, Hawass has formally demanded the return of the bust of Queen Nefertiti from a Berlin museum after he received documents he says back his claim the statue is there illegally.

The museum has refused to return the 3,300-year-old limestone bust.

Hawass said last year that the director of Berlin's Egyptian Museum presented documents revealing that the German excavator of the statue drew up fraudulent papers to take it out of Egypt in 1913.

Japan unveils solar powered spacecraft

Posted by Sarah Harlan

(NBC) - The Japanese Space Agency has unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world's first solar powered sail spacecraft.

At a news conference on Friday, Japanese space officials showed off the space yacht.

The craft has a diameter of roughly five feet and navigates by means of an ultra-thin membrane that harnesses solar energy.

While the sunlight in space is very weak, the space agency believes it will provide enough energy to propel the space yacht.

It will be launched together with the country's first Venus orbiter on May 18.

Source: 14wfie.
Link: http://www.14wfie.com/global/story.asp?s=12136154.

Spain hopes to accelerate Turkey's EU talks, minister says

Saariselka, Finland - Spain intends to accelerate Turkey's talks on joining the European Union by opening negotiations on four more legal areas by the end of June, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Saturday. Spain currently holds the EU's rotating presidency and is tasked with leading accession talks until July 1. Recent presidencies have only managed to open talks on one or, at most, two legal areas in their six-month terms.

"The Spanish presidency has put into its agenda a strong commitment towards Turkish accession to the EU," and hopes to open talks on four more issues, Moratinos said.

Countries which want to join the EU have to bring their laws into line with EU rules in 35 so-called negotiating "chapters."

Turkey has so far opened talks on 14 chapters, with another eight frozen in its row with Cyprus.

Moratinos said that Spain hoped to open talks on education, competitiveness, food safety and the all-important energy chapter, a key portfolio because the EU sees Turkey as the best transit provider of energy supplies from the Middle East.

Moratinos was speaking at informal talks with a handful of European counterparts, including Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu, in the Arctic Finnish ski resort of Saariselka.

The talks were partially overshadowed by a Swedish parliamentary decision on Thursday to label the killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 as genocide.

Moratinos said that the question of the killings was a bilateral issue between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey has been negotiating to join the EU since 2005, but its accession is opposed by key states including Germany and France.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313912,spain-hopes-to-accelerate-turkeys-eu-talks-minister-says.html.

Death toll rises to 35 after dam burst in Kazakhstan

Astana - The death toll from heavy floods in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan climbed to 35, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Saturday. A dam of a reservoir near the village Kysyl-Agasch broke Thursday due to heavy rains and melting snow, triggering a 2-meter-tidal wave that destroyed the village, local media reported.

Eyewitnesses spoke of an even higher number of victims in the village with a population of 3,000, located in the eastern Almaty region bordering China.

An official spokeswoman said that 70 per cent of the village had been destroyed.

Those in charge of the reservoir had not taken the necessary precautions for the spring floods and had to be punished, Nazarbayev charged, according to the state news agency Kazinform.

A government commission was set up to help the victims.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313922,death-toll-rises-to-35-after-dam-burst-in-kazakhstan.html.

Delegates gather in Qatar to save endangered wildlife - Summary

Doha, Qatar- Some 1,500 delegates on Saturday gathered for a conference in Qatar to draft tougher new measures to protect the planet's endangered plant and animal life. The two-week conference on the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha will be reviewing 42 proposals for improved protection of bluefin tuna, elephant populations and a wide range of sharks, corals, polar bears, reptiles, insects and plants.

The delegates represent the 175 parties to the treaty, as well as non-governmental groups, businesses and indigenous peoples.

"2010 is a key year for biological diversity," said Achim Steiner, UN undersecretary general and executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, which administers the treaty.

"By ensuring that the international trade in wildlife is properly regulated, CITES can assist in conserving the planet's wild fauna and flora from over-exploitation and thus contribute to the improved management of these key natural assets for sustainable development," Steiner said.

"We do not want to risk letting down the developing world in its struggle to ensure that trade in wild fauna and flora is conducted legally and sustainably," CITES Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers said in his opening remarks, according to a CITES press release.

Among the proposals delegates will discuss is one from Tanzania and Zambia, whose governments will seek approval to sell government- owned ivory.

CITES banned international trade of the luxury product in 1989, but subsequently allowed Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe to sell more than 150 tons to Japan.

The 20 million dollars those sales raised went into elephant conservation and other programmes, conference organisers said.

Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, by contrast, have proposed a halt to the limited trade in African elephant ivory, and a 20-year moratorium on further proposals to relax controls on international ivory sales.

Delegates will also debate whether to ban the trade of bluefin tuna, prized by sushi lovers around the world.

Monaco has proposed a temporary ban on commercial fishing of the species to allow populations to recover, given that they had "undergone very substantial declines in the last 40 years."

CITES said that other agenda issues in Doha would include the adoption of urgent measures to tackle the illegal trade of tiger products, rhinos and other species that are on the brink of extinction.

Delegates will also review the potential impact of CITES measures on the livelihoods of the rural poor, who are at the forefront of those who use and manage wildlife.

The CITES conference comes in the same year the UN General Assembly has declared as the international year of biodiversity.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313935,delegates-gather-in-qatar-to-save-endangered-wildlife--summary.html.

Taiwan universities to accept Chinese students

Taipei - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday said Taiwan universities will soon start accepting students from mainland China. At a dinner with lawmakers, Ma instructed the parliament to speed up work to pass legislation on allowing Chinese students to attend Taiwan universities, according to the Central News Agency (CNA).

Ma said he hoped the parliament can pass the bill during the current session, so that Chinese students can enroll in Taiwan universities for the autumn term, CNA said.

Ma said that recruiting Chinese students is a good thing for Taiwan, because Taiwan's democratic system can influence Chinese students.

Taiwan has been mulling recruiting Chinese university students, but some Taiwanese fear that if the Chinese students remain and work in Taiwan after graduation, they will grab all the good jobs and leave Taiwan graduates out of work.

But the Taiwan government has assured that public that Chinese students must return to China after graduation.

Taiwan and China has been split since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and Taiwan used to bar entry by all Chinese mainlanders.

With the easing of tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan now allows Chinese to visit the island for family reunions, business or sightseeing.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313934,taiwan-universities-to-accept-chinese-students.html.

Iran arrests 30 members of US-linked cyber network

Tehran - Iran has arrested 30 members allegedly linked to a US-linked cyber network seeking information on Iranian nuclear scientists, local media reported Saturday. The judiciary said in a statement that the network was set up by Iranian opposition groups such as the People's Mujaheddin of Iran (PMOI).

The 30 were supposed to gather information on Iranian nuclear

scientists, encouraging people to take part in anti-government demonstrations and further attracting and dispatching them to PMOI camps in Iraq to be trained as rebels, the statement said.

One among the arrested network members is from an illegal religious sect, the reports said, possibly a reference to the Bahai religious minority.

The media reports gave no further details how the network exactly functions in Iran and how it can obtain classified information.

Iran regards PMOI as a terrorist group due to its involvement in the assassinations of several high-ranking Iranian officials, including the president and prime minister in 1980.

According to Iran, PMOI members have also attended protest demonstrations following last June's disputed presidential election and had violent confrontations with police and security forces.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313947,iran-arrests-30-members-of-us-linked-cyber-network.html.

Arab, Israeli parliamentarians clash at conference in Amman

Amman - Arab and Israeli lawmakers on Saturday traded accusations about whether Israel has impeded the peace process during a two-day plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), which kicked off in Amman, conferees said. The wrangling started when the head of the Egyptian delegation, Mohammad Abu al-Ainain, lashed out at the Israeli government for endorsing the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Israel a few days after the Arab foreign ministers backed US-brokered indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Israel's provocative actions and escalations should be responsible for the derailment of the peace process," he said.

He proposed the formation of an EMPA team to visit the Palestinian territories and appraise the possibility of setting up an independent Palestinian state.

Abu al-Ainain's remarks were supported by other Arab delegates, prompting Israeli Knesset member Einat Wilf to respond by describing critics of Israel at the meeting as a "gang."

"The Israelis have suffered a lot at the hands of Europeans and Arabs," the Israeli deputy said.

"Such a description is unacceptable," Jordanian senator Aql Beltai replied, according to delegates.

In a related matter, Wahbah Megalli, the head of the Israeli delegation, accused Egypt of taking part in the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"How you urge Israel to open its borders with the Gaza Strip at a time when a big Arab country continues to close its frontiers with the Palestinian territory," he said.

The meeting was opened by the speaker of the outgoing Jordanian lower house of parliament, Abdul Hadi Majali, in his capacity as current EMPA president.

Majali underscored the importance of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state "with the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital that lives in peace with Israel."

Barring that, he said, all plans of development and reforms in the region "will falter."

A total of 280 parliamentarians are taking part in the meeting, 140 from each side of the Mediterranean.

In addition to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the conference will discuss the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean region and the possibility of setting up a Mediterranean Bank.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313943,arab-israeli-parliamentarians-clash-at-conference-in-amman.html.

Hoax broadcast causes panic in Georgia

Panic gripped Georgia after a pro-government television station broadcast a fake report that Russian tanks had entered the capital Tbilisi.

The fake report, which was broadcast on Saturday by the pro-government station Imedi TV, said that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had been killed in the Russian invasion.

Imedi TV later stated that the aim of the broadcast was to show the "real threat" of how events may unfold.

Imedi used archive pictures from the 2008 war that showed advancing Russian tanks.

Dozens of angry Georgians later rallied outside the television station to protest against the report.

Russia and Georgia fought a bloody five-day war in 2008 after Tbilisi attacked the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Relations between the two countries have remained tense since then.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120768§ionid=351020406.

Zero-visibility storm hits western China

A sandstorm has swept through areas in China's western province of Xinjiang, blanketing Hotan prefecture with an orange haze.

On Saturday, Hotan experienced very poor visibility, which in turn resulted in slow, heavy traffic on the streets as drivers inched their way forward with their headlights on.

The locals said they had not seen such strong winds in 10 to 15 years and some authorities expressed concern the storm might have affected agriculture in the region.

A spokesman for Hotan's meteorological observatory said the sandstorm would also lead to a temperature drop of 5 to 8 degrees Celsius.

Strong winds swept a fierce sandstorm into Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture on Friday, lowering visibility to zero in some areas.

The sandstorm is expected to reduce slightly in the coming days but will probably not die down until March 16.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120769§ionid=351020404.

Venezuela tests its new Chinese jets

Venezuela has tested six training and light attack jets bought from China for defense and the campaign against drug trafficking.

President Hugo Chavez ordered a total of eighteen Chinese-built K-8 jets after a plan to buy similar jets from Brazil failed because they included US electrical systems.

Venezuelan officials say the jets will be used to train pilots and intercept drug traffickers who use Venezuela as a route to take Colombian cocaine to the United States, Europe, and Africa.

Venezuela has also bought a network of ten radars from China and has spent about four billion dollars on Russian weapons, including fighter jets.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120767§ionid=351020704.

UAE calls for diplomacy on Iran nuclear issue

The United Arab Emirates hopes the international community will solve its row with Iran over its nuclear activities "through diplomatic means” before any international sanctions are imposed by the UN Security Council.

“The UAE expects the international community to resolve its dispute with Iran by means of diplomatic channels before taking the decision to slap a new round of sanctions on Tehran,” UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said at a joint press conference with visiting Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and Abu Dhabi on Thursday to discuss Washington's push for new sanctions on Iran.

Gates told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he felt the two Persian Gulf countries are willing to use their economic leverage to persuade China to join international efforts to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

"I have the sense that there's a willingness to do that. The two oil-rich states were also open to lobbying Moscow on the issue," he said.

Despite Iran's full cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and the transparency of its nuclear program, Washington and its allies accuse the Islamic Republic of covertly seeking to produce nuclear weapons.

However, Iran denies the accusations and insists its nuclear activities are only conducted for civilian applications of the technology such as generating electricity in order to meet its soaring energy demands.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120766§ionid=351020104.

Jumblatt seeks reconciliation with Assad

The leader of Lebanon's Druze community has admitted that he has made "inappropriate" remarks about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has called for the consolidation of ties between Lebanon and Syria.

In an interview with the Al-Jazeera satellite television network on Saturday, Walid Jumblatt acknowledged his past blunders and said that Assad should forget the past, since he had made "inappropriate and unreasonable remarks" in anger about him at a time of internal tension and extreme division within Lebanon.

During a speech on February 14, 2007, the second anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Jumblatt had called Assad "the dictator of Damascus… a savage… an Israeli product, a liar… and a criminal."

Two years prior to these insulting remarks, Jumblatt had accused Syria of killing both Hariri — father of current Prime Minister Saad Hariri — and his own father Kamal in 1977.

"In order to consolidate Lebanon-Syria relations, between the two peoples and two states and between the Druze of Lebanon and Syria, can we now overlook this moment and open a new page?" the 60-year-old hereditary chieftain of Lebanon's Druze minority asked during the interview.

He said his remarks were "unworthy and unusual, unsuited to the ethics of politics even during a quarrel."

Jumblatt stated that his U-turn was necessary to maintain peace and avoid sectarian bloodshed.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120764§ionid=351020203.

Israel bars Palestinians under 50 from Al-Aqsa

Israeli police have barred men under 50 from attending prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem Al-Quds on Sunday due to fear of another round of clashes.

On Friday, Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian worshipers after Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring one Palestinian and arresting three others.

In a measure meant to prevent more violence, on Saturday the Israeli police issued an order stating that no male under the age of 50 and no visitors from other religions will be allowed to enter Islam's third holiest site for prayers on Sunday. Women will not be affected by the order.

Tension has risen since March 5, when Israeli police attacked Muslim worshipers after Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and imposed indefinite restrictions.

And the situation took a turn for the worse following Israel's announcement last Tuesday that it plans to build another 1,600 homes for settlers in mostly Arab East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Palestinians say should be the capital of their future state.

Israel's illegal settlement construction continues despite international calls for a complete freeze on building on occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli officials have insisted that they will not accept a 'complete freeze' on settlement construction and that the plan to build homes for settlers in East Jerusalem Al-Quds will not be canceled.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120761&sectionid=351020202.

20 killed in inter-clan clashes in central Somalia

Sun Mar 14, 2010

Clashes between rival clans have left at least 20 people dead in the Mudug region of central Somalia, where sub-clans of the Hawiye tribe are battling over water and land.

The fighting occurred late on Saturday as militiamen armed with heavy machine guns engaged in a deadly exchange of fire, killing up to 20 people, mostly combatants. Ten fighters were also wounded in the clashes.

"The heaviest fighting occurred near Jildhere village and there are bodies still strewn in the streets and forests close to the village," AFP quoted a Hawiye elder as saying.

"Their argument is all about water and land for their livestock. The matter looks to have gotten out of hand now," said another.

The clans engaged in violent confrontations after tribe members residing in Ba'ad Weyn and Amara town, northeast of Galgadud's provincial capital of Dhusamareb, disputed over an animal watering point.

Mediation efforts failed on Saturday, and the clans are reportedly preparing for yet another battle.

A report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said more than 100,000 people have been displaced in the country since the beginning of the year, with clashes in Mogadishu accounting for 33,000 of the refugees.

The UNHCR also expressed concern for an estimated 8,300 internally displaced people.

"We are especially concerned about the safety and well-being of some 8,300 people who, without any means to get out of Mogadishu, remain displaced within the capital," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told journalists in Geneva.

"As the fighting rages on, aid agencies cannot access and assist these extremely vulnerable IDPs [internally displaced people]," he added.

Despite President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's efforts to bring long-feuding Somali factions together, parts of the capital and large areas in the south of the country remain under the rebels' rule.

The nation in the Horn of Africa has not had a functioning government since warlords toppled dictator Siad Barre in 1991.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/120760.html.

Russia calls for report on US human rights record

The Russian foreign ministry has questioned the objectivity of US annual report on worldwide human rights practices, criticizing it for ignoring the United States' own record.

The Russia section of the US State Department's 2009 Human Rights Report noted a decline in the number of racially or religiously motivated crimes in Russia during the year, but expressed concern over ethnic discrimination.

"It is no secret to anyone that this opus is aimed primarily at solving the political issues of the US establishment," said a statement from the ministry's information and press department published on Friday.

The statement recommended a report on the human rights practices in the United States, which is not included in the US country report.

"For instance, it is interesting to know how the department, which is partial to moralizing in the human rights sphere, will comment on the tortures and cruel and inhumane treatment of people in the US itself.

"And not just the widely known cases in Bagram and the special prison in Guantanamo — which, contrary to the administration's promises, just doesn't close — but also in the prisons and on the streets of America."

Such a report should not shirk from mentioning "domestic violence leading to the murder of children, including those adopted in Russia," as well as "racism and xenophobia toward migrants, and Islamophobia," it said.

The ministry concluded that despite efforts to “re-set” relations with Washington, which suffered a post-Cold War low during the former administration, the report had just rehashed its attitude towards Russia:

"Everything in the report fits tradition and ritual.”

Source: PreessTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120731§ionid=351020602.

Ahmadinejad: Iran among top world powers

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says US is concerned about Iran's influential role in Latin America, Central Asia and Africa, adding that the Islamic Republic is currently among the top world powers.

"This is not a rhetoric issue in a political war. This is a fact. The countries on the opposite side can do nothing without Iran," he was quoted by IRNA as saying on Saturday.

"They (US officials) do not want to see Iran's presence in international relations and equations. They have no option but to keep silent about consecutive victories of the Iranian nation," he added.

The head of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) said, "Before the swear-in ceremony in 2005 I asked the the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei], to issue a permission for breaking the seal of Iran's nuclear facilities, and the leader agreed."

"Despite oppositions [to the move] and threats of the enemy's military attack, the government insisted on its stance," Ahmadinejad said.

He touched upon the enemy's "political game" in Iran's nuclear case and said, "It aims to block and stop the path of the countries' progress."

He reiterated that the West could not stop Iran's nuclear program by adopting further resolutions or imposing sanctions.

The Iranian president questioned NATO's achievements in Afghanistan and said only Iran can help resolve regional crisis.

He disclosed efforts by certain powers and countries to change regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying, "They seek to prevent nations from making progress, but the Iranian nation will not let them."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120745§ionid=351020101.

Spain predicts Israeli annexation of entire West Bank

Madrid has warned that, if continued at the current rate, the Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian lands would bring about the annexation of the entire occupied territories.

Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos cautioned that the advancement would claim the entire Palestinian territories in the West Bank, should the current rate of acquisition survive for another two years, AFP reported on Saturday.

"Until now, it's not too late, but if we wait for more than two years it will be too late," he said.

The comments came after the Israel interior ministry approved the construction of 1,600 housing units for Jewish settlers in Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Tel Aviv has been denounced for seeking insidious annexation of the territories under the guise of refurbishing the Jewish residences, resettling the Arab dwellers and promoting tourism among other "self-serving" excuses.

Israeli authorities refuse to meet the Palestinian condition for recommencement of the Middle East peace talks by enforcing a permanent and complete freeze on the expansion.

The resulting long-standing standoff in the negotiations was compounded by Israel's December 2008-January 2009 offensives against the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of more than 1,400 Palestinians.

Also on Saturday, the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged prompt formation of an Arab-Israeli peace settlement. "We need a negotiated peace settlement, it needs to happen quickly and now," she said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120753§ionid=351020202.