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Thursday, April 8, 2010

Palestinian detainees go on hunger strike

Around 8,000 Palestinian prisoners, held captive in 13 different Israeli military detention facilities, have gone on hunger strike in protest to ongoing cases of torture, abuse and other human rights violations.

According to the Palestinian Information Center, those on strike reported cases of humiliation and abuse during searches of family members conducted before visitations.

They have also pointed out at the denial of family visitations rights for the Gaza detainees under false security allegations.

The Center also lashed out at Israel's decision to prevent access to Arabic news media outlets for the Palestinian detainees, banning books in the detention centers and stripping the Palestinians of the right to take the final high school exams.

The Head of the Census Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, has announced that Israel currently holds 7,300 Palestinians in prison.

Among those detained are 300 children, 33 women, 17 legislators, and two former ministers.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122801§ionid=351020202.

'No US troop survives if Iran is attacked'

Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi has warned the US against making any military moves on the Islamic Republic.

Firouzabadi said that if the United States attacks Iran, none of the American troops in the region will go back home alive.

"If the US seriously threatens Iran and takes an action against Iran, none of the US soldiers in the region will return to America alive," Fars news agency quoted him as saying on Thursday.

Firouzabadi made the remarks in reaction to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said on Tuesday that Washington was keeping “all options” on the table for dealing with Iran and North Korea.

"If there is a message for Iran and North Korea here, it is that if you're going to play by the rules, if you're going to join the international community, then we will undertake certain obligations to you," AFP quoted Gates as saying.

Firouzabadi also said if the US takes action against Iran, the threats it would face increase exponentially and its economic problems skyrocket.

"If the US seriously threatens Iran and takes an action against Iran, the threats against it will become a thousand times more, its economic problems will increase and it will lose more markets," he said.

Firouzabadi's speech comes a day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned Washington's latest nuclear policy.

The policy authorizes the use of nuclear arms against nations which violate the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Obama's mention of Iran is despite the fact that there is no credible evidence indicating Iran is violating the NPT.

In response to the new nuclear strategy, Ahmadinejad lambasted the plan and advised his US counterpart not to repeat the "past mistakes" of the previous US governments.

"I advise Mr Obama to be careful. If he tries to follow in the footsteps of Mr [George W.] Bush, the response of the [Iranian] nation will be the same crushing response they gave to Bush," President Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh.

The 50-page "Nuclear Posture Review" (NPR) issued by the US administration was released on Tuesday. It purportedly restricts the use of US nuclear arms against some non-nuclear countries.

The new NPR by the Obama Administration restricts the use of US nuclear arms against some non-nuclear countries. Countries that “from the US perspective” do not comply with the NPT will be at risk of a possible nuclear attack.

The US has repeatedly accused Iran of failing to meet its obligations defined in the NPT — an allegation categorically denied by Tehran.

Iran was among the original countries that signed the NPT, a global pact aimed at curbing the spread of nuclear weapons across the globe.

Tehran says its nuclear work is monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog and is conducted in accordance with the NPT.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122800§ionid=351020101.

Iran 'will not plead to avoid sanctions'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Tehran will not yield to threats and will not give up its rights of a peaceful nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad says Iran will turn threats and sanctions into opportunities.

"We do not welcome threats and sanctions and we will never plead those who are threatening us with sanctions to not impose sanctions, but we will turn sanctions into opportunities," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying on Thursday.

He made the remarks in response to US President Barack Obama, who had said new tough sanctions against Iran should be adopted within weeks.

The US president repeated his threat of sanctions in a Thursday news conference with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in the Czech capital, Prague.

“My expectation is that we are going to be able to secure strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring," Obama said.

Three permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, France and the US — plus Germany want sanctions to stop Iran's uranium enrichment plans.

Other members China and Russia say diplomacy must be given a chance.

Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its nuclear work is being monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that it will not relinquish the legitimate nuclear rights of the Iranian nation under the West's pressure.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122802§ionid=351020101.

Sri Lanka parliamentary polls close

Polling has passed off in Sri Lanka's post war parliamentary elections amid reports of violence, with President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling alliance expected to win with a clear majority.

Voters lined up at polling booths as the nationwide parliamentary elections opened today throughout the island. Results are due on Friday.

Police had deployed 60,000 constables and kept another 20,000 military personnel on alert to deal with any major outbreak of violence during the voting period.

However, independent observers said the nine-hours of balloting were marred by a shooting incident and reports of intimidation.

The president cast his ballot in his home village of Medamulana south of the country.

Rajapaksa, 64, is seeking a two-thirds majority in parliament which would allow him to change the constitution.

He remains popular among Sri Lankans after bringing the 26-year conflict with the separatist Tamil Tigers to an end last year.

The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) reported 286 incidents of poll-related violence with most complaints being against Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance.

With more than 14 million eligible voters, the CMEV estimated the turnout at between 45 and 50 percent, much lower than the 75 percent recorded in the January presidential election.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122796§ionid=351020406.

Obama: Iran sanctions to come this spring

The United States is seeking to bring "tough sanctions" against Iran by "this spring," says President Barack Obama.

The US and its Western allies are working together to secure new sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council over Tehran's refusal to halt its nuclear program.

"My expectation is that we are going to be able to secure strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring," Obama said in a news conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Czech capital, Prague.

The five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US — plus Germany are scheduled to hold a meeting in New York on Thursday to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue.

"Discussions about the sanctions on Iran have been moving forward over the last several weeks. We are going to start seeing some ramped up negotiations taking place in New York in the coming weeks," Reuters quoted Obama as saying on Wednesday.

Washington has recently stepped up its efforts to push other key world powers into voting for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic at the Council.

However, China and Russia have repeatedly urged a diplomatic solution to the country's nuclear issue.

Medvedev, speaking at Thursday's news conference, said, “I cannot exclude that the UN Security Council will have to look into this.”

Medvedev, however, noted that Russia would consult with other world powers to find a solution to the impasse.

"Unfortunately Tehran is not reacting to an array of constructive compromise proposals. We cannot close our eyes to this," said Medvedev.

Tehran, as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has repeatedly rejected accusations that its nuclear program is geared towards military applications, describing the allegations as "baseless" and "politically-motivated."

The UN nuclear watchdog has conducted countless unannounced inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and has found no evidence supporting Western claims.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122795§ionid=351020104.

Former Turkish MP in prison for PKK links

A Turkish court has sentenced a former deputy of the dissolved Party for Democracy (DEP) to three years in prison on charges of spreading separatist propaganda.

The Diyarbakir Criminal Court on Thursday ruled that former DEP parliamentarian Leyla Zana had "disseminated the propaganda of a terrorist organization" by delivering speeches about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its imprisoned leader in two separate events.

The defendant was not present at Thursday's hearing.

Zana delivered a speech in favor of the PKK during a session organized by the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir sometime between September 20 and 22, 2008. She also spoke at a sit-in-protest in Ankara's Batikent neighborhood on November 1-3, 2008.

The People's Labor Party (HEP) was founded in 1990 when 10 pro-Kurdish members of the Turkish Parliament broke off from the Social Democrats. In 1993, HEP was outlawed for being pro-Kurdish.

Later on, the former members of HEP founded the Democratic Party (DEP), which was outlawed in 1994 and its members formed the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). Turkey's Constitution Court, however, shut down HADEP in March 2003.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, including Turkey, Iran, the US and the European Union member states.

More than 40,000 people have lost their lives since the militant group launched its armed campaign against Ankara in 1984, as part of a quest to establish an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.

Turkish fighter jets frequently shell PKK strongholds in northern Iraq, where the militants launch attacks against Turkey.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122794§ionid=351020204.

Somalia: Pirates to Release British Couple in Coming Hours

7 APRIL 2010

Somali pirates are reportedly releasing elderly and frail British couple hostage, who have been held for more than six months in the coming hours.

According to reports that Garowe Online received from sources, the gang holding the couple in Harardhere, a pirate haven in northeastern Somalia is said to have been promised unspecific ransom amount to free the hostages.

The gang has previously demanded a ransom money of about $2 million for the expenses they incurred while holding chandlers. But reports say they have so far received money for the expenses they incurred.

The couple is expected to be flown to Nairobi Kenya in the coming hours by a chartered plane that is currently in Somalia's Adado district, near the area they are held.

Paul Chandler and his wife Rachel, were hijacked on October 23 while vacationing in the Indian Ocean in the middle of the piracy peak season came under pirate attack in the early hours of, Their their 38-foot empty yacht, Lynn Rival was later located in the international waters off Somalia by the British Royal Navy.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004071146.html.

Transplanted organs impart memories onto recipients

Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Becoming an organ donor is a great way to help out a person in the event of one's death. A study has shown, however, that sometimes donor recipients take on certain characteristics or personality traits from the donor, a phenomenon that researchers are having a difficult time explaining.

Paul Pearsall, a neuropsychologist, wrote about this interesting topic in his book, The Heart's Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy. In it, he provides insight into his belief that the physical heart contains within it memories belonging to its person. Part of Pearsall's research for the book included tracking several real life cases of heart transplant recipients who mysteriously inherited some of their donors' traits.

In one case, a Spanish-speaking man began using words that he had not used prior to his transplant. He received his heart from a man named David who had died in a car accident. David's wife, Glenda, when meeting the recipient of her husband's heart for the first time, used the word "copacetic" to describe the situation. The recipient's mother quickly replied that her son had begun using that word for the first time and that it did not even have a Spanish equivalent, indicating that he had adopted the word from David.

The recipient's son, who had before been a vegetarian, began craving meat and greasy food after his transplant. His music preferences also changed from favoring heavy metal to preferring fifties rock 'n' roll. All of these preferences turned out to be David's preferences as well.

In another case, an 8-year-old girl who had received a heart transplant from a 10-year-old girl that had been murdered, began to have nightmares about the donor's murderer. After several consultations with a psychiatrist, it was decided that the police should be notified. The 8-year-old recipient was able to identify key clues about the murder, including who the murderer was, when and how it happened, and even the words spoken by the murderer to the victim. Amazingly, the entire testimony turned out to be true and the murderer was convicted for his crime.

Pearsall's 73 different case studies point to the fact that both the brain and the heart hold important information about a person. According to his analysis, cell communication that occurs throughout the body on a continual basis can continue to occur after an organ has been removed from one person and transplanted into another. Information from the donor seems to install into the recipient's memory.

Critics argue that such a phenomenon is not possible, but the proof is in the cases themselves. In one case, a 3-year-old Arab girl received a heart transplant from an 8-year-old Jewish boy who died in a car accident. After her surgery, the girl asked for a type of Jewish candy that, prior to the surgery, she did not even know existed.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/028537_organ_transplants_memories.html.

Seasonal flu vaccines increase risk of pandemic H1N1 flu, stunned scientists discover

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

(NaturalNews) I remember the H1N1 "swine flu" season of 2009 very well. People were rushing out to get vaccinated, scared half to death by the mainstream media which was pushing false reports that the swine flu would kill tens of millions of people and that only a vaccine could save you. The CDC and health authorities were pushing a double-barreled vaccine strategy that demanded people get both a seasonal flu shot as well as an H1N1 pandemic flu shot. Those who questioned the sensibility of vaccines for fighting the flu were attacked as "baby killers" for not kow-towing to the vaccine mythology that drives Big Pharma's profits to record profits nearly every flu season.

I specifically remember writing an article here on NaturalNews, warning people that taking a seasonal flu shot actually weakened your immune system and made you more susceptible to H1N1 swine flu (http://www.naturalnews.com/027102_v...). This suggestion earned me a highly accusatory email from a CDC employee who suggested that warning people to avoid the swine flu vaccine shot was equivalent to "an act of terrorism" and that all those who questioned vaccines should be arrested and stopped from writing anything on the internet ever again.

(Hilarious, isn't it, how deeply the vaccine mythology drives these vaccine-pushing nut jobs?)

Fast forward six months (or so) and now we have a new scientific paper published in one of the few remaining honest, independent medical journals out there: BLoS Medicine. The title of this study? Check it out:

Does Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Increase the Risk of Illness with the 2009 A/H1N1 Pandemic Virus?
Viboud C, Simonsen L (2010) Does Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Increase the Risk of Illness with the 2009 A/H1N1 Pandemic Virus? PLoS Med 7(4): e1000259. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000259

Care to guess what the study found? In short, it found that people who received the seasonal flu vaccine shot in 2008 were up to 274% more likely to be infected by H1N1 swine flu than those who skipped the season flu shots.

Season flu vaccines have a "counterproductive effect"
This result, which virtually all the top natural health writers openly predicted last year, apparently stunned the researchers. As explained in the published study, "Danuta Skowronski and colleagues report the unexpected results of a series of Canadian epidemiological studies suggesting a counterproductive effect of the vaccine."

In this case, "counterproductive effect" of the vaccine means that it works against you. Getting the vaccine shot appears to actually make you MORE susceptible to being infected with (and potentially killed by) a future pandemic.

If this sounds familiar, it's because we've been saying this over and over again to anyone who will listen: Flu vaccines are a medical scam, folks! A Big Pharma hoax. Getting a vaccine shot could actually result in you being killed by the next seasonal flu or pandemic outbreak that comes along. I even wrote this into the lyrics of my hip-hop song Don't Inject Me (http://www.naturalnews.com/Dont_Inj...).

Criminal neglect at the CDC and WHO?
So it turns out the CDC, WHO and FDA officials who all pushed these vaccines so hard were actually sending people to their graves. Meanwhile, they all engaged in what I consider to be blatant criminal neglect for not mentioning the simple, free solution for preventing virtually any widespread pandemic: Vitamin D and sunlight therapy. Vitamin D, we now know, works better than vaccines at preventing a flu infection, and the best part is that it makes your immune system stronger for the future, not weaker.

According to the CDC's official figures, well over ten thousand Americans died from swine flu infections. How many of those people could have been saved if they had taken vitamin D supplements instead of a seasonal flu shot? That is the question that now hangs over the heads of all the vaccine pushers at the FDA, WHO and CDC who have yet to admit in a single public story that vitamin D could have saved lives (or that the vaccine might be harmful to anyone).

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/028538_seasonal_flu_shot_vaccines.html.

London holds living butterfly show

A show in London's Natural History Museum allows visitors to walk among hundreds of butterflies from all around the world.

Butterfly Explorers, which opened on Thursday, exhibits exotic butterflies from North America, Asia, Africa and the Amazon rainforest.

Held on the museum's east lawn, the show gives visitors, especially children, the chance to see butterflies flying around, hold them in their hands and use interactive exhibits.

There is also a hatchery room where visitors can see tropical butterflies coming out of their chrysalises, the BBC reported.

"For Butterfly Explorers we've chosen to highlight five distinct international butterfly habitats, which means that visitors will be able to walk among many species of tropical butterfly as they make their way through the butterfly house,” Mike Sarna of the Natural History Museum said.

"We're also showing visitors what they can do to make their own gardens butterfly-friendly and to help to ensure that we protect and create ideal habitats for butterflies," he said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122792§ionid=3510212.

Sudan: Stage Set for Bashir Victory

Moyiga Nduru
6 April 2010

Juba — While there is a growing desire for change in Sudan - particularly among the younger urban population in the north - there is no atmosphere of heated campaigning or supporters mobbing candidates in the south, as campaigning for general elections concludes.

The absence of excitement and an election mood is partly explained by the fact that many voters here questioned the choice of Yasir Arman, to represent the southern-dominated Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) party as presidential candidate in the April 11-13 poll.

Arman was one of the few Arabs to join the rebellion in the early years of the uprising, but party insiders say this advocate of a united Sudan - some remain within the SPLM - was troubled playing a role that could well see the disintegration of Africa's largest country.

He would of course have secured SPLM bloc votes in the south, while drawing a significant vote from a northern minority of liberal urban Muslims, but Arman is largely scorned and regarded as a traitor in the north for betraying the cause of Arab Muslims in the Sudan.

The pressure on Arman proved overwhelming, and he withdrew from the race on Apr. 1, citing electoral irregularities and the continued conflict in Darfur.

"(Arman) advocated for his withdrawal. We had tried to convince him for weeks not to do that but he insisted that he wanted it done that way," Riek Machar, the SPLM vice president of the government of southern Sudan, told journalists in Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan.

The National Congress Party (NCP) of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, which claims to protect the interests of Arab Muslims in the Sudan, has a different view.

"(Arman) has no chance. He has been misinformed about his chance to win the elections. Bashir will win," Ibrahim Ahmed Omer, a senior NCP official, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Apr. 3.

Opposition political parties say Bashir is desperate to cling to power by legitimising his mandate via internationally-monitored elections and thus to escape the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"The election has been designed for one man, not for democratic transformation," Arman told a news conference in Khartoum following the announcement of his withdrawal. He said the NCP was only holding these elections in order to "deflect" pressure from the ICC on its leader.

The ICC, with its headquarters in the Dutch city of the Hague, indicted Bashir in 2008 for alleged human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in the troubled western region of Darfur. The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 after the rebels there took up arms to fight marginalisation. More than 300,000 people have been killed and over one million people displaced by the conflict since then.

Bashir has denied the ICC allegations.

One of Bashir's other rivals, the former Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, head of the Ummah Party, had been seeking to postpone the elections until the conflict in Darfur is resolved - a move rejected by both the NCP and the SPLM, as well as by the U.S. State Department. Without votes from the Ummah party's traditional stronghold in the war-torn region, Mahdi's chance of ruling the Sudan seems remote.

Southerners have several reasons for opposing the postponement of the elections. Firstly, they recall how Mahdi and Mohamed Osman Mirghani, the leader of another northern party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), rejected appeals to suspend the 1986 elections until the conflict in the south was resolved.

Secondly, southerners fear that the calls by northerners to postpone the elections are aimed at delaying, and eventually cancelling, the referendum on South Sudan's independence on Jan. 9, 2011. Salva Kiir, the president of the government of southern Sudan, who is running to retain his post, has warned that the referendum must take place on time.

With the SPLM candidate out of the way, the writing on the wall stands out ever more clearly: Bashir will win the presidential election.

Not because the Sudanese leader is popular, but because he controls the key instruments of power - the army and the plain-clothes security organs in the north - which he has been manipulating since he seized power in a military coup in 1989.

Opposition parties began taking claims of rigging seriously after it emerged on Apr. 1 that Sudan's presidential ballots had been printed in Khartoum, the capital - at a firm controlled by the ruling NCP - instead of in South Africa as agreed earlier.

Bashir also controls the state media - radio and television - and uses state funds and other resources such as helicopters and vehicles for his campaign. The majority of Sudan's more than 80 opposition political parties have no access to such advantages.

No one is talking about the possibility of a second round any longer with the SPLM candidate out of the way.

Even before the voting begins on Apr. 11, a confident Bashir has already announced his next move. He will start campaigning for the unity of the country immediately after the elections.

"There will be no separation. Our people in the south will vote for unity voluntarily, through their own will," Bashir said during a campaign in Sinjah, a town in eastern Sudan, on Apr. 1.

Bashir's imminent consolidation of power is worrying northern opposition parties. With the south disinterested in the elections and focusing on the referendum, they feel let down by the electoral process.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004070303.html.

Ancient Archaeological Site in China to Be Submerged

Archaeologists in China’s Sichuan Province are racing against time to save remains in an ancient settlement before it will be buried forever under 60 feet of water from a new reservoir.

The 4,000-year-old Maiping archaeological site is situated in Hanyuan County in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, in the middle Dadu River valley.

Maiping is part of a 100,000-square-meter complex that includes three other sites; however, Maiping is considered the most important one as it sheds light on the way of life of the ancient Sichuan inhabitants and differs from other sites in Sichuan.

The area is bounded on the north by the Chengdu Plain and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, on the west by the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and on the east by the Yangtse River and the Central Plains.

Archeologists of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Sichuan have carried out eight large-scale excavations at the Maiping site within the past five years. They have unearthed a large number of cultural relics that date back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties (between 2,500 to 4,500 years ago).

People in the area have been interested in the excavation of the ancient village and curious about the mysteries it might reveal about life long ago near the Dadu River, the Huaxi Metropolitan News reported on April 1.

Many people are shocked and saddened that the site will soon be flooded, and the ancient village and its mysteries will once again be buried.

According to official plans, the Maiping site was supposed to be covered by the new reservoir in November 2009, but after hard negotiations with relevant parties, archaeologists were able to buy some additional time to continue their excavations. The area will be flooded this June.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32936/.

Successful Maiden Flight of Swiss Solar Plane

By Aurelien Girard
Epoch Time Staff

Solar Impulse, a Swiss airplane prototype entirely powered by solar energy, successfully performed its first hours of flight in the morning of April 7.

The success came as good news for the 70 engineers who spent the past seven years of their lives with adventurer Bertrand Piccard on the project.

“This first mission was the most risky phase of the entire project,” said a delighted André Borschberg, CEO and co-founder of the project, adding that the flight took place in an hour and 27 minutes of “intense emotion.”

“Never has an airplane as large and light ever flown before!” Borschberg said. “The aim was to verify the prototype’s behavior in flight and to test its reaction to various maneuvers. The success of this first flight allows us to envisage the further program with greater serenity!”

Solar Impulse is powered by 12,000 photovoltaic cells mounted onto wings large as those of a Boeing 747 superjumbo. However, the plane body is around the size of a car, giving Solar Impulse the strange appearance of a dragonfly carried by four electric motors (10 horsepower each) linked to 880 pounds of lithium batteries.

The solar airplane made an easy take-off at speeds as low as 27 mph from Payerne military training center in western Switzerland, and smoothly landed at the same place 1 ½ hours later.

"Thanks to the extraordinary work of an entire team, an essential step towards achieving our vision has been taken," said Bertrand Piccard on his Web site. "Our future depends on our ability to convert rapidly to the use of renewable energies. Solar Impulse is intended to demonstrate what can be done already today by using these energies and applying new technologies that can save natural resources."

With dimensions of 71 feet in length, 208 feet in wing length, and 21 feet in height, and an average flight speed of 43 mph, Solar Impulse is definitely not intended to be distinguished by its speed.

Rather, the challenge is to prove that the future lies in renewable energy, and to illustrate this, Piccard’s team plans a 2013 flight around the world without using a single drop of oil.

Despite the major step, many additional tests will be needed before the around-the-world flight, the first one of which will be a 36-hour flight between May and June this year to assess the ability of Solar Impulse to fly—day and night.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32954/.

Obama, Medvedev sign nuclear arms treaty

US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev have signed a new treaty aimed at reducing the two countries' nuclear arsenals.

The treaty, signed in the Czech Republic's capital, Prague, is a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as START, which expired in December.

The new agreement requires Washington and Moscow to reduce their nuclear arsenals by about one-third.

It will also limit the number of deployed launchers, ballistic missiles and heavy bombers.

Medvedev called the deal a key document that will shape global disarmament efforts.

The treaty must be approved by the Russian Duma and the US Senate to take effect

Obama and Medvedev are also scheduled to discuss the US missile system in Europe, among other regional and international issues.

The US and Russia currently have a combined total of over 20,000 atomic warheads. The nuclear arms are roughly equally divided between the two countries.

The new pact has a direct link between offensive nuclear weapons and US planned missile defense system in Europe.

Russia has warned that Moscow could opt out if it feels threatened by the US missile plans.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122790§ionid=351020602.

British Airways, Iberia sign merger agreement

British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia have signed an agreement to merge, moving a step closer to form Europe's third largest airline by revenue.

The signature of the merger agreement on Thursday would secure the future of the two unprofitable carriers that is expected to save the airlines $533mn a year.

The new company will be called International Airlines Group, but the BA and Iberia brands will continue to operate as normal.

In total the group will operate 408 aircraft and carry more than 58 million passengers a year, the two companies said.

"The terms and conditions of the merger agreement are in accordance with the memorandum of understanding signed by both airlines in November," the companies said in a joint statement.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the merger would be good for customers.

"The merged company will provide customers with a larger combined network," he said.

Iberia's chairman and chief executive Antonio Vazquez said the merger was important to the future of the airline industry.

"This is an important step in the process towards creating one of the world's leading global airlines that will be better equipped to compete with other major airlines and participate in future industry consolidation," he said.

The International Air Transport Association announced the global airline industry sector would post a loss of $2.8bn in 2010, with European and US airlines suffering the most.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122783§ionid=3510213.

Ex-Iraqi PM Jaafari wins Sadrist referendum

Supporters of influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have chosen former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari as their nominee to lead the country.

Jaafari received 24 percent of the 1.43 million votes cast in a referendum held last Friday and Saturday to pick a prime minister.

Jaafar Mohammed al-Sadr finished second with 23 percent and Suhail, a write-in candidate, placed third with 17 percent.

The referendum, which carried no legal weight, came after Iraq's long-awaited March 7 parliamentary election where former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition won the most seats with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki State of Law bloc standing in second spot with only two less votes.

However, Allawi finished in no better than the fifth place with only 9 percent in the Sadrist vote while Maliki placed ahead of him with 10 percent.

The Sadrists staged a high turnout in the parliamentary vote, earning the Shia movement about 40 seats as part of the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) bloc that won a total of 70 seats and has engaged in talked with the State of Law coalition about a possible merger of the two largest, predominantly Shia, blocs.

Sadr is widely viewed as having a say in the upcoming negotiations on forming the next government as Iraqi coalitions are vying for alliances that could give them the two-third parliamentary majority needed to establish a government.

Party officials said the referendum was open to all Iraqis, saying a total of 1.43 million ballots were cast in the referendum.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122782§ionid=351020201.

Kyrgyz opposition forms interim government

By PETER LEONARD, Associated Press Writer

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan – An opposition coalition proclaimed a new interim government Thursday in Kyrgyzstan after clashes left dozens dead and said it would rule until elections are held in six months. It also urged the president, who has fled the capital, to resign.

The new interim defense minister said the armed forces have joined the opposition and will not be used against protesters.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for calm and said he would immediately send an envoy to Kyrgyzstan, which he had criticized just last week for its human rights violations.

China on Thursday said it was "deeply concerned" about the violent uprising in its small western neighbor, echoing comments by Russia and the United States. The impoverished Central Asian nation is home to a key U.S. military base supporting the fighting in Afghanistan that the opposition has said it wants to close. It also hosts a Russian military base.

Kyrgyzstan, which shares a 533-mile (858-kilometer) border with China, is also a gateway to other energy-rich Central Asian countries where China, Russia and the U.S. are competing fiercely for dominance.

Opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva, the former foreign minister, said parliament was dissolved and she would head the interim government. She said the new government controlled four of the seven provinces and called on President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to resign. She said he had fled the capital of Bishkek to seek support in the central Jalal-Abad region.

"His business in Kyrgyzstan is finished," she said Thursday.

Thousands of protesters have clashed with security forces throughout the country in the last two days, driving out local governments and seizing government headquarters in Bishkek.

Elite riot police shot into crowds of rock-throwing protesters in Bishkek on Wednesday and hospitals were overwhelmed with the dead and wounded. But the country's new defense chief said Thursday that the nation's 5 million people had nothing to fear now from the security forces.

"Special forces and the military were used against civilians in Bishkek, Talas and other places," Ismail Isakov said. "This will not happen in the future."

In Bishkek, residents nervously went about their business on a clear spring morning Thursday, the snowcapped mountains visible in the distance. There were no police on the streets.

Most of the government buildings in the capital, as well as Bakiyev's houses, have been looted or set on fire and two major markets were burned down. A paper portrait of Bakiyev at government headquarters was smeared with red paint. Obscenities about him were spray-painted on buildings nearby.

Otunbayeva blamed Bakiyev for the week's violent clashes.

"Yesterday's events were a response to aggression, tyranny and a crackdown on dissenters," she said. "All the people who were killed and wounded are victims of this regime."

The Health Ministry said at least 74 people were killed and 400 people hospitalized in clashes nationwide Wednesday.

Almaz Bakibayev, a 30-year-old cook who was among the wounded, said he hoped the new government would be better than Bakiyev's.

"The blood was not shed in vain," he said at Bishkek's Hospital No. 4. "What I can't understand is why they started shooting at people."

Ban, the U.N. chief, said the dissent was evident when he visited the country on Saturday.

"I could feel the tension in the air," he said Thursday in Vienna. "The pressure has been building for months."

Since coming to power in 2005 amid street protests known as the Tulip Revolution, Bakiyev had ensured a measure of stability, but the opposition said he did so at the expense of democratic standards while enriching himself and his family.

He gave his relatives, including his son, top government and economic posts and faced the same accusations of corruption and cronyism that led to the ouster of his predecessor, Askar Akayev. Many protesters were also outraged at huge hikes in prices for electricity and gas heating that went into effect in January.

Kyrgyzstan is a predominantly Muslim country, but it has remained secular. There has been less fear of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism than in other mostly Muslim regions of the former Soviet Union.

"As a friendly neighbor, we are deeply concerned over the development of the situation in the Kyrgyz capital and other areas, and we sincerely hope that order can be restored as soon as possible," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denied any involvement in the uprising but criticized Bakiyev's government for repeating his predecessor's mistakes on nepotism.

"These events caught me completely by surprise," Putin admitted.

Russia has sent 150 paratroopers to its air base in Kyrgyzstan, the state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the General Staff, as saying. The Kant base, 12 miles (20 kilometers) east of Bishkek, has been operating since 2003 and has some 400 Russian military personnel.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. deplored the violence and urged all to respect the rule of law.

"We identify with the concerns that the people of Kyrgyzstan have about their future" but those concerns should be dealt with peacefully, Crowley said.

U.S. military officials said Kyrgyzstan officials halted flights for 12 hours Wednesday at the Manas air base, which supports the military operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It was not clear whether the air base had reopened.

Officials at "Manas have taken all appropriate measures to continue to support operations in Afghanistan," U.S. Air Force Maj. Rickardo Bodden, a public affairs officer, said Thursday. He refused to elaborate for security reasons.

In 2009, Kyrgyzstan said U.S. forces would have to leave Manas, a decision made shortly after Russia granted Kyrgyzstan more than $2 billion in aid and loans. The government later reversed its stance and agreed to a revised one-year deal giving U.S. troops rights to use the air base and raising the rent to $60 million a year from $17 million.

The U.S. is also paying $37 million for airport improvements, another $30 million for new navigation systems, and giving the government $51.5 million to combat drug trafficking and terrorism and promote economic development.

ASEAN ministers sign dispute-resolution protocol

Hanoi - Foreign ministers of the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Thursday signed a protocol on dispute resolution that could be used in several ongoing regional conflicts.

The ASEAN ministers are attending the organization's annual summit meeting in Hanoi amidst disagreements over handling human rights issues in Myanmar and several territorial disputes.

In a press release, the organization said the protocol on dispute resolution would help transform ASEAN into a "rules-based organization."

The procedures and terms of reference of the protocol have not been finalized.

The dispute mechanism could be invoked in Thailand's border dispute with Cambodia over an area near the temple at Preah Vihear, which led to armed clashes in 2008 and 2009.

It could also help settle maritime territorial disputes between a number of members states in the South China Sea.

The mechanism is, however, likely to be limited to disputes between ASEAN member states, not internal issues.

Host country Vietnam is seeking to convince ASEAN members to settle their internal disagreements over maritime territory in the South China Sea so that the group can negotiate as a bloc with China, which claims most of the sea for itself.

China has resisted that approach and insists on bilateral negotiations with each country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317640,asean-ministers-sign-dispute-resolution-protocol.html.

China sentences to death doctor convicted of killing eight children

Beijing - A court in south-eastern China's Fujian province on Thursday sentenced to death a former doctor convicted of killing eight primary-school children in a trial held 16 days after the murders.

Zheng Minsheng, 41, admitted intentionally killing the eight children and injuring five others on March 23 at the gate of the Nanping Experimental Primary School in Fujian's Nanping city, state media quoted a court statement as saying.

The Intermediate People's Court in Nanping convicted Zheng after a four-hour hearing, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The former community doctor told police the frenzied knife attack was motivated by his perceived failures in his career, family and relationships.

"I'm willing to shoulder responsibility for what I have done," the agency quoted him as telling the court.

Zheng said he had been "turned down by a girl and suffered unfair treatment from the girl's wealthy family," which prompted him to carry out the attack.

Prosecutors also said unmarried Zheng's failure in relations with women, his family and in his career had made his life "meaningless" to him.

He had no history of mental illness, the agency quoted police as saying.

The government's desire to appease public anger over serious crime could be behind the unusually rapid organization of Zheng's trial and sentencing.

Most cases take months to go to trial, but some high-profile cases involving murder and other violent crime are apparently fast-tracked by prosecutors and courts, which operate under the broad supervision of local Communist Party officials.

More than 50 reporters from "dozens of media organizations" attended Thursday's trial, Xinhua said.

In contrast, most trials are closed to Chinese and foreign media or only open to a handful of local reporters from state media.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317644,china-sentences-to-death-doctor-convicted-of-killing-eight-children.html.

Putin offers help to new Kyrgyzstan government

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has offered support to the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan after the violent overthrow of its authoritarian leader, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

Putin promised the former Soviet republic "humanitarian support" so it can overcome its crisis during a telephone call with former foreign minister Rosa Otunbayeva, who is heading a transitional government in the wake of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's overthrow.

Putin also called on the new leader not to tolerate any more violence, Interfax quoted government spokesman Dmitri Peskov as saying. Otunbayeva reportedly assured Putin that the power transition was complete.

Putin has vigorously denied accusations by Bakiyev's government that Russia was involved in the uprising.

Bakiyev has reportedly conceded defeat and resigned, authorities in his hometown have told media outlets.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317646,putin-offers-help-to-new-kyrgyzstan-government.html.

Russian councilor petitions for town to join Estonia

Tallinn - A Russian councilor in the border town of Ivangorod is collecting signatures in support of the community becoming part of Estonia, the Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported Thursday.

Yuri Gordeyev, 66, said he has collected 650 signatures calling for a referendum on the matter, as part of a protest against budget cuts by Russian authorities.

Copies of his petition have reportedly been sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Rather than being a serious attempt to secede from Russia, the petition is intended to draw attention to funding differences in Ivangorod and Narva on the easternmost edge of the European Union, Gordeyev said.

"I understand very well that this will never happen as no one would allow us to do such a thing," Gordeyev said.

Ivangorod is separated from the Estonian town of Narva by a bridge across the River Narva and was part of Estonia until the Baltic state was occupied by Soviet forces in 1940.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317652,russian-councillor-petitions-for-town-to-join-estonia.html.

Indian state shuts down to protest massacre of police

New Delhi - India's central state of Chhattisgarh observed a shutdown Thursday to protest the massacre of 76 police officers by Maoists in the worst attack by the rebels to date.

Roads were deserted, schools closed, and shops and businesses were shut across the state capital, Raipur, and key cities such as Bilaspur, Durg, Korba, Raigarh and Bhilai, the IANS news agency reported.

The shutdown was called by the state's opposition Indian National Congress party.

According to reports coming in from the state's Maoist stronghold in Bastar in southern Chhattisgarh, the shutdown also disrupted life in five districts in that region. Shopkeepers closed their shutters while traffic and businesses were affected in these areas.

Chhattisgarh Congress chief Dhanendra Sahu said the strike was called to protest the "flawed policies" of the state's ruling Bhartiya Janata Party that had resulted in the deaths of the policemen.

About a dozen industrial bodies, including the Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, supported the shutdown to express their solidarity with the dead security personnel.

The rebels ambushed and killed 76 policemen, 75 of them belonging to a federal paramilitary force, in the forests of Bastar's Dantewada district Tuesday.

The attack sparked outrage across India with opposition parties demanding a strong government response.

"We will launch a full probe into what went wrong, look into the lapses," federal Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said Thursday.

More than 1,300 people have been killed since January 2009 in violence linked to the Maoist insurgency, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called the gravest internal security threat facing India.

The Maoists claim they are fighting for the rights of tribal people, the poor and the landless and operate in some of the country's poorest regions that have benefited little from India's recent economic gains.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317654,indian-state-shuts-down-to-protest-massacre-of-police.html.

UN to send special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, says Ban

Vienna - The United Nations is to send a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday, while expressing deep concern over the situation in the Central Asian country.

His announcement in Vienna came a day after the Kyrgyz opposition said it had taken control of the country, and some 100 people were reported dead in clashes between demonstrators and security officers.

Former Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis would travel to the former Soviet republic on Friday as a UN envoy, Ban told reporters after a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger.

Kubis is a Central Asia specialist who currently heads the UN Economic Commission for Europe.

"I am deeply concerned and alarmed by all this violence in which tens of people have been killed and several 100 people were wounded", the UN chief said.

Ban visited Kyrgyzstan last Friday and Saturday and talked to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital Bishkek.

The UN leader told the president, who has since fled Bishkek, about the need to protect human rights, freedom of speech and media freedom.

"The pressure has been building for months, I believe," Ban said. "I could feel the tension in the air, and I could see some scattered demonstrations and shouting during my stay in the city."

Ban was in Vienna for a regular meeting with the heads and senior officials of all UN organizations on Thursday and Friday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317655,un-to-send-special-envoy-to-kyrgyzstan-says-ban.html.

Iran: US, Israel heighten terrorism across world

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar insists blames the United States and the Israeli regime for heightening the level of terrorist activities in the world.

"The US and the Zionist regime of Israel promote terrorism in the world and killing people in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq are clear examples of such a pattern," Fars News Agency quoted Mohammad-Najjar as saying on Thursday.

"The Islamic Republic has revealed the lies of arrogant powers, especially the US, in various junctures," he added.

"Iran has taken off the ugly masks of the United States and Israel since the 1979 Islamic revolution," he further explained.

"We are very proud of this," the Iranian minister concluded.

Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the US must explain what its troops are doing in Afghanistan, as fighting terrorism is not possible through a military surge, adding that terrorism can only be fought with intelligence cooperation.

Ahmadinejad made the remark in a joint press conference with his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Kabul on March 10.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122775§ionid=351020101.

Israel launches ground incursion into Gaza Strip

Israel has launched a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip with its troops entering the south of the long-blockaded coastal sliver.

Israeli tanks and bulldozers advanced about 500 meters into the east of the southern city of Khan Yunis on Wednesday, Press TV correspondent in Gaza reported.

Late in March, Israeli forces crossed into the southern Qarara region and then invaded Dair al-Balah in central Gaza.

This was days after Israeli armored vehicles crossed into an area near the southern town of Khan Yunis, leaving one Palestinian dead and several others wounded.

Israeli forces have carried out numerous incursions into Gaza since Tel Aviv's 22-day war on the strip at the turn of 2009.

The so-called Operation Cast Lead devastated much of the infrastructure in the impoverished Palestinian enclave, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122768§ionid=351020202.

Lebanon's Cabinet reviews bilateral pacts with Syria

By Nafez Kawas
Daily Star correspondent

BEIRUT: The Cabinet tackled Wednesday the Lebanese-Syrian bilateral agreements ahead of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s expected visit to Damascus next week when the premier would be accompanied by a ministerial delegation that would re-evaluate the accords with its Syrian counterparts.

However, the government which convened at Baabda Palace failed to conclude discussions over a procedure to fill the vacant state administrative positions as ministers only agreed to appoint full timers rather than contractors.

The proposal submitted to the government by a ministerial committee headed by Hariri preserved, in accordance with the Constitution, the ministers’ right to propose candidates and the government’s right to approve them based on requisite qualifications.

The government is scheduled to convene again next Monday to continue its evaluation of the procedure as Hariri is scheduled to leave to Spain on a two-day official visit.

Prior to the Cabinet meeting, President Michel Sleiman held closed-door talks with Hariri.

Following the Interior Ministry’s announcement of April 4, 2010, as a deadline for submitting candidacies in the upcoming municipal polls for the Mount Lebanon district to take place on May 2, Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated that the electoral process would take place on time.

The president’s and the speaker’s stances also followed the announcement over the past few days of the Amal Movement-Hizbullah and Progressive Socialist Party-Lebanese Democratic Party alliances in the upcoming elections, enforcing belief that the polls would take place on time and based on the current law.

Earlier Wednesday, Sleiman highlighted the importance of adopting reforms in the upcoming municipal elections but stressed that it was more more important to hold the electoral process within the legal deadline.

“If we can hold the elections coupled with reforms, this will be good; and if we cannot, the reforms will not escape and will be implemented in the next elections,” he said.

“Reforms are important but more importantly is to hold the elections which will be the top reformist and democratic step that follows,” Sleiman added.

Last month, the Cabinet approved the amended electoral law after a long round of discussions before transferring it to parliamentary committees for evaluation.

The reforms include proportional representation in all districts, a 20-percent female quota and pre-printed ballots.

However, parliamentary committees have failed to conclude discussions over the draft law, delaying its submission to Parliament for ratification, and leaving no time for the implementation of reforms in the upcoming elections.

Similarly, Berri stressed Wednesday that the municipal elections would be held on May 2 while dismissing the possibility of Parliament postponing the elections. “If there is a wish to postpone the elections, and then let the Cabinet assume responsibility for it and send a law proposal to Parliament,” Berri added.

According to the Constitution, Parliament could pass a law amending the deadline of the elections either based on a law proposal submitted by the Cabinet or by no less than 10 MPs.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=113556#axzz0kU6m8sre.

Algeria, Morocco invited to Obama nuclear summit

2010-04-07

Algeria and Morocco are among 47 countries invited to participate in US President Barack Obama's nuclear security summit next Monday (April 12th), local and international press reported. Representatives from the United Nations, IAEA and the European Union will also attend the 2-day event in Washington. President Obama was quoted as saying in a statement that the summit would be an opportunity for participating nations "to commit to specific steps to pursue the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years".

Algeria is expected to be represented by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Tout sur l'Algerie reported.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/04/07/newsbrief-02.

Algerians hail end of US aviation security 'blacklist'

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

The US has dropped an emergency plan that subjected air travelers from 14 countries, including Algeria, to stringent airport security checks.

By Mouna Sadek for Magharebia in Algiers – 07/04/10

Algerian political leaders are voicing support for Washington's decision to halt an emergency aviation security plan that tightened security checks on US-bound citizens of 14 countries.

The list earned the US scathing criticism when it was announced after the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane by a Nigerian extremist last Christmas. Washington promised to re-examine the list after strong objections from Algiers.

Following the decision to axe the list, a spokesperson of the Workers Party, Ramdane Taazibt, told local press that the US had atoned for an error by adopting new security measures.

"We can only rejoice at this decision, which rectifies an injustice that had been done to both this country and others," said Taazibt, whose party had been among the list's critics.

The US embassy's information officer, John Brown, said he was happy that "a solution acceptable to Algerians and Americans has been found".

The new measures "will be applied to all passengers from all countries, in the same way," Brown said at an April 3rd press conference at the embassy in Algiers, adding that the decision to drop the list resulted from consultations with overseas partners including Algeria.

An official of the National Liberation Front welcomed the US changes. FLN official Said Bouhadja told reporters that the new security arrangements at American airports were "acceptable".

"Applying checks to all travelers purely on security grounds is acceptable," he added. "It's a measure that in no way violates human rights and which is a departure from the segregation to which certain countries were subjected."

US officials who unveiled the changes last week said that from now on, pieces of specific intelligence on terrorist threats would be matched to passenger lists. Travelers whose personal data raise concerns will face "secondary screening" such as body scans.

Support for the US move also came from the Movement for a Society of Peace (MSP).

"We condemned the initial decision to perform checks using body scanners on travelers from countries on the blacklist because we felt this was discriminatory, racist, humiliating and reflected a terrible xenophobia with no clear basis," said MSP spokesperson Mohammed Djamaa.

Algerian newspapers questioned the manner in which the list was initially drawn up. French-language newspaper Le temps d’Algérie editorialized, "There is no doubt that the US Secretary of State and her team of experts from the CIA, FBI and the Pentagon acted hastily, without making a sufficient assessment of the impact that such a measure might have on relations between Washington and the countries discriminated against."

Despite the frictions over the list, US ties with Algeria have warmed in recent years, amidst tighter security co-ordination and increased interest in bilateral trade and investment.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/07/feature-02.

Hariri wants stronger ties with Syria

The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is “much more explosive” than the Iranian nuclear crisis, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said in an interview published yesterday.

The Middle East conflict “is much more explosive, brimming over with ‘uranium and extremism’, than any other regional issue,” he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, without elaborating.

Hariri, who is expected for a two-day visit in Madrid today, said Lebanon was in favor of a “Middle East without nuclear weapons” which he said “includes Israel” and not only Iran. As Hariri prepares to make his second visit to Syria since taking office in November, he also said closer ties with Damascus were key to counter an “Israeli threat”.

“Stronger ties with Syria mean there is a firmer position toward Israel,” Hariri said.

He also accused the media of under-reporting Israeli “atrocities” toward the Palestinians. While pedophile priests in the Roman Catholic Church were given “extensive media coverage” amid “attacks against the Vatican”, “atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians” go practically unreported, said Hariri, who is a Muslim. For Israel “war is always an option”, he added.

Source: Gulf Times.
Link: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=353846&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17.

Bulgaria Picks Syria-Born Kurd from Guantanamo - Report

Bulgarian security officials have already picked a prisoner, a 38-year-old ethnic Kurd born in Syria, from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, local media reported, citing an unnamed diplomatic source.

Masum Abda Mohamed is due to arrive in two weeks' time, but his future address will be kept secret, 24 Hours daily reported.

According to the report Masum was detained in January 2002 on the Pakistani border along with three more Arabs. He did not carry any identification documents at the time of the arrest.

Masum spent nearly eight years at the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay on charges of being part of the Osama bin Laden group, fighting in the Tora Bora mountains. The accusation goes on to say that his name featured on a list of people, who had received training in shooting with a sniper and planting explosives.

Masum however argues that throughout his life he has shot no more than seven bullets during his training for a policeman in Syria and has been mistaken for a man, nicknamed Bilal. He claims to have gone to Afghanistan, searching for a wife, as the price there is ten times lower than in Syria, the report says.

Bulgaria decided at the end of last year to accept one detainee from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, responding positively to Washington request to house prisoners and as a strong gesture of cooperation between Europe and the US.

The Guantanamo prisoner will enjoy a humanitarian status in Bulgaria, which means he will not be put behind bars, but will be treated as a refugee.

Bulgarian officials however have cautioned that Bulgaria's participation would be small, and people who might pose a threat to national security would be not accepted.

The transfer of prisoners is part of a drive by US President Barack Obama to close the widely criticized jail set up by his predecessor, George Bush, to house suspected militants captured abroad.

Obama had promised to shut down the facility within a year of taking office but, because of diplomatic and political obstacles, there are still more than 200 inmates who need to be relocated.

Source: Sofia News Agency.
Link: http://www.novinite.com/newsletter/print.php?id=114963.

Archaeologists uncover site untouched for 6,000 years

The period saw the first emergence of social inequality

The potential for findings makes the project a big one

The mound of Tell Zeidan in the Euphrates River Valley near Raqqa, Syria, which had not been built upon or excavated for 6,000 years, is revealing a society rich in trade, copper metallurgy and pottery production.

Artifacts recently found there are providing more support for the view that Tell Zeidan was among the first societies in the Middle East to develop social classes according to power and wealth.

A team of archaeologists from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, along with a team of Syrian colleagues, is uncovering new clues about the prehistoric society that formed the foundation of urban life in the Middle East prior to invention of the wheel, one the greatest achievements.

Trade in obsidian

Thus far, archaeologists have unearthed evidence of this society's trade in obsidian and production and development of copper processing, as well as the existence of a social elite that used stone seals to mark ownership of goods and culturally significant items.

Tell Zeidan dates from between 6000 and 4000 B.C., and immediately preceded the world's first urban civilizations in the ancient Middle East. It is one of the largest sites of the Ubaid culture in northern Mesopotamia.

“The project addresses questions not only of how such societies emerged but how they were sustained and flourished,” said John Yellen, program director for archaeology in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences directorate. NSF supports the University of Chicago's research.

Covering about 31 acres, Tell Zeidan was situated where the Balikh River joins the Euphrates River in modern-day Syria. The location was at the crossroads of major, ancient trade routes in Mesopotamia that followed the course of the Euphrates River valley. The Ubaid period lasted from about 5300 to 4000 B.C.

Enigmatic period

“This enigmatic period saw the first development of widespread irrigation, agriculture, centralized temples, powerful political leaders and the first emergence of social inequality as communities became divided into wealthy elites and poorer commoners,” said Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute and a leader of the expedition.

“The research also is important because it provides insight into how complex societies, based on linkages which extended across hundreds of miles, developed,” said Yellen, noting the distance traveled for raw materials needed for many of the Tell Zeidan artifacts.

Distance travelled

For example, copper ore was carried by workers from sources near modern-day Diyarbakir, Turkey, about 185 to 250 miles away, then smelted at Tell Zeidan to produce metal tools and other implements, according to a University of Chicago press release.

One of the most remarkable finds was a stone stamp seal depicting a deer, Stein said.

The seal was about two inches by two-and-a-half inches and was carved from a red stone not native to the area.

A similar seal design was found 185 miles to the east near Mosul in northern Iraq.

Stein said the location's potential for further discoveries is so great the project is likely to last for decades.

Source: The Hindu.
Link: http://www.thehindu.com/seta/2010/04/08/stories/2010040850011200.htm.

Families of Iraqi victims demand justice

The families of Iraqi civilians who has been shown in a leaked video being shot and killed by a US military helicopter in 2007, have demanded justice.

The shocking footage that released by WikiLeaks website earlier this week, shows US military helicopters shooting a group of Iraqis, killing 12 civilians, including two employees of the Reuters news agency, on a Baghdad square in 2007.

The Pentagon confirmed the authenticity of the video, but said that two investigations into the incident cleared the aircrew of any wrongdoing.

The victims' families, however, want the US military personnel responsible for the killings to be taken to court.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122751§ionid=351020201.

Kyrgyz opposition leader to run gov't for 6 months

Kyrgyzstan's opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva says she will head an interim government for six months, as the government has been reportedly ousted in a violent revolt.

Opposition protesters seized the presidential administration Wednesday night and announced on state radio that they had formed an interim government with former foreign minister Otunbayeva as its head.

This comes as Kyrgyz Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov has signed a letter of resignation after a day of spectacular violence in the country.

Meanwhile, Otunbayeva vowed that the new leadership in the country would move quickly to normalize the situation, AFP reported.

Otunbayeva has also called on President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has reportedly fled Bishkek — the capital of the strategic Central Asian state — to step down.

The Kyrgyz opposition leader says she does not know about the whereabouts of Bakiyev.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122750&sectionid=351020406.

Russia: S-300 contract with Iran being implemented

As the delivery of an advanced air defense system to Iran has long been overdue by Russia, a senior Russian defense official says talks are being held for the eventual transfer of the S-300 surface-to-air missile to Iran.

"Contracts have been signed, and they are being implemented - they have not been torn up," head of the Federal Agency for Military Cooperation Mikhail Dmitriyev said Wednesday.

He, however, said that Russia has not yet decided on the date for the delivery of the systems.

Russia signed a contract with Iran on the supply of at least five S-300 air defense systems to Tehran in December 2005. However, Moscow has not so far honored the contract possibly under pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv RIA Novosti reported.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Tuesday voiced Tehran's disappointment over repeated delays in the delivery of the Russian missile system to Iran.

"We expect Russian officials not to be swayed by political pressure from other countries," Ramin Mehman-Parast said.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft within a range of over 150 km (100 miles), features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets in airstrikes.

The system, according to Western experts, would rule out the possibility of an Israeli airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122744§ionid=351020104.

US military base in Kyrgyzstan 'closed' amid riots

US military flights from a base north of the Kyrgyz capital have been suspended after authorities closed the airport amid anti-government riots.

The air field in Manas, which serves both US military aircraft and commercial flights, was "shut down" at about 8:00 pm local time in Kyrgyzstan (1400 GMT), a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.

The US depends on the Kyrgyz base to ferry troops, fuel and weapons for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

Opponents of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev reportedly took control of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday after a day of spectacular violence that ended with Bakiyev fleeing the capital city of Bishkek.

The US State Department says Washington still regards the government of President Bakiyev to be in power.

"We continue to think the government remains in power," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said, adding the US has no additional information to confirm reports that the opposition had seized control.

About 35,000 US soldiers move in and out of Afghanistan through the US base in Manas every month and 30 percent of refueling operations over Afghanistan originate there, Times Online reported.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122745§ionid=351020406.

Putin rejects blame on Moscow for Kyrgyzs unrest

Moscow - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday rejected claims that Russia bore responsibility for the rise in unrest in Kyrgyzstan.

"Neither Russia nor Russian officials are in any way connected to these events," Putin said, according to remarks carried by Interfax.

But Putin also went on to criticize Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, saying that he had made the "same missteps" as his predecessor Askar Akayev.

His comment came after Kyrgyzstan alleged that influential state Russian media were responsible for the escalation of the violence in the anti-government demonstrations. Russian media had in unusually sharp tones criticized authoritarian style of Bakiyev.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317555,putin-rejects-blame-on-moscow-for-kyrgyzs-unrest.html.

Taliban release video of captured US soldier

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON – The Taliban released a video Wednesday of a man identified as an American soldier captured in Afghanistan last June, showing him pleading for his freedom and to be returned home.

In the video, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl says he wants to return to his family in Idaho and that the war in Afghanistan is not worth the number of lives that have been lost or wasted in prison. It is the first he has been seen since the Taliban released a video of him on Christmas.

The seven-minute video of Bergdahl shows him sporting a beard and doing a few push-ups to demonstrate he's in good physical condition. There was no way to verify when the footage was taken or if he is still alive.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an Army spokesman, said he could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the video.

"Our thoughts, prayers, and support remain with the Bergdahl family during this difficult time," Garver said.

Bergdahl disappeared June 30 while based in eastern Afghanistan and is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The Taliban claimed his capture in a video released in mid-July that showed the young soldier appearing downcast and frightened.

In the sometimes choppy video issued Wednesday, Bergdahl talks about his love for his family, his friends, motorcycles and sailing.

"I'm a prisoner. I want to go home," he says in the video, which was made available by Washington-based Site Intelligence Group, which monitors militant Web sites. "This war isn't worth the waste of human life that has cost both Afghanistan and the U.S. It's not worth the amount of lives that have been wasted in prisons, Guantanamo Bay, Bagram, all those places where we are keeping prisoners."

At times speaking haltingly, as if holding back emotions, Bergdahl — clad in what appeared to be an Army shirt and fatigues — clasped his hands together and pleaded: "The pain in my heart to see my family again doesn't get any smaller. Release me. Please, I'm begging you, bring me home."

He added that he is strong and is "given the freedom to exercise" and to be a human being, even though he is a prisoner.

Lt. Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard said Wednesday that Bergdahl's family was not aware of the new video. But he said the community of Hailey has reminders all over town of Bergdahl's capture, including signs wishing for his safe return and yellow ribbons.

"The community has definitely not forgotten Bowe Bergdahl, and the family continues to appreciate the support," said Marsano. "It's been a difficult nine months. With the support of family, friends and community members, they are doing as well as anyone could expect in this kind of situation."

U.S. officials have said that there were indications as recently as late January that Bergdahl was still alive.

At the end of the video, a speaker, reportedly Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, demands the release of a limited number of prisoners in exchange for the American.

Military officials had notice prior to the first video of Bergdahl released by the Taliban last summer, giving them time to alert his family before its public release. It was unclear Wednesday whether military officials knew this new video was coming.

Bergdahl, who was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, was 23 when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan. He was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

Shabbir Shah rearrested, taken to unknown place

Employees’ strike in IHK enters into fifth day

Srinagar, April 7 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the authorities rearrested senior leader of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Shabbir Ahmad Shah immediately after his release from Kathua jail, today.

Shabbir Shah was released under court orders and as soon as he came out of the jail in Kathua, he was whisked away in a police vehicle and was taken to some unknown destination.

Dozens of people who were waiting for him in the jail premises expressed concern about the safety of the detained leader.

Shabbir Ahmad Shah was arrested in the month of February, this year, and was booked under draconian law, Public Safety Act.

The APHC in a meeting in Srinagar, today, urged India to resume composite dialogue with Pakistan to ensure peace and security in South Asia. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.

Massive anti-India protest demonstrations were held against the killing of a 70-year-old civilian by Indian troops in Langate area of Handwara. Full-throated slogans against India and in favor of liberation were raised on the occasion.

The strike of the Kashmiri employees entered into fifth day, today and work in government offices, banks, hospitals, schools and colleges remained suspended. The strike is being observed against the anti-people policies of the puppet regime.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/shabbir-shah-rearrested-taken-unknown-place.

Mirwaiz, Gilani support employees' strike

Srinagar, April 07 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, while supporting the strike of employees, have said that discrimination with employees in salary and other facilities.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar said that the government employees were struggling for their rights and their demands were genuine, however, he also appealed the employees to also take care of the suppressed Kashmiri nation.

Senior Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, while supporting the strike, said that the employees were also part of the Kashmiri people, adding that they were justified to struggle for their genuine rights.

Reacting to the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) implement by the occupation authorities, he termed the Act as unjust and cruelty with the poor employees, adding the occupation authorities instead of withdrawing the black laws, implementing more strict laws in the occupied territory.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/mirwaiz-gilani-support-employees%E2%80%99-strike.

Concern expressed over detainees' plight in IHK jails

Srinagar, April 07 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-i-Wahdat Islami has express serous concern over the deteriorating health of illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders languishing in different jails.

The General Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Tehreek-i-Wahdat Islami, Nisar Hussain Rathar in a statement issued in Srinagar said that illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders including Ghulam Nabi Sumji and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai had been suffering from different diseases due to non-provision of hygienic food and lack of medical facilities in jails.

He condemned the occupation authorities for not releasing the illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders despite the clear-cut orders of the court and demanded their immediate release.

On the other hand, the spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir National Front, while strongly condemning the illegal detention of party chief Nayeem Ahmad Khan, said that the occupation authorities couldn’t suppress the ongoing liberation movement through use of brute force.

He said that the morale of Nayeem Ahmad Khan and other Hurriyet leaders and activists was high despite it that they were being tortured in jails, adding that the detainees would not compromise on their rights.

He also appealed the international human rights organizations to send a team of observers to the occupied territory for observing plight of illegally detained Kashmiri Hurriyet leaders in jails and interrogations centers and also monitor massive human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/concern-expressed-over-detainees%E2%80%99-plight-ihk-jails.

'Nothing acceptable short of freedom'

Srinagar, April 07 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, pro-liberation parties and leaders have said that Kashmiris will not accept anything short of self-determination rejecting the statement of the Indian Home Secretary G K Pillai regarding self-rule.

The Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC), talking to the newsmen in Srinagar, said that the Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to the aspirations of the Kashmiri people through tripartite dialogue process including Pakistan India and real leadership of Kashmiris.

He said that the people did not want autonomy or self-rule as they wanted right to self-determination. “India should take concrete steps to resolve the Kashmir dispute by accepting the ground realities,” he maintained.

Urging India to release pro-liberation leaders and activists and revoke all the draconian laws in the occupied territory, he said that Indian troops were committing gross human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani in a statement rejected Pillai’s offers and called it ridiculous. “Pillai’s statement is the reiteration of India’s intransigent stance over Kashmir,” he added.

Recalling the promises made by the former Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru to give Kashmiris their right to self-determination, he said that freedom from Indian occupation was the ultimate solution of the Kashmir dispute. “The people of Kashmir has offered numerous sacrifices over the last six decades not for autonomy or self rule but for complete liberation,” he said.

The Senior Vice Chairman of JKLF-R, Javaid Ahmad Mir, addressing the party activists in Srinagar, expressed concern over the plight of Kashmiri detainees, languishing in different jails in and outside the territory. The spokesmen of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Freedom League in a statement issued in Srinagar said that Kashmir dispute should be resolved according to the resolutions of the United Nations.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/%E2%80%98nothing-acceptable-short-freedom%E2%80%99.

Indian army convoy crushes civilian to death in IHK

Srinagar, April 7 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, massive anti-India protest demonstrations were held against the killing of a 70-year-old civilian by an Indian army vehicle in Handwara.

A 70-year-old Ghulam Rasool Khan was crushed to death by an Army vehicle near Ganapora in Langate area. The aged man was crossing the road when a speedy vehicle, part of the Indian Army’s Kupwara, deliberately hit him causing his death on spot and the patrolling parties of Rashtriya Rifles and Border Security Force ran away from the incident site.

Thousands of people from the area and its adjoining villages took to streets raising pro-freedom and anti-India slogans and staged demonstrations. Demanding punishment and registration of FIR against the troopers, the protesters blocked the road, disrupting vehicular movement on Baramulla-Handwara highway.

A personnel of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Dharminder made abortive bid on his life by consuming substance at CRPF Channi Himmat camp in Jammu.

Source: Kashmir Media Service.
Link: http://www.kmsnews.org/news/indian-army-convoy-crushes-civilian-death-ihk.