Tariq Aziz likely to escape execution

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has refused to ratify an execution order for Tariq Aziz, former deputy prime minister under the rule of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Iraq's high tribunal sentenced Aziz, who also served as foreign minister and a close adviser to Saddam, to death last month for deliberate murder and crimes against humanity.

Speaking to France 24 television on Wednesday, Talabani said that "No, I will not sign this kind of order because I am a socialist."

He went further to explain that "I feel for Tariq Aziz, because he's an Iraqi Christian, and he's also an elderly person, over 70 years old. That's why I will never sign this execution order."

Talabani had previously expressed his opposition to the death penalty, saying that it was time to turn the page on Iraq's history of execution.

"I think that the page of executions needs to be turned, except concerning the crimes committed at the cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and crimes against Shia pilgrims and holy sites," the Iraqi president said.

According to the Iraqi constitution, the execution orders must be signed by the president before they can be carried out. Talabani's refusal to sign the death warrant would therefore allow Aziz to escape execution.

Aziz, 74, was condemned to death on October 26 for his role in a deadly crackdown on members of Iraq's Shia community in the 1980s. He is also on trial for his role in the displacement of the Kurdish minority in northern Iraq.

The former Iraqi official, who is reported to be seriously ill, has been in prison since surrendering to US forces in April 2003, days after the fall of Baghdad in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151410.html.

Iran registered on UNESCO list again

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Five of Iran's diverse cultural practices have been registered on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

According to IRNA, the regional music of Khorasan, the Zurkhaneh and Sport of Heroes rituals, the Persian Passion Play, and traditional carpet weaving skills in Fars and Kashan were listed during the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Iran's Northern Khorasan Province is known for its regional music mainly played on the Dotar, a two-stringed, long-necked lute. They recount Islamic and Gnostic poems and epics in Turkish, Kurdish, Turkmen and Persian.

The Persian Passion Play or Ta'zieh is a ritual dramatic art that recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales through poetry, music, song and motion.

Persian carpets are the best of their kind throughout the world and carpet weavers in Iran's Fars Province and the city of Kashan are among the most prominent producers of the stunning handicraft.

The wool for the carpets is usually shorn by local men in spring or autumn and women are mostly in charge of the weaving.

Zurkhaneh (house of strength) is an ancient Persian gymnasium where the Sport of Heroes, which combines pre-Islamic Persian culture with the spirituality of Sufism, is practiced.

The place is a unique sports club, where a man's physical improvement is considered vital for spiritual enlightenment.

The rituals of the Sport of Heroes date back to the Parthian era and symbolize Persian ideals about spiritual growth, masculinity, religious devotion and physical prowess.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding list is composed of intangible heritage elements that concern communities and require urgent measures to keep them alive.

Inscriptions on the list help mobilize international cooperation and assistance for stakeholders to undertake appropriate safeguarding measures.

Tradition of Persian New Year, (Nowruz) and the Radif of Iranian music, the traditional repertoire of the classical music of Iran, were also inscribed on the list during the previous meeting of the committee in Abu Dhabi.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151399.html.

Iran to help resolve Karabakh issue

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered Tehran's assistance in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, saying the issue should be resolved through dialogue.

"We believe that the Karabakh issue will be resolved through dialogue and the commitment of both sides to justice, and Tehran is ready to negotiate with them within this framework," Ahmadinejad said in a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday.

Ethnic Armenian forces took control over 16 percent of Azerbaijan during a war with the country in the early 1990s.

The conflict left an estimated 30,000 people dead and one million displaced before the two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1994. However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute still remains unsettled.

Ahmadinejad said the Iran and Azerbaijan share the same views regarding all regional and international issues, adding that the "role of the two countries in maintaining the stability of the region is unique," Mehr News Agency reported.

The Iranian president referred to issues concerning the Caspian Sea and said, "We believe that all the littoral states should benefit from this sea fairly and justly."

Pointed to the great political relations between Iran and Azerbaijan, Aliyev called for the expansion of economic relations and said, "We believe we can use existing capacities to increase the volume of trade transactions."

The Iranian chief executive arrived in the Azeri capital of Baku on Wednesday to attend the third meeting of the leaders of Caspian littoral states in order to negotiate the legal regime of the sea and to discuss relations with Azeri officials.

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.

The maritime and seabed boundaries of the Caspian Sea have yet to be demarcated among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan -- the five countries bordering the sea.

Despite extensive negotiations, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been unclear since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Caspian Sea legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the Soviet Union in 1921 and 1940.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- the three new littoral states, established after the collapse of Soviet Russia -- do not recognize the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151390.html.

Israel to end north Ghajar occupation

Wed Nov 17, 2010

The Israeli prime minister's security cabinet has finally agreed to the withdrawal of troops from parts of Ghajar village on the Lebanese border, ending a decades-long occupation.

In a Wednesday vote, Benyamin Netanyahu's security cabinet passed the northern Ghajar pullout, saying that control of the northern part of the village will be handed over to a UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The plan divides the village, which lies between southern Lebanon and the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, into two. While the northern part will be governed by UNIFIL, the southern part will remain under Israeli control.

Tel Aviv, however, has not mentioned a date for the withdrawal and the Israeli Foreign Ministry is to coordinate a withdrawal date with UNIFIL.

The village has been at the center of a row involving Israel, Lebanon, Syria and the United Nations for years.

In 2000, when Israel ended its occupation of south Lebanon after 22 years, the UN determined that the northern part of the village was in Lebanon and Israeli troops evacuated the area. Israel re-occupied the northern part of the village during its war against Lebanon's resistance movement of Hezbollah in 2006.

UNIFIL has been pressing Tel Aviv to withdraw from northern Ghajar in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day war.

Ghajar was considered part of Syria until after the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel captured the village and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 in a move which has not been recognized by the international community.

The villagers, who became Israeli citizens in 1981, consider themselves as Syrians.

"The village should go back to Syria as part of diplomatic negotiations with Syria," Ghajar spokesman Najib Khatib told Israel's Army Radio.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151393.html.

Ahmadinejad to meet Medvedev in Baku

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to hold talks with his Russian counterpart on the sidelines of the Caspian Sea summit.

Dmitry Medvedev will meet on Thursday with Ahmadinejad to discuss Iran's nuclear program, Russia's top presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said on Wednesday.

The US and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program, and used their influence in the UN Security Council (UNSC) to impose fourth round of sanctions against the country over its nuclear program in June.

Russia, Iran's longtime trade partner, had traditionally opposed the adoption of the UNSC resolution against Tehran, but joined world powers in approving the sanctions against the country.

Tehran rejects Western accusations of pursuing a military nuclear program, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty the country has the right to peaceful nuclear energy.

Ahmadinejad and Medvedev will meet on the sidelines of a summit of Caspian Sea littoral nations in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Prikhodko as saying.

The Iranian chief executive arrived in the Azeri capital of Baku on Wednesday to attend the third meeting of the leaders of Caspian littoral states in order to negotiate the legal regime of the sea and to discuss relations with Azeri officials.

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea.

The maritime and seabed boundaries of the Caspian Sea have yet to be demarcated among Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan -- the five countries bordering the sea.

Despite extensive negotiations, the legal status of the Caspian Sea has been unclear since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Caspian Sea legal regime is based on two agreements signed between Iran and the Soviet Union in 1921 and 1940.

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan -- the three new littoral states, established after the collapse of Soviet Russia -- do not recognize the prior treaties, triggering a debate on the future status of the sea.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151402.html.

Eid Curbs on Uyghur Muslims

2010-11-17

Police in northwest China step up surveillance on Muslims ahead of an important holy day.

Authorities in China's troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have boosted security as ethnic minority Uyghur Muslims celebrated a key festival of their calendar, Eid al-Adha.

Police in the region's western Kashgar city have already detained six Uyghurs outside a mosque for distributing "illegal religious CDs" to people arriving for Friday prayers last week, an exiled Uyghur group said.

The Eid al-Adha is considered a festival of "sacrifice" among Muslims with celebrations peaking on Wednesday.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said those detained ahead of the festival included a 17-year-old Uyghur girl.

"The government has stepped up its surveillance of mosques," Raxit said. "There are a lot of plainclothes police officers around [the mosques] now."

"The plainclothes police are also going into the mosques, requiring them to comply with government directives on social stability," he added.

A police officer who answered the phone at the Kashgar municipal police department said he was unaware of the detentions in the city.

However, an officer at the Yecheng county police station did not deny the detentions had taken place. "This is an internal matter for the police," the officer said. "I can't answer your questions."

An employee who answered the phone at a hotel in Kashgar said there would be traffic restrictions around the city's main mosque during early prayers.

"Our mosques will be very busy on the day," she said. "There will probably be 500 or 600 people at prayer, perhaps even 1,000. It's like that every year."

She said tourists would be barred from entering the mosques during the festival prayers.

"When Eid is over at the 12th hour, then we will have some activities, like dancing," she added.

Streets 'tense'

Police were carrying out round-the-clock patrols on the streets of Urumqi, the regional capital which was rocked by deadly ethnic violence in July 2009, leaving nearly 200 dead, according to official reports.

An Urumqi resident surnamed Wu said there were armed security patrols all over the city.

"Things are pretty tense on the streets," Wu said. "The special forces are armed to the teeth, and patrolling in groups of three."

"The volunteer security guards, who aren't so combat-ready, are also patrolling in bigger groups of seven, eight, nine, 10," he added.

A non-Uyghur Hui Muslim who answered the phone at a mosque in the city's Tianshan district said that the mosques were expecting several hundred worshipers to attend prayers for Eid al-Adha, at which sheep and goats are sacrificed to recall the sparing of Abraham’s son Ismail.

"Recently, there have been a lot of plainclothes police carrying out surveillance outside the mosques," he said.

"There's no problem here now. The July 7 [violence] is over now," he said, adding that the government had "sorted them out."

"It's only the Uyghurs who are under strict controls," he added.

Meanwhile, government agencies at all levels had recently received orders banning any Muslim members of the ruling Communist Party or government officials from attending Eid prayers in the region's mosques, Raxit said.

"I don't think the Chinese government is sincere about improving the situation of Uyghurs," he added.

China is home to around 23 million Muslims, including the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs and the Hui, whose mother tongue is Chinese, and who have Chinese names.

Around 13,000 Chinese Muslims flew to the annual pilgrimage in Mecca last month, boarding chartered flights from Gansu, Beijing, Urumqi, Yinchuan and Kunming, official media reported.

However, since the Urumqi violence of July 2009, Uyghurs and travel industry sources have said that Uyghurs have been effectively barred from foreign travel if they don't already have a passport, as their applications are being uniformly turned down.

Reported by Hai Nan for RFA's Cantonese service, and by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright © 1998-2010 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

Source: Radio Free Asia.
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/eid-11172010082929.html.

Pilot fell asleep, Indian plane crash report says

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

New Delhi - The pilot in command of an Air India Express flight that crashed in southern India in May was sleepy and ignored warnings by his co-pilot, news reports said Wednesday.

Flight 812 from Dubai overshot the tricky table-top runway while attempting to land at Mangalore and crashed into a gorge, killing all but eight of the 166 people on board.

An investigation concluded the crash was caused by pilot error, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. The report has been submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation but not yet been public.

It said Serbia-born pilot Zlatko Glusica was asleep during more than half of the three-hour flight and was "disoriented" when the aircraft began its descent, the Hindustan Times quoted government sources as saying.

An analysis of the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder revealed a long silence, heavy breathing and snoring, the report said.

The voice recorder also picked up warnings by co-pilot HS Ahluwalia that there was not enough runway space. Ahluwalia asked Glusica to abort the landing and go around, the report said.

It said the aircraft touched down when it had already crossed 1,500 meters of the 2,400-meter runway. The pilot reacted late and did not follow several standard operating procedures, the report concluded.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353892,indian-plane-crash-says.html.

Greek ex-ministers face prosecution over land scandal

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Athens - Greece's parliament voted on Wednesday to prosecute three former ministers over a land-swap scandal between the state and a wealthy monastery that cost the government at least 100 million euros (140 million dollars).

Lawmakers agreed that three former minister who served in the previous conservative government should face charges of breach of faith.

The case, known as the Vatopedi scandal, centered on the wealthy 1,000-year-old monastery on Mount Athos received prime, state-owned property in exchange for cheap rural land.

The government lost more than 100 million euros in the land- exchange which served to settle the monastery's land claims.

The recommendation by the governing Socialists for another two former conservative ministers to face the same charges was rejected.

All five former ministers have denied any wrongdoing.

In 2008, two cabinet ministers ended up resigning over the scandal that helped bring down the conservative government last year and shocked the public - where more than 90 per cent of Greeks are Orthodox Christians.

The current government has also launched legal action against the monastery, seeking 10 million euros in damages. An Athens court is expected to discuss the lawsuit in January.

A recent poll showed that the majority of Greeks are willing to accept a series of austerity measures aimed at cutting the country's massive debt and avoid bankruptcy if politicians and businessmen involved in scandals are brought to justice.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353893,face-prosecution-land-scandal.html.

Owner arrested over Delhi building collapse

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

New Delhi - The owner of a building that collapsed in the Indian capital killing 67 people has been arrested, police said.

Amritpal Singh, who fled after the incident on Monday, was taken into custody late Tuesday and a case of culpable homicide registered against him, joint commissioner of police Dharmendra Singh said. He was to appear in court Wednesday.

The five-storey building in Delhi's Laxmi Nagar area was reportedly constructed without the required permits and had foundations sufficient for only three floors.

Civic officials said waterlogging of the foundations may have led to the collapse. The building is located on the floodplain of the Yamuna river.

It was not clear how many people were still trapped among the cement slabs and bricks, fire department officials said.

Rescue workers would have to remove every bit of debris to make sure no one was trapped in the basement, Delhi fire services director RC Sharma said.

Most of the victims were poor migrant workers from the eastern states of Bihar and West Bengal.

At least 80 people were still in hospitals in Delhi.

Three buildings in the area with water seepage in their foundations have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, IANS news agency reported.

The residents have been put up in makeshift camps by the roadside.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353896,arrested-delhi-building-collapse.html.

China sends woman to labor camp over anti-Japanese Tweet

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Beijing - A Chinese woman began a one-year sentence at a labor camp Wednesday after authorities accused her of "disturbing social order" by posting a Twitter message that urged people to attack Japanese property, her fiance said.

Police transferred Cheng Jianping Tuesday night to the Shibalihe Women's Re-Eduation Through Labor Center in the central city of Zhengzhou in Henan province after a local judicial committee passed the sentence, Hua Chunhui said.

Cheng, who used her online name Wang Yi, was arrested after she added her comment to a message from Hua that she reposted on Twitter on October 17.

"Angry youth! Charge!" she wrote next to Hua's message, in which he said the best way to enliven anti-Japanese protests would be to "fly immediately to Shanghai and smash the Japanese pavilion at the World Expo."

"It was kind of satirical," Hua said of Cheng's comment, adding that she was sent to the labor camp "only because she put five characters before my Tweet."

Arresting Cheng solely for exercising her right to free speech was "against the constitution" of China, he said.

Sentences to labor camps are "administrative" and are normally passed by a local judicial committee without any court hearing. They are often used to silence local dissidents, rights activists and religious activists as well as for minor criminals.

Cheng was held under house arrest in Changyuan county in Henan's Xinxiang city until she was transferred to the labor camp.

"The (re-education) committee just decided it; she had no chance to defend herself," Hua said of the sentencing.

Hua said he had asked lawyers to prepare an administrative appeal against Cheng's sentence.

Twitter is blocked by China's "Great Firewall" of government internet controls, but thousands of activists use proxy servers or software to access the website daily.

After several smaller anti-Japanese protests in September, thousands of students joined large protests in Zhengzhou and at least four other Chinese cities over the weekend of October 18-19.

They were held after Japan arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain in September after his boat allegedly collided with Japanese Coast Guard vessels in disputed waters in the East China Sea, sparking a diplomatic dispute.

The ruling Communist Party allowed the heavily policed earlier demonstrations but later warned people not to organize more anti-Japanese protests.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353899,labour-camp-anti-japanese-tweet.html.

Madagascans vote on new constitution

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Antananarivo- Voting was underway on the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar on a new constitution being promoted by embattled leader Andry Rajoelina in the face of stiff opposition from his rivals.

Some 7 million Madagascans out of a population of around 20 million are eligible to vote on the new charter, which the opposition fears will strengthen Rajoelina's hand.

Security was tight, after a protest in the capital Antananarivo last week over the referendum turned violent.

Heavily-armed police and soldiers were keeping watch over polling stations and city squares.

On Tuesday, the French embassy in Madagascar warned foreigners by mobile phone text message not to leave their homes for fear of being caught up in possible skirmishes.

The referendum is part of a process to restore constitutional order to the vast impoverished island, 20 months after Rajoelina, then opposition leader, ousted ex-president Marc Ravalomanana with help from the military.

He has since governed Madagascar as the head of an interim authority, refusing to implement an internationally-brokered power- sharing deal.

One of key changes in the new charter is that presidential candidates need only be 35 instead of 40.

If passed it would mean Rajoelina, 36, whom the international community refuses to recognize as leader, could stand in presidential elections scheduled for May 2011.

The leaders of the island's three main opposition factions, representing Ravalomanana and two other former presidents, have urged the electorate to boycott the vote.

Arrested German reporters do penance on Iranian TV - Feature

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Tehran - Getting caught as a foreign journalist in Iran without proper accreditation is bad enough, but if espionage charges are thrown in, often the only way out is a contrite confession, broadcast live on the Islamic republic's state television channels.

For two reporters of the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag who were detained October 10 after trying to interview the son of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, admitting their alleged crimes live on air might have been the only option to avoid spending more time in Iran's notorious prisons.

After their coverage of last year's presidential polls, which the opposition charged were manipulated, and the weeks of street protests that followed, foreign journalists have been regarded as imperialist stooges by the government in Tehran, who has also accused critical reporters of undermining the Islamic establishment.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani's case tops the list of taboo topics for foreign reporters. "This issue is that hot, that you can only burn yourself," an Iranian journalist said. "This may be even riskier than having opposition contacts."

The Germans, who entered Iran with tourist visas, tried to interview the woman's son and her lawyer in their hometown in the north-western province of East Azerbaijan. The interview had been facilitated by Mina Ahadi, a human rights activist living in Germany who recently started a campaign against Mohammadi-Ashtiani's sentence.

Going into Iran without a journalist visa was risky enough, an Iranian government official said. "But then going to the provinces to conduct an interview on such a taboo topic and on top of that having organized it with the help of such a notorious dissident, that borders on stupidity," the official said.

Initially, the Germans were only accused of not having proper accreditation, a minor accusation that could have been simply solved by expelling them, legal experts said.

However, because of their connection with Ahadi, the head of the provincial justice authority also accused them of espionage and engaging in a smear campaign against Iran.

Those accusations are much worse, a Tehran-based lawyer said. "Because of similar and not even proven accusations, two Americans have been imprisoned here for 16 months, and God knows for how long they are going to be here," he explained, referring to hikers who said they mistakenly wandered over the border from Iraq into Iran.

But the lawyer also cautioned that the allegations by the provincial justice chief should be taken with a grain of salt because he lacked the authority to decide a case with such political implications, which is Tehran's prerogative.

"As the Germans already confessed on state TV, showed remorse and asked for a pardon, a happy end cannot yet be ruled out," he said.

In the most likely scripted interview broadcast Monday, the Bild journalists not only admitted to their wrongdoings but also claimed they had been deceived by Ahadi, who, they said, had used them for her own propaganda purposes.

While such televised confessions are standard fare in the Iranian system and are not generally regarded as credible, several dissidents and alleged spies, especially those holding double citizenship, were released after doing penance on air.

Iran, which does not want to overly annoy one of the negotiators in an upcoming round of nuclear talks in December, downplayed the case.

"The case of the two Germans is in the hands of the judiciary, and they will remain detained until the end of the legal procedures," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353909,iranian-tv-feature.html.

Germany maintains plans to increase retirement age to 67

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Berlin - The German government decided Wednesday to stick to plans to raise the country's retirement age to 67, rejecting opposition arguments that it is difficult for people over 60 years old to gain or hold employment.

The decision came after Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen presented a report showing that twice as many people over the age of 55 are now working as compared to 10 years ago, predicting that the upward trend would continue.

Germany has already legislated a gradual rise in the standard retirement age from 65 to 67 over two decades starting in 2012, but with a legal caveat that job prospects for older workers must improve.

Polls show that most Germans agree something has to be done to avert the bankruptcy of pension funds as life expectancy in Germany grows, but many also agree with the political left that employers tend not to select job applicants over 60 years old.

Chancellor Angela Merkel is potentially vulnerable on the issue. However, Germany has seen none of the rioting that recently racked France when Paris passed a law to gradually raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 by the year 2018.

Von der Leyen's data suggested that the German outlook has improved, with 38 per cent of all people aged 60 to 65 holding down a job. The remainder includes housewives, the long-term unemployed and people who have retired early due to disability.

Germany has a state pension system that uses incoming contributions from the working population to support the retired. Each pensioner can claim support proportional to what they earned in 45 years of work.

In an interview on ZDF television, von der Leyen rejected a proposal by Germany's unions to leave the retirement age at 65 and increase monthly contributions by workers instead. She said this would be unfair for younger Germans.

Annelie Buntenbach of the DGB trade union federation argued that the government should then put its proposal to increase the retirement age on hold "until at least 2020."

She said it is "unachievable" to get most older workers back into the workforce if they lose their jobs.

But Martin Dietz, an analyst at the German Institute for Labor Market and Vocational Research in Nuremberg, told the newspaper Financial Times Deutschland that hirings of older people are on the rise.

He said it is feasible to raise the employment rate of those over 60 years old to 50 per cent in the long term.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353912,increase-retirement-age-67.html.

EU targets energy link-ups in 20-year priority plan

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Brussels - Gas pipelines to the Caspian Sea, energy ties to the Baltic states and electricity links to the North Sea and North Africa are the European Union's priority energy "corridors" for the next 20 years, the bloc's executive said Wednesday.

The EU is committed to making its energy system climate-friendly and breaking down the barriers between national markets to boost competition. But the European Commission says that the lack of networks will make those goals difficult to reach.

The EU's energy targets "can only be achieved if you have the appropriate infrastructure," EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told journalists in Brussels.

The commission identified seven main bottlenecks in energy transport systems "for which urgent development is needed to deliver on EU policy goals of competitiveness, sustainability and security of supply," an accompanying statement said.

For electricity, the "corridors" are the North and Irish seas, to link planned wind-power stations to the EU grid; links across the Pyrenees and Western Mediterranean, to bring wind and solar power to the EU; and connections in Central and Eastern Europe, especially the Baltic states, where national grids are heavily fragmented.

For oil and gas, the corridors run across Turkey to the Caspian Sea; across the Baltic Sea from Scandinavia to Northern Europe; and across Central Europe from Poland to Greece.

The commission is set to name in 2012 the "projects of European interest" within those corridors which would be most likely to benefit from central EU funding.

Oettinger has in the past said that the EU should set aside funds in its budget to sponsor energy tie-ups such as the "Nabucco" gas pipeline to Azerbaijan and Iraq.

A week ago, he said that the total funding needed for energy projects and maintenance in Europe over the next decade would reach 1 trillion euros (1.35 trillion dollars).

Wednesday's briefing estimated the investment needed in energy transmission systems by 2020 at 200 billion euros, of which half would come from the private sector.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353915,link-ups-20-year-priority-plan.html.

25th anniversary of Porsche Exclusive with individual design

Wed, 17 Nov 2010

Stuttgart - The Porsche Exclusive division is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, offering customers with that extra wish an individual package that sets the vehicle apart from the standard models.

Some 100 specialists at the Porsche factory in Stuttgart are assigned to the Exclusive division, mainly adding in handwork to the Porsche 911 extras to the interior, performance boost or exterior modifications.

In marking the anniversary Porsche is building a limited edition of 356 cars of the new 911 Speedster, true to the tradition of a puristic, open-topped two-seater with low windscreen and double bubble on the convertible-top compartment lid.

With the 911 Speedster Porsche Exclusive comes a new book on the Porsche Exclusive history and a host of activities including a special exhibition at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. Porsche Exclusive can also be experienced live at the vintage vehicle grand prix at the Nuerburgring in August 2011.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353875,china-sales-hitting-million-porsche-exclusive-individual-design.html.

Iran bags 11 medals at Asian Games

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Iranian athletes have won three more medals to take their tally to 11 at the 16th edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Mehdi Sohrabi snatched the bronze medal in the men's "point race" in cycling track on Wednesday with 60 points, Mehr news agency reported.

Vladimir Tuychiev from Uzbekistan took the silver and was followed by the cyclist from Hong Kong Kam Po Wong in the second place.

Also on Wednesday, Elaheh Ahmadi claimed Iran's silver medal of the women's 50-meter rifle three positions.

She took the individual title by shooting 582 points, nudging past Chinese shooter Liuxi Wu by four points. China's Wang Chengyi bagged the gold medal with 584 points, ISNA reported.

In the women's team event, Iranian shooters at the ongoing Asian Games added a bronze in the women's 50-meter rifle three positions on Wednesday. China's squad won the gold medal and South Koreans snatched the silver.

China now leads in the Medal tally with 166, followed by South Korea which has 81.

The 16th Asian Games opened in Guangzhou, China, on November 12. A total of 476 events in 42 sports will be contested by athletes from 45 countries until November 27.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/151378.html.

Scottish Parl. discuss 12% budget cut

Wed Nov 17, 2010

The budget of running the Scottish Parliament is set to be cut by 12 percent in the coming four years, to save £9.5m, according to Holyrood.

Holyrood bosses make savings by a pay freeze for staff and MSPs and cuts to the budgets of the various parliament-funded czars, according to STV.

The budget proposal by the Scottish Parliament for the coming year has been set at £75.3m but the spending plans still needs MSPs final approval.

The parliament said jobs would be cut by March 2013 although it had guaranteed before there would not emerge any compulsory redundancies in return for the pay freeze.

Alex Fergusson, Holyrood presiding officer, said: "It is vitally important the parliament continues to play its part in responding to the financial pressures facing public sector finances."

He continued: "I am able to announce today that the SPCB has offered parliament staff a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies in return for a freeze on salaries until 31 March 2013.

"Pay negotiations have been highly productive and the trade unions are currently balloting their members with a recommendation to accept the offer."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151380.html.

Britain to fuel controversy in Lebanon

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Britain has announced a controversial move to contribute £1 million to the US-sponsored special tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London will provide the funding in 2011 to support the US-backed tribunal claiming it aims to find justice for a political assassination.

"It is important that international justice be done and that we hold those guilty of serious crimes to account," Hague said in a statement.

Hague insisted contributing to the court, which has already received a £18.88 million ($30 million) funding from the US, is “the only way to ensure long term stability” in the Middle Eastern country.

He also called on the international community to continue to provide financial support to the probe.

The new commitment increases London's total contribution to £2.3 million.

This comes as analysts believe backing the tribunal, which was set up in 2007 to investigate political assassinations including that of Hariri in 2005, is aimed at triggering hostilities between political groups in Lebanon.

The contributions to the US-sponsored proceedings also come amid increasing anger and suspicion in Lebanon about the tribunal's work.

Visiting chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry, went as far as claiming on Monday that Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri is powerless to change the course of the investigations.

"Prime Minister Hariri doesn't have the power to change the tribunal," Kerry said. "Lebanon doesn't have the power to change the tribunal”.

The tribunal is supposed to be 51% funded by international donors while getting 49% of its financing from Lebanon's government, but Lebanon's contribution is currently blocked in parliament.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151386.html.

Anti-India protesters rally in Kashmir

Wed Nov 17, 2010

Fresh clashes with security forces have broken out in Indian-controlled Kashmir as pro-independence protesters hit the streets in the disputed Himalayan valley.

Police fired shots in the air and used tear gas on Wednesday to disperse hundreds of anti-India protesters in Srinagar.

Protesters took to the streets of the valley's main city after holding prayers to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (the feast of sacrifice).

Similar anti-India demonstrations erupted in the southern district of Anan-tang, a Press TV correspondent in Srinagar said.

All major towns in Kashmir, which has been the scene of violent clashes on an almost daily basis, have been under a strict curfew over the past five months.

More than 100 Kashmiri protesters have lost their lives at the hands of Indian troops since the current unrest erupted back in June when police killed a teenage protester.

Several regional and international rights groups, including Amnesty International, have called on India to take immediate steps to protect and respect human rights in Kashmir.

Show: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151348.html.

Volcano death toll hits 273 in Indonesia

Wed Nov 17, 2010

The death toll from Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano eruption has risen to 273 as rescue workers recover more bodies from the vicinity in central Java.

Hundreds of people have been displaced after Mount Merapi started its volcanic activities late October.

According to the country's officials, some 400,000 people are still living in temporary shelters.

Witnesses have reported that Merapi continues to shoot ashy, white smoke, causing hot ash rains in a region close to the volcano. Scientists said it could not be determined how long the volcano will continue its activity.

Merapi's eruption killed around 1,300 people in 1930 but experts have declared the current eruptions as the biggest since 1872.

The rising death toll comes as Indonesia is still dealing with the aftermath of a tsunami, which claimed hundreds of lives in 2003.

Much of Indonesia lies in the Pacific ring of fire, a seismically active area known for frequent quakes and volcanic eruptions.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://presstv.ir/detail/151388.html.

Sarkozy to use live TV interview to rally support for new cabinet

Tue, 16 Nov 2010

Paris - President Nicolas Sarkozy was set to canvass support for his reshuffled cabinet Tuesday evening, in a live television interview which will set the direction for his remaining 18 months in office.

In the 90 minute interview to be carried on all major French networks Sarkozy will discuss his cabinet rejig, recent pension reforms and his ambitions for the country's G20 presidency, presidential spokesman Franck Louvrier said.

Sarkozy revamped his team on Sunday in order to prepare the ground for his re-election bid in 2012.

The new line-up allowed the president, whom opinion polls show as deeply unpopular, to rid his team of some ministers whose presence had become problematic and recall some old hands.

Sarkozy is expected to outline his priorities for the remainder of his mandate in the interview.

He has declared he wants to reform taxes, including possibly repealing tax cuts for the wealthy.

He also has yet to tackle a few elements of his justice reform program.

These include reforming controversial rules on police detention, for which France has been slammed by the European Court of Human Rights. Parliament is soon to debate a bill on the issue.

Sarkozy has abandoned one element of the reforms, however: he no longer plans to scrap independent investigative judges.

Elderly care is another area singled out for change.

The government wants the elderly to remain at home longer to save costs.

Analysts have said he is unlikely to do more than launch a debate on the subject at this point, and defer any reforms until after 2012.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353823,rally-support-new-cabinet.html.

Rights group calls for Egypt to investigate alleged torture case

Tue, 16 Nov 2010

Cairo - Amnesty International Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the case of a 19-year-old boy who, according to his family, was found dead in a canal with signs of abuse after police detention.

Egyptian security sources told the German Press Agency dpa that the death was being investigated under normal procedures.

The security sources said that Ahmed Shaaban's family has not yet submitted a claim to the attorney general's office to investigate the case further.

Shaaban's family learnt earlier this month that he was arrested at a police check point on his way back from a wedding in the northern coastal city of Alexandria and taken to Sidi Gaber police station together with his friend, Ahmed Farrag Labib, who is still in police custody without access to family or a lawyer, according to Amnesty International.

Shabban's family said that police initially told them he was not detained at Sidi Gaber, admitting only to detaining Labib in relation to the theft of a mobile phone.

But the family said that, shortly after, they received an anonymous phone call informing them that their son was in detention and being tortured at Sidi Gaber police station in Alexandria, according to Amnesty International.

The local newspaper Daily News Egypt reported that when his family went to the morgue to collect his body days later, they found his head smashed and his shoulders ripped apart after his body had been floating in the canal for nearly two days. The family also said that Shaaban's body had large bruises in the groin area, according to local reports.

Police said they are not investigating the matter as a possible police torture case.

"The police didn't allow us to take a picture of the body because they didn't want another Khaled Said case," Shaaban's aunt, 45-year- old Roqia Aboul Nour, was quoted in Daily News Egypt as saying.

That was a reference to a case involving two police officers who have been charged with beating the 28-year-old Said. Although he died, the officers have not been charged with murder.

Said's case sparked outrage and large demonstrations against what many people argue has been an attempted police cover-up by security forces after pictures of the boy's severely disfigured face appeared on a Facebook group that has over 294,000 members.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/353826,investigate-alleged-torture-case.html.

Tunisian cities to host European Film Days

2010-11-16

Tunisia's 16th European Film Days Festival will be held November 23rd-December 12th in Tunis, Sousse, Kairouan, Mahdia, Sfax, Jendouba, Gabès and Gafsa, TAP reported on Monday (November 15th). Fifty films from 20 European and Maghreb countries will be screened during the event, organized by the EU delegation to Tunisia and embassies of EU member states. The program includes workshops and meetings with filmmakers.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/11/16/newsbrief-08.

German foreign minister visits Morocco

2010-11-16

Germany will donate 3 million euros to Morocco's solar-energy project, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle announced during his visit to Rabat on Monday (November 15th). Westerwelle and his Moroccan counterpart Taieb Fassi Fihri voiced their commitment to enhancing economic co-operation, MAP reported. The ministers also discussed a strategic partnership in energy.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/11/16/newsbrief-07.

Mauritanian inmates receive Eid al-Adha pardon

2010-11-16

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Monday (November 15th) granted amnesty to 135 prison inmates, including 17 Salafists, to mark Eid al-Adha. For Eid al-Fitr last September, the president pardoned 100 prisoners, including 35 men incarcerated on terror-related charges.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/11/16/newsbrief-02.

Eid shopping boom hits Algeria

Despite soaring food prices, pre-Eid shopping madness in Algeria turns even the stingiest consumers into lavish spenders.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 16/11/10

With the feast of sacrifice drawing near, spending is reaching its peak as Algerians celebrate Eid al-Adha with new clothes and stocks of food. Yet, it is always the same story across the country: sheep are expensive this year.

Algerian buyers repeat it so much that they forget that a sharp rise in grocery prices always accompanies festivities. On top of that, there are changes in the weather which affect the availability of agricultural produce and, therefore, prices. A little rain can spark a surge in prices.

"Buy now, it'll be more expensive tomorrow," greengrocer Faouzi warns his loyal customers.

As Eid al-Adha approaches, businesses start to shut down, which also contributes to the spike in prices. Whether in agriculture, commerce or transport, big celebrations are always preceded by the huge exodus of workers whose families live outside major towns.

With entire companies relying on migrant workers, Algiers is particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon. Finding a bakery on feast days is a challenge, especially if the holiday falls near the weekend.

"Everyone knows that the majority of those working in bakeries come from the Jijel or Kabylie regions," explains Amar, an elderly man living in Algiers. "It's natural that they should celebrate Eid with their families."

The people of Algiers, however, have learnt to grin and bear it, coping with the difficulties of shopping and getting around the city in the run-up to feast days.

"I have a small family, so I don't have too much to worry about, but I've already started stocking up. My biggest problem is getting hold of bread. For several days, we'll be eating the flatbreads that my wife will have to make," Redouane explained.

Nora, a public sector worker, has taken a few hours off work to finish buying new clothes for her children. "I sorted out my aoula (stock of food) a few days ago. I don't take any chances there. It's all planned," she said with a smile of someone who has it all sewn up.

Grocery and convenience stores are practically cleared out. There are fewer and fewer products available.

"It all goes so quickly," said Ahmed, who works at a small convenience store in the city center.

"People buy everything: sugar, butter, tinned milk, tinned tomatoes, spaghetti, eggs, yogurt, chocolate, preserves and so on, all in huge quantities, either to stock up or to make their cakes. It's excellent for our business!" he said cheerfully, pointing to the emptying shelves.

For consumers, Eid means huge spending and sacrifice.

"Fortunately, my boss gave us a bonus so that we could buy our sheep, and we're being paid in advance of Eid. Otherwise, I don't know what I'd have done," said Mahmoud.

Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/11/16/feature-01.

Japan confirms space probe brought home asteroid dust

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Nov 16, 2010

A Japanese deep-space probe became the first ever to collect asteroid dust during a seven-year voyage that ended with its return to Earth over the Australian desert this year, Japan said Tuesday.

The news crowns with success the journey of the unmanned Hayabusa probe, which five years ago made a pinpoint landing on an asteroid 300 million kilometers (186 million miles) from Earth -- about twice as far as the sun.

Since the probe's return in June, scientists had carried out a lengthy analysis of the samples it brought back to confirm they were genuinely extraterrestrial after technical problems during the mission.

"It's a world first and a remarkable accomplishment that it brought home material from a celestial body other than the moon," Japan's science and technology minister, Yoshiaki Takagi, told a news conference in Tokyo.

Hayabusa, which means falcon, blasted off in 2003 for its lonely odyssey, which at times appeared doomed. At one stage the probe lost contact with Earth for seven weeks, a glitch that added three years to its space voyage.

It made a pinpoint landing in 2005 on the potato-shaped, revolving asteroid Itokawa, but an attempt to fire a pellet to whirl up dust failed, casting doubt on whether the probe had collected any extraterrestrial material.

Japan cheered when Hayabusa ended its voyage in June, when it burnt up on reentry over the Australian outback -- but not before releasing its heat-proof and sealed pod, which was picked up from the desert sand.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed that the pod did indeed contain minute particles, but it did not know for sure whether these were the valued bits of asteroid they were seeking, or simply contaminants.

On Tuesday, after analysis using electron microscopes, JAXA said it had confirmed that about 1,500 particles are indeed material from a rock and that "almost all of them are extra-terrestrial and come from Itokawa".

Scientists believe asteroids can help reveal secrets about the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

The celestial bodies are believed to retain materials from the solar system's earliest days, unlike scorched remains such as meteorites or materials on Earth which have been transformed through high pressure and heat.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_confirms_space_probe_brought_home_asteroid_dust_999.html.

Astronomers Discover Merging Star Systems That Might Explode

by Staff Writers
Boston MA (SPX) Nov 17, 2010

Sometimes when you're looking for one thing, you find something completely different and unexpected. In the scientific endeavor, such serendipity can lead to new discoveries. Today, researchers who found the first hypervelocity stars escaping the Milky Way announced that their search also turned up a dozen double-star systems. Half of those are merging and might explode as supernovae in the astronomically near future.

All of the newfound binary stars consist of two white dwarfs. A white dwarf is the hot, dead core left over when a sun-like star gently puffs off its outer layers as it dies. A white dwarf is incredibly dense, packing as much as a sun's worth of material into a sphere the size of Earth. A teaspoon of it would weigh more than a ton.

"These are weird systems - objects the size of the Earth orbiting each other at a distance less than the radius of the Sun," said Smithsonian astronomer Warren Brown, lead author of the two papers reporting the find.

The white dwarfs found in this survey are lightweight among white dwarfs, holding only about one-fifth as much mass as the Sun. They are made almost entirely of helium, unlike normal white dwarfs made of carbon and oxygen.

"These white dwarfs have gone through a dramatic weight loss program," said Carlos Allende Prieto, an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias in Spain and a co-author of the study. "These stars are in such close orbits that tidal forces, like those swaying the oceans on Earth, led to huge mass losses."

Remarkably, because they whirl around so close to each other, the white dwarfs stir the space-time continuum, creating expanding ripples known as gravitational waves. Those waves carry away orbital energy, causing the stars to spiral closer together. Half of the systems are expected to merge eventually. The tightest binary, orbiting once every hour, will merge in about 100 million years.

"We have tripled the number of known, merging white-dwarf systems," said Smithsonian astronomer and co-author Mukremin Kilic. "Now, we can begin to understand how these systems form and what they may become in the near future."

When two white dwarfs merge, their combined mass can exceed a tipping point, causing them to detonate and explode as a Type Ia supernova. Brown and his colleagues suggest that the merging binaries they have discovered might be one source of underluminous supernovae - a rare type of supernova explosion 100 times fainter than a normal Type Ia supernova, which ejects only one-fifth as much matter.

"The rate at which our white dwarfs are merging is the same as the rate of underluminous supernovae - about one every 2,000 years," explained Brown. "While we can't know for sure whether our merging white dwarfs will explode as underluminous supernovae, the fact that the rates are the same is highly suggestive."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_Discover_Merging_Star_Systems_That_Might_Explode_999.html.

Power struggle clouds Saudi Kingdom

Tue Nov 16, 2010

The Illness of 86-year-old King Abdullah has fueled speculations over the potential successor to the Saudi Arabia's monarch.

The royal court announced that King Abdullah is suffering from a herniated disc.

"Doctors have advised him to rest as part of his therapy," a brief statement carried by the official SPA news agency said on Friday.

The ailing king has curtailed his activities since June. The illness also forced the monarch to miss his cabinet meeting last week.

Many analysts are speculating a major power struggle for the crown as all potential candidates are people of age.

The king's 76-year-old half-brother and also second deputy minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who chaired last week's cabinet gathering, underwent unspecified medical treatment last year. Nayef has been interior minister for 35 years.

The prince's full brother, 85-year-old Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the first man in line for the succession, also battled cancer in a US hospital last year.

In an interview with Press TV on Tuesday, Director of IGA in Washington Ali al-Ahmed confirmed the situation, saying that the son of interior minister Mohammed bin Nayef is one possible candidate for the role.

"The sons of King Abdullah are playing increasing roles into the power struggle," he noted.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/151295.html.

Suu Kyi seeks to revive political party

Tue Nov 16, 2010

Myanmar's newly-freed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has announced readiness to fight for the revival of her disbanded party.

Her lawyer says Suu Kyi has already filed a lawsuit with the High Court to reverse the dissolution of her National League for Democracy party, which was banned after boycotting the November 7 vote.

Suu Kyi was released on Sunday after seven years under house arrest.

Her house arrest was extended in August 2009 after she sheltered an American in her home.

Several world leaders and international rights groups have hailed the Suu Kyi's release.

Following her release, Suu Kyi told thousands of her supporters that she would work with all democratic forces.

Her party won by a landslide in 1990 but it was never allowed to take power.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner spent most of the past 20 years in detention.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/151251.html.

Tehran showcases ancient books

Tue Nov 16, 2010

Tehran's Malek Museum has mounted an exhibition of selected antique books, displaying a verity of ancient texts.

The exhibition, which coincides with Iran's book week, runs from November 15 to 21, Mehr news agency reported on Monday.

The selected books belong to the museum's collection and cover a range of subjects, including literature, history, geography, and medical science in various languages of Persian, Arabic, English and French.

An old publication of the The Canon of Medicine written by the prominent Iranian scientist, Avicenna, is also among the workd on display.

The book was originally published in Rome in 1593.

Also known as Shaykh al-Ra'is (Master and Head), Avicenna wrote about 450 works, of which only 240 have survived. Some 150 of his books are on philosophy and 40 on medicine including his magnum opus Kitab al-Shifa (The Book of Healing) which is an immense encyclopedic work.

Many literary and scientific figures were influenced by Avicenna, including the renowned poet Omar Khayyam and the celebrated 13th-century scientist Khwaja Nasir al-Din at-Tusi.

He was born in 980 AD in Afshana, near Bukhara in the Khorasan region of Iran.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/151252.html.