Iranian parliament approves Salehi as new foreign minister

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Tehran - The Iranian parliament on Sunday approved Ali-Akbar Salehi as new foreign minister.

As expected, the 61-year-old Salehi was approved by more than 60 per cent of the parliament deputies.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad surprisingly fired then-minister Manouchehr Mottaki last month and appointed Salehi as interim chief of the portfolio.

Salehi will maintain his other positions as vice president of the country and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. He plays key technical and political roles in nuclear policy and in talks with world powers over the nation's program.

No breakthrough was achieved in the talks held earlier this month in Istanbul, but Salehi and Ahmadinejad hope to continue the negotiations.

Analysts do not expect major changes under Salehi on other international issues, as the basic framework of Iran's foreign policy is determined by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad. The Foreign Ministry basically implements the relevant decisions.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364955,salehi-new-foreign-minister.html.

PROFILE: Iran Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Tehran - Technocrat Ali-Akbar Salehi has become Iran's foreign minister after a confirmation vote of parliament Sunday.

Born in 1949 in the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala, Salehi came to Iran at the age of nine and after completing high school, he attended the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Salehi continued his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, where he gained a doctorate in nuclear engineering and learned to speak English fluently. He also speaks Arabic fluently.

Back in Iran, he mainly lectured at the technical university of Tehran before being appointed envoy at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, a post he held from 1997-2005.

After Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in 2005, Salehi was expected by some to become foreign minister, but Manouchehr Mottaki got the job.

Salehi continued his academic career until 2008 when Ahmadinejad appointed him vice president and head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, a position he still holds despite his appointment as foreign minister.

Ideologically, Salehi is not on the same wavelength as the president and does not follow Ahmadinejad's harsh rhetoric. He is widely known as a technocrat and a stickler for detail.

Unlike his predecessor Mottaki, Salehi is not a man of long speeches but is said to get directly to the point in talks with international officials.

With regards to the nuclear dispute, Salehi is considered a better interlocutor by the West as he is one of the architects of the nuclear talks with world powers in recent years.

Unlike Mottaki, he is familiar with the technical as well as the political aspects of the dispute. He is said to favor a resolution through the talks, although he stresses the right to pursue peaceful nuclear technology.

No major changes are expected under Salehi on other international issues, as the basic framework of Iran's foreign policy is determined by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the president, while the foreign ministry basically implements the relevant decisions.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364956,foreign-minister-ali-akbar-salehi.html.

Protesters in Cairo call for sixth day of protests

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Cairo - A strong military presence remained on the streets of some parts of Cairo Sunday morning, as Egyptian protesters called for a sixth day of demonstrations across the country.

Reports on broadcaster al-Jazeera, citing organizers, said larger protests were expected to begin again after noon prayers, to demand the ouster of key political figures, including the minister of interior and President Hosny Mubarak.

Small numbers of activists were gathered in central areas in the morning hours, but fewer than the previous day.

An effort was being made to tie Sunday's demonstrations to the funerals of people killed over the weekend in the unrest. Dozens have died so far, medics reported.

Parts of major cities were, however, without security forces, after a long night which saw looting and reports of other violent acts, including attacks on clinics and prisons.

Citizens in various areas, from Suez to Cairo, gathered into neighborhood defense groups overnight, in an effort to protect their families and property from looters.

Some of these groups even arrested vandals, with police again failing to make an appearance.

German Press Agency reporters on the streets were told by residents that some of those found looting and destroying shops were from the police. It was not known, however, whether these were acting on their own, or whether they were possibly following orders.

Thousands of prisoners were said to have escaped detention facilities in different areas of the country and at least one high ranking prison official was dead.

The death toll in the violence since Friday had risen to about 100, though some of the incidents were unconfirmed while new reports of violence were pouring in from remote areas of the vast and largely poor country of 80 million people.

On Saturday, Mubarak fired his cabinet and appointed two close confidants to key roles.

Omar Suleiman, his spy chief, is now vice president - the first time that role has been filled in nearly 30 years - and Ahmed Shafiq, tied to the president from their days in the army, is prime minister.

It remained to be seen if the shifts at the top combined with the impact of looting and street violence would affect the demonstrations or if angry crowds would continue to demand radical economic and political reforms.

Meanwhile, Western governments and human rights groups are urging Egypt not to use live fire and harsh tactics against demonstrators, amid concern in Washington and elsewhere for the stability of a key Middle East ally.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364957,protesters-cairo-call-protests.html.

EXTRA: Muslim Brotherhood: national unity, without Mubarak

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Cairo - The banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, told the German Press Agency dpa they are in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosny Mubarak and his ruling party.

Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told dpa that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak.

The group is also demanding an end to the draconian Emergency Laws, which grant police wide-ranging powers The laws have been used often to arrest and harass the Islamist group.

Nasser said his group would not accept any new government with Mubarak.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/365000,brotherhood-national-unity-mubarak.html.

Ban pledges to help AU solve Ivory Coast crisis at summit - Summary

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Addis Ababa - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pledged to help the African Union resolve Ivory Coast's political crisis as leaders from the 53-nation bloc gathered in Addis Ababa amid the equally pressing troubles facing Egypt and Tunisia.

Ivory Coast - along with the looming splitting up of Sudan - was high on the official agenda of the two-day meeting, although the crises in Tunisia and Egypt also cast their shadow over proceedings.

November's presidential election in Ivory Coast provoked a violent crisis in which over 270 people have died, according to the UN, with both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and his internationally-recognized rival Alassane Ouattara laying claim to the presidency.

The AU has agreed to set up a panel comprising five heads of states to deliver "legally binding conclusions" on the West African nation within a month - a further step away from earlier threats from African leaders to use force to oust Gbagbo.

Ban, in comments made during a closed-door meeting in Addis Ababa late Saturday, promised to provide a senior official to work with the panel.

"We must preserve our unified position, act together, and stand firm against Mr Gbagbo's attempt to hang on to power through the use of force," Ban said.

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra said that military action threatened early on in by West African bloc ECOWAS was not on the table at the moment.

"ECOWAS has never said that the military option is for tomorrow," he said. "They have always said it would be the final resort."

Violent protests in Tunisia that ended the reign of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and a similar uprising in Egypt aimed at removing President Hosny Mubarak were not on the official agenda.

But Ban still touched on the issues, particularly Egypt - where dozens are believed to have died in clashes between protesters and security forces over the last few days.

"With respect to Egypt, I once again make a call for restraint, non-violence, and respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights," he said in a speech to the summit.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, addressing African leaders, said France "stands in all friendship and respect alongside the Tunisians and the Egyptians at this crucial moment."

"Violence, from whichever source, is never a solution, because violence only breeds more violence," he said.

African leaders were more cagey on the subject, with AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping only prepared to say the AU was observing the "worrying" situation in Egypt.

Equatorial Guinea's strongman leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema was named the new chairman of the AU, taking over from Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika at the summit in a move sure to enrage human rights' campaigners.

Obiang seized control of the central African nation from his uncle in a 1979 coup and has long faced criticism for his authoritarian rule. He has also been accused of siphoning off funds from the oil- rich country.

The AU is also expected to deliver backing for Kenya's efforts to defer for one year an International Criminal Court probe into top politicians accused of bearing the most responsibility for post-election violence that claimed over 1,300 lives following disputed presidential elections in December 2007.

Foreign ministers have already backed Kenya's stance, and the heads of state are expected to rubber-stamp this decision as the summit wraps up on Monday.

Ping told journalists Africa was not opposed to the criminal court, but accused Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo of targeting only Africans for prosecution and ignoring crimes committed in elsewhere.

"We are against Ocampo, who is rendering justice with double standards," he said.

The future of Sudan, where on Sunday preliminary results from the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission revealed almost 99 per cent voters chose to split from the north in a January referendum, is expected to be discussed at a special meeting Monday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and southern Sudan president Salva Kiir are expected to attend the meeting.

EXTRA: ElBaradei says 'historic day' that cannot be turned back

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Cairo - Mohammed ElBaradei told protesters Sunday in Tahrir Square in central Cairo that Egypt was witnessing an "historic day" and that the process of change would move forward.

"What we have begun today cannot go back," the opposition figure said.

Broadcaster al-Jazeera quoted ElBaradei as saying "we are beginning a new era in Egypt."

Tens of thousands are gathered in Cairo in the sixth day of anti- government protests, defying a curfew. Other protests are taking place in cities across the country.

But some of those in Tahrir Square were split over the opposition figure.

Many in the liberal camp see the Nobel Peace Prize winner as a leader for their country who has the ear of the West and can push through democratic and economic reforms - but the view is not universal.

"We are disappointed in ElBaradei, we expected more of him, to better organize the opposition," said medical student Abdullah Sahrani. He would be accepted as a temporary leader but "he has to prove himself" as capable of guiding the country.

"I would not accept him to be president because he is not of this country, but he could take temporary control," said another protester, referring to ElBaradei's many years abroad, including time at the helm of the UN's nuclear watchdog.

Others felt only a military man could take the helm of Egypt, a poor country of 80 million people.

"I reject ElBaradei as a leader. The leader must come from the armed forces," said Abu Bakr, a worker from Cairo.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/365013,cannot-be-turned-back.html.

EXTRA: Egypt speaker: Government failed to follow parliament

Sun, 30 Jan 2011

Cairo - Egyptian Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour said Sunday that the new government had met the previous night to discuss the problem of corruption and high unemployment in the country.

"The former government failed to implement the recommendations of parliament," said Sorour, one of the ruling National Democratic Party's most high-profile figures.

The main priority now was "to retain the stability of the nation," he said, and to "stand up to any attempts" to destabilize it.

"Games" had been played by the ruling party and some of the security forces which had caused unrest during the last elections in November, he said.

According to the constitution, Sorour would lead an interim government should President Hosny Mubarak become incapacitated.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/365015,government-failed-follow-parliament.html.

Thousands of Jordanians march to press for reform

29/01/2011

By Musa Hattar

AMMAN (AFP) -- Thousands of Jordanians held peaceful demonstrations in Amman and other cities on Friday to press for reform and the government's resignation, taking their cue from Tunisia and Egypt.

"Egypt, the Arab nation salutes you. We urge your men to get rid of [President Hosni] Mubarak," an estimated 3,000 people chanted as they marched through central Amman holding national flags after Muslim weekly prayers.

"The Arab people's message: you are corrupt, beware our anger. [Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali is waiting for you," they said, referring to his ouster in a popular uprising.

Police said around 2,000 people staged protests in other cities, answering a call by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood which demands political and economic reforms in the kingdom.

Irbid, Karak, Maan and Diban were also the scenes of peaceful protests at which no clashes were reported. Like during a demonstration on the previous Friday, police in the capital distributed water and juice.

"Together let's make political and economic change," banners read. "Down with the [prime minister] Samir Rifai government. We want a national salvation government."

Muslim Brotherhood leader Hammam Said demanded an elected government.

"Jordanians should elect their government. Why should they be deprived from electing a government that would feel with and represent them ... a government that would make us feel safe?" he told the crowd.

The Islamists have called for constitutional amendments to curb the king's power in naming government heads, arguing that the premiership should go to the leader of the majority in parliament.

The Jordanian constitution, adopted in 1952, gives the king the exclusive prerogative to appoint and dismiss the prime minister.

King Abdullah II held meetings earlier this week with senior officials, MPs, senators and others as part of efforts to "come closer to the demands of the people," urging them to speed up political and socio-economic reforms.

"It's time for change. People can no longer accept corruption. We do not want a government of aristocrats, merchants and the rich," Said told the demonstrators.

The government has announced it was pumping around $500 million into the economy in a bid to help living conditions, but protests have been staged in Amman and other cities over the past two weeks against high prices.

"We are protesting today to demand genuine reforms that would boost the people's participation in deciding their future," said Abdelhadi Falahat, head of the trade unions' council.

The Islamists and Jordan's 14 trade unions, which group more than 200,000 members, say the government's new measures are inadequate as poverty levels are running at 25 percent in the desert kingdom.

The cost of living in Amman is the highest in the Arab world, according to several independent studies.

Official unemployment is running at about 14 percent in the country of six million people, 70 percent of them under the age of 30. Other estimates put the jobless figure at 30 percent.

Tunisia's popular revolt, which ousted the country's veteran strongman Ben Ali, has inspired dissidents across the Arab world and sparked protests.

In Egypt, riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who flooded out of Friday prayers demanding an end to decades of corruption and oppression and the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355144.

Jordan king urges speedy reforms ahead of planned Friday protests

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday urged the government and parliament to speed up "comprehensive" political, economic and social reforms.

The monarch's remarks came 24 hours before a coalition of opposition parties, trade unions and activists said they planned to stage demonstrations after Friday prayers to press their demand for genuine reform.

"All officials concerned should shoulder their responsibilities and take their decisions in a daring, transparent and clear manner," the king told leading lawmakers from the lower house of parliament, whom he had summoned to discuss the latest spate of protests.

Earlier in the week, the king held a similar meeting with leading figures from the upper house of parliament.

On Thursday he warned against attempts to hide behind him, referring to complaints by some parliamentarians and newspaper columnists that ministers resorted to the king's protection to justify their bad performance.

"I don't want to hear someone saying he has directions from the head," he said.

All cases of alleged corruption and favoritism should be addressed in a satisfactory manner, he said. "All files should be opened to the public, doubts should be cleared and mistakes corrected," the monarch continued.

King Abdullah in particular called for changes to election law. The Islamic-led opposition boycotted November elections claiming that the current law was unfair.

Thousands of Jordanians have demonstrated across the country on the past two Fridays, despite attempts by the government to pacify the population, namely by subsidizing basic goods and canceling taxes on certain types of fuel.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364621,ahead-planned-friday-protests.html.

Syrian activists salute Tunisia, Egypt uprisings

DAMASCUS (AFP) -- Syrian activists and opposition figures, including Michel Kilo and filmmaker Omar Amiralay, on Sunday hailed Tunisia's revolution and the uprising in Egypt as an example to all Arabs.

The Syrian people "also aspire to justice and freedom," they said in a statement sent to AFP.

"We salute the Tunisian people and their revolution and the uprising of the Egyptian people and their resistance to a corrupt and repressive regime," read the signed statement.

"We hope with all people, including the Syrians, for justice, liberty and equality for all," they said.

"The Tunisian people were in one month able to bring down one of the Arab world's most dictatorial and corrupt regimes ...

"This revolution has shown Arabs how closely Tunisia resembles their own countries, where power and wealth are concentrated in the same hands, and where repression and the plundering of the public purse go hand-in-hand."

It said "Arab governments had rushed to offer limited social services while tightening their grip on their people" but "this has not prevented other Arab peoples, especially the Egyptians, from drawing inspiration" from Tunisia.

"The Arab people have found their route to freedom, namely peaceful, non-violent social resistance uniting the population against those who repress it and steal its wealth," said the text.

Among the 39 signatories were political opposition figures who have served long prison terms, including economist Aref Dalila, poet Faraj Beirakdar, and authors Yassin Haj Saleh, Michel Kilo and Fayez Sara.

Filmmakers, researchers and lawyers were also on the list.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355625.

African leaders to meet on Ivory Coast, revolts

By Helen Vesperini

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) -- African leaders will make a fresh bid to resolve the Ivory Coast crisis and respond to the latest political uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt at a two-day summit starting Sunday.

Pre-summit meetings at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa made a new proposal to task five heads of state to reach a deal to end the two-month leadership wrangle between Ivorian strongman Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, recognized as winner of their disputed November polls.

The panel will aim to help Ouattara "exercise power" through a negotiated deal, AU Commission chief Jean Ping said on the eve of the summit.

"There was a reaffirmation of the decision to recognize Ouattara as the president-elect," he told reporters.

The AU mediator to the crisis, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, urged the summit to send a "strong and unequivocal message that the two parties must negotiate face-to-face."

The AU's efforts to end the Ivorian crisis and respond to the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt come as it is poised to appoint as its chairman Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema who himself came to power through a coup in 1979.

The AU has yet to react to the popular revolt in Tunisia where weeks of protests ended the 23-year-old rule of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

On Saturday the bloc said it was "concerned" by the political unrest in Egypt which has claimed over 100 lives in five days.

"Egypt is going through a situation which we need to observe. It is a worrying situation," Ping told reporters Saturday.

"After what happened in Tunisia, we are observing the events elsewhere and we are concerned," he added.

Following south Sudan's referendum in which voters have chosen to secede, a special meeting on Sudan is to be held Monday between Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, his deputy Salva Kiir, also the president of south Sudan, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Ethiopian premier Meles Zenawi.

Kenya meanwhile has been lobbying African leaders to give their backing to deferring the cases of top officials named by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor as suspects in the 2007-2008 deadly post-election violence.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355406.

Gazans fear unrest threatens vital supply line

30/01/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The ongoing unrest in Egypt affected prices in the blockaded Gaza Strip, where most of the commodities have been flooding to the coastal enclave through smuggling tunnels.

Locals say items like cigarettes and basic food went up by almost a third. Gas stations have closed because owners are worried they could fail to get enough fuel due to the deteriorating situation in Egypt, namely in the Sinai.

Onlookers noticed that owners of grocery stores and supermarkets were trying their best to stock up on as many goods as they could fearing supply through smuggling tunnels might stop at any moment.

Since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip after Hamas took control, the main source of goods in the enclave has been hundreds of smuggling tunnels along the borders with Egypt, especially in the southern Gaza Strip. Fuel, cigarettes, cheese, candy, and other items have been brought to Gaza every day through the tunnels.

The ministry of national economy in the Hamas-run government in Gaza, for its part, has tried to reassure the population telling them that fuel and food products are abundant in the enclave.

“We are monitoring everything and following up with all sides,” a ministry statement said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355426.

Organizers: Thousands in Algeria protest march

ALGIERS (AFP) -- More than 10,000 protesters marched against authorities in Algeria's northeastern city of Bejaia on Saturday, organizers said, in the country's latest rally inspired by neighboring Tunisia.

Demonstrators marched peacefully in the city in Algeria's Berber-speaking Kabylie region, shouting Tunisia-inspired slogans such as: "For a radical change of the regime!," a lawmaker with the opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy, Mohamed Ikhervane, told AFP.

"The protest gathered more than 10,000 people," said RCD leader Said Sadi, whose group organized the rally.

Police were out in force around the city but protesters dispersed calmly, Ikhervane said.

Separately, pro-democracy group the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights said it plans a new march in Algiers on February 12.

The group's leader, Mustapha Bouchachi, said the protest had been postponed from the original date of February 9 to enable workers and students to take part.

The LADDH forms part of a group calling itself the National Coordination for Change and Democracy, which was set up in the wake of riots in early January that left five dead and more than 800 injured.

The group demands the end of the government and its 19-year state of emergency.

Mounting grievances over spiraling costs and unemployment triggered the riots earlier this month, encouraged by public protests in Tunisia that forced its president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee.

Algiers responded swiftly by reducing the prices of oil, sugar and other basic necessities which had risen sharply, and assuring that subsidies on essential goods like flour would continue.

Unrest still simmers, however, and within the past two weeks eight people set themselves on fire in Algeria, although some cases were deemed to be linked to mental health issues.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=355420.

India celebrates Republic Day amid tensions in Kashmir

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

New Delhi - India celebrated Republic Day Wednesday amid tight security as the Kashmir region remained tense over plans by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold a rally there.

Around 35,000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed across New Delhi where the main parade was held, to prevent militant attacks.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the chief guest at the commemoration of India's 1950 constitution.

Authorities in India-administered Kashmir imposed a curfew in major cities to thwart rallies by both the BJP and Kashmiri separatists, local media reported.

The BJP had planned to hoist the national flag in state capital Srinagar in support of India's sovereignty over Kashmir.

Separatist leaders in the Muslim-majority region had planned anti-India demonstrations.

Police officers said the demonstrations were stalled and no incidents of violence had been reported.

Roads were deserted and markets shut while security personnel manned barricades at key intersections in Srinagar. Authorities also jammed mobile phone networks in Kashmir.

"There were strict orders to curb provocative demonstrations that could create law and order problems or spark anti-India protests," a police official who requested anonymity said.

Other regions including the restive north-eastern states and areas affected by the Maoist rebellion also remained on high alert.

Tribal militants bombed a freight train and attacked a bus, wounding three people in Assam state Tuesday, the IANS news agency reported.

In another incident Tuesday, suspected Maoist rebels captured five policemen in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364278,republic-day-tensions-kashmir.html.

Israel eyes events in Lebanon and Egypt neighbors with concern

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Tel Aviv - Israel is watching developments in Lebanon - and in Egypt - with deep concern.

"We are following events very closely," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor told the German Press-Agency dpa Wednesday of the turmoil on the other sides of Israel's northern and southern borders.

The Israeli government declined to comment further, but the implications of the instability in the countries to its north and south was expected to have dominated a parley between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and international Middle East envoy Tony Blair in Jerusalem late Tuesday.

Israelis fear that a radical Shiite movement which denies its right to exist, sponsored by their worst enemies - Iran and Syria - now effectively enjoys control over all of Lebanon.

"The concern that Lebanon is on the fast track to becoming an Iranian satellite under Hezbollah control has widespread strategic implications," a government official told the Jerusalem Post on condition of anonymity.

"Lebanon has fallen. Egypt is being tested," proclaimed Israel's largst-circulation daily, Israel Ha'yom, of the crisis in Lebanon and the anti-government demonstrations in Egypt.

"Nasrallah has completed his takeover," adds a stand-first.

A commentator in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily opined that Israelis "should become accustomed to the idea that we have a shared border with Iran in the north."

Concern over Egypt was less intense, with another Yediot Ahronot analyst saying: "Egypt is neither Tunisia nor Lebanon. The Egyptian security forces are experienced in suppressing demonstrations."

"An earthquake shook the region yesterday. It measured 8 on the Richter scale in the north, and 3 in the Land of the Nile," wrote a leading commentator in Israel Hayom Wednesday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364285,lebanon-egypt-neighbours-concern.html.

Russian upper house approves START

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Moscow - A nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia was approved by the upper house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday, requiring only the signature of President Dmitry Medvedev before it comes into force.

The overwhelming approval in the Federation Council came a day after the Duma, or lower house, gave its approval to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

The treaty binds both sides to cut their numbers of active warheads to 1,550 within seven years, or about 30 per cent from the levels of the 1991 treaty, which expired in December 2009.

Both sides must reduce delivery systems that include long-range missiles, submarine launched missiles and bomber fleets to 700. Once in effect, New START will allow both countries to resume crucial inspections of the other's nuclear fleet and activities.

US and Russian officials spent a year negotiating the pact, which Medvedev and US President Barack Obama signed in April 2010 in the Czech capital of Prague.

The US Senate ratified the accord in December after a strong push from Obama, overcoming opposition from conservative Republicans who worried the deal might limit the development of missile defense.

Like the Senate, the Duma attached a non-binding resolution to the treaty stating that Russia need only adhere to the treaty so long as its safety is not impinged upon by arms control initiatives with the US.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364289,upper-house-approves-start.html.

Cyprus delegations arrive at UN for talks to break impasse

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Geneva - Delegations from both of Cyprus' communities arrived Wednesday at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva for talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders will be meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is pushing for a breakthrough and has expressed concern that the latest round of reunification talks launched in 2008 could fail.

A November meeting between the sides in New York ended with few optimistic signs, said UN officials. The officials stressed the need for some progress in the Geneva talks to keep the round alive and eventually reach a permanent solution for the island.

The two sides are discussing the possibility of establishing a federation with two administration zones for each ethnic group, but they have been unable to agree on how to implement the proposal, and the Turkish Cypriots have not abandoned talk of outright independence.

Cyprus has been been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the island, following a Greek inspired Cypriot coup.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the southern, Greek portion enjoys the benefits. Only Turkey recognizes the northern, Turkish Cypriot part.

Turkey still maintains 45,000 troops on the island, while 850 UN troops patrol a buffer zone - known as the Green Line - dividing the two communities.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364291,un-talks-break-impasse.html.

EXTRA: Karzai inaugurates new Afghan parliament

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Kabul - Afghan President Hamid Karzai inaugurated a new parliament Wednesday, ending a drawn-out political showdown with lawmakers over the opening date that had plunged the country deeper into crisis.

In a ceremony in Kabul, Karzai swore in the parliament's 249 members and asked the new lawmakers to set aside their differences for the sake of the country.

"It is natural that there are competitions during the elections. It is natural that there are problems, but when the competition ends the national unity starts," Karzai said.

"Given the dangers that our country is facing, and given the opportunity that we have for a prosperous future, I hope that we all join hands and lead our country towards a situation that all Afghans hope for," he said.

Karzai had postponed the opening of the session until February 22, but he eventually agreed to preside over an opening Wednesday after lawmakers, allegedly backed by Western countries, threatened to go ahead without him.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364293,inaugurates-new-afghan-parliament.html.

US wants international community to close ranks on North Korea

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Seoul - US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg called Wednesday for a strong international stand against North Korea's nuclear program.

"It's very important that the international community send a strong message that the uranium-enrichment program, indeed any uranium-enrichment program, by North Korea would be inconsistent with its international obligations, with [UN] Security Council resolutions and with its own commitments," Steinberg said on a visit to Seoul, where he held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung Kwan.

He said North Korea should have no doubts about the stance of other countries, especially after the concern expressed last week about Pyongyang's enrichment program at a meeting in Washington between US President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao of China, North Korea's only major ally.

"I think the strong position that we have all taken and I think the clear message coming out of the summit between President Obama and President Hu should help drive that message home," Steinberg said.

Highly enriched uranium can be used to produce nuclear weapons, and concerns about North Korea's enrichment program have been heightened since November when Pyongyang showed a visiting US scientist a previously unknown, sophisticated enrichment complex.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364298,close-ranks-north-korea.html.

Swiss freeze Ben Ali assets worth millions of dollars

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Geneva - The Swiss government has frozen assets worth millions of dollars tied to ousted Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, his family and wider entourage, a spokesman said Wednesday.

A precise figure could not be given, Andre Simonazzi said according to the SDA news agency, as the situation was in flux.

The latest move by Berne followed a request for official legal assistance from Tunis in reclaiming assets that might have been diverted by the ousted leader from public coffers to his own pocket.

Tunis has also requested an international arrest warrant for Ben Ali, his wife Leila and other relatives.

Last week, Switzerland said it would block Ben Ali's accounts after the deposed autocrat fled to Saudi Arabia.

According to Swiss National Bank figures, there were 621 million Swiss francs (659 million dollars) of Tunisian assets in the country in 2009, though the central bank could not say to whom exactly they belonged. Switzerland has very strict banking secrecy rules.

At Geneva airport, Swiss guards were keeping an eye on a plane reported to belong to Ben Ali, while further clarifications are made. For now, the aircraft is grounded.

Similarly, authorities are looking at land records, to see if the the former president or anyone in his top entourage own property in Switzerland.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364377,assets-worth-millions-dollars.html.

Tunisian prisoners escape en masse; Ben Ali's arrest sought - Summary

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Paris - Thousands of prisoners in Tunisia have shaken off their shackles since autocratic ex-president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who could face imminent arrest, went into exile, the country's justice minister said Wednesday.

Around 11,000 prisoners have escaped from prisons around the country since Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia in mid-January after a youth uprising against his rule, minister Lazhar Karoui Chebbi told a press conference.

A fraction of the escapees - 1,532 prisoners - have since handed themselves in, Chebbi said, adding authorities were investigating the breakouts, which appear to be aimed at fueling instability.

Chebbi also announced that Tunisia had asked international police organization Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for Ben Ali, his wife Leila and other relatives on charges of illegally acquiring assets and making illicit money transfers out of Tunisia.

Paris-based Interpol had yet to comment on the case.

The dictatorial Ben Ali left power after a month of demonstrations and riots that cost dozens of lives, mostly those of unarmed protesters.

His family and relatives, particularly the Trabelsi clan, are accused of having used their political connections to amass massive wealth.

The move to have them arrested comes as Tunisians await the announcement, which had been set for Wednesday, of a reshuffle of their transitional government.

Government ministers have been locked in discussions about what changes should be made to the week-old unity government to win it more support.

Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating daily to demand ministers linked to the Ben Ali regime be dismissed.

The protests continued Wednesday in the capital Tunis and in the second-largest city of Sfax.

Police in Tunis fired tear gas at a group of around 1,000 protesters, who have been staging a sit-in outside Ghannouchi's offices since Sunday.

Witnesses in Sfax, where a general strike was called Wednesday, said tens of thousands of people marched to demand the new government be scrapped.

A similar strike has been called for Thursday in Sidi Bouzid, the central town where the Jasmine Revolution began on December 15, with the self-immolation of a vegetable vendor in protest over official harassment.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364384,arrest-sought-summary.html.

Hubble spots most distant galaxy ever seen

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Washington - Astronomers have pinpointed the most distant galaxy ever seen using the Hubble Space Telescope, according to findings to be published in the journal Nature on Thursday.

The galaxy is some 13.2 billion light-years away and sheds new light on the early universe.

The view of the galaxy provides a glimpse of what the universe looked like just 480 million years after the Big Bang - the earliest yet observed, researchers said.

"We are getting back very close to the first galaxies," said astronomer Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Illingworth and his colleague Rychard Bouwens used Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 3 to track changes in galaxies from 480 to 650 million years after the Big Bang and found a rapid increase in the number of stars being formed during this period.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364392,distant-galaxy-ever-seen.html.

Russian ambassador: NATO missile defense proposal not enough

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Brussels - NATO's proposal to link its planned missile defense system with Russia does not go far enough and appears aimed at weakening Russia's nuclear arsenal, the country's ambassador to NATO said Wednesday after talks with alliance diplomats.

Last year, NATO proposed that the alliance and its Cold War foe link their systems in a bid to build trust and security. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted an invitation to start talks on the possibilities for cooperation at a summit in Lisbon.

NATO's vision is of "two independent, but coordinated systems working back to back," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video posted a week ago.

But Russian Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said that concept "could not be called cooperation, it's not even a marriage of convenience: it's just living separately in different apartments, with different entrances and addresses."

Speaking after the year's first meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC, the permanent committee of NATO member states and Russia), Rogozin said that he was an "optimist" and that "we are capable of finding a compromise."

But he stressed that Russia wants to see the two sides build a single, shared missile defense system in Europe, "so that, without the participation of one (side's system), the second one cannot be considered as fully operational."

Anything less would mean that the system "will not only be targeted against some violator of the nuclear regime, but more at the Russian strategic nuclear potential," he said.

That demand is highly unlikely to meet the approval of NATO members, as it would imply that the alliance would need the permission of Russia to use its own planned missile defenses.

Separately, the diplomat accused NATO of "hypocrisy" in drawing up secret contingency plans for defending the Baltic States and Poland in the wake of Russia's 2008 invasion of Georgia. The plans were revealed by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks late last year.

"Everyone understood that, far too often, 'cooperation' has such hypocritical forms when such beautiful words are spoken but in reality the knife is still in the pocket," he said.

NATO and Russia should pledge to never target any military plans against one another again, he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364397,defence-proposal-not-enough.html.

Interpol issues global arrest warrant for Ben Ali

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Paris/Tunis - International police organization Interpol confirmed Wednesday that it had issued a global alert for the arrest of ousted ex-Tunisian leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and six of his relatives.

The alert was sent from Interpol's Tunis bureau to authorities in all 187 member countries, France-based Interpol said in a statement.

Tunisia's new transitional government wants Ben Ali, his wife Leila and other relatives on charges of property theft and the illegal transfer of foreign currency.

The alert requires Interpol member states to search for and arrest the suspects with a view to their extradition to Tunis, Interpol said.

The dictatorial Ben Ali abruptly left power on January 14 after a month of demonstrations and riots that cost dozens of lives, mostly those of unarmed protesters.

His family and relatives, particularly the Trabelsi clan, are accused of having used their political connections to amass massive wealth.

The move to have them arrested comes as Tunisians await the announcement, which had been set for Wednesday but now looked as if it could be delayed until Thursday, of a reshuffle of their transitional government.

Government ministers have been locked in discussions about what changes should be made to the week-old unity government to win it more support.

Thousands of protesters have been demonstrating daily to demand ministers linked to the Ben Ali regime be dismissed.

The protests continued Wednesday in the capital Tunis and in the second-largest city of Sfax.

Police in Tunis fired tear gas at a group of around 1,000 protesters, who have been staging a sit-in outside Ghannouchi's offices since Sunday.

Witnesses in Sfax, where a general strike was called Wednesday, said tens of thousands of people marched to demand the new government be scrapped.

A similar strike has been called for Thursday in Sidi Bouzid, the central town where the Jasmine Revolution began on December 15, with the self-immolation of a vegetable vendor in protest over official harassment.

Meanwhile, the justice ministry also revealed Wednesday that around 11,000 prisoners had taken advantage of the chaos that reigned in the first days after Ben Ali's departure to break out of jail.

A fraction of the escapees - 1,532 prisoners - have since handed themselves in, Chebbi said, adding authorities were investigating the breakouts.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364400,arrest-warrant-ben-ali.html.

EXTRA: Egyptian government websites down after hacker threat

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

Cairo - A collective of anonymous hackers, who in the past have allied themselves with WikiLeaks and disrupted major websites, vowed Wednesday to attack Egyptian government websites if access to certain social networking websites remains restricted.

The group, called Anonops, wrote on Twitter that its members are now targeting the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. "Reason: internet censorship on Egypt," wrote the group.

The German Press Agency dpa tried to access the ministry's website, but it appeared to be down Wednesday evening. In the past, the group has disrupted the sites of Mastercard and Visa after companies broke ties to whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

The move by Anonops comes after Twitter was blocked via Egypt's main internet companies, while Facebook was severely crippled, with many unable to access the website.

Both websites were widely used to organize demonstrations in Egypt that sparked after nationwide anti-government protests.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364375,government-websites-hacker-threat.html.

Facebook founder hacked, site tightens security - Summary

Wed, 26 Jan 2011

San Francisco - Facebook announced a string of new security measures Wednesday, just a day after the fan page of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was hacked by a mystery invader.

The new controls allow users to access the site with one time passwords received over mobile phones that are preregistered to their accounts. The updated measures also allow users to see what computers their accounts are logged in from and if necessary remotely log them off.

Facebook will also broadly introduce a tool called social authentication to verify users by requiring them to identify photos of friends. Also new will be the ability to use secure wireless connection to access Facebook over public internet networks.

Facebook said that the measures were introduced to mark Data Privacy Day, which falls on Friday, rather than in response to the embarrassing security glitch that allowed a mystery hacker to take control of Zuckerberg's page.

The hacker posted a message decrying the company's attempts to cash in on its hugely successful site. Facebook declined to comment on the embarrassing security snafu, but did take down the compromised page.

"Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn't Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way?" said the message, which was posted just days after Facebook confirmed that it had raised 1.5 billion dollars from global investors at a valuation of around 50 billion dollars.

"Why not transform Facebook into a 'social business' the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?" the message continued, referring to the founder of the Grameen Bank which has transformed millions of lives by extending microloans to poor people.

Zuckerberg's fan page has over 3 million followers and is probably managed by media assistants to the social networking magnate, according to cyber-security experts. The hackers may have stolen control of the page by guessing the password, sniffing it out over unsecured wireless networks, tricking Zuckerberg or the account manager into revealing it, or even surreptitiously gaining control of their computer.

"We don't know how the hack was perpetrated," said Paul Ducklin, head of technology at internet security firm Sophos. "Whatever happened in this case, it raises one more tough question: do you still trust Facebook with your online persona?"

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364417,tightens-security-summary.html.

Nine rebels killed in gunbattle with Indian police

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

New Delhi - At least nine Maoist rebels were killed Friday in a firefight with police in India's eastern state of Jharkhand, officials said.

Police raided a rebel hideout inside the Barwadih jungles some 100 kilometers west of state capital Ranchi late Thursday.

"The gunbattle lasted for over five hours and ended early in the morning," district police chief Kuldeep Dwivedi told reporters.

"We have recovered nine bodies of the insurgents along with a huge quantity of arms and ammunition," he added. No policemen were injured in the encounter, he said.

More than one-third of India's 626 administrative districts are affected by the insurgency, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the main internal security threat.

The rebels claim they are fighting for the rights of tribal, landless and poor people.

At least 1,174 rebels, troops and civilians were killed in incidents related to the insurgency in 2010, making it one of the deadliest years in the four-decade old rebellion in India.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364678,killed-gunbattle-indian-police.html.

Rhino detained for killing man in Nepal to be released soon

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Kathmandu - A rhino detained in Nepal after it killed a man is to be released when a fence is completed around a national park in the next few months, local media reported Friday.

The blind rhino named Vikram was detained last year in Bardiya National Park in Nepal's west after it killed a 60-year-old Hindu priest, the Nagarik daily reported.

The one-horned rhino was transferred to Bardiya National Park from Chitwan National park in central Nepal, after it suffered severe injuries and went blind following a beating by locals in 2002.

Vikram is being held in a small, walled enclosure.

"We don't want to hold Vikram in detention," said conservation officer Ramesh Thapa. "He used to walk a distance of 95 kilometers a day in the forest, but here he's limited to some 3,500 square feet (325 square meters) of land."

The blind rhino was formerly a favorite among park employees and popular with tourists who wanted to be photographed with him.

Conservation officer Ashok Bhandari said Vikram would be released in three months time in the Babai area where a fence is being built to keep the wild animals inside park.

Vikram is is one of 24 rhinos in Bardiya National Park. Nepal has just over 400 rhinos.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364680,nepal-be-released-soon.html.

Myanmar appeals court rejects opposition's claim to legitimacy

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Yangon - A special appeals court on Friday rejected a case submitted by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to restore the legal status of her party.

"The court in Naypyitaw rejected our appeal," said Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Naypyitaw is Myanmar's new capital. A Yangon court on November 22 had turned down Suu Kyi's attempt to restore the NLD's status as a legal political party.

The NLD lost its status in May after refusing to register for the November 7 general election, the first in more than 20 years.

The party boycotted the election to protest a law that would have required it to drop Suu Kyi, at the time under house arrest, as a member in order to get on the ballot.

The NLD had won the previous national election in 1990 by a landslide but was blocked from assuming power by the military.

New registration rules for the polls barred any party with members serving custodial sentences. Suu Kyi was under house detention until November 13.

Many Western critics consider the November 7 polls to be a sham used by the junta to legitimize its hold on power.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, a junta proxy, won 77 per cent of the contested seats in the three chambers of parliament.

The party has been accused of tampering with advance ballots, and bribing or intimidating voters.

News of the election was overshadowed by the release of the 65-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, who has spent 15 of the past 20 years under house arrest.

Elected members of parliament, along with 388 appointed legislators by the military, are scheduled to convene for their first post election session on Monday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364690,rejects-oppositions-claim-legitimacy.html.

France's gay marriage ban constitutional, experts rules

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Paris - France's Constitutional Council on Friday declared that the country's ban on gay marriage did not infringe the constitution.

The 9-member council, the top authority on constitutional questions, was asked to weigh in on the matter by a lesbian couple looking to get married to put their four children on a sounder legal footing.

In its judgment the Council declared that French law's definition of marriage as "the union of a man and a woman" was "in conformity with the constitution."

Any change in the legislation would have to be initiated by parliament, they said.

The couple who took the matter to the Council is in a partnership contract or PACS - a union introduced in 1999 with gays and lesbians in mind but which has now also become popular among homosexuals.

Unlike Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and a number of other countries, traditional weddings are still reserved for heterosexuals.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364691,ban-constitutional-experts-rules.html.

International Space Station astronauts enter cargo ship - Summary

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Tokyo - Astronauts started Friday to enter an unpiloted Japanese cargo ship delivering supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) after it docked, a Japanese space agency said.

Also Friday, a Russian cargo spacecraft launched, carrying research equipment and supplies to the ISS crew.

Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) nicknamed Kounotori, or white stork, approached the ISS Thursday and was captured by its robotic arm, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

Astronauts staying at the ISS checked the air and the cargo's condition and started entering the cargo ship to unload it, the agency said.

The HTV carried nearly six tons of food, clothing and scientific devices, the agency said. The HTV was launched on a rocket Saturday from the space center on the southern island of Tanegashima, Japan.The agency said after the HTV was unloaded, it would take off from the ISS by the end of March and would carry waste from the station, most of which would burn up when the cargo ship reenters the atmosphere.

"After the retirement of (the US) space shuttle, supporting the ISS would be hard without the Kounotori," project manager Yoshihiko Torano was quoted by Kyodo News as saying. "We hope to raise the status of Japan among participating nations by having further success in the future."

Russia's Progress spacecraft blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Friday (0130 GMT), the Russian space agency said.

After a two-day flight it was to arrive with 2.6 tons of cargo at the ISS.

The space station currently houses a crew of six - three Russians, two Americans and an Italian.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364692,cargo-ship-summary.html.

Israel closely following Egypt anti-government movement

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Tel Aviv - Israel said Friday it was monitoring developments in Egypt carefully, and stressed that it regarded its relationship with its peace partner on its southern border as "very important."

"We are following closely," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the German Press Agency dpa.

"Really, without a connection to the current situation, the relationship between Egypt and Israel is very important for both countries and in the best interest of both people."

He said the Israeli government was not making any further comments.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364703,israel-closely-following-egypt-anti-government-movement.html.

'Springtime for democracy,' says Tunisian opposition leader

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Berlin - Hosny Mubarak will not last as Egypt's president, and the "springtime for democracy" has reached the Arab world, a Tunisian opposition leader, Moncef Marzouki, said on German radio Friday.

"Next year Egypt will have a new president, and it won't be Mubarak or his son," said Marzouki, speaking in French. The interview was broadcast on Deutschlandfunk, the German national radio station.

"After the fall of the communist dictatorships, the Arab nationalist dictatorships are collapsing one after another," he said, partly thanks to the new social networks on the internet.

"Thanks to social networks, the Arab world is undergoing a springtime of democracy."

Marzouk, 65, is a professor of medicine and heads the Congress of the Republican Party, a group that was banned under ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. He said he would run for public office. In the past, he has been chairman of the Tunisian Human Rights League.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364708,democracy-tunisian-opposition-leader.html.

Germany parliament extends German troop deployment in Afghanistan

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Berlin - Germany's parliament extended Friday its authorization for the military to operate in Afghanistan by a further year till February 2012, after weeks of intense negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.

The opposition Social Democrats backed the authorization in the 420-116 division, with the Left Party opposed. There were 43 abstentions. The Greens had said they would vote against or abstain in the ballot.

Merkel had reached out to the Social Democrats to ensure bipartisan support and the authorization carried a rider that the first troops should if possible begin to come home by the end of this year.

Currently the contingent numbers 4,860 personnel. The authorization allows 5,000 to serve there, plus a reserve of 350 in case of emergency.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364713,german-troop-deployment-afghanistan.html.

Canada unwilling to grant asylum to Ben Ali family

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Ottawa/New York - Canada, the preferred destination of the family of ousted Tunisian leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, does not want to grant them asylum.

"They are not welcome let me be very clear, we do not welcome them in our country," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, in comments that the Montreal Gazette quoted Friday.

After a meeting with Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi, Harper stressed that Canada supports "the democratic development that is taking place" in Tunisia.

He made clear that he was unhappy about reports that Ben Ali's billionaire brother-in-law Belhassen Trabelsi is already in Montreal, along with his wife, four children and a nanny. The government is concerned about this, Harper admitted.

"Canada will use all tools at its disposal to co-operate with the international community in dealing with members of the former regime," he said.

Ben Ali fled his country for Saudi Arabia earlier this month after weeks of public protests. His Swiss bank account has been frozen and an international warrant was issued for his arrest.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have reportedly received from Interpol a request to locate members of the Ben Ali family, although the institution stressed that this "does not constitute an arrest warrant under Canadian law."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364799,asylum-ben-ali-family.html.

Irish Prime Minister Cowen to dissolve parliament on Tuesday

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Dublin - Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced Friday he would dissolve the Irish parliament next Tuesday and announce the date of the general election.

He told state broadcaster RTE that he would tell the Dail (Irish parliament) of his intention on Tuesday afternoon and then go to the president for permission to dissolve the Dail.

February 25th is now the most likely date for the election.

Cowen, who resigned after a series of controversies as leader of the Fianna Fail party last weekend, remained as prime minister to oversee the passage of the Finance Bill, which gives legislative effect to last December's austerity budget, agreed upon as part of the EU/IMF bailout for Ireland.

The Finance Bill was passed by parliament Thursday.

The Senate began a two-day debate on the bill Friday, which will enforce 6 billion euros' (8.2 billion dollars) worth of tax hikes and cutbacks.

It is expected to pass the bill Saturday.

Opposition Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams welcomed Cowen's intention to seek the dissolution of the Dail on Tuesday.

"I welcome this long overdue announcement from Brian Cowen," Adams said.

"The people will be glad to see the back of this totally discredited government," he added.

Governing Fianna Fail, whom the electorate blame for mishandling Ireland's banking and financial crises, are expected to receive a drubbing at the polls with their support currently at 14 per cent.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364800,cowen-dissolve-parliament-tuesday.html.

Five injured in new Tunisia clashes as police demolish demo camp

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Tunis - Police in Tunisia Friday clashed with a few hundred demonstrators who had been staging a sit-in since Sunday outside the offices of Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, tearing down the camp.

Five people were reported injured after police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, who had braved a curfew the past five nights to demand the government's dissolution, medical sources said.

One of the injured was hit by a tear gas canister in the head, the sources said.

Dozens of police then moved in to tear down the protesters' camp.

Witnesses said the police response was the heaviest yet against the youths, who have been protesting the inclusion in the country's new unity government of allies of ousted leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

After being chased from the area surrounding government buildings, the protesters, who converged on Tunis last weekend from around the country, regrouped on the city's main avenue, Habib Bourguiba.

Hundreds of residents of the capital took to the streets in solidarity with the protesters and also joined in the clashes with police.

In the central city of Sidi Bouzid, hometown of some of the protesters and home of this month's Jasmine Revolution, thousands of people staged a demonstration, also out of solidarity with the protesters in Tunis, sources there told dpa.

On Thursday evening, Ghannouchi announced a revised new cabinet that had been purged of all but two ministers that served under Ben Ali.

The government of mostly technocrats met with widespread approval in Tunisia, but some of the youths that led opposition to Ben Ali are bent on removing all emblems of his repressive regime.

Ghannouchi himself served as prime minister under Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a month-long popular uprising that cost at least 78 lives.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364805,police-demolish-demo-camp.html.

AU envoy warns of Ivory Coast war, calls for talks - Summary

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Addis Ababa - Ivory Coast's political rivals must be forced into direct talks to find a solution to a crisis that has brought the nation to the brink of a civil war, the African Union's mediator, Raila Odinga, told a meeting of the 53-nation bloc Friday.

"This summit must send a strong and unequivocal message that the two parties must negotiate face-to-face," the Kenyan premier told a special meeting on Ivory Coast ahead of a heads-of-state summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"Given its (Ivory Coast's) long history of strife and civil war, and with the preparations for armed conflict underway on both sides, a small spark could ignite a major conflagration which would also threaten the regions stability."

November's presidential election was supposed to open a more positive chapter in Ivory Coast's history, eight years after a civil war split the nation into the mainly Muslim north and the Christian south.

Instead, the West African nation was plunged into a violent crisis when incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, who has support in the south, refused to hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, the man the electoral commission declared the winner, who gets his backing from the north.

A Gbagbo ally on the constitutional council overturned the result, sparking unrest, condemnation and months of increasingly frantic international pressure aimed at removing the defiant leader.

Over 270 people have died in the crisis, according to the United Nations, and Gbagbo's security forces stand accused of extrajudicial killings and excessive force.

The AU, which has suspended the West African nation, is not expected to endorse the use of force to oust Gbagbo at the meeting, as the continent's leaders seem to be backing down from earlier tough language.

West African bloc ECOWAS had threatened to send in troops to the world's largest cocoa producer to remove Gbagbo. But, as the leader continues to cling to power with the backing of the army, talk has turned to finding a peaceful solution.

"The declared African Union and ECOWAS positions are not about the use of force," Odinga, whose two visits to Ivory Coast have produced no results, said. "Both organizations are committed to a peaceful resolution of the crisis."

However, he said Africa must be "ready to deploy other measures" if no negotiated settlement could be reached, warning the electoral problems in Ivory Coast could further entrench a culture of presidents clinging to power on the continent.

"Cote dIvoire symbolizes the great tragedy that seem to have befallen Africa, whereby some incumbents are not willing to give up power if they lose," said Odinga, who was appointed prime minister in Kenya after agreeing to share power with a president he accused of stealing elections.

"Africa will never have a stable political base unless we internalize the democratic culture of ceding power after losing in a competitive electoral process," he added.

Albanian opposition holds peaceful protest in tense capital

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Tirana - Supporters of Albania's opposition Socialist Party gathered Friday in the Albanian capital Tirana for what they termed a quiet protest and memorial to three demonstrators killed in anti- government riots last week.

About 10,000 people participated in the protest amid a massive police presence, the official ATA news agency said. The government building, which demonstrators attempted to storm on January 21, was heavily guarded. The Socialist Party chief Edi Rama went ahead with the rally despite police warnings that it could be dangerous.

Rama urged supporters to remain calm and refrain from any provocations. A week ago, Prime Minister Sali Berisha accused him of organizing an attempted coup after demonstrators clashed with police.

The Albanian parliament has ordered an investigation into last week's protest, but without the backing of the Socialists, who walked out of the vote.

Tensions have been high in Albania since the 2009 parliamentary elections, in which Berisha's Democratic Party won a slim victory. The opposition has disputed the vote and boycotted parliament for the past year.

The demonstrators gathered last week, calling for Berisha's resignation in the wake of a corruption scandal involving former economy minister Ilir Meta.

The European Union, United States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe urged Albanian leaders to resolve their differences through negotiation.

The political stalemate has hampered Albania's reform efforts and hindered its progress towards EU membership. The former Communist country joined NATO in 2009.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364822,peaceful-protest-tense-capital.html.

NASA marks 25th anniversary of Challenger disaster - Summary

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Washington - The US space agency paused to remember the deadly explosion of the space shuttle Challenger 25 years ago on Friday.

The shuttle broke up just after launch on January 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board. The disaster was watched on live television by many Americans, including schoolchildren turned in to see the first teacher-astronaut travel into space.

More than 200 officials and family members attended a a memorial service at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The ceremony was held at a memorial bearing the names of all astronauts killed in the line of duty and featured speeches by NASA officials and the widow of mission commander Dick Scobee.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator of space operations, told those gathered that the accident emphasizes the risks taken by astronauts every day.

"Their sacrifice was a stark brutal reminder that our knowledge, our technology our science, and our dreams are often paid for in the dearest possible way," he said.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden marked an annual Day of Remembrance for astronauts killed in service on Thursday by placing wreath at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington.

The day is also used to honor three astronauts killed in a fire aboard Apollo I on January 27, 1967 and the seven crew members killed when the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

"Throughout history, however, we have seen that achieving great things sometimes comes at great cost and we mourn the brave astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice in support of NASA missions throughout the agency's storied history," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

"Through triumph and tragedy, each of us has benefited from their courage and devotion, and we honor their memory by dedicating ourselves to a better tomorrow. Despite the challenges before us today, let us commit ourselves and continue their valiant journey toward a more vibrant and secure future."

NASA is due to retire the shuttle fleet later this year, in part due to safety concerns following the Columbia disaster.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364824,challenger-disaster-summary.html.

Major Jewish group urges US to veto Arab-backed move in Security

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

New York - The Anti-Defamation League on Friday called for the United States to veto a draft resolution asking the UN Security Council to declare "illegal" Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem.

The draft is sponsored by more than 80 governments, including those in Arab and Islamic countries, in support of the Palestinian people. Arab diplomats at UN headquarters in New York said the move was intended to advance the issue of a Palestinian state once the Jewish settlements are declared illegal by the 15-nation council.

The ADL, the largest Jewish organization in the US fighting anti- Semitism, said it had written a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling for a US veto once the draft is moved to a vote in the council.

"It is now time for the United States to unambiguously declare it will veto the resolution if it is brought to the council for a vote," said ADL national director Abraham Foxman.

Foxman said the Palestinian leadership is publicly challenging the US not to veto the draft while it has refused to resume direct talks with Israel.

The US has already voiced opposition to the draft, calling the move "corrosive to the Middle East peace process." But it has not said flatly that it will veto it, which in effect would kill the resolution.

The US, Russia, China, France and Britain, the council's five permanent members, have veto power over UN resolutions.

The draft, which was submitted to the council on January 18, calls on the council to "reaffirm that the Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace."

The UN, the European Union, the US and Russia, which form the diplomatic quartet on the Middle East peace process, have called for a two-state solution as part of a settlement in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. The quartet's peace road map calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace next to Israel.

The Palestinian Authority said more than 100 countries have already given principled recognition of a Palestinian state.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364829,veto-arab-backed-move-security.html.

Mubarak fires ministers, appeals for calm

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Cairo - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak in the early hours of Saturday ordered the existing government and ministers to step down and promised a new leadership.

Mubarak was making his first address to his nation since anti- government protests erupted this week, appealing for calm and promising reform. But protests continued in the country even as he made his address, with some calling for the president's ouster.

"I regret the innocent victims and causalities on both sides, citizens and police personnel," said Mubarak, after reports indicated more than 20 people had died during the protests.

He appealed directly to the people and said he understood they wanted him to address poverty, employment and democratic reform and pledged progress.

Saying there was "a fine line between freedom and chaos" he urged calm, adding that only because of his own reforms over the years, were people able to protest.

Mubarak, aged 82, has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364836,fires-ministers-appeals-calm.html.

Britain urges Egyptian government to yield to 'legitimate' demands

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

London - The Egyptian government should respond to demands for reform and greater transparency expressed by the recent large- scale demonstrations, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday.

"Clearly, in so many of these countries people do have legitimate grievances, which are economic and political," said Hague in a BBC radio interview.

"While every country is different, and we shouldn't try to dictate what they should do, in general I do think it's important in this situation to respond positively to legitimate demands for reform, to move towards openness, transparency and greater political freedom," he said.

"That would be my advice to Egyptian leaders," he added.

Hague said he had already urged the Egyptian government to stop the clampdown on social networking sites.

"I would urge the Egyptian government, and I have urged the Egyptian government, to respect rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. It would be futile over time to try to suppress such things."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364479,government-yield-legitimate-demands.html.

Thousands of protesters attend anti-government rallies in Sana'a

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Sana'a, Yemen - Thousands of opposition supporters attended four anti-government rallies in Sana'a on Thursday to demand that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

In the biggest rally, around 10,000 people gathered near the Sana'a University campus chanting slogans calling Saleh, who is ruling since 1978 Saleh to leave.

"Oh King Abdullah, here is Ali Abdullah," they shouted in reference to the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz whose country is hosting toppled Tunisian president bin Ali, "The people want the president changed."

Another slogan said "No to extending (tenure). No to Inheritance."

The rallies were organized by the main opposition alliance, the Joint Meeting Parties, led by the Islamist party, Islah.

The protests ended peacefully, witnesses said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364500,attend-anti-government-rallies-sanaa.html.

Jakarta plans dike to prevent going underwater

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Jakarta - Indonesia plans to build a large dike to prevent the sea from encroaching on its capital because of land subsidence and rising ocean levels, the governor of Jakarta said Thursday.

"The rate of land subsidence is faster than the rise of sea levels, and both phenomena result in flooding on the north coast of Java, including Jakarta," Governor Fauzi Bowo said.

"So there's no choice but to build a dike," he said without giving details about the size, cost or location of the structure.

Jakarta's city government is to meet in February with the central government to discuss the project.

The city administration has said the land has subsided by up to 1.5 meters in the past 20 years in certain business and industrial areas of Jakarta.

The problem is compounded by an estimated rise of 8 to 30 centimeters in sea levels as part of the effects of climate change.

In response, the city has installed high-powered pumps in the northern part of the city, where the land is below sea level, as part of flood-control measures.

Bowo has said the city has a target to reduce floods by 40 per cent by 2011 and 75 per cent by 2016.

Floods inundated much of Jakarta in 2007, killing 57 people and displacing about 450,000. Losses were estimated at 695 million dollars.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364503,plans-dyke-going-underwater.html.

Raids, protests after official's murder sparks outrage in India

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

New Delhi - Hundreds of thousands of government employees went on strike in India's western state of Maharashtra Thursday amid outrage over the killing of an official by members of the so-called oil mafia, officials and news reports said.

Tax official Yeshwant Sonawane was burnt alive while investigating a suspected fuel racket in Malegaon town, some 200 kilometers north-east of state capital Mumbai on Tuesday.

Administrative work was disrupted in the state as government employees and officials refused to work in protest against the killing.

"We demand adequate police protection while carrying out our duties. We also demand strict action against the killers," GD Kulthe, secretary of Maharashtra Gazetted Officers Federation, said.

"We are ceasing work today. Government employees' unions and district-level officers have also joined the protest," he added.

Meanwhile, police launched a crackdown against gangs involved in adulterating petroleum products.

As many as 250 people involved with suspected fuel rackets were arrested and the action would continue over the next few days, state officials told the NDTV network.

Kerosene, sold at subsidized rates for the poor was stolen and used to adulterate petroleum and diesel products by local "oil mafias" in a well-entrenched racket, officials said.

Sonawane's murder has exposed those crimes and drawn sharp criticism over the lawlessness in the region.

In New Delhi, Federal Oil Minister Jaipal Reddy met with senior officials to introduce policy changes to check adulteration and pilfering.

"He (Sonawane) died a martyr to the cause of an anti-adulteration drive," Reddy said announcing a compensation of 2.5 million rupees (54,844 dollars) to the bereaved family.

The police have so far arrested 11 suspected members of the adulterating gang allegedly behind Sonawane's death.

The suspects have been charged with murder, wrongful restraint and use of criminal force to deter a public servant from carrying out his duties.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364504,murder-sparks-outrage-india.html.

Lebanese premier launches consultations to form government

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Beirut - Lebanon's premier designate Najib Mikati started on Thursday his consultations with the various parliamentary blocs to form a new government.

Mikati, 55, a moderate lawmaker with good ties to Syria and Saudi Arabia, was appointed as premier to replace outgoing premier Saad Hariri, after he won the backing of the Hezbollah-led coalition.

Mikati's two-day consultations would focus on seeking a government that include all parties, despite Hariri's Western-backed coalition having openly said that they will not participate in a government backed Hezbollah.

The new premier said if he fails to convince all parties to participate in his cabinet, then he will form a government made of technocrats.

Mikati was nominated to the premiership after Hezbollah and its allies brought down Hariri's government on January 12 amid disagreements over the UN-backed probe into the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, former premier Rafik Hariri.

Hezbollah fears being implicated by the court's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, who has filed confidential draft indictments to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's pre-trial judge, Daniel Fransen.

Hezbollah has also called on the Lebanese government to boycott the tribunal, which it described as a US-Israeli conspiracy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364506,launches-consultations-form-government.html.

Autobiography: Olmert asked Abbas to sign deal in late 2008

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Tel Aviv - In excerpts of his autobiography published for the first time Thursday, former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert said he offered Mahmoud Abbas a far-reaching deal, but the Palestinian president hesitated and backed down.

The excerpts release by the Yediot Ahronot daily come after the al-Jazeera satellite TV published the so-called Palestine Papers over the past days - classified documents detailing the sensitive negotiations between Olmert and Abbas in the wake of the November 2007 Annapolis summit.

Under Olmert's proposal, the Palestinians would get a state based on the borders of before the 1967 war, in which Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt, with some territorial exchanges that would allow Israel to keep its main settlement blocks.

Jewish built-up areas in occupied East Jerusalem would go to Israel and Arab built-up areas to the Palestinians. Five states would be responsible for holy areas in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israel would absorb only a small number of Palestinian refugees, the rest would go to the Palestinian state. A tunnel would connect the West Bank and Gaza.

The dramatic excerpts show how close the Olmert and Abu Mazen administrations were to signing a peace deal - until their negotiations were cut short as the Israeli premier was forced to resign over corruption allegations.

In his book, whose publication date was not immediately known, Olmert made his offer in a September 16, 2008 meeting. He asked Abbas to sign right away, but the Palestinian president replied he was no expert on maps and asked for a delay.

"Give me the maps so I can consult with my friends," Olmert quoted Abbas as saying to him at the time.

"No, I replied. "Take the pen and sign now. You will never get a more just and fair offer. Don't hesitate. It is difficult for me too," Olmert said.

Abbas then asked for a few days for consultations, but postponed the next scheduled negotiation session because of a trip to Amman. They did not meet again.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364509,sign-deal-late-2008.html.

PROFILE: Nuclear sleuth ElBaradei seeks new role in Egypt

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Vienna/Cairo - Mohamed ElBaradei was known for many years as the world's chief nuclear inspector, but since his retirement as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has set his sights on politics in his native Egypt.

During his tenure at the Vienna-based IAEA, which ended in late 2009, ElBaradei was originally known as a cautious bureaucrat, who became more and more vocal on global issues as time went on.

Now he is bluntly criticizing Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak's 30-year long regime. After hinting at a potential bid for the presidency, ElBaradie's return to Egypt in early 2010 served as a rallying point for the country's divided opposition and lifted the hopes of thousands of activists.

He formed the National Coalition for Change, which brings together several of Egypt's opposition groups and demands democratic reforms from the government, including an end to emergency laws and transparent presidential elections.

But the Coalition suffered deep internal divisions in the lead-up to the country's upper and lower house elections later that year. Domestic support for ElBaradei fizzled, and he returned to Vienna.

Two days after widespread anti-government protests shook the country on January 25 2011, ElBaradei returned to Cairo saying he would be willing to lead a transitional government if the public asked him to.

However, there is skepticism in Egypt about ElBaradei's leadership potential, given his long period of absence from the country and his continued residence abroad.

At the IAEA, ElBaradei proved that he can withstand intense pressure and that he will "speak truth to power," as he is fond of saying.

In February 2003, a few weeks before the US-led invasion of Iraq, he said his agency had "found no proof" that the Saddam Hussein regime had a nuclear program.

Washington meanwhile insisted on the existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction programs - which later turned out to be wrong.

After the invasion, ElBaradei openly criticized the United States for its mistake.

His stance on Iraq is widely believed to be one reason why he and the IAEA jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.

In the controversy over Iran's nuclear program, ElBaradei also caused anger in Washington. He pleaded for a cautious approach, while the US advocated UN Security Council sanctions.

In his last years as IAEA head, ElBaradei frequently irritated Western governments by speaking out about topics which were not within his mandate, such as nuclear weapons disarmament and world poverty.

ElBaradei was born in Cairo on June 17, 1942 the son of a prominent lawyer. He also studied law, at the university in his home city and in New York.

He joined the Egyptian diplomatic service in 1964, and was posted to the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

In 1984, he switched to the IAEA, where he headed the legal and external relations departments before succeeding the Swede Hans Blix as director general from 1993.

The former diplomat is married and has two adult children, a son and a daughter.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364620,seeks-new-role-egypt.html.

Hezbollah denies pressure in Lebanon regime talks

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Beirut - Lebanon's premier designate, Najib Mikati, embarked on a round of political consultations Thursday aimed at bridging deep divisions in parliament and forming a government capable of representing all of the country's factions.

Mikati, who is seen as a moderate who enjoys good ties with both Syria and Saudi Arabia, said he would seek to include all parties in his future cabinet.

The Iranian and Syrian-backed Hezbollah denied Thursday that the movement had placed any demands on the newly appointed premier it has chosen to replace outgoing Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

"We did not give a list of conditions to prime minister Mikati," the head of Hezbollah's 12-member bloc in parliament Mohammed Raad said after meeting Mikati.

"What we asked for is a national partnership and a national salvation government in which all parties are in for the interest of the country," Raad added.

Hariri's refusal to break ties with the UN-backed Special tribunal for Lebanon (STL), probing the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, prompted Hezbollah and its allies to bring down Hariri's government on January 12.

It is widely believed that confidential indictments issued by the STL's prosecutor earlier this month implicate leading members of Hezbollah in the assassination.

Hariri, who described the Hezbollah walkout from his government a "coup d'etat," insisted that his coalition will never join a government led by a Hezbollah-chosen premier.

Hariri's parliamentary bloc has also asked Mikati to clarify his position regarding the STL.

Meanwhile, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, who went from being an ally of Hariri to backing Hezbollah in choosing Mikati, called after the consultations for dialogue.

He also voiced the importance of democracy and the need not to resort to violence.

"It is important to avoid issuing inciting statements that jeopardize the country's security," Jumblatt said.

Mikati, a 55-year-old billionaire, has said that he will attempt to form a cabinet of technocrats if he fails to convince all political parties to participate in his government.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364628,pressure-lebanon-regime-talks.html.

Thousands join media law protest outside Hungarian parliament

Thu, 27 Jan 2011

Budapest - Thousands called on the Hungarian government to repeal new media laws that they see as a threat to press freedom during a demonstration in front of the parliament building on Thursday evening.

Protesters waved banners proclaiming "There is no democracy without a free press," in the second large-scale demonstration in as many weeks against media laws that came into force this year.

The protest - organized through social networking websites - proves that "critical voices cannot be silenced," said Balazs Denes, head of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, a pressure group.

Critics are concerned that a new Media Council, composed of government nominees with nine-year tenures, is solely responsible for interpreting legal requirements for "balanced" reporting that respects "human dignity," and has the power to issue potentially ruinous financial penalties.

The European Union's executive is currently waiting for Hungary to answer an official letter that expressed "serious doubts" over the compatibility of the new media regulations with EU law.

The Hungarian government has said it will reply within the two- week deadline, which expires at the end of next week.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364637,law-protest-hungarian-parliament.html.