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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Airport security extends strike in Paris

PARIS, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Airport security staff at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris have agreed to extend a strike that authorities say has had little impact on flight schedules.

An airport spokesman said flights were running on time on Monday, Radio France Internationale reported.

About 200 security staff, however, voted to extend their strike over pay issues.

Police were assigned to the airport after French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared the holiday travel would not be "taken hostage," by the strike.

The government would take "all necessary measures" to keep the airport running smoothly, Sarkozy said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2011/12/26/Airport-security-extends-strike-in-Paris/UPI-34401324914640/.

White whale rescue operation suspended

ANADYR, Russia, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- An operation to rescue dozens of white whales trapped in ice off Russia's Chukotka Peninsula was suspended Monday because of weather conditions, officials say.

Officials said a rescue tug boat headed to the area Friday after fishermen working in the Bering Sea reported seeing about 100 whales trapped in ice Dec. 13, RIA Novosti reported.

The tug boat, which failed to make it through the ice, is heading to the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to refuel, Lubomir Mukha said.

"If the weather and ice conditions in the area improve, the operation may continue," Mukha said.

Holes in the ice allow the whales to breathe easily, but they are still in danger as food in the area dwindles.

Experts from the Chukotka Fishery Research Center said there is enough food in the Sinyavinsky channel to feed the whales at least until January.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/12/26/White-whale-rescue-operation-suspended/UPI-70141324913902/.

'Anonymous' hackers target US security think tank

By CASSANDRA VINOGRAD and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI | AP
Sun, Dec 25, 2011

LONDON (AP) — The loose-knit hacking movement "Anonymous" claimed Sunday to have stolen thousands of credit card numbers and other personal information belonging to clients of U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor. One hacker said the goal was to pilfer funds from individuals' accounts to give away as Christmas donations, and some victims confirmed unauthorized transactions linked to their credit cards.

Anonymous boasted of stealing Stratfor's confidential client list, which includes entities ranging from Apple Inc. to the U.S. Air Force to the Miami Police Department, and mining it for more than 4,000 credit card numbers, passwords and home addresses.

Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos. The company's main website was down, with a banner saying the "site is currently undergoing maintenance."

Proprietary information about the companies and government agencies that subscribe to Stratfor's newsletters did not appear to be at any significant risk, however, with the main threat posed to individual employees who had subscribed.

"Not so private and secret anymore?" Anonymous taunted in a message on Twitter, promising that the attack on Stratfor was just the beginning of a Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.

Anonymous said the client list it had already posted was a small slice of the 200 gigabytes worth of plunder it stole from Stratfor and promised more leaks. It said it was able to get the credit card details in part because Stratfor didn't bother encrypting them — an easy-to-avoid blunder which, if true, would be a major embarrassment for any security-related company.

Fred Burton, Stratfor's vice president of intelligence, said the company had reported the intrusion to law enforcement and was working with them on the investigation.

Stratfor has protections in place meant to prevent such attacks, he said.

"But I think the hackers live in this kind of world where once they fixate on you or try to attack you it's extraordinarily difficult to defend against," Burton said.

Hours after publishing what it claimed was Stratfor's client list, Anonymous tweeted a link to encrypted files online with names, phone numbers, emails, addresses and credit card account details.

"Not as many as you expected? Worry not, fellow pirates and robin hoods. These are just the 'A's," read a message posted online that encouraged readers to download a file of the hacked information.

The attack is "just another in a massive string of breaches we've seen this year and in years past," said Josh Shaul, chief technology officer of Application Security Inc., a New York-based provider of database security software.

Still, companies that shared secret information with Stratfor in order to obtain threat assessments might worry that the information is among the 200 gigabytes of data that Anonymous claims to have stolen, he said.

"If an attacker is walking away with that much email, there might be some very juicy bits of information that they have," Shaul said.

Lt. Col. John Dorrian, public affairs officer for the Air Force, said that "for obvious reasons" the Air Force doesn't discuss specific vulnerabilities, threats or responses to them.

"The Air Force will continue to monitor the situation and, as always, take appropriate action as necessary to protect Air Force networks and information," he said in an email.

Miami Police Department spokesman Sgt. Freddie Cruz Jr. said that he could not confirm that the agency was a client of Stratfor, and he said he had not received any information about a security breach involving the police department.

Anonymous also linked to images online that it suggested were receipts for charitable donations made by the group manipulating the credit card data it stole.

"Thank you! Defense Intelligence Agency," read the text above one image that appeared to show a transaction summary indicating that an agency employee's information was used to donate $250 to a non-profit.

One receipt — to the American Red Cross — had Allen Barr's name on it.

Barr, of Austin, Texas, recently retired from the Texas Department of Banking and said he discovered last Friday that a total of $700 had been spent from his account. Barr, who has spent more than a decade dealing with cybercrime at banks, said five transactions were made in total.

"It was all charities, the Red Cross, CARE, Save the Children. So when the credit card company called my wife she wasn't sure whether I was just donating," said Barr, who wasn't aware until a reporter with the AP called that his information had been compromised when Stratfor's computers were hacked.

"It made me feel terrible. It made my wife feel terrible. We had to close the account."

Wishing everyone a "Merry LulzXMas" — a nod to its spinoff hacking group Lulz Security — Anonymous also posted a link on Twitter to a site containing the email, phone number and credit number of a U.S. Homeland Security employee.

The employee, Cody Sultenfuss, said he had no warning before his details were posted.

"They took money I did not have," he told The Associated Press in a series of emails, which did not specify the amount taken. "I think 'Why me?' I am not rich."

But the breach doesn't necessarily pose a risk to owners of the credit cards. A card user who suspects fraudulent activity on his or her card can contact the credit card company to dispute the charge.

Stratfor said in an email to members, signed by Stratfor Chief Executive George Friedman and passed on to AP by subscribers, that it had hired a "leading identity theft protection and monitoring service" on behalf of the Stratfor members affected by the attack. The company said it will send another email on services for affected members by Wednesday.

Stratfor acknowledged that an "unauthorized party" had revealed personal information and credit card data of some of its members.

The company had sent another email to subscribers earlier in the day saying it had suspended its servers and email after learning that its website had been hacked.

One member of the hacking group, who uses the handle AnonymousAbu on Twitter, claimed that more than 90,000 credit cards from law enforcement, the intelligence community and journalists — "corporate/exec accounts of people like Fox" News — had been hacked and used to "steal a million dollars" and make donations.

It was impossible to verify where credit card details were used. Fox News was not on the excerpted list of Stratfor members posted online, but other media organizations including MSNBC and Al-Jazeera English appeared in the file.

Anonymous warned it has "enough targets lined up to extend the fun fun fun of LulzXmas through the entire next week."

The group has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on credit card companies Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., eBay Inc.'s PayPal, as well as other groups in the music industry and the Church of Scientology.

____________

Plushnick-Masti reported from Houston. Associated Press writers Jennifer Kay in Miami and Daniel Wagner in Washington, D.C. also contributed to this report.

Iran's Navy to Launch Second Modern Destroyer

2011-12-26

Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Sunday that the Iranian navy was constructing its second modern warship destroyer called Jamaran-2.

Talking to the official IRNA news agency, Sayyari said the destroyer, which enjoys capabilities in three areas of surface-to- air, surface-to-surface and sub-surface operations, will join the Iranian fleet soon.

The Jamaran-2 is also capable of offering fuel to helicopters, he said.

The Navy commander further noted that the Jamaran-1 warship destroyer is present in the Velayat-90 war games which are underway in Iran's southern waters for a 10-day period.

The Iranian Navy launched a 10-day massive naval exercises in the international waters on Saturday.

The naval drills, dubbed Velayat 90, cover an area of 2,000 km stretching from the east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

Different classes of submarines, including Tareq and Ghadir, the newest ground-to-sea missile systems and torpedoes will be employed in the maneuvers.

It is the first time the Iranian Navy carries out naval drills in such a vast area, Sayyari said at a press conference on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Parviz Sorouri, a member of the Iranian Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that Iran plans to practice its ability to close the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most important passages for exports of crude oil and oil products from littoral states of the Persian Gulf.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said later that closing the Strait of Hormuz is not on Iran's agenda since Iran believes in upholding the stability and peace of the region.

Source: CRIEnglish.
Link: http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/12/26/2701s673192.htm.

Russian intelligence facilities attacked in Syria

23 December 2011

At least 40 people have been killed and over 100 injured as a result of bombings in Damascus. Lebanese TV channel Al-Manar reports that the explosions have been carried out by "martyr bombers".

It is also reported that facilities of Russian intelligence have been targeted. According to the latest information, booby-trapped cars have been undermined near the two centers of the security forces of Alawite regime. Most of killed and wounded are Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents. The Assad regime declared that "the attack had been organized by Al-Qaeda".

The Guardian referring to Syrian TV says that the bombings in Syria were directed against Russian intelligence. Russia has repeatedly supported the current Syrian government that caused discontent among the local opposition. The world's media outlets reported about several anti-Russian protests that had taken place in Damascus.

Russian experts also acknowledge that the explosions in Damascus were directed against Moscow and not against the Syrian government. That was stated by political analyst Alexei Malashenko from Moscow Carnegie Center.

Two explosions occurred a day after international observers had come to Syria. According to the plan of the League of Arab States, they should get a third-party view on the situation in the country.

According to UN statistics, the total number of victims of the Alawite regime in Syria has exceeded in recent months 5,000 people.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/12/23/15537.shtml.

Russian superpatriots disclose their plans to conquer the world

23 December 2011

Russian superpatriots disclosed their plans for the future in the person of reserve Colonel-General Ivashov, who gave an interview to Russian news agency Novy Region.

It is worth mentioning that Ivashov was the head of Russia's Defense Ministry's Central International Military Cooperation Directorate, at the time of the Kosovo war.

Ivashov was in charge of following the situation in Kosovo for the Russian Government. In that capacity he had detailed and confidential information coming from intelligence sources, contacts with senior military officials of other countries and meetings of the Russia-NATO Council. He also had contacts with the Yugoslav military leadership, and met seven times with Slobodan Milosevic.

The plans of Ivashov's superpatriots are unchanged and are not much different from those of Putin, except in details: militarization of Russia to seize the whole world under the leadership of a Russian leader like Stalin. Ivashov said in particular:

"The tandem is just a toy in the hands of those forces, both internal and external, that wish to destroy Russia, and the Russian army - they do it, so there will be no one to defend our space, our people, our territory.

All my colleagues, everybody who supports me will fight for Russia, and we are ready for a new phase of our struggle for Russia. I will not talk about our plans, but believe me, we have a strong desire not to allow to ruin Russia, not to permit it to be further robbed, and we'll use the whole arsenal of means in order to defend both our present and our future.

We are a great nation, we won great victories, we saved several times humanity from destruction.

I urge my colleagues, especially those who wore or wear army uniform: it is important to fight for the army, for the safety of the Fatherland!

This Kremlin is not so strong, just nobody has smacked its face before.

We are to take from the West all the best they have. If they do not give us - then steal it l! Why do we have intelligence?

I talked about that to Zyuganov (head of Putin's Communists - KC) , my colleagues talked to Sergei Mironov (head of Putin's parliamentary Nationalists from Justified Russia party - KC), all of them are for Russia! It's time to sweep away the scum out of the Kremlin, but we should not be limited with the Kremlin. After sweeping them away, the others will come. This sweeping should be carried out throughout Russia, simultaneously. We will try to sweep them away from the Kremlin, but you need to do the same in provincial towns, villages, regions, districts.

Russia will have many allies in the East and South, and in the West. Well, look at the protests which are taking place in the Western world, and they increase. These people are our allies. We have a mission to bring the most valuable to this world. We have brought peace, and we must do it again, that is our historic mission. Today, all over the world, the peoples want to see a leader who will lead them to the normal path of development.

We do not have enough population in Russia for that mission. At the same time, we see a very large population growth in Central Asian republics, Ukraine, the Caucasus. We are to organize the inflow of these people into our country.

Colonel General Ivashov concluded his interview in a purely Russian style - he denounced his political competitor to the KGB:

"Boris Mironov (former Russian information minister in Boris Yeltsin's government - KC) suggested to me, watching how graduate officers are received in the Kremlin, to go in there with explosives, or at least with a pistol, and to shoot them all dead".

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/12/23/15538.shtml.

Darfur rebel group confirms leader killed

Dec 26, 2011

Johannesburg - The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the main rebel group in Darfur, has confirmed that its leader was killed by the Sudanese military and vowed revenge, according to a statement carried by local media on Monday.

While the Sudanese army had said the rebel leader Khalil Ibrahim was killed in battle as he was trying to sneak into South Sudan last week, JEM countered that he was killed in an airstrike and charged that foreign powers were involved in the attack.

'This indicates a collusion and conspiracy by some quarters in the regional and international milieu with the regime of genocide in Khartoum,' JEM was quoted as saying by the Sudan Tribune daily.

'By this plot, Khartoum opened the door for political murders,' according to a spokesman for the group, which pulled out of a peace deal with the government last year.

Ibrahim reportedly returned from Libya this year, after the downfall of the Moamer Gaddafi's regime, from whom JEM allegedly received support. Newly independent South Sudan is also accused by Khartoum of aiding the rebels.

According to reports and video footage circulating online, police in Khartoum dispersed supporters of JEM who tried to pay condolences at the house of Ibrahim's family on the outskirts of the Sudanese capital.

It was unclear who would replace the rebel leader at the helm of the group, which he helped found in 2000.

In the conflict in Darfur, ongoing since 2003, some 300,000 people have died according to the UN, though Khartoum says the figure is lower.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1682725.php/Darfur-rebel-group-confirms-leader-killed.

Indonesia's Aceh marks 7 years since Indian Ocean tsunami

Dec 26, 2011

Banda Aceh, Indonesia - Aliya Humaira scribbled a message on yellow paper in the shape of a petal: 'I love Papa, I love Mama, I love Sister Icha, I love Brother Kiki.'

The 8-year-old Aliya lost her parents, a brother and a sister in the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Aceh province on Indonesia's Sumatra island.

She and other children marked the 7th anniversary of the tsunami by planting 5,000 paper flowers containing messages of hope from their Japanese peers on a golf course in Aceh Besar district.

The yellow paper flowers were sent by children in the Japanese city of Kobe, where more than 6,000 people were killed after a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck 16 years ago.

'Let's rise up together,' read one message written by a Japanese earthquake survivor.

Aliya is now being raised by her grandmother in Medan, the capital of neighboring North Sumatra province.

'Every year I take Aliya to Aceh so that she won't forget her family,' said the grandmother, Khamariyah, wiping tears that rolled down her eyes. Like many Indonesians she uses only one name.

Aceh was the region hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami.

The disaster, triggered by a magnitude-9.3 earthquake off Sumatra, killed an estimated 230,000 people in 13 countries along the Indian Ocean, including 170,000 in Aceh and Nias island.

Thousands attended the ceremony marking the anniversary in Aceh Besar attended by Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf and guests from Japan.

'The paper flowers are called Shinsai Mirai No Hana, which means flowers of the future,' said Ryo Nishikawa, a Japanese social worker who organized the project.

He said Achinese children would also send similar flowers to their Japanese peers in Kobe.

Relatives gathered Monday at mass graves where thousands of Achinese victims of the tsunami were buried to say prayers.

At a mass grave in Siron, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists offered joint prayers while others in the staunchly Islamic province gathered at local mosques.

Days before the anniversary, an Achinese girl who was thought to have died in the tsunami was found and reunited with her parents.

Her grandfather said she was forced to beg by her adopted mother for years before she left her to look for her biological parents.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1682718.php/Indonesia-s-Aceh-marks-7-years-since-Indian-Ocean-tsunami.

Gaza Hamas leader leaves Gaza for first time since 2007

2011-12-25

Hamas premier Ismail Haniya leaves Gaza Strip for regional tour that will take him to Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia, Bahrain.

GAZA CITY - Hamas premier Ismail Haniya left the Gaza Strip for a regional tour on Sunday for the first time since Israel and Egypt imposed a siege in 2007, his office said.

Sources in his office said that Haniya would visit Egypt and Sudan, after which he plans to go to Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia and Bahrain.

The primary purpose of the trip was to obtain "help and aid" to rebuild Gaza City, but Haniya was also likely to address the issue of Palestinian reconciliation in talks, they said.

Earlier reports suggested that Haniya is planning to move Hamas offices located in Damascus to Doha, following the ongoing unrest Syria is witnessing.

The brutal regime crackdown on protesters in Syria has presented an embarrassment for Hamas, which was embraced by President Bashar al-Assad and given a home in Damascus for several years.

However, staying in Syria would tacitly suggest that Hamas supports Assad, who has already become the loneliest and most isolated leader in the Middle East.

Haniya entered Egypt through the Rafah crossing, recently opened after remaining largely shut since June 2006 when Israel imposed a blockade after militants snatched soldier Gilad Shalit, who was freed in October in a prisoner swap.

The blockade was tightened a year later when the Islamist Hamas seized control of the territory, ousting forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

Egypt had largely complied with the restrictions, although it occasionally opened Rafah -- the only Gaza crossing that bypasses Israel -- to allow aid in and students and medical cases out.

In May, Egypt officially reopened its Rafah border crossing with Gaza, more than three months after Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak resigned, allowing people to cross freely for the first time in four years.

Haniya's regional tour begins three days after Palestinian factions, including Hamas, met in Cairo to thrash out implementation of a surprise deal they signed in April.

The two factions had previously been at loggerheads ever since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007, leaving the Palestinian territories with rival administrations.

On Thursday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Syria-based Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal discussed reforming the Palestine Liberation Organization, in a bid to allow the Islamist movement and 13 other Palestinian factions to join.

But cracks have emerged lately between the Damascus and Gaza branches of Hamas regarding future strategy.

Last month, Meshaal voiced support for "popular peaceful resistance," which presumes that Hamas would ultimately renounce armed struggle against Israel.

He also said he was open to the creation of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including the West Bank and the Gaza strip with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Such a strategy in effect calls for a Palestinian state next to, and not in place of, Israel, and would be a departure from the position held by Hamas since its founding 24 years ago.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49658.

Yemenis brave death to call for Saleh to face trial

2011-12-25

By Jamal al-Jabiri – SANAA

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Yemen's capital Sunday calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to face trial, a day after his forces and loyalists killed 13 people at a similar demonstration.

"The people want to bring the slaughterer to trial," shouted the protesters who marched from Change Square, epicenter of the uprising that began nearly a year ago, towards Sittin Avenue in the northern district of Sanaa.

"We won't rest until the slaughterer is executed," they chanted. "We don't want Abdrabuh, Ali Saleh controls him," they chanted, referring to Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.

Saleh is still honorary president but handed authority over to Hadi last month when he signed a Gulf-brokered deal in which he won immunity from prosecution in exchange for ending his 33-year rule when polls are held in February.

Angry youths have staged defiant protests against the plan, which is backed by the United Nations, despite a bloody backlash by Saleh's forces and loyalists that has seen hundreds of them killed.

But Saleh's General People's Congress party insisted on Sunday that the parliament would confirm the immunity deal.

"Measures will be taken to issue the immunity law as per the Gulf plan" after a parliamentary vote of confidence on the newly formed unity government expected this week, Sultan al-Barakani, who represents the GPC's bloc in parliament, said.

The veteran leader said Saturday that he would soon visit the United States ahead of transferring power following a February 21 presidential election.

A diplomat from one of the countries that has sponsored the deal, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Saleh has presented "a list of 412 people" he wants the immunity deal to include.

The list includes his relatives, aides, and officials who had worked with him during his rule, the source said, adding that Saleh was given a US visa "two weeks ago."

But Sunday's protesters reject any such agreements.

"No guarantee, no immunity to Saleh and to those close to him," they shouted.

The protesters, backed by tens of thousands who were met by gunfire from Saleh's forces and loyalists after they arrived on foot Saturday from the second-largest city Taez, called on Hadi to hand over those responsible for the violence to justice.

"Take up your responsibility and hand the killers of the youths over to justice, or resign," said one of the organizers on a loudspeaker as the demonstrators gathered outside Hadi's residence on Sittin Avenue.

Thirteen people were killed on Saturday when security forces and gunmen loyal to Saleh attacked their march in which they were calling for him to be put on trial.

"Thirteen people were killed and 50 others were wounded by live rounds," a medical official said Sunday, updating an earlier toll of nine dead.

The medic from a field hospital in the capital said that 150 other people suffered from breathing difficulties due to tear gas inhalation.

Another medic who confirmed the toll said three of the wounded had succumbed to their injuries while a fourth was shot dead in another protest later on Saturday.

The objective of the five-day-long "March for Life" that turned deadly on Saturday was to press for Saleh and his top allies to face criminal charges for their roles in the violence committed against anti-regime protesters.

Despite being met by live rounds, water cannon and tear gas upon their arrival in Sanaa's south, the crowds who set off from Taez on Tuesday for the 270-kilometre (167-mile) march to Sanaa poured into the capital where they spent the night in Change Square.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49655.

Russia opposition activist to be held 10 more days

December 25, 2011 — MOSCOW (AP) — A prominent Russian opposition activist had barely half an hour of freedom Sunday before being sentenced to 10 more days in jail — making it the 14th time this year he's been detained.

The decision by a Moscow court late Sunday to find Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov guilty of a charge of resisting police came a day after Russia witnessed the largest protest rally in its post-Soviet history. As demonstrators vented frustration Saturday with the scandal-marred parliamentary election of Dec. 4 that left Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in control, many prominent figures called for Udaltsov's release.

How the Kremlin chooses to deal with Udaltsov could prove a litmus test for how it approaches the opposition in the coming days. During Putin's decade-plus long tenure as president and prime minister, opposition activists have faced numerous crackdowns, but their cause appears to have been boosted by allegations of fraud during the recent election.

The Left Front leader was due to be released Sunday from a hospital, where he was being treated as he served the final days of his previous sentence. Udaltsov, who had been held since election day on claims of staging an unsanctioned rally, had spent much of the month on a hunger strike.

Found guilty of resisting police, Udaltsov was escorted back to the hospital Sunday night after he felt unwell in court. "He was so stressed out that he fell ill," Udaltsov's lawyer, Nikolay Polozov, said.

Prominent opposition leaders came to the court to support Udaltsov. Many have referred to his constant detentions as political harassment. The Left Front leader has spent at least 50 days in jail this year.

The court on Sunday found that Udaltsov resisted police on Oct. 24 while being detained outside the Central Election Committee's building. A video of his detention, filmed by the Associated Press Television, shows the activist arrive on a bicycle and later talk to reporters.

Udaltsov was telling the press that he had come out to the election committee's headquarters to stage a one-man picket, which requires no sanction from authorities. Shortly afterwards, police came and took Udaltsov away. Udaltsov did not appear to be putting resistance.

Udaltsov's lawyer said they would appeal the verdict.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Palestinian factions agree on unified government

Thursday 22 December 2011
Phoebe Greenwood in Tel Aviv

President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal finalize groundbreaking deal in Cairo after heated negotiations.

Rival Palestinian factions have agreed to form a unified government, which will be sworn in by the end of January. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal met in Cairo to agree the groundbreaking deal late on Wednesday after days of heated negotiation between representatives of Palestinian political groups led by Hamas and Fatah.

The talks, mediated by Egypt, are part of ongoing efforts to mend the factional divisions that split Gaza from the West Bank in 2007 and led to the collapse of the Palestinian legislative council. There has not been a functioning Palestinian parliament since.

Initial reports suggested that the announcement signaled Hamas's return to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is internationally recognized as representing the Palestinian people. But Fatah officials told the Guardian that the militant group is yet to sign the PLO charter, which would require it to lay down arms.

Ghassan Khatib, a spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas, welcomed the progress, saying that in order to the achieve independence through the United Nations, the Palestinian Authority must prioritize reunification.

"We are hopeful the reconciliation will be successful," Khatib said. "We cannot say we are ready for independence and statehood before we have a reunified Palestinian system."

On Tuesday, the delegates agreed to set up both an electoral commission and a deadline for the establishment of a caretaker cabinet of technocrats. Both sides agreed that all political prisoners currently held in the West Bank and Gaza would be released by the end of January.

The issue of prisoners has been a critical sticking point. Officials in the Gaza Strip point out that since Abbas promised to release Hamas prisoners held by the Palestinian Authority at his last meeting with Meshaal in November, 89 members of the militant faction have been arrested in the West Bank.

Cynics within both factions maintain that the victories won at the Cairo summit are hollow. While Hamas has agreed to accept the foundation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, the militant group steadfastly refuses to abandon its armed resistance to the Israeli occupation or recognize the state of Israel.

"We want really to end this [division] but I am not optimistic," a spokesperson for Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh said earlier this week, indicating that the leadership of acting prime minister Salam Fayyad remained an obstacle. "Abu Mazen [Abbas] has said no government without Salam Fayyad. This is not negotiation."

Fayyad is regarded with suspicion by Hamas.

Hamas officials also predict that heavy diplomatic and financial pressure applied by Israel and the US will ultimately prevent Mahmoud Abbas from forming a unity government.

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has issued an ultimatum to the Palestinian leader, warning that he must choose between reconciliation with Hamas and peace with Israel, a stance confirmed by his spokesperson on Thursday.

"Hamas is openly against peace. Terrorism is not just a tactic it is their very being. The unfortunate reality is that if Abbas moves towards Hamas, he moves away from peace," Mark Regev said.

Washington has indicated it will cut millions of dollars in funding to the Palestinian security infrastructure if the current leadership unifies with Hamas.

If the new Palestinian government is established in late January, its birth will coincide with the deadline presented to Palestinian and Israeli leaders by the Middle East quartet to present roadmaps to peace. The international mediating body has requested serious proposals on border and security issues from both governments by 26 January.

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/palestinian-factions-agree-unified-government.

Kuwait donates 1 million to support Gaza preschool children

By Heather Yamour

WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (KUNA) -- The American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) organization late Friday said it was "absolutely thrilled and grateful" to receive a USD one million dollar donation from the Kuwaiti government to provide nutritional support to children in Gaza. The non-profit relief and development agency said that the substantial donation would provide vitamin-fortified milk and high-energy biscuits to over 17,000 pre-schoolers in Gaza, where the World Health Organization statistics show nearly four out of ten children under five suffer from anemia and malnutrition.

"This is something that's near to our hearts and I think to everyone in the State of Kuwait that we look upon innocent children and hope that they have the basics of life. This is one of the things we're trying to provide. This offers them a safety net so that the ravages of anemia and stunting are not something they have to live with day after day," Bill Corcoran, President of ANERA told KUNA in an interview.

During a visit to ANERA's Washington headquarters, Kuwait's Ambassador to the US Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah told KUNA that this is the second donation from Kuwait to fund ANERA's work with children in Gaza.

He added that Kuwait exerts many efforts to support the Palestinian people throughout the years, which reflect the deep Kuwait-Palestinian "distinctive and historic" relations.

He affirmed that the Palestinian issue is among the priorities of the Kuwaiti leadership, stressing the support of the Kuwaiti people to the Palestinians on all levels.

The Ambassador stressed that this donation comes to provide the simplest living requirements for the Gaza children in light of the "difficult political, economic and living conditions" there.

The Kuwaiti Government had also donated in March 2010 USD one million to fund ANERA's Milk for Preschoolers program with children in Gaza. "This generous gift strengthens ANERA's capacity to care for Palestinian children at their most vulnerable age," said former U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait and ANERA board chairman Edward Gnehm, telling KUNA, "This really touches children and it touches the hearts of people. They do feel neglected, they do feel ignored by the world and this is a very special way to reach out to them. We are very much a part of their lives and we are happy to be partners with Kuwait."

ANERA said the USD one million donation is a "valued endorsement of ANERA's ability to deliver with the highest standards of accountability and responsibility." For more than 40 years ANERA has been a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families through-out the Middle East.

In 2011, the relief and development agency delivered more than USD 65 million of programs to the people of the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan. This was up from the USD 51 million raised in 2010.

Source: Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
Link: http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2210818&Language=en.

Anti-Putin protests draw tens of thousands

December 25, 2011 — MOSCOW (AP) — Tens of thousands of Russians jammed a Moscow avenue to demand free elections and an end to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule, in the largest show of public outrage since the protests 20 years ago that brought down the Soviet Union. Gone was the political apathy of recent years as many shouted "We are the Power!"

Saturday's demonstration, bigger and better organized than a similar one two weeks ago, and smaller rallies across the country encouraged opposition leaders hoping to sustain a protest movement ignited by a fraud-tainted parliamentary election on Dec. 4.

The enthusiasm also cheered Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader who closed down the Soviet Union on Dec. 25, 1991. "I'm happy that I have lived to see the people waking up. This raises big hopes," the 80-year-old Gorbachev said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

He urged Putin to follow his example and give up power peacefully, saying Putin would be remembered for the positive things he did if he stepped down now. The former Soviet leader, who has grown increasingly critical of Putin, has little influence in Russia today.

But the protesters have no central leader and no candidate capable of posing a serious challenge to Putin, who intends to return to the presidency in a March vote. Even at Saturday's rally, some of the speakers were jeered by the crowd. The various liberal, nationalist and leftist groups that took part appear united only by their desire to see "Russia without Putin," a popular chant.

Putin, who gave no public response to the protest Saturday, initially derided the demonstrators as paid agents of the West. He also said sarcastically that he thought the white ribbons they wore as an emblem were condoms. Putin has since come to take their protests more seriously, and in an effort to stem the anger he has offered a set of reforms to allow more political competition in future elections.

Kremlin-controlled television covered Saturday's rally, but gave no air time to Putin's harshest critics. Estimates of the number of demonstrators ranged from the police figure of 30,000 to 120,000 offered by the organizers. Demonstrators packed much of a broad avenue, which has room for nearly 100,000 people, about 2.5 kilometers (some 1.5 miles) from the Kremlin, as the temperature dipped well below freezing.

A stage at the end of the avenue featured banners reading "Russia will be free" and "This election Is a farce." Heavy police cordons encircled the participants, who stood within metal barriers, and a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Alexei Navalny, a corruption-fighting lawyer and popular blogger, electrified the crowd when he took the stage. He soon had the protesters chanting "We are the power!" Navalny spent 15 days in jail for leading a protest on Dec. 5 that unexpectedly drew more than 5,000 people and set off the chain of demonstrations.

Putin's United Russia party lost 25 percent of its seats in the election, but hung onto a majority in parliament through what independent observers said was widespread fraud. United Russia, seen as representing a corrupt bureaucracy, has become known as the party of crooks and thieves, a phrase coined by Navalny.

"We have enough people here to take the Kremlin," Navalny shouted to the crowd. "But we are peaceful people and we won't do that — yet. But if these crooks and thieves keep cheating us, we will take what is ours."

Protest leaders expressed skepticism about Putin's promised political reforms. "We don't trust him," opposition leader Boris Nemtsov told the rally, urging protesters to gather again after the long New Year's holidays to make sure the proposed changes are put into law.

He and other speakers called on the demonstrators to go to the polls in March to unseat Putin. "A thief must not sit in the Kremlin," Nemtsov said. The protest leaders said they would keep up their push for a rerun of the parliamentary vote and punishment for election officials accused of fraud, while stressing the need to prevent fraud in the March presidential election.

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov was among those who sought to give the protesters a sense of empowerment. "There are so many of us here, and they (the government) are few," Kasparov said from the stage. "They are huddled up in fear behind police cordons."

The crowd was largely young, but included a sizable number of middle-aged and elderly people, some of whom limped slowly to the site on walkers and canes. "We want to back those who are fighting for our rights," said 16-year-old Darya Andryukhina, who said she had also attended the previous rally.

"People have come here because they want respect," said Tamara Voronina, 54, who said she was proud that her three sons also had joined the protest. Putin's comment about protesters wearing condoms only further infuriated them and inspired some creative responses. One protester Saturday held a picture montage of Putin with his head wrapped in a condom like a grandmother's headscarf. Many inflated condoms along with balloons.

The protests reflect a growing weariness with Putin, who was first elected president in 2000 and remained in charge after moving into the prime minister's seat in 2008. Brazen fraud in the parliamentary vote unexpectedly energized the middle class, which for years had been politically apathetic.

"No one has done more to bring so many people here than Putin, who managed to insult the whole country," said Viktor Shenderovich, a columnist and satirical writer. Two rallies in St. Petersburg on Saturday drew a total of 4,000 people.

"I'm here because I'm tired of the government's lies," said Dmitry Dervenev, 47, a designer. "The prime minister insulted me personally when he said that people came to the rallies because they were paid by the U.S. State Department. I'm here because I'm a citizen of my country."

Putin accused the United States of encouraging and funding the protests to weaken Russia. Putin's former finance minister surprised the protesters by saying the current parliament should approve the proposed electoral changes and then step down to allow new parliamentary elections to be held. Alexei Kudrin, who remains close to Putin, warned that the wave of protests could lead to violence and called for establishing a dialogue between the opposition and the government.

"Otherwise we will lose the chance for peaceful transformation," Kudrin said. Kudrin also joined calls for the ouster of Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov. Putin has promised to liberalize registration rules for opposition parties and restore the direct election of governors he abolished in 2004. Putin's stand-in as president, Dmitry Medvedev, spelled out those and other proposed changes in Thursday's state-of-the nation address.

Gorbachev, however, said the government appears confused. "They don't know what to do," he said. "They are making attempts to get out of the trap they drove themselves into."

Associated Press writers Nataliya Vasilyeva and Jim Heintz contributed to this report.

Seven ways to end joint pain, arthritis and gout using cherries

Saturday, December 24, 2011
by: JB Bardot

(NaturalNews) Gout and arthritis have two things in common. Each condition makes the body hurt, and they respond to the powerful nutrients found in cherries that eliminate pain. Cherries contain high levels of antioxidants and anthocyanins, nutrients known to relieve pain, inflammation and stiffness. Cherries belong to an esteemed group of super fruits including blueberries, acai, pomegranate, yumberries, cranberries and goji berries -- all providing exceptionally high amounts of these pain-killing compounds. Cherries are rich in polynutrients and anthocyanins, which give the fruit its rich, reddish-purple color -- the deeper the color, the higher the level of antioxidants.

Raw or Cooked
Whether they're raw or cooked, cherries in any form contain the same anti-inflammatory substances, according to the University of Michigan Health System. They reported that people consuming about 1/2 pound of cherries daily over a period of four weeks noticed significant joint pain relief. To be sure of getting the most from cooked cherries, include the cooking juices.

Canned
Count canned cherries in when including cherries in a regime of pain-relieving foods. The University of Michigan also included canned cherries in its review for helping to relieve aches and pains associated with musculoskeletal conditions. Keeping a couple of cans of tart cherries in the pantry ensures there will always be something in the house in the event supplies of other cherry products run low. This does not include maraschino, whose natural chemical makeup has been altered by preserving and adding sugar.

Juice
Some people swear by the healing effects of drinking tart cherry juice. Tart cherries are thought by some to have the greatest pain-killing power, and Montmorency cherries are considered the most popular sour cherry. Tart cherries are also rich in potassium, which may help the body create an alkaline-forming state, and protect against acidosis, which is a breeding ground for the formation of disease. Drinking six ounces of tart cherry juice daily is the approximate equivalent to 1/2 pound of raw or cooked cherries. Cherry juice can be diluted with water. Mixing black cherry juice and tart cherry juice provides sweetness, making the drink more palatable for some people.

Powder
Taking cherry powder provides a quick, portable, easy way to utilize the benefits of cherries. An animal study funded by the Cherry Marketing Institute in 2008 indicated that rats receiving dried cherry powder had greatly reduced levels of inflammation in their bodies. Additionally, when the cherry powder was fed mixed with a high-fat diet, the rats didn't build body fat or gain weight at the same rate as control animals.

Concentrate
Cherry concentrate is simply cherry juice with the excess water removed. It provides a super-punch of pain-relieving nutrients. As little as two ounces a day diluted with water may offer relief for aching joints and muscles and relieve the agonizing pain of gout. Look for organic cherry concentrate to ensure the absence of pesticides and other chemicals.

Supplements
A variety of supplements contain cherries including capsules, liquid extracts, and snack bars. Cherry supplements may not cure arthritis and gout, but like fresh and cooked cherries and cherry juice, they too offer another way to consume the important chemicals that provide relief for those suffering in pain. Some supplements contain high levels of quercetin and vitamin C as well as antioxidants and anthocyanins. A common daily dose of cherry extract is 2,000 mg divided into four doses throughout the day; however, it's best to consult a health practitioner before taking unfamiliar supplements.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/034479_cherries_gout_arthritis.html.

New non-GMO 'super' broccoli contains extra cancer-fighting nutrients, but less vital sulfur

Saturday, December 24, 2011
by: Jonathan Benson

(NaturalNews) British scientists have developed a new variety of broccoli that contains up to three times more of a powerful heart-health nutrient than conventional varieties -- and they did so without the use of genetic modification (GM). However, the "super" broccoli, known as "Beneforte," also contains less vital sulfur than conventional varieties.

By cross-breeding traditional British broccoli with wild, bitter Sicilian broccoli, researchers from the Institute for Food Research and the John Innes Center, both in Norwich, England, were able to produce the Beneforte variety, which contains up to three times the normal amount of glucoraphanin (GRP).

GRP is a precursor to sulforaphane (SF), which is the actual nutrient responsible for providing anticancer, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial benefits. GRP in its standalone form provides little, if any, health benefits, and must come into contact with myrosinase (MYR), another enzyme naturally present in broccoli, in order to become metabolized into beneficial SF.

The Beneforte scientists, however, claim the extra GRP in their broccoli helps to improve the breakdown down of fat in the body, and prevent it from building up in arteries and causing heart disease. They also say that eating Beneforte helps to reduce cholesterol levels, and are currently conducting human studies to verify these claims.

"There's a lot of circumstantial evidence that points to (glucoraphanin and related compounds) as the most important preventive agents for (heart attacks) and certain cancers," Lars Ove Dragsted, a professor at the University of Copenhagen's department of human nutrition, is quoted as saying by USA Today

Since it is not GM, Beneforte is unlikely to have any negative side effects. After all, many non-GM fruits and vegetables sold in stores today are hybridized. However, unless there is extra MYR in Beneforte along with the extra GRP, it is unclear whether this so-called "super" variety of broccoli is any more beneficial to health than standard varieties.

Beneforte was introduced in the UK last month, and has been available in select stores in California and Texas for roughly the past year. And within the next couple of weeks, it is set to be introduced in stores across the US.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/034480_super_broccoli_cancer_nutrients.html.

Tunisia unveils new cabinet

Tunisia's first democratic government is promising to create tens of thousands of new jobs.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 23/12/11

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali on Thursday (December 22nd) presented his government to the Constituent Assembly. The 41-member coalition cabinet consists of 30 ministers and 11 state secretaries.

Moderate Islamist party Ennahda claimed the top cabinet portfolios. Ali Larayedh, a former political prisoner and senior Ennahda official, will become interior minister. Ennahda spokesperson Nourredine Bhiri will take over as justice minister, while Rafik Abdessalem, the son-in-law of Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi, will be Tunisia's new foreign minister.

Ennahda also gets the higher education ministry and the newly-created human rights ministry. Houcine Dimassim, a non-partisan individual named by Ettakatol, is set to become Tunisia's new finance minister.

Defense Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi was the only member of the outgoing cabinet to retain his post.

In addressing the Constituent Assembly, Jebali pledged to listen to the people, involve civil society and work for a transparent government. The prime minister also vowed to include the spirit of the revolution in the new constitution.

He added that the government would take practical steps to respond to the demands of unemployed people, foremost among whom young university graduates.

"For this purpose, national and foreign investments will be boosted and stimulated, initiatives and creative ideas will be encouraged, training centers will be expanded and activated and linked to market needs, and young developers will be provided with care," Jebali said.

He also said that "the government plans to create more than 20,000 jobs in the public sector as a contribution from the state to employment efforts. This is in addition to benefiting from job opportunities in neighboring and friendly countries, especially Libya, the Gulf and Europe."

The proposed government program will also enable an additional 50,000 families to receive the monthly allowance given to poor families (70 dinars a month), raising the total number of beneficiaries to 235,000 families.

As to conditions in inland provinces such as Sidi Bouzid, Jebali said they would be on the top of his government's priorities and at the heart of its development program.

Opposition parties, however, strongly criticized the prime minister's statements. Samir Tayeb, an MP representing Ettajdid Movement and the Modernist Democratic Pole (PDM), told Magharebia the opposition had "strong reservations" about the new government.

Tayeb said that Jebali's speech was unsurprising and included "a lot of generalizations that are not based on realistic, well-studied data".

In the same context, Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) parliamentarian Issam Chebbi told Magharebia that the speech had "good intentions and promises, but Tunisians need tangible measures".

Independent representative Faisal Jadlaoui said that while "Jebali addressed all sectors and concerns in his statement, the program "can't be realized in one year".

"The government is now required to draw up an immediate program to deliver the country from economic recession and bring it to safety," he said.

The Ennahda-led government includes female ministers at the women's affairs and environment ministries, as well as a female secretary of state for housing, said Mehrzia Abidi, first deputy of the Constituent Assembly Speaker.

"This is good representation, and I believe they will do their job in the best possible way," she told Magharebia.

Newly nominated Culture Minister Mehdi Mabrouk also sought to reassure citizens, telling Magharebia that the "trend in the current stage will not be towards the Islamization of culture in Tunisia, but towards openness to all intellectual currents and innovators all over Tunisia."

Higher Education Minister Moncef ben Salem said work would focus on reforms, as well as scholarships for study abroad.

As to the issue of the niqab at Tunisian universities, ben Salem told Magharebia that it was "not a priority" at the present time.

Citizen Marwa Slim told Magharebia that she was concerned about the new government's lack of experience.

"Moreover, most of the ministers are old, and there is no representation of Tunisia's young people who were behind the revolution," Slim said, adding that youth unemployment "is the biggest problem facing Tunisia now".

Another young Tunisian, Mohamed Mejri, said: "The new government must be given a chance to work to get the country out of recession and find solutions for the problem of unemployment that has aggravated after the revolution."

"It would be illogical to hold a government to account before it even starts its work," Mejri added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/23/feature-01.

UAVs launched from balloons

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Small sensor-carrying unmanned aerial vehicles were launched at altitudes of as much as 57,000 feet from an aerostat in an ADD program tests in Arizona.

Raven Industries said that in the demonstration by its subsidiary Aerostar International, in support of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Vehicle Research Section, Close-In Cover Autonomous Disposable Aircraft vehicles launched from the balloon were to come to rest just feet from their landing zone.

"The (Autonomous Deployment Demonstration) balloon support operation is very simple and well-developed," said Mike Smith, senior aerospace engineer at Aerostar International. "The preflight checks, balloon inflation, launch and tracking operations can be carried out by two people in one vehicle from almost any remote location."

The tests were conducted at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona.

Raven Industries said the ADD program's objective is to launch the small, sensor-equipped unmanned aerial vehicles from a hand-launched balloon or an aircraft at altitude.

In the demonstration, a Tempest UAV was attached to wing-mounted pylons on an Aerostar balloon and released at nearly 60,000 feet. The Tempest flew to a designated drop zone and released the two CICADAs it was carrying.

The CICADAs flew autonomously to a "programmed target waypoint."

"The CICADA allows for the low-cost delivery of multiple precision-located sensors without placing the warfighter in harm's way," said Chris Bovais, NRL's flight test coordinator and engineer.

Raven Industries said tactical, hand-launched balloons create an inexpensive way of launching the small CICADAs.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/12/23/UAVs-launched-from-balloons/UPI-92031324651951/.

Al-Hashemi blames Maliki for violence

BAGHDAD, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Iraq's vice president, in hiding to avoid arrest on terror charges, blamed Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for a sudden surge in sectarian violence.

"We should blame Mr. Maliki -- he started a national crisis and it's not easy to control," Tariq al-Hashemi told the BBC's Arabic service. "The Iraqis have a right to be worried."

His comments followed a series of explosions that ripped through mostly Shiite areas of Iraq's capital Thursday, killing at least 68 people and injuring nearly 200. The attacks, which began at 6:30 a.m., destroyed schools, markets and apartments.

An ambulance packed with explosives incinerated a government office, The New York Times reported.

The morning blasts killed at least 65 people -- Baghdad's deadliest day in more than a year. Four more blasts shook Baghdad Thursday night, killing at least three more people.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but analysts told the BBC and the Times they appeared similar to attacks conducted by the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq.

Western officials were alarmed at how quickly the withdrawal of U.S. troops had led to deadly sectarian violence, the Times said.

Maliki is a Shiite. Al-Hashemi is one of the country's most prominent Sunni politicians.

Maliki accused al-Hashemi this week of running a death squad and put out an arrest warrant for him.

Al-Hashemi denied the allegations and fled to Irbil in semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, under the protection of the regional government.

Maliki has demanded al-Hashemi return to Baghdad, but al-Hashemi said he would not because he could not receive a fair trial there. The Kurdish government offered no sign Thursday it would heed Maliki's demand to extradite al-Hashemi, the Times said.

Al-Hashemi told the BBC the attacks occurred because the government was too busy chasing "patriotic politicians" like himself instead of hunting down terrorists.

"The security services are pointed in the wrong direction," he said.

Maliki added new tension to the political climate Wednesday by threatening to discard Iraq's fragile power-sharing government.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/12/23/Al-Hashemi-blames-Maliki-for-violence/UPI-24551324627200/.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Jordan police fire tear gas on protesters

Fri Dec 23, 2011

Jordanian anti- and pro-government protesters have clashed in the northern city of Mafraq, forcing police to use tear gas to end the violence.

Witnesses say dozens from both sides, including police, were injured after thousands of members of the Bani Hassan tribe clashed with around 300 anti-government demonstrators demanding reforms in Mafraq on Friday.

Several shops were also destroyed during the clashes, AFP reported.

The demonstrators have reportedly sought refuge in a mosque and according to witnesses the situation is still tense in the city.

Bani Hassan, one of Jordan's largest tribes, which supports the government, on Thursday warned against holding anti-government demonstration in Mafraq.

Similar anti-government rallies were held in the capital, Amman, and several other cities following the Friday Prayers.

Jordanians have been holding street protests demanding political reform, including the election of the prime minister by popular vote, and an end to corruption since January. There have been no calls for the king to be removed.

Since the beginning of protest rallies, Jordanian ruler, King Abdullah II, has sacked two prime ministers in a bid to avoid more protests. Awn al-Khasawneh, a judge at International Court of Justice, is Jordan's third premier this year.

The king has also amended 42 articles in the 60-year-old constitution, giving parliament a stronger role in decision-making.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/217313.html.

Bloody Kazakhstan's regime killed or wounded almost 1,000 protesters and increases terror against Muslims

22 December 2011

An amateur video clip has been posted on YouTube. It was shot in Zhanaozen on December 16, the day of the popular uprising. The video was made by a local resident from a window of a house in the town center, reports the Kazakh Section of the US Congress radio RFE-RL, Azattyk.

The Nazarbayev's regime claims that 14 people were killed and more than 80 others wounded during the dictator's slaughter in Zhanaozen on December 16. According to unofficial data, the number of victims was much higher. Independent sources report about 70 peaceful oil workers killed and 800 wounded.

The state of emergency was proclaimed in Zhanaozen until January 5, 2012.

The ringleader of Kazakh puppets Nazarbayev said at a gathering of his "security council" in the capital of Astana that his puppet security services "were putting things in order" in Zhanaozen, and acted "within their authority under the law".

Thus, according to Nazarbayev's law, about 1,000 peaceful oil workers were killed or wounded.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Watch called the beastly dictator Nazarbayev to stop violence against the Kazakh Muslims.in an official statement, posted on its website,

The organization reports about tortures of captured oil workers in Zhanaozen.

***

In a strange Democratic way of thinking, the HRW human rights activists call the Nazarbayev's regime for an investigation into the crimes of Nazarbayev's regime which committed these crimes.

The Human Rights Watch indicates that in order to conceal their atrocities, the Nazarbayev's puppets disconnected telephone line and closed all access to Zhanaozen.

The human rights activists talked to people who knew the detainees. All of them told about beatings and tortures. Journalists who visited Zhanaozen said that many residents could not find their relatives, kidnapped by the puppets. People are scared.

A correspondent, Elena Kostyuchenko, told the Human Rights Watch that she talked to a man in Zhanaozen whom the puppets tortured for 24 hours, during the detention in the prison cell and the interrogation room.

Kostyuchenko said that the man had his nose and ribs broken, two bruises in the kidney area, and that he had been coughing blood for two days and had blood in his urine.

According to the man who survived the Nazarbayev's tortures, the puppets broke legs and arms of many inmates the cell. He said he saw prisoners whom the dictator's police forced to lie face down on the ground and put their feet in heavy police boots on the back of their heads, apparently breaking the noses.

Mrs. Kostyuchenko said that two young men had been beaten so hard by the dictator's police that an ambulance had to be called for them.

Another prisoner said that he had been detained by Nazarbayev's puppets on December 19 and released later that day. He said that he was beaten in a police truck on the way to a police station and inside the station, where riot police held his arms behind him while other agents punched him in the stomach.

It is to be recalled that earlier, a correspondent of a Russian newspaper Kommersant reported about traces of blood on the walls and floor of police departments in Zhanaozen.

When asked about the blood on the walls, a member of Nazarbayev's police with a Slavic face lied: "We killed a sheep. There was a holiday, you know".

Meanwhile, the death toll in Zhanaozen is still unknown. Townspeople say that 70 people were killed by dictator's police last Friday.

Perhaps, the death toll is much higher, but it is impossible to find out the exact numbers. The morgue and the city hospital in Zhanaozen are guarded by Nazarbayev's special gangs as if they were important sensitive government agencies. All entrances and exits to local health facilities are staffed by dozens of puppets in full armor.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/12/22/15530.shtml.

Hungarian opposition lawmakers chain themselves to parliament gates

Dec 23, 2011

Budapest - Opposition lawmakers chained themselves across the gates to Hungary's parliament building Friday in a protest against the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The liberal-green opposition party Politics Can Be Different was protesting what it said was the government's steady dismantling of the institutions of democracy.

The demonstration came as parliament was expected to vote on several issues, among them electoral reform and a central bank bill that critics - among them the European Commission - fear could limit the independence of the Hungarian National Bank.

With its lawmakers filling two-thirds of seats in the national assembly, Orban's Fidesz-Christian Democrat alliance has been able to push through wide-ranging reforms and even a new constitution without cross-party consensus during its 18 months in power.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1682487.php/Hungarian-opposition-lawmakers-chain-themselves-to-parliament-gates.

Myanmar opposition leader registers party to contest polls

Dec 23, 2011

Yangon - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday registered her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to contest by-elections next year, officially rejoining the political fray.

She also visited parliament and met with Shwe Mann, the lower chamber's speaker.

Suu Kyi, released from her latest, seven-year term of house detention in November 2010, traveled the 350 kilometers from Yangon north to the capital, Naypyitaw, with NLD co-leader Tin Oo to register the party at the Union Election Commission, commission officials said.

The event was part of a softening by Myanmar's government, long a pariah of the West for its poor human rights record, including its 15 years of detention of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate after the NLD won 1990 elections that the then-ruling junta annulled.

Suu Kyi, 66, has vowed to contest by-elections for 48 parliamentary seats expected to be held in March or April.

Should she win a seat, Suu Kyi was expected to become Myanmar's official opposition leader in parliament.

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 until this year when November 2010 elections, the first in 20 years, brought to power a pro-military government under President Thein Sein, a former general.

Despite his military background, Thein Sein has proved an unexpected catalyst of change in the politically stunted country.

In mid-August, he initiated a political dialogue with Suu Kyi, inviting her to Naypyitaw for private talks. Since then, Thein Sein has paved the way for Suu Kyi to re-enter Myanmar politics.

The NLD was dissolved as a legal entity last year after it refused to contest the general election on the grounds that the junta then ruling the country had issued party registration laws that would have forced them to drop Suu Kyi as a member of the party to participate.

Myanmar's parliament in November amended the party registration regulations, paving the way for the NLD to reregister.

The government also granted an amnesty to more than 200 political prisoners and was expected to free more next month.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1682505.php/LEAD-Myanmar-opposition-leader-registers-party-to-contest-polls.

Yemenis throng in Sana'a to celebrate protesters' march

Dec 23, 2011

Sana'a - Thousands of Yemeni protesters were gathering Friday to support protesters marching from the southern city of Taiz to the capital Sana'a, demanding the prosecution of outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh and members of his regime.

The march, which started on Wednesday and passed northwards through the provinces of Ibb and Dhamar, was expected in Sana'a on Saturday. It aims to condemn the immunity granted to Saleh under a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal.

Some 3,000 people were taking part in the march - a new development in the anti-government protests which started against Saleh in February.

'The world should see us walking a distance of 255 kilometers to continue the uprising which would bring us justice, freedom and the decent life which the regime deprived us from for decades,' said Natheer al-Asbahi, one of the marchers.

While the political parties are implementing the deal - signed in Riyadh in November - as scheduled, protesters remain dissatisfied with it, as members of Saleh's regime will still be active on the political scene.

'I do not think it is possible to build our country with the people who impoverished our land during the regime of Saleh,' said Abdullah Sallam, 29, from Sana'a.

However the new minister of information Ali al-Amrani stressed Thursday that the coalition government remained committed to the Gulf deal and the steps it prescribed to reach the sought-after change.

'Our priority is to remove tension, stop violence and implement a development program to regain the economic stability,' al-Amrani said on Thursday.

Yemen has been shaken by al-Qaeda operatives in the south and tribal and radical conflicts in the north, in the absence of the viable rule of law to maintain stability in the country.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1682480.php/Yemenis-throng-in-Sana-a-to-celebrate-protesters-march.

Erdogan: France massacred 15% of Algerian population

2011-12-23

ISTANBUL (Turkey) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused France of committing "genocide" in Algeria after French lawmakers voted a bill criminalizing the denial of Armenian genocide.

"France massacred an estimated 15 percent of the Algerian population starting from 1945. This is genocide," Erdogan told a news conference after the French move on the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman-era forces.

The Turkish premier accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of "fanning hatred of Muslims and Turks for electoral gains."

France is home to around 500,000 citizens of Armenian descent and they are seen as a key source of support for Sarkozy and his UMP ahead of presidential and legislative elections in April and June next year.

On Thursday, France's National Assembly voted the first step towards passing a law that would impose a jail term and a 45,000 euro fine on anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians constitutes genocide.

During World War I hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman Turk forces. Armenia says 1.5 million died in a genocide, Turkey says around 500,000 died in fighting after they sided with a Russian invasion.

France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on Turkey not to "overreact" to a bill that he insisted was a parliamentary initiative, and not a project of Sarkozy's government.

France has a 500,000-strong community of Armenian descent, many of whose forebears fled the killings a century ago, and French politicians assiduously court their votes every five years ahead of elections.

Turkey and many of Sarkozy's domestic opponents accuse him of jeopardizing relations with a key NATO ally and trading partner to win Armenian votes.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49633.

Libya's Megrahi vows to clear his name: 'I am innocent'

2011-12-22

LONDON - The only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in which 270 people died used his "final interview" to vow he would clear his name, British newspapers reported Thursday.

A Scottish court in 2001 convicted Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi of the 1988 attack on Pan Am flight 103, but he was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after doctors said he had only three months to live.

Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, told investigator and friend George Thomson on Sunday "I am an innocent man" in an interview published in several British newspapers, including The Times and the Daily Mail.

"I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family," he said.

During the interview, which will be broadcast on television in February, the Libyan revealed he had helped investigative journalist John Ashton with a new book that will contain "dramatic" new evidence.

"I will not be giving any more interviews, and no more cameras will be allowed into my home," he explained. "I am an innocent man, and the book will clear my name."

Megrahi claimed that he had "never seen" a Maltese shopkeeper whose testimony and identification proved central to the original guilty verdict.

"I never bought clothes from him," he added. "He dealt with me very wrongly. I have never seen him in my life before he came to court."

According to Megrahi, US agencies "led the way" in securing his conviction.

A top aide to US President Barack Obama on Wednesday marked the 23rd anniversary of the bombing, which took place over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, vowing that Washington would pursue justice in a newly-free Libya for the attack.

Obama's top anti-terror adviser John Brennan joined relatives of the victims at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49618.

Marginalization inflames angry protests in Libya's Sirte

2011-12-22

By Ines Bel Aiba – SIRTE (Libya)

Fallen leader's forgotten hometown, Sirte, simmers with anger for being sidelined in ‘new’ Libya.

Sirte was a city protected, even pampered, by the regime of Moamer Gathafi. But now, the fallen leader's forgotten hometown is simmering with anger for being sidelined in a "new" Libya.

It was in Sirte, 360 kilometers (220 miles) east of Tripoli, that the "King of Africa" sought refuge in August after rebels overwhelmed the capital.

And while loyalists fought fiercely to protect Sirte and their leader, two months later rebels found and killed Gathafi in the very city where he was born.

In one neighborhood numbered "2," where the bloodiest battles raged between rebels and Gathafi loyalists, resentment is festering.

Just this week, a protest there against the "marginalization" of Sirte went largely unnoticed across the nation.

"National unity cannot be achieved without compensation for damages, no exceptions. No to the marginalization of Sirte," read one banner, left over from Tuesday's gathering.

"Where is reconstruction? No officials, no media," lamented another.

Sirte has paid dearly for offering sanctuary to the now-slain leader. Streets on end have been reduced to rubble, buildings gutted by shelling and are waiting to be razed.

Piles of garbage cover the streets of the city that once hosted meetings of top-tier international officials.

"No one has come to see about us," said Ibrahim Hreir, a university student.

"There were war crimes here too, but as it's Gathafi's turf nobody cares."

Ibrahim Abdullah fled Sirte on October 18 and returned only a few days ago, to find that his flat had been ransacked by the "thuwar," or revolutionaries.

"Everything is gone: our furniture, my wife's gold jewellery, my savings," Abdullah said.

"I think I will leave this city. Where? I don't know. God's world is vast," said the stone-faced man.

Like many other residents, Abdullah firmly believes that Sirte is being "punished" for its loyalty to Gathafi.

"The situation is very difficult," said Ahmed Korbaj, who heads a local council tasked with assessing damage done to the city. "There is no government action."

Korbaj estimates that between 40 and 60 percent of those who fled the fighting in Sirte have not yet returned due to the lack of reconstruction.

Today, two months after the battles ended, some homes still have no running water and owners were left to their own means to figure out how to restore power.

Worse still, Korbaj fears there may still be unexploded munitions in the rubble.

"The city is suffering," Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the National Transitional Council, said on Monday as he announced that the NTC was sending a delegation to "assess the situation and determine the needs" of Sirte.

Libya's new governing bodies have said post-war national reconciliation is one of their top priorities. But in Sirte, this will likely prove no easy task.

"What kind of reconciliation is it if they do not accept the opinions of others," asked Sirte resident Massud Abdelhamid.

"We have no desire for their reconciliation. They are liars," added another resident, who requested anonymity.

"They have wrought destruction and death. May God never forgive them."

Many in this defeated city remain faithful to the memory of Gathafi, a figure deplored by the majority of the Libyan population.

A popular slogan of supporters of the former regime still echoes here: "Allah, Moamer, Libya, that's all!"

And before they agree to any potential reconciliation between Gathafi's adversaries and loyalists, many in Sirte have one non-negotiable demand.

"The first condition for reconciliation is that the location of our leader's tomb be disclosed," said Tuhami Hafez, referring to the fact that Gathafi had been buried secretly in the desert.

"It is our right to know," he said vehemently, as dozens of men standing around nodded enthusiastically.

But demands like this continue to fuel resentment among Libyans in other cities.

"They deserve what happened to them; it'll teach them a lesson," said one Tripoli resident passing through Sirte.

"Maybe they'll get a little taste of what the rest of Libya had to endure."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=49630.

2012 - end of the world or time for change?

Friday, December 23, 2011
Tara Green

(NaturalNews) The coming new year which is 2012, also happens to be the name of a 2009 Hollywood disaster film in which a lucky few survivors, mostly political leaders and the very rich, board huge insulated arks to ride out a massive civilization-destroying tsunami. As the real 2012 approaches, pop culture speculation continues to fashion an apocalypse-almost-now out of misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar.

For those of us less prone to anxiety, perhaps 2012 offers an opportunity to begin a new era-- which is actually what the Mayan calendar predicts. We can act to make our own lives and the lives of others in our community healthier and happier. We can act to ensure that politicians and the wealthy lose the insulation which permits them to ride an ark of selfish indifference, ignoring the problems created by corporations plundering both human and environmental resources.

Misinterpreting the Mayan Calendar
Our calendar measures time in terms of years, decades and centuries. The basic unit of the ancient Mayan calendar was the 360-day tun, which, like our own 365-day years, is roughly equivalent to one revolution of the earth around the sun. Twenty tuns form a k'atun and twenty k'atuns (or 400 tuns) become a bak'tun. In our calendar, a bak'tun equals roughly 395 years. The ancient Mayan Long Count calendar covers a period of 13 bak'tuns, which will end approximately around the winter solstice of 2012. In Mayan cosmology, an earlier era preceding their calendar lasted for 13 bak'tuns and ended through natural transition rather than through devastation and destruction. They did not predict the end of the world with the passage of 13 bak'tuns, but a turning of an era, similar to our calendar shift from 1999 to 2000.

Is it Doomsday again?
The Mayan calendar and 2012 form the latest hook upon which some people want to hang their doomsday forebodings. Some of the previous occasions are within recent memory. End of the world predictions occur with regularity. Twice in 2011, 90-year old evangelical minister Harold Camping predicted the end of the world based on his own mathematical calculations, first on May 21 then on October 21. Nearly thirty years ago, Pat Robertson told his millions of television viewers that the Second Coming would take place 1982.

Doomsday predictions are not a recent phenomenon. In 1843, a preacher from upstate New York, William Miller, persuaded over 50,000 followers that Christ would return, bringing the end of the world in 1843. Like Harold Camping, Miller had to revise his prediction, with his followers awaiting a re-scheduled end of the world in 1844, leading to what history books term the Great Disappointment. A massive volcanic explosion in Iceland in 1783 covered much of Europe in poisonous clouds causing crop failure and starvation. The natural disaster and subsequent tragedy led some observers of the day to predict the imminent end of the world. Many Christians in Europe spent the night preceding January 1, 1000 in church praying, awaiting the Last Judgment.

Recycling Doomsday emotions
End-time predictions provide a sense of heightened drama which can help people feel their lives are more imbued with meaning as time ticks down to a purported end. Doomsday scenarios also offer a hope of redressing injustices whether through a Last Judgment or through some brave new world forged by a few survivors. The key point to grasp is the emotions which make doomsday scenarios attractive can be harnessed to create positive change. We all have the choice every day to view our lives with a sense of greater meaning without recourse to "the end is nigh" thinking. We all have the option now to participate in social justice movements, or environmental causes, or efforts to re-create the food and health systems which are slowly poisoning huge numbers of people.

Next time you read or hear a prediction that the world is ending, take some time to think of actions you can take to help re-make the world. Don't let yourself be frightened by the scope of the problems -- give yourself permission to take small steps. But don't be afraid to think big and to build alliances with other people to make your actions resonate more loudly. If enough people act, 2012 can be the "end of the world" for corporate greed and exploitation of the environment, the middle class, and the poor.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/034471_2012_end_times_Mayan_calendar.html.

Tunisian convoy en route to Gaza

Thursday 22/12/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- A Tunisian medical aid convoy began its journey to Gaza on Thursday from Tunis, Palestinian officials said.

The convoy carrying four tons of medical aid left Tunis-Carthage International Airport earlier in the day, medical officials told Ma'an.

The coordinator of the medical services in the Gaza Strip said the convoy was organized by a Tunisian scout group and will arrive in Cairo and depart for Gaza shortly thereafter.

Some 11 scout leaders are part of the delegation, which is to visit Gaza’s hospitals and civil society groups before checking up on local scouts.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=447129.

Is Ron Paul Leading in Iowa or Not?

Raven Clabough
Thursday, 22 December 2011

Ron Paul is the true embodiment of a dark-horse candidate, at least in Iowa. He began in the polls with approval ratings of as low as four percent in that key state and has slowly but surely moved steadily into the frontrunner position there. The New York Times is now projecting him to be the clear winner in Iowa. But even as some mainstream media outlets are facing that reality, some are still clinging to a more fantastical reality where Ron Paul remains behind.

According to a USA Today story entitled, “Despite money and support, Ron Paul still not in lead,” regardless of what the polls say, Paul is not actually in the lead because establishment Republicans do not want him.

The article begins by noting, “Texas Rep. Ron Paul can raise millions of dollars in a single day, has a solid organization of passionate supporters and recently has been moving up in the polls, yet few mainstream Republicans are willing to give him the ‘front-runner’ title so many of his rivals in the GOP presidential field have held.”

The article goes on to discuss the steady progress that Paul has made in the polls, and how well-received his message has been.

Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican and Ron Paul supporter, made a similar observation about the surprising success of Paul’s success in Iowa. “He’s doing this on his own and is not getting any help from the party. He doesn’t need them. They need him.”

Likewise, David Fischer, Paul’s Iowa vice chairman, said, "Most political figures spend their careers chasing their electorate. Ron Paul has been standing in one place with the same message for decades now and the electorate has come to him."

However, the USA Today writer ultimately contends that Paul has maximized his approval:

Beyond his core support, there is little evidence that other Republicans want Paul. He's the second choice of only 9% of likely caucusgoers, according to one recent Iowa poll; his foreign policy positions have been attacked often by his Republican opponents; and he showed similar strength in the 2008 race before faltering.

Jim Dyke, a Republican strategist foresees problems for Paul. He asserts that while Paul appeals to those “who hunger for rebellion against business as usual in Washington [voters want] a clear vision that can rally a coalition to defeat President Obama and just like the candidates before him, Ron Paul is likely to hit troubled waters.”

The article goes on to cite “experts” such as Dennis Goldford, a politics professor at Drake University, who asserts that Paul’s so-called isolation message is what threatens his success.

"Ron Paul is essentially a libertarian who is trying to take a Republican nomination," he said. "Ron Paul reflects an old libertarian approach to the military" as an extension of big government.

The overall conclusion of the USA Today story is that despite the polls, despite the fundraising successes, despite the multiple straw poll victories, Paul can expect to fail because he does not have the support of the establishment.

Yet the New York Times just reported two days ago that Ron Paul is the clear projected winner for the Republican primary in Iowa. According to a NYT poll, Paul has 49 percent of the vote, with Romney behind with 27 percent, followed by Gingrich with 15.5 percent. The Times summarizes the figures, “These forecasts are formulated from an average of recent surveys, with adjustments made to account for a polling firm’s accuracy, freshness of a poll and each candidate’s momentum.”

An Iowa State University poll showed that Ron Paul is in the lead with 27.5 percent of those likely caucus-goers polled, followed by Gingrich with 25.3 percent of the vote, and then Romney with 17.5 percent.

Likewise, a Public Policy Poll from Sunday shows Ron Paul in the lead.

CNN has also projected Paul to take Iowa, calling Paul’s campaign a more aggressive one than any of his contenders.

Perhaps most importantly, a recent CNN/ORC poll released yesterday shows that Paul is the strongest GOP candidate when it comes to a hypothetical race against Barack Obama. That poll is a significant one as it shoots down the establishment’s theory that a Paul nomination is a sure-fire way to see Obama’s reelection.

Still, USA Today contends that without the support of mainstream Republicans, Ron Paul stands little to no chance.

But despite the assertions of establishment Republicans and Democrats, a May Gallup survey showed that Americans are increasingly supporting the establishment of a Third Party, particularly Republicans.

Yahoo News reported:

Fifty-two percent of Republicans say they support a third party because the two major parties do such "a poor job" of representing the people. Just 33 percent of Democrats felt similarly — and, as expected, self-described independents were the most forceful backers of a third party, with 68 percent indicating support.

According to Gallup, it was the first time that “a significantly higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats” favor a third party.

With so many conflicting assertions, it seems a fair observation to say that not all of these statements can be true. Either Republicans are fed up with the status quo and are interested in real change, as noted by the Gallup poll, or they are interested in more of the same establishment policies, as USA Today contends, and will opt for one of Paul’s contenders over Paul. Either the polls are an honest indication of who will win the Iowa poll, or they are not. But if the latter is true, then the accuracy of all polls would then have to be called into question. And that is likely not something that establishment is purporting. They mean that only the polls which show Paul in the lead should be called into question, and critics ask, where is the credibility in that?

“By definition, if Ron Paul wins something, it no longer matters,” noted Cenk Uygur, co-founder and main host of The Young Turks, a progressive Internet and radio talk show.

While the establishment is doing its best to undermine Paul’s poll and financial successes, or to interfere with a Paul victory, Paul’s supporters believe that the Ron Paul “revolution” is upon us. It brings to mind the famous quote by the French Romantic writer Victor Hugo, “An invasion of armies can be resisted; an invasion of ideas cannot.”

Fortunately for the American people, there is less than two weeks before one of the many theories surrounding the Iowa caucus is proven true.

Source: The New American.
Link: http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/10296-is-ron-paul-leading-in-iowa-or-not.

Astronomers discover deep-fried planets

Tucson AZ (SPX)
Dec 23, 2011

Two Earth-sized planets have been discovered circling a dying star that has passed the red giant stage. Because of their close orbits, the planets must have been engulfed by their star while it swelled up to many times its original size. This discovery, published in the science journal Nature, may shed new light on the destiny of stellar and planetary systems, including our solar system.

When our sun nears the end of its life in about 5 billion years, it will swell up to what astronomers call a red giant, an inflated star that has used up most of its fuel. So large will the dying star grow that its fiery outer reaches will swallow the innermost planets of our solar system - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Researchers believed that this unimaginable inferno would make short work of any planet caught in it - until now.

This report describes the first discovery of two planets - or remnants thereof - that evidently not only survived being engulfed by their parent star, but also may have helped to strip the star of most of its fiery envelope in the process. The team was led by Stephane Charpinet, an astronomer at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie, Universite de Toulouse-CNRS, in France.

"When our sun swells up to become a red giant, it will engulf the Earth," said Elizabeth 'Betsy' Green, an associate astronomer at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, who participated in the research.

"If a tiny planet like the Earth spends 1 billion years in an environment like that, it will just evaporate. Only planets with masses very much larger than the Earth, like Jupiter or Saturn, could possibly survive."

The two planets, named KOI 55.01 and KOI 55.02, circle their host star in extremely tight orbits. Having migrated so close, they probably plunged deep into the star's envelope during the red giant phase, but survived.

In the most plausible configuration, the two bodies would respectively have radii of 0.76 and 0.87 times the Earth radius, making them the smallest planets so far detected around an active star other than our sun.

The host star, KOI 55, is what astronomers call a subdwarf B star: It consists of the exposed core of a red giant that has lost nearly its entire envelope. In fact, the authors write, the planets may have contributed to the increased mass loss necessary for the formation of this type of star.

The authors concluded that planetary systems may therefore influence the evolution of their parent stars. They pointed out that the planetary system they observed offers a glimpse into the possible future of our own.

The discovery of the two planets came as a surprise because the research team had not set out to find new planets far away from our solar system, but to study pulsating stars. Caused by rhythmic expansions and contractions brought about by pressure and gravitational forces that go along with the thermonuclear fusion process inside the star, such pulsations are a defining feature of many stars.

By studying the pulsations of a star, astronomers can deduce the object's mass, temperature, size and sometimes even its interior structure. This is called asteroseismology.

"Those pulsation frequency patterns are almost like a finger print of a star," Green said. "It's very much like seismology, where one uses earthquake data to learn about the inner composition of the Earth."

To detect the frequencies with which a star pulsates, researchers have to observe it for very long periods of time, sometimes years, in order to measure tiny variations in brightness.

"The brightness variations of a star tell us about its pulsational modes if we can observe enough of them very precisely," Green said.

"Let's say there is one pulsational mode every 5859.8 seconds, and there is another one every 9126.39 seconds. There could be lots of stars with rather different properties that could all manage to pulsate at those two frequencies. However, if we can measure 10, or better yet, 50 pulsational modes in one star, then it's possible to use theoretical models to say exactly what the star must be like in order to produce those particular pulsations."

"The only way to do that is to have a telescope sitting in space," she added. "On Earth, we can only observe a star at night. But unless we follow it 24/7, the mathematics give us artifacts. Observing through the atmosphere means that even in the very best of cases we can only detect brightness variations to a ten-thousandth of a percent. But if you've got 50 or a 100 modes going in a star, you need to measure better than that."

For that reason, the team used data obtained from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope for this study.

Unobstructed by the Earth's atmosphere and staring at the same patch of sky throughout its five-year mission, the Kepler Space Telescope sits in a prime spot to detect tiny variations in brightness of stars.

Green had been pursuing a survey to look for hot subdwarf stars in the galactic plane of the Milky Way.

"I had already obtained excellent high-signal to noise spectra of the hot subdwarf B star KOI 55 with our telescopes on Kitt Peak, before Kepler was even launched," she said. "Once Kepler was in orbit and began finding all these pulsational modes, my co-authors at the University of Toulouse and the University of Montreal were able to analyze this star immediately using their state-of-the art computer models."

This was the first time that researchers were able to use gravity pulsation modes, which penetrate into the core of the star, to match subdwarf B star models to learn about their interior structure.

While analyzing KOI 55's pulsations, the team noticed the intriguing presence of two tiny periodic modulations occurring every 5.76 and 8.23 hours that caused the star to flicker ever so slightly, at one five thousandth percent of its overall brightness. They showed that these two frequencies could not have been produced by the star's own internal pulsations.

The only explanation came from the existence two small planets passing in front of the star every 5.76 and 8.23 hours. To complete their orbits so rapidly, KOI 55.01 and KOI 55.02 have to be extremely close to the star, much closer than Mercury is to our sun. On top of that, the sun is a cool star compared to KOI 55, which burns at about 28,000 Kelvin, or 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Planets this close to their star are tidally locked," Green said, "meaning the same side always faces the star, just like the same face of the moon always faces the Earth. The day side of Mercury is hot enough to melt lead, so you can imagine the harsh conditions on those two small planets racing around a host star that is five times hotter than our sun at such a close distance."

The extremely tight orbits are important because they tell the researchers that the planets must have been engulfed when their host stars swelled up into a red giant.

"Having migrated so close, they probably plunged deep into the star's envelope during the red giant phase, but survived," lead author Charpinet said.

"As the star puffs up and engulfs the planet, the planet has to plow through the star's hot atmosphere and that causes friction, sending it spiraling toward the star," Green added.

"As it's doing that, it helps strip atmosphere off the star. At the same time, the friction with the star's envelope also strips the gaseous and liquid layers off the planet, leaving behind only some part of the solid core, scorched but still there."

"We think this is the first documented case of planets influencing a star's evolution," Charpinet said. "We know of a brown dwarf that possibly did that, but that's not a planet, and of giants planets around subdwarf B stars, but those are too far away to have had any impact on the evolution of the star itself."

"I find it incredibly fascinating that after hundreds of years of being able to only look at the outsides of stars, now we can finally investigate the interiors of a few stars - even if only in these special types of pulsators - and compare that with how we thought stars evolved," Green said.

"We thought we had a pretty good understanding of what solar systems were like as long as we only knew one - ours. Now we are discovering a huge variety of solar systems that are nothing like ours, including, for the first time, remnant planets around a stellar core like this one."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_discover_deep_fried_planets_999.html.