South Sudan welcome Bashir's reassurance

Wednesday 5 January 2011
Nangayi Guyson, AfricaNews reporter in Kampala, Uganda

South Sudan's information minister Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin has welcomed reassurances by the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir that he will respect Sunday's referendum on southern independence.

He told the BBC he was pleased with President Omar al-Bashir acceptance of the referendum. He said the vote will allow the people of South Sudan to decide their own future for the first time since 1898.

On his final visit to the south before the referendum, Bashir said that he would be sad to see Sudan split in two. But he added he would be happy if that brought "real peace" to both sides.

Analysts said President Bashir's remarks reflect a growing realization by the Sudanese government that it cannot prevent the week-long referendum.

The vote is part of a 2005 deal that ended a two-decades-long war.

"We are pleased at the end of the day, despite difficulties and challenges, President Bashir had to realize that this agreement is not just between the Sudanese alone but it involves the whole international community," said Dr Benjamin.

However, a referendum on independence for south Sudan on Sunday raises tough questions about the legitimacy of Africa's colonial borders and sets a precedent for existing secessionist movements, analysts say.

"There is an uneasiness in Africa towards this independence because it breaks with a tradition (of borders being inviolable) and because it seems to be taking place under US pressure," says Roland Marchal, Sudan specialist and senior researcher at the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris.

"This is seen as if it were a Berlin II, with the colonial powers carving up Africa again," he said, referring to the 1885 Berlin Conference where European powers divided and colonized Africa among themselves.

A peace accord in 2005 between the mostly Arab Muslim north and the largely Christian African south ended a 22-year civil war in Sudan, with an agreement that southerners could vote for independence after six years.

Southern Sudan has been marginalized by a succession of governments in Khartoum, from colonial times onwards.

The north and south are also divided by culture, religion, ethnicity and a history of conflict, correspondents say.

For the vote to be considered valid, 60% of voters must take part.

Darfur's most active group, the Justice and Equality Movement, said in August that it would demand self-determination if it’s nearly eight-year conflict with the government continued.

Source: AfricaNews.
Link: http://www.africanews.com/site/South_Sudan_welcome_Bashirs_reassurance/list_messages/36904.

Festival puts a new spin on urban art in Jordan

By Hani Hazaimeh

AMMAN - Graffiti, skateboards, films and folk music - art is taking many forms in a festival across the capital.

Urban art in Jordan is the focus of the “Festival of Alternative Arts”, an event organized by the Swedish embassy in Amman with various partners in a bid to encourage and discuss alternative forms of expression in the Kingdom, according to Swedish Ambassador to Jordan Charlotta Sparre.

“This festival creates an opportunity to showcase and discuss graffiti and other urban alternative art expressions. It aims at contributing to broadening the concept of art as a diverse form of expression, but also hopes to attract and stimulate an interest in urban art,” Sparre told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday.

The objective is to gather Jordanian institutions, cultural actors, organizations and individuals to “network and coordinate creative ideas under a common umbrella”, she added, expressing hope that the festival will become an annual fixture of the capital’s cultural scene.

The festival, which started last month and will run through March, includes an exhibition of “Gaza Graffiti”, which opens on January 26, at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts.

Also as part of the event, an online debate is being held on self-expression and new media among women bloggers from Jordan, six other Arab countries and Denmark at www.blog-on.org.

Throughout January, festival activities will also include documentaries screened by the Royal Film Commission and performances of Suwar, a play by young Iraqi actors sharing stories of displacement.

In addition, the festival will feature an urban art hunt sponsored by Hamzet Wasel in cooperation with Turath, a presentation on skateboarding culture in Amman, a spoken word night, an ongoing showcase of graffiti art by 20 UNRWA students, a folk festival performed by local artists Hana Malhas and El Morabba3 and a debate on life in Gaza.

The festival is organized in cooperation with the Greater Amman Municipality, Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Royal Film Commission, Children’s Museum, Al Balad Theatre, Hamzet Wasel, UNRWA, Danish Program Office, Books@café, Jacaranda Images, Aramram, Philadelphia Skateboards, Ikbis and Zeenko Comics, as well as several independent artists.

6 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=33217.

New society to promote implementation of palliative care

By Rand Dalgamouni

AMMAN - The Jordanian Palliative Care and Pain Management Society opened on Wednesday with a mission to provide medical, psychological and social care to terminal patients and those with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

Deputizing for HRH Princess Dina Mired, Minister of Health Mahmoud Sheyyab inaugurated the society, which seeks to promote the implementation of palliative care in the Kingdom and cooperate with doctors and public and private medical institutions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life for patients and their families as they go through life-threatening illnesses.

Palliative care seeks to prevent and relieve suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment, as well as treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems, according to the WHO.

Mohammad Bushnaq, the society’s president, said a wider implementation of palliative care will change the way society treats terminal patients.

“Society usually coerces terminal patients into following a certain lifestyle, but palliative care is about making patients comfortable and providing them with all their needs,” he said.

The palliative care expert and medical doctor noted that his specialty calls for providing the necessary home treatment for terminal patients away from hospitals, and removing all extra medication that complicates patients’ lives.

“Our job as doctors is not simply providing these patients with medicine; we have to take their pain and suffering into account,” Bushnaq said at the opening ceremony.

“Is it the patient’s duty to stay in hospital and go through extra unnecessary medication instead of spending the last days he has left at home with his family and friends?” he asked.

Bushnaq explained that palliative care restores patients’ self-esteem after the initial shock of being diagnosed with a terminal illness, adding that it also reduces costs for hospitals and patients.

During the ceremony, the society’s vice president, Ahmad Khatib, announced that the University of Jordan’s nursing faculty plans to introduce a master’s program in palliative care in the next academic year, citing the faculty’s dean Professor Inaam Khalaf.

The society acknowledged the efforts of pioneers in the field, including Al Malath Foundation, the National Palliative Care Committee, and the palliative care departments at King Hussein Cancer Center and King Hussein Medical City.

Despite the efforts of these entities, Bushnaq said more than 90 per cent of Jordanian patients who need this type of medical care are not receiving it.

“Terminal patients look for compassion before anything else, and palliative care is all about that,” he said.

6 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=33219.

Three new nature reserves to be launched this year

By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - Three new nature reserves will be launched this year, raising the number of protected areas in the Kingdom to 11, Ministry of Environment officials said on Wednesday.

The three new proposed nature reserves are Qatar, Fifa and Jabal Masouda, Ministry of Environment Secretary General Fares Juneidi said yesterday, noting that the nomination files of the three reserves will soon be referred to the Cabinet for approval.

“Approval procedures for Jabal Masouda and the remaining sites are currently under way… We are discussing the launch of Jabal Masouda as a nature reserve with the Petra District Authority and the local community,” he said in a statement released by the ministry.

The proposed nature reserves will be established under the Integrated Ecosystem Management-Jordan Rift Valley Project (IEM-JRV), launched by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in 2008.

The project aims at setting guidelines for land use to ensure the sustainability of financial resources supporting current and future environment-related projects and programs.

Last year, the Cabinet approved the establishment of the Yarmouk River Basin Nature Reserve due to its unique ecosystem and because it is home to 59 plant and 20 mammal species, some of which are endangered, as well as 58 species of birds.

Under the IEM–JRV Project, implemented by the RSCN, four special conservation areas will be also launched - Homret Maeen, Ben Hammad, Rahmeh and Yarmouk.

The three new nature reserves, located in the Jordan Valley, will be launched in mid-2011, Ministry of Environment Spokesperson Isa Shboul told The Jordan Times, highlighting their environmental and cultural significance.

Fifa, which lies at the southern end of the Dead Sea, contains remnants of sub-tropical vegetation and fresh water streams that have created an oasis in an arid area, thus attracting migrating birds. Fifa is also home to the Syrian wolf and the majestic caracal, according to the RSCN website.

Meanwhile, the proposed Qatar nature reserve is part of Wadi Araba, located 40 kilometers north of the Gulf of Aqaba. The area consists of different habitats, including acacia woodland, sand dunes and mudflats, according to the RSCN.

Jabal Masouda, located in the south in Maan Governorate, is named after the highest mountain peak in the area. The site, with an elevation ranging between 180 meters and 1,500 meters above sea level, contains three bio-geographical zones - Mediterranean, Irano-Turanian and Saharo-Arabian.

The area, part of Al Sharah range, is characterized by steep mountains and seven types of vegetation, ranging from juniper in the highlands to sand dunes and acacia trees along the valleys in the lowlands.

6 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=33204.

Jordan calls for free Palestinian state

Thu Jan 6, 2011

Jordan's King Abdullah II has called on the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stick by his commitments and remove obstacles to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

During a telephone conversation that was initiated by the Israeli premier, the monarch emphasized the significance of “serious and effective negotiations” with the Palestinian Authority (PA) “in accordance with the agreed references,” said a royal court statement on Wednesday.

“The monarch underlined the need for translating the commitment to peace into a practical action by removing all obstacles that block the achievement of the two-state solution as the only way to achieve security and stability in the region,” read the statement.

Direct talks between Israel and the PA once again reached a deadlock after Tel Aviv refused to extend a moratorium on settlement constructions in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the occupied West Bank.

Israel seized East al-Quds along with the West Bank from Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967, and later annexed it in flagrant defiance of calls from the international community.

Abdullah pointed out that the direct talks should lead to the establishment of “an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace with Israel.”

“The continuation of the present stalemate will jeopardize the region's stability and security,” the monarch added.

In a parallel Jordanian effort, King Abdullah sent his Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to Ramallah on Thursday to hold talks with Palestinian leaders.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158901.html.

Jordan, partners steer their way towards economic integration

By Abeer Numan

AMMAN - Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey will develop a joint sectoral outlook to arrive at economic integration, Minister of Transport Alaa Batayneh said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a joint press conference with transport ministers of the three partners, Batayneh said each country was entrusted with examining means to develop a certain economic sector from those earlier designated as priority sectors.

Jordan was entrusted with the transport sector, Syria with energy, Lebanon with tourism and Turkey with industry, Batayneh noted.

Stressing the importance of land, sea and air transport projects among the quartet cooperation council, Batayneh said: “Once we realize transport integration among the four countries, we will be able to tackle other aspects of cooperation.”

Yesterday’s round of talks was the first held by the council, which was launched at a meeting of the quartet’s foreign ministers in New York in September last year during which they renewed commitment to a statement issued by the four countries in Istanbul in June of the same year on boosting cooperation.

After intensive technical meetings on Tuesday, the four countries yesterday signed a communiqué that stipulates the formation of a higher steering committee and other technical committees that will examine and unify related legislation, Batayneh explained.

The sectoral committees, to be chaired by the secretaries general of the concerned ministries, will work in parallel, he said.

The officials in charge will discuss all transport issues, including customs, to streamline and increase the flow of goods and passengers among the four countries, he elaborated, noting that the partner countries have already lifted visa requirements.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Batayneh and Syria’s Transport Minister Yarub Badr yesterday signed minutes of the board meeting of the Jordanian Syrian Land Transport Company.

Moreover, Batayneh, Badr and Lebanon Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi signed a cooperation agreement on the proposed regional railway connectivity project and financing joint studies of technical issues.

Underling the importance of the political will to achieve more efficient connectivity, Turkey’s Minister of Transport Binali Yildirim said: “Each country will boost its infrastructure individually, to achieve economic integration between the north and the south.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Samir Rifai met on Tuesday with the visiting transport ministers, in the presence of Batayneh, who briefed him on the outcome of their meetings.

During the meeting, discussions focused on means to boost transport cooperation among the four countries.

Rifai emphasized the importance of focusing on the regional railway project, underlining its economic and commercial importance.

The premier also urged the transport officials to examine the possibility of expanding their air transport deals to reach Latin American countries to meet the travel needs of Arab and Turkish residents there.

6 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33226.

Jordan defends secret visit to Amman by Israeli official

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Amman - Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Wednesday told the lower house of parliament that last week's secret visit to Amman by Israeli national security chief Uzi Arad had the aim of exploring the prospects for peace.

"We do hold unpublicized talks with Israeli, Palestinian and US officials as part of the Jordanian diplomatic drive to get updated on what is going on between the parties concerned in the peace process," Judeh said, answering a question about the purpose of Arad's visit.

Judeh referred to the faltering US-brokered direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, who broke off the negotiations at the end of September after the Israeli government failed to extend a moratorium on the building of settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Arad's December 27 visit was earlier blasted by a coalition of Jordanian opposition parties and trade unions, which urged the government to stop all contacts with Israel.

Judeh also came under attack on Wednesday from deputies for referring to the Ministry of Agriculture an Israeli offer for sending Jordanian employees to receive training in Israel.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360874,visit-amman-israeli-official.html.

Muslim parliamentarians protest Israeli deportation plan

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - Members of the Muslim Parliamentarians Forum staged a sit-in outside the UN headquarters in Amman on Tuesday in solidarity with Palestinian MPs who face deportation by Israel.

Protesters handed over a letter addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to intervene and put an end to Israel’s plan to deport Palestinian MPs and other activists.

Former MP Azzam Huneidi, who headed the Islamic Action Front (IAF) bloc in the 15th Parliament, criticized what he described as international silence over Israel’s deportation plan.

“The latest Palestinian legislative council member to be deported is Mohammad Abu Teir; the world must take a stance on this violation of all international rules and accords,” he said in front of a crowd that included current and former MPs as well as activists from the Islamist movement.

“We deplore the silence of the United Nations and the Security Council as well as Arab countries that take no action to end this farce,” Huneidi added.

He also called on Arab countries that have diplomatic relations with Israel to “stop normalization with the enemy and end all types of cooperation, be it political or economic”.

Protesters chanted slogans in support of the MPs who face deportation and slammed the Palestinian National Authority for what they claimed was “conspiracy against resistance with the enemy”.

“The Palestinian leadership is coordinating with Israel at all levels to end resistance and hunt down fighters in order to provide Israel with an easy occupation in the Palestinian territories,” Huneidi charged.

“Dissolving the Palestinian Authority has become a necessity in order to fight the occupation,” he added.

The protesters also called on the UN to stop Israel from carrying out its plan to empty Palestine and Jerusalem of its Arab inhabitants.

“We call on Arab countries to end their shameful silence and provide the resistance with all needed support and end all relations with the Zionist entity,” Huneidi said.

Abu Teir is one of four senior Hamas officials Israel has been seeking to expel, sparking concern among Palestinians across East Jerusalem about their future residency status.

The others are Khaled Abu Arafeh, a former Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs, and MPs Ahmed Atun and Mohammed Totah.

Many Palestinians fear the expulsion of the four men could set a precedent for the removal of more of the nearly 270,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in a move never recognized by the international community.

Palestinians living in East Jerusalem need Israeli-issued residence permits to allow them to travel freely in Israel and the West Bank, collect government benefits and vote in Israeli municipal, but not national, elections.

Israel regards the whole of Jerusalem as its “eternal, indivisible” capital, while the Palestinians lay claim to its eastern sector as the capital of their promised state.

5 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=33181.

Government threatens tough measures against Maan rioters

By Rana Husseini and Petra

AMMAN –– Riots erupted anew in the southern city of Maan Tuesday for the second day following the death of two people during a brawl involving workers in a water project in the desert governorate.

Meanwhile, the government warned that it would not be lenient with the “small group” who “took advantage of the incidents in Maan Governorate to destabilize the area and disturb the life of its residents”.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, and Jordan TV, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Saad Hayel Srour said that authorities are following up on developments in Maan, stressing that at the time of his statement, the situation was “calm and stable”.

Srour said the Cabinet discussed the developments in the small southern town of about 60,000 and “expressed regret over the incidents and extended sympathies to the families of the victims of the heinous crime”.

Meanwhile, Public Security Department (PSD) Director Lt. General Hussein Majali on Tuesday stressed that his agency is committed to “enforcing state sovereignty and maintaining law and order”, according to Petra.

Chairing a security council meeting attended by Governor Ali Azzam and top officers at Maan PSD directorate yesterday, Majali said that the police will hunt and arrest “those who are proved to be involved in the riots”.

“Majali stressed at the meeting that the police will not allow the re-occurrence of violence, rioting and vandalism,” Petra quoted PSD Spokesperson Lt. Col. Mohammad Khatib as saying.

The violence in Maan, 220km south of Amman, started Monday following the killings, which occurred at a location of the Disi Water Conveyance Project in Shidiyeh in the governorate.

Angry mobs carried out arson attacks on governmental offices, private and public properties, shops, vehicles and burned tires to express their anger over the death of the two residents of the tribal town, officials and Maan residents said.

Reuters reported that the rioting Maanis were protesting authorities’ failure to arrest the killers in Monday’s incident, which reportedly involved town residents and bedouins from the village of Mreigha, south of Maan on the highway leading to Aqaba.

In his remarks to Petra and JTV, the interior minister said that the suspected killers were “identified”.

“Riots erupted again after the burial of the dead people and people destroyed and burned dozens of property in Maan city,” Khatib told The Jordan Times.

The police official told The Jordan Times that hooded men showered Maan Police Station with live rounds but no one was hurt.

Police “only responded by firing tear gas” to disperse the groups that attacked the station and private properties so as to minimize harm.

Khatib said extra Gendarme Forces were sent to Maan in a bid to control the situation and the PSD placed some roadblocks on the entrance of the city.

A student at Al Hussein University in Maan told The Jordan Times that a group of angry men destroyed several properties using gas cylinders and burning tires, which they used to block the roads.

“The angry youths were shouting that they do not believe in the system and that was why they were destroying public properties,” the 22-year-old witness, who declined to be identified, said.

Meanwhile, Petra reported that three people were injured in Tuesday’s riots, citing Maan Police Director Brigadier General Aref Wishah.

“Two people were listed in fair condition, while the third was listed in critical condition after they received bullets to different parts of their bodies,” the police chief was quoted as saying by Petra.

Khatib confirmed that police did not fire a single bullet towards any of the rioters and that the “injuries most probably happened because of the heavy firing by the rioters”.

Meanwhile, no violence was reported on the tribal outskirts of Maan, where the tribe to which the alleged killers, the Hweitat, resides.

On Monday, mobs from Mreigha closed the main road leading to Aqaba and Maan and attacked several cars.

Gendarme Forces had to intervene and open the road for traffic movement.

Petra reported that several people, who blocked the Mreigha road, were arrested by police.

5 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33187.

Teachers renew demand for professional association

By Laila Azzeh

AMMAN –– “Our demand to establish an association cannot be illegal by any means,” hundreds of teachers chanted outside the Parliament on Tuesday.

Renewing their calls for a professional association, the teachers said it is a “legitimate” right that should be granted to them as soon as possible, stressing that “contrary to what authorities think, it will not have a political agenda”.

“The teachers association is not a passing fad… yes, we agree that our number is large, but this should be considered a source of strength for the country,” said Committee for the Revival of the Teachers Professional Association President Mustafa Rawashdeh.

“If our demand is not met, we will unilaterally establish an association,” he told The Jordan Times during yesterday’s sit-in, but added that the “door for dialogue is still open”.

Several deputies came out of the Lower House to negotiate with the teachers.

“They [deputies] wanted the teachers’ representatives to go inside Parliament and hold talks, but today we are here to protest and not to talk,” Rawashdeh said.

Shatha Halaseh, a former director of a public school in Karak, said she was suddenly referred to retirement, despite her efforts to remain in her job to reach a certain level for social security purposes.

“I served as a teacher and a school director for 27 years, but after I joined the campaign to establish an association, I found myself jobless,” she told The Jordan Times, claiming that the decision to send her to retirement was “merely political” and not administrative.

Another teacher, Sami Hajaj, said educators do not only want money and university education for their children, but to be treated like other workers, whose right to have their own associations is taken for granted.

“If students are not afraid of us then why is the government?” he noted.

Following a nationwide strike by teachers last year, the government took several measures to improve teachers’ financial and social status, such as a series of raises over a period of one-and-a-half years.

In addition, under a Royal makruma announced by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, children of teachers admitted to public universities under the 5 per cent quota will benefit from scholarships that will cover all their tuition fees.

But the government has maintained that the establishment of a professional association for teachers is “out of the question”, citing a 1994 resolution by the Higher Council for the Interpretation of the Constitution.

In 1994, following a plan drafted by the Senate to issue a law forming a teachers’ association, the council ruled that the move was unconstitutional.

During yesterday’s sit-in, a number of activists from various political parties said teachers’ rights should be protected by the umbrella of an association.

Islam Samha, a member of the National Social Leftist Movement, noted that the Lower House’s failure to meet teachers’ demands means it has failed to secure the rights of citizens.

Islamic Action Front Secretary General Hamzah Mansour also took part in the protest, lending his support to the teachers and encouraging them to continue calling for their own association.

After the sit-in, Lower House Speaker Faisal Fayez decided to meet a group of teachers today to discuss their status and demands, the Jordan News Agency Petra, reported.

The Committee for the Revival of the Teachers Professional Association issued a statement last month condemning remarks made by Fayez that the establishment of a teachers association is against the Constitution.

5 January 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=33180.

Anti-government riots hit Jordan desert city

By Suleiman al-Khalidi
AMMAN | Tue Jan 4, 2011

(Reuters) - Rioters in the town of Maan in southern Jordan set fire to government buildings and police cars on Tuesday in a protest against the killing of two men this week, prompting the government to send security forces to the area to restore order.

Witnesses said hundreds of rioters angry at the authorities' failure to arrest the culprits behind Monday's killings spilt on to the streets of the desert town, setting a court building alight and damaging businesses.

"They hurled stones and burnt tires in the main streets of the city. Other groups of rampaging masked youths burnt the local court," said one witness, Ibrahim Kreishan.

Security officials confirmed troubles had erupted and tear gas was used to disperse hundreds of people who had attacked government property and damaged private shops.

Residents said the unrest followed the funeral of two workers from prominent tribes who were believed killed in a labor dispute on Monday by Bedouins from the powerful Hwaitat tribe.

They said Hwaitat tribe members were angered that rival tribes from the city of Maan were employed in their hometown in Shidiya, nearly 70 km (45 miles) south of Maan, to build a multi-million dollar water project.

Most of the businesses attacked in Maan on Tuesday belonged to members of the Hwaitat tribe.

Maan is a tribal stronghold of over 40,000 people about 250 km (156 miles) south of the capital Amman, which is known for its defiance of central authority.

The impoverished city has the been scene of violent civil unrest in recent years and Muslim fundamentalists have long been active among its residents, many of whom carry weapons and have resisted pressure to disarm.

Inter-tribal violence has been on the rise in Jordan where tribes, who are the original inhabitants of the country, form the backbone of support for the Hashemite dynasty.

In 2009 the kingdom suffered its worst economic performance since an economic crisis in 1989 when it was forced to seek help from the International Monetary Fund.

The downturn is making it more difficult for the state to satisfy demands of Jordanians for state jobs as proceeds from foreign aid and tax revenues have shrunk, analysts say.

(Writing by Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Dominic Evans and Noah Barkin)

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE7033UE20110104.

UN Mission in Nepal begins withdrawal

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

Kathmandu - The UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), which is monitoring the country's peace process, began withdrawing Thursday after domestic political squabbling prompted the United Nations to bring it to an end next week.

UN arms monitors and support staff began leaving camps set up for former Maoist guerrillas after the 2006 end of Nepal's decade-long civil war. A minimum amount of staff was left behind to continue to monitor the former combatants, officials said.

"We have started to withdraw some of our arms monitors and other staff starting today," mission spokesman Kosmos Biswokarma said Thursday, "but UNMIN will continue to have its presence in Nepal till its last day, which is January 15."

Seventy-two arms monitors from 18 countries are spread out over seven Maoist camps, home to more than 19,000 former fighters, as well as a weapons storage site in a Nepal Army barracks.

Their mission began its work in 2007. Its mandate had been extended six times, but last year, the Maoists, who joined the political process after laying down their arms, and the Nepalese government began bickering over what the job of the UN Mission should be and whether it should monitor the military as well as the former rebels.

The dispute and the resignation in June of the prime minister of Nepal - which continues today under a caretaker administration because the political parties have failed to agree on a new premier - prompted UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to say in September that the political parties were unable to share power and the peace process had stalled.

He said the UN Mission had been made a "scapegoat" for the failure of the government and Maoist forces to settle their dispute, and as a result, its mandate was not extended.

During a meeting late Wednesday between caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the premier flatly refused Dahal's request to place an official plea for the mission's extension before the UN Security Council.

The Maoists' battle to establish a communist state in the Himalayan nation resulted in the loss of nearly 14,000 lives.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360952,un-mission-nepal-withdrawal.html.

Indonesian president's job approval rate drops

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's job approval rating has dropped over perceived setbacks in his reform pledges, according to a survey released Thursday.

A nationwide poll of 2,200 people in December revealed that Yudhoyono's approval rating fell to 63 per cent from 70 per cent in January 2010, according to the Indonesian Survey Institute, a respected private pollster.

"The public perceived there have been setbacks in political and economic conditions as well as in law enforcement in 2010," the institute said.

Yudhoyono, a former general, reached the peak of popularity in July 2009, with an approval rating at 85 per cent. He won a second-five year term that year on promises to fight graft and boost the economy.

Critics have accused Yudhoyono's government of failing to improve the lot of the country's poorest despite rising economic growth and backpedaling on a pledge to root out corruption.

His supporters, however, have credited him with steering Indonesia to economic and political stability after years of turmoil.

Indonesia's economy is expected to grow 6 per cent in 2010.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360946,job-approval-rate-drops.html.

German foreign minister prepares for make-or-break speech

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

Stuttgart - Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle prepared Thursday to defend his leadership of the Free Democrats (FDP), the junior partner in Germany's center-right government, at a key party conference following calls for his resignation.

The FDP's executive committee met in Stuttgart ahead of the party's traditional "three kings" summit, held each year on January 6.

"The FDP is united, and is fighting," said Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle, who is Westerwelle's deputy within the FDP.

Health Minister Philipp Roesler, one of the FDP's rising stars, expected the party conference to deliver a "new start."

The pro-business party entered government with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) in 2009, but has since sunk so low in opinion polls that it could fail to enter parliament if federal elections were held now.

Westerwelle's speech has been keenly anticipated, after FDP members have called upon him to take personal responsibility for the party's plummeting popularity, ahead of elections in seven of Germany's 16 federal states this year.

Development Minister Dirk Niebel spoke of a "spirit of change," as party members gathered for the Stuttgart conference.

Birgit Homburger, the FDP's parliamentary leader and a close aide of Westerwelle, said she expected him to give a "combative speech."

"He will set the departure point for a great election campaign, which we will win," Homburger said. Her fate has been closely linked to that of Westerwelle, who ranks as one of Germany's least popular politicians.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360948,minister-prepares-make-or-break-speech.html.

Belgian crisis drags on as Flemish parties reject latest compromise

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

Brussels - Belgium's longest-ever political crisis looked set to continue on Thursday, as two Dutch-speaking parties rejected compromise proposals by a royally-appointed mediator that were meant to pave the way for government formation.

Belgian politicians are arguing over the set up of their federal state, with representatives of richer, Dutch-speaking Flanders demanding more autonomy, in order to minimize subsidies to poorer, French-speaking Wallonia.

Late on Wednesday, the N-VA, a Flemish nationalist party arguing for a gradual dissolution of Belgium, and the more mainstream CD&V, said the solutions put forward by Johan Vande Lanotte, a veteran Flemish politician chosen by King Albert II to break the political deadlock, did not go far enough.

"The N-VA has some fundamental questions on the note by the conciliator," the party's leader Bart De Wever was quoted as saying by Belgian media.

"The conciliator has to amend his note before restarting negotiations," said the CD&V's leader Wouter Beke.

All other five parties involved in coalition talks - French- speaking Socialists, Greens and centrists, as well as Dutch-speaking Socialists and Greens - said they were happy with what was on the table.

Vande Lanotte is expected to consult later Thursday with the king on a possible way out of the stalemate, which has left Belgium without an elected government for a record 207 days.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360958,parties-reject-latest-compromise.html.

India releases report on creation of new state

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

New Delhi - India's federal Home Ministry Thursday made public an official report listing options regarding demands for the creation of a new state in southern India.

Tight security arrangements were in place in Andhra Pradesh - out of which the state of Telangana would be created - as authorities anticipated protests for and against the separation.

The report offers six recommendations ranging from splitting of the state to keeping Andhra Pradesh united but with special powers for Telangana.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram appealed to political parties to read the report with an "open mind" and invited them to offer their impartial views at a later discussion.

"It is the government's sincere hope that the report will generate an informed and mature debate," he told reporters in New Delhi.

The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, a party spearheading the movement for the new state, rejected the report, saying it would not accept anything short of a separate state.

The final decision lies with the federal parliament and the state assembly must also approve its creation.

India currently has 28 states, with the last three new states formed in 2000. The South Asian country had 16 states in 1971.

The movement for a separate Telangana state dates back 50 years. Supporters say Telangana has been neglected and is among India's poorest and most economically backward regions. They claim that the region can only be developed if local people control its administration.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360959,releases-creation-new-state.html.

Dutch cabinet considers new Afghan mission after troop withdrawal

Thu, 06 Jan 2011

Amsterdam - The Dutch government wants to deploy 350 police and military officers to train security forces in Afghanistan, just months after the Netherlands pulled most of its soldiers out of the war-torn country, the de Volkskrant newspaper reported Thursday.

The trainers would reportedly be sent after Easter to the capital Kabul and the northern province of Kunduz, where they will receive support from German troops.

The Dutch cabinet, which is to debate the leaked plans on Friday, also reportedly plans to leave four F-16 fighter jets with some 120 flight and ground personnel in Afghanistan.

The Netherlands had become the first NATO country to officially end its Afghanistan military deployment this summer, after tensions over its involvement led to the breakup of the governing coalition.

The dispute had pitted the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which pushed to prolong the deployment as requested by NATO, against the Labor Party, which insisted on adhering to a coalition agreement that called for a troop withdrawal starting in August 2010.

The Hague has since been strongly urged by NATO and the United States to not completely end its military involvement in Afghanistan by at least helping to train local security forces.

The Dutch parliament would have to approve the proposed training mission. Prime Minister Mark Rutte's governing coalition does not control a parliamentary majority and would thus need the backing of opposition parties.

Observers expect that the plans will garner the support of a slight parliamentary majority, despite resistance to the idea by the Labor Party and the far-right Party for Freedom of Geert Wilders.

Before its withdrawal, the Netherlands had stationed up to 2,000 soldiers in the southern Uruzgan province since 2006, with 24 killed and some 140 injured.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360961,afghan-mission-troop-withdrawal.html.

'Israel to have role in US secret war'

Thu Jan 6, 2011

A former US Senate candidate has refused to rule out involvement by Israel in the Washington-waged "secret war on terror groups."

The US administration is reportedly ratcheting up offensives around the globe by establishing a new military targeting center.

Former Senate hopeful Mark Dankof told Press TV on Thursday that it is yet to be known “to what extent the Israelis are going to be involved in these operations.”

The United States and Israel each hail the other as its strongest ally. The American support for Israel is shown, among other things, by Washington's sending Tel Aviv's way nearly USD 3 billion in military aid each year.

Dankof said escalation in the US so-called anti-terror operations is going to “get a lot of innocent people killed.”

“I think there is going to be an even bigger backlash against what the United States is doing in both of these countries,” he noted, referring to Washington's current military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over one million Iraqis have been killed ever since the 2003 US-led invasion of the violence-scarred country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

The US military has also increased the number of special operations and commando assaults in Afghanistan.

Faulty conduction of foreign military assaults has reportedly claimed the lives of thousands of Afghan civilians since the 2001 invasion.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158951.html.

UN fails to protect Lebanon resources

Thu Jan 6, 2011

The United Nations has declined Lebanon's request to protect the country's natural gas reserves along its maritime border with Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, protesting Israel's exploitation of his country's energy resources.

The move came days after US firm Noble Energy announced that the gas field, offshore Israel, holds an estimated 450 billion cubic meters (16 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas.

“Some of the discovered wells are in joint fields between Lebanon and Israel,” Shami said in the letter addressed to the UN chief.

“We request you do everything possible to ensure Israel does not exploit Lebanon's hydrocarbon resources, which fall within Lebanon's economic zone as delineated in the maps the foreign ministry submitted to the United Nations in 2010,” he added.

UN spokesman Martin Nesirsky, however, said in response to the request that the international body was not prepared to intervene in the dispute, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

“Security Council Resolution 1701 does not include delineating the maritime border,” Nesirky said.

“We are talking about two different things - coastal waters and a disputed maritime border,” the spokesperson went on to say.

The United Nations demarcated the land border separating Israel and Lebanon in 2000, but there is no official maritime border.

Lebanon, however, is planning to outline its maritime borders, and auction off rights to explore potential offshore natural gas and petrol reserves in 2012.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158867.html.

Sadr receives hero's welcome in Iraq

Thu Jan 6, 2011

The leader of Iraq's Sadr movement has returned to his country to receive a hero's welcome in the holy city of Najaf after nearly four years away.

Moqtada al-Sadr arrived at the Imam Ali (PBUH) Mosque in Najaf on Wednesday amid cheers from hundreds of supporters who took on the streets of al-Hanana neighborhood to celebrate their leader's return.

Sadr's predominantly Shia bloc aired off a strong show of power in last year's parliamentary elections and later gave key support to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was finally re-elected and formed a new cabinet.

Sadrist supporters from Baghdad including top-ranking officials in his political faction streamed to Najaf, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of the capital, for the occasion.

His followers chanted “Imam Ali (PBUH) is with you” as they rolled through the streets of the shrine city.

His group said that Sadr is not visiting Iraq, but is back here to stay.

Before heading to his house, the Iraqi cleric also visited the grave of his father, who was assassinated during the Ba'athist regime headed by executed dictator Saddam Hussein.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158854.html.

Turkish police thwart hijack attempt

Thu Jan 6, 2011

An attempt to hijack a Turkish Airlines flight has been thwarted after security forces stormed the plane and arrested the hijacker.

The Boeing 737 was about to land at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport en route from Oslo on Wednesday when a passenger threatened to detonate a bomb if the plane did not return to Oslo, dpa reported.

A passenger identified as Salim Tahar, who lives in Oslo, said the man stood up in the rear of the cabin, put on a mask and threatened to blow up the plane.

When the aircraft landed, the crew moved the passengers to the front of the plane while some attendants prevented the hijacker from entering the cockpit.

The Turkish police immediately stormed the plane and arrested the man, whose identity was not immediately known.

None of the 60 passengers onboard the plane was harmed in the incident.

Ataturk airport reported that no explosives were found on the aircraft. The passenger was drunk and was subdued by other passengers till the police arrived, it said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158848.html.

Angry crowd stop Netanyahu's speech

Thu Jan 6, 2011

Relatives of those killed in the December forest fire in Israel have heckled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony to honor the dead.

Angry family members of the 44 victims of the huge wild fire, forced Netanyahu to stop his speech at the ceremony held on Wednesday in Kibbutz Beit Oren, north of the occupied territories, the Associated Press reported.

Condemning the poor handling of the disaster response, they shouted that the Israeli premier must resign and called the ceremony a disgrace.

The angry crowd also directed their frustration at the Interior Minister Eli Yishai whose ministry is responsible for firefighting services.

The security forces were forced to rush to the podium to protect Netanyahu by forming a line to keep people away from him, while Yishai was escorted out of the hall.

“We will find out the truth. We will not rest until we find out the truth,'' shouted one man from the crowd.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158844.html.

US, Israel 'biggest threats to Turkey'

Wed Jan 5, 2011

Nearly most people in Turkey see the United States and Israel as the biggest threats to their country, a recent opinion poll has revealed.

According to a survey conducted in December by the Ankara-based Metropoll research company, 42.6 percent of the respondents consider the US as "the greatest external threat," while another 23.7 percent describe Israel as a major cause for concern.

"The US foreign politics since the Iraqi invasion, the hood incident [the US detention of Turkish soldiers during the Iraq war], the war in Afghanistan, repeated Armenian bills in US Congress and the negative statements that Turkish leaders make about the US and Israel play a major role in this perception," Professor Ozer Sencar, chairman of Metropoll Research Center, told Turkey's Hurriyet on Wednesday.

"It is interesting that Turkish people perceive an ally, the US, a country with whom Turkey has high-level, bilateral relations and is in NATO, as a threat", Sencar said, adding that Turkish people had not perceived the US as a threat before the US-led invasion of Iraq.

He also cited Washington's strong support for Israel's brutalities against the Palestinian people as another source of the negative perception.

"Israeli politics in the region and the suffering of Palestinians are not opposed -- let alone reacted to -- by the US administration", Sencar said.

The poll, which was conducted on some 1,500 people across Turkey, also showed that nearly 64 percent of Turks believe that Ankara should freeze relations with Israel.

The survey also made it clear that Turkish hostility toward Israel was on the rise.

Ankara-Tel Aviv's once strong relations turned sour last year after Israeli forces killed nine Turkish activists onboard an aid ship, which was carrying humanitarian supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip in May.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158826.html.

'Iran to make changes within Army'

Thu Jan 6, 2011

A top military commander says Iran plans to restructure the Army's Ground Forces to further improve the country's defensive power.

“Plans for making changes within the Army's Ground Forces, aimed at enhancing its preparedness in confronting threats, have been approved by the Commander-in-Chief [Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei],” Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan said on Thursday.

Pourdastan added that the order to implement the plan has also been issued by Ayatollah Khamenei, Fars News Agency reported.

The enemy would not attack Iran from just one front, and so the Islamic Republic's Army has taken measures to be prepared to fend off potential attacks on any parts of the country, the Iranian commander said.

Referring to neoconservatives' rise to power in Washington, Pourdastan said gaining power by this political movement in the US has affected global developments.

He added that according to the studies conducted by the US intelligence services, Islam and the Shia faith are among the new global power poles, and restricting these powers is the neoconservatives' priority.

Iran says it has managed to develop modern military hardware, including missiles, missile launchers and vessels, despite the US-backed sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program.

However, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly announced that its military prowess poses no threat, whatsoever, to regional countries.

Iran has reiterated on numerous occasions that its military might is aimed at deterrence and repelling possible acts of aggression.

Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly threatened Tehran with a military strike, based on allegations that Iran's nuclear work may have hidden military aspects.

Iranian officials reject Western accusations that Tehran is pursuing a military nuclear program, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Iran has the right to apply peaceful aspects of nuclear energy.

Iranian military officials, however, have dismissed such threats, warning the US and Israel that any military movement against Iran's nuclear facilities would spread beyond the region.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158943.html.

Southern Iran yields 5,000-year-old site

Wed Jan 5, 2011

Iranian archaeologists have found ruins of an ancient site in the country's southern province of Kerman, which they believe dates back to 5,000 years ago.

The site was discovered during a construction project in the Khajeh Askar region near the historical city of Bam, head of the archeology team Nader Alidadi-Soleimani told Mehr News Agency.

“Parts of the ancient ruins were unfortunately damaged during excavations,” he added.

“The artifacts found at the site show that it was one of the earliest residential areas in Iran, whose inhabitants had connections with other communities of the time such as the Jiroft civilization,” Alidadi-Soleimani explained.

Remains of the Jiroft civilization were discovered near Halil Roud River in Kerman Province in 2002. Excavations yielded a ziggurat built from more than four million mud bricks dating back to about 2200 BCE.

The prolific site has yielded lots of interesting relics and artifacts and is dubbed the 'archeologists' lost heaven.'

The newly found site offered a number of earthenware shards and intact pieces of pottery, which suggest that potter's wheel was not used at the site.

Two cemeteries were identified at the site with skeletal remains belonging to a male and a female. One of the bodies was lying face up and the other was buried in a fetal position.

The team also found some artifacts buried along with the bodies including a seashell containing chromatic material once used as a cosmetic product.

Kerman Province houses many ancient sites including the world-famous city of Bam and its citadel which was the world's largest mad brick structure before the disastrous earthquake of 2003 which destroyed the entire monument.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158821.html.

Algerians protest over price hikes

Thu Jan 6, 2011

Algerians protesting over cost of living hikes have clashed with riot police in cities and towns across the country while chanting slogans.

The protesters chanted anti-government slogans denouncing increasing prices on Wednesday. They blamed Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika for not doing enough to curb economic problems.

Protesters also expressed anger over lack of water as well as power outages.

In the capital city of Algiers, youths threw stones at riot police and set afire garbage bins and tires in roads on Wednesday as police fired back with tear gas.

A number of protesters and police were injured during the clashes.

At the beginning of the year, citizens in the North African country started to protest nationwide when the government announced price increases for basic commodities such as oil and sugar.

Further protests are anticipated as lack of sufficient flour across the country is expected to lead to a shortage of bread, a basic food staple.

Several days ago, 17 families in Algerian capital Algiers threatened to commit mass suicide if officials did not act on their demands concerning fair provision of residential units.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158903.html.

US, Russia to conduct new drills

Tue Jan 4, 2011

The United States and Russia are planning new hijacking exercises to test their air defense abilities in the face of what they call potential international hijacking by terrorists.

Russia and the North American Aerospace Defense Command will hold a meeting in Russia in February to plan their second joint hijacking exercise, US Air Force Lt. Col. Lee Haefner said.

After reviewing the first joint exercise conducted across the Pacific in August, Haefner, the exercise's lead planner, said that it “was pretty much carried on flawlessly.”

The first round of hijacking exercises were planned for 2008 but were postponed when US-Russian relations were strained following a brief war between Russia and Georgia.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158620.html.

Gbagbo agrees to lift blockade

Tue Jan 4, 2011

Incumbent Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo has vowed to lift the blockade around the temporary headquarters of his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara.

African mediators said in a statement on Tuesday that Gbagbo pledged to immediately lift the blockade around Hotel du Golf, AFP reported.

The incumbent leader also agreed to negotiate without any preconditions to end the post-election crisis in the African country.

The mediators made the remarks after they met Gbagbo in Abidjan.

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Presidents Boni Yayi of Benin, Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde were the four mediators.

The mediators were set to report on their mission to Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States.

The African state has been in turmoil after November 28 presidential election which both Gbagbo and Ouattara claimed to have won.

The United Nations and the African Union have recognized Ouattara as president.

However, Gbagbo has resisted fierce international pressure to hand over power to Ouattara and sworn in for another term.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158621.html.

Israel begins 2011 al-Quds demolitions

Tue Jan 4, 2011

Israeli forces have razed a Palestinian home in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), the latest in the nonstop wave of Israeli demolitions in the illegally annexed city.

Israeli army bulldozers tore down Nasser Siyam's house in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood on Monday morning, leaving the eight-member family homeless, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The Israeli soldiers broke into the house when it was empty except for Siyam's 10-year-old child. They removed the furniture and crushed the walls, leaving the Palestinian family nowhere to stay but a bedroom and the bathroom that were spared from the demolition.
Siyam said he had been battling the Israeli court system since 2004, trying to save his home. He applied for permits several times to keep his home, but was denied every time.

Siyam's house is the first home to be destroyed by Israeli bulldozers in the new year, analysts expect Tel Aviv will carry out many more demolitions in the city it occupied back in 1967.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished 11 structures in the al-Tur neighborhood of East al-Quds for being constructed without permits -- documents that are almost impossible to obtain from Israeli municipal authorities.

In 2010 alone, Israel destroyed nearly 40 Palestinian homes and 90 shops in East al-Quds, with the dramatic increase of razing homes giving rise to concerns about Israel's plan to remove the Palestinians from the occupied city and judaize the Palestinians' demanded capital.

A recent report by the United Nations warned that almost a quarter of the 250,000 Palestinians living in East al-Quds are at the risk of having their homes leveled by Israel.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) lashed at the relentless demolitions for their destructive influence on the Palestinians' lives.

"These condemnable acts have a devastating impact," Director of UNRWA Operations in the West Bank Barbara Shenstone said in a statement on Monday.

"While children around the world are enjoying the holiday season in their homes, these children have suffered the trauma and indignity of watching their homes destroyed in the presence of their parents,” she regretted. “It is extremely cruel and distressing."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158559.html.

Israeli rabbi bans women from driving

Tue Jan 4, 2011

A prominent Israeli rabbi has issued a religious decree forbidding Jewish women from driving or learning to drive unless absolutely necessary.

The order by Rabbi Avraham Yosef prohibits women from driving, especially in Israeli cities predominantly inhabited by ultraorthodox Jews, Ahram Online news website reported.

Yosef is the chief rabbi in the city of Holon and is the son of Rabbi Afodia Yosef -- Shas' spiritual leader.

The Jewish figure justified the decree by saying that driving for women does not reflect modesty or chastity, especially in cities mostly inhabited by religious people.

Yosef is reportedly not the first Jewish rabbi to issue such an order.

Rabbi Shmuel Halevi issued a similar prohibition forbidding women from driving, arguing seductive appearance of women distracted men drivers and thus resulted in a large number of traffic accidents.

Member of Knesset and head of the house's committee on the status of women Tzipi Hotovely criticized the order, saying it negatively affects the assimilation of Israeli women and described driving as a daily routine a woman must perform.

Hotovely said that taking into consideration religious Jewish families have a large number of children, driving becomes a necessity.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158562.html.

Saudi captures 'Mossad spy' vulture

Tue Jan 4, 2011

A tagged Israeli bird found in Saudi Arabia has raised speculations that Israeli spy agency Mossad is training birds for espionage in the region.

The vulture, with the identification code of R65, was found in a rural area in Saudi Arabia, wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words "Tel Aviv University", Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported Tuesday.

It was captured near the home of a sheikh in the community of Hayel in Saudi Arabia.

The words "Tel Aviv University" etched in English on a ring clasped to the bird's leg, and especially the transmitter, raised suspicions among the finders who said it could be a Mossad agent.

According to the report, the tags indicate that the bird was part of a long-term research project into migration patterns.

Saudi residents and local reporters, however, say it seems to be a "Zionist plot."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158615.html.

Iran discovers two new gas fields

Tue Jan 4, 2011

National Iranian Oil Company CEO Ahmad Ghalebani says two new natural gas fields have been discovered in the country.

Details on the discovery of these new gas fields will be announced by the Iranian oil minister on the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the top official was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying on Tuesday.

“Currently, a working group made up of experts from the National Iranian Oil Company and Oil Ministry's planning [department] have embarked on studying the oil and gas reserves of each one of the country's hydrocarbon fields,” Deputy Oil Minister Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said.

The deputy oil minister also said that measuring new reserves in the oil and gas fields is carried out in accordance with Iran's latest scientific and technological achievements, adding that the final measurement on the total supplies of Iran's crude oil and natural gas reserves will be officially announced.

Khojasteh-Mehr earlier announced that the country's hydrocarbon capacities are expected to grow due to the modern tactics employed in oil and gas explorations, highlighting the country's potential for discovering even more intact hydrocarbon reserves.

Earlier this year, the National Iranian Oil Company announced it would explore for new oil and gas reserves in the next five years.

According to the latest official statistics, Iran has 150.3 billion barrels of crude oil and 33.1 trillion cubic meters of natural gas. This is while five new gas and oil fields have been discovered in the Islamic Republic during the past year.

Iran is OPEC's second-largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia. In 2009, Iran's crude production stood approximately at 3.8 million barrels per day. The Persian Gulf country sits on the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158602.html.

EU's Barroso expects Hungarian 'clarification' on media

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Brussels/Budapest - The head of the European Union's executive said Wednesday ahead of a visit to Budapest that he expects Hungary to clarify a controversial media law accused of gagging press freedom.

The law, which foresees, among other things, stiff penalties for media outlets that report in an "unbalanced" manner, has been lambasted by Hungarian journalists, non-governmental organizations and some foreign governments.

Hungary took over the EU's rotating presidency on Saturday, giving the issue a high political profile.

"What of course I would like to have from the Hungarian authorities is a clarification of the situation and the possible lifting of those doubts that exist," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Meanwhile, Hungary continued to reject criticism of its new regulations on media content, as well as doubts over its fitness to hold the EU presidency.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters that a cabinet meeting earlier this week had found no reason to amend the new media law in any way.

Peter Szijjarto claimed that protests by numerous Hungarian newspapers and reporters prove that "the law that came into effect on January 1 in no way harms the freedom of the press."

The government "categorically rejects all statements that call into doubt Hungary's capability to conduct the EU presidency", the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Germany's Deputy Foreign Minister Werner Hoyer said on Tuesday that his country opposed Hungary's hosting talks on media matters at a May Eastern Partnership summit with countries such as Belarus and Ukraine.

Barroso is to travel to Budapest on Thursday for a traditional beginning-of-presidency meeting with Orban. During He said he would definitely discuss the new law with the Hungarian premier.

Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes has already written to the Hungarian authorities to demand more information on aspects of the law that are seen as potentially troublesome in Brussels.

If the Commission were to decide that the law violates EU rules, it could demand its repeal and, if necessary, take Hungary to court.

However, Barroso stressed that he "cannot at this moment prejudge" the outcome of the commission's investigation.

Speaking simultaneously in Budapest, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said that his country was "ready to cooperate and to give all explanations" to end the controversy.

"In this time of overheated debate, the wisest thing we can do is to wait for the commission investigation," he told a group of journalists flown in from Brussels to cover the presidency opening.

At the same time, he sounded a less defiant note than Orban, who has in the past ruled out even contemplating changes to the law.

When asked whether his government would bring in amendments if necessary, Martonyi said, "It is premature to say this. We are not yet there."

Earlier on Wednesday, EU officials confirmed that they had just received a translation of the Hungarian media law.

Hungarian media noted the same day, however, that numerous paragraphs were missing from the English version, which has also been posted on the website of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH).

The central media authority said that all provisions relevant to regulation of media content had been included.

Paragraphs covering, for example, temporary regulations and others that are due to be lifted had been omitted are now being translated, the NMHH told the state news agency MTI.

The text runs to 194 pages, with experts saying it could take "weeks or months" to analyze its legal implications.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360864,expects-hungarian-clarification-media.html.

BACKGROUND: New US Senate and House of Representatives

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Washington - The 112th US Congress that takes office on Wednesday is the country's top law-making body, consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate.

Conservative Republicans are taking over the majority of the 435- member House of Representatives, with 242 members. That includes 126 Republicans who were backed by the new arch-conservative force within the party - the Tea Party - according to a count by the Washington Post.

Democrats now hold only 193 seats in the House after suffering a historic defeat in November's congressional elections.

All representatives are elected every two years, with seats divided among the 50 states according to a population-based formula. This means more populous states have more influence. The two-year election rhythm also makes the House more responsive to shifts in popular will.

The 100-seat Senate provides a balance for smaller states. Each of the 50 states sends two senators to Washington. They serve six-year terms, also guaranteeing a more deliberative approach to issues of the day.

Left-leaning Democrats still hold a narrow majority in the Senate with 51 seats versus 47 for the Republicans, who gained clout in the November elections. Two members are independents.

All laws and budget decisions must be adopted by both houses and signed by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360881,us-senate-house-representatives.html.

Hitler exhibition in Berlin extended through end of February

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Berlin - The exhibition "Hitler and the Germans" in Berlin has been extended by three weeks because of the throngs of visitors it continues to attract, the German Historical Museum announced on Wednesday.

Instead of ending on February 6, it will now close on February 27.

The exhibition features 600 objects and 400 photos in documenting how Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler could draw on the loyalty of average Germans during his 12-year reign (1933-1945).

The show has been a boon to the museum, setting a visitor record last year.

A total of 915,000 visitors viewed it in 2010, with 28 per cent stemming from Berlin, just under 40 per cent from the rest of Germany and some 32 per cent from abroad.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360884,exhibition-berlin-extended-february.html.

Venezuelan opposition returns to the legislature

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Caracas - The Venezuelan National Assembly launched Wednesday the new 2011-2016 legislature, with a heated debate between supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the opposition.

Over the past five years, the opposition had almost no representation in the chamber, since it boycotted the 2005 legislative election. While his opponents now have a voice in the assembly with 67 seats, Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) still outnumber them with 98 votes.

With or without a majority, Chavez will be able to ignore the National Assembly on important issues until he stands for re-election in 2012. In December, the outgoing legislature granted Chavez emergency powers to rule by decree for the next 18 months.

In Wednesday's session, the PSUV secured all the leadership positions in the legislature, a process that sparked the heated discussion..

The opposition celebrated the historic return, but denounced the fact that the number of seats they have in the chamber does not reflect the fact that they got 52 per cent of the popular vote in the September 26 election.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360890,venezuelan-opposition-returns-legislature.html.

Israeli parliament votes to probe funding of left-wing groups

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Jerusalem - Capping a stormy debate, Israel's parliament voted Wednesday to set up a committee of inquiry to probe the funding of left-wing Israeli organizations which allegedly participate in deligitimization campaigns against Israeli soldiers.

Some 47 legislators voted in favor while 16 voted against, Israel Radio reported.

The proposal was submitted by a back-bench legislator from the ultra-nationalist Yisrael B'Teinu party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's largest coalition partner, and was put forward despite a ruling by the attorney-general in August that no investigation should be launched against these groups.

The debate on the motion was characterized by catcalls and heckling, and saw a government minister, Michael Eitan, demand that Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, of Yisrael B'Teinu, who spoke in favor of the motion, vacate the podium since he did not represent the government's position.

The Knesset vote was slammed by left-wing legislators and human rights groups.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360859,probe-funding-left-wing-groups.html.

Philippines captures senior communist rebel leader

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Manila - Philippine security forces wounded and captured a senior communist rebel leader, a regional military spokesman said Wednesday.

Tirso Alcantara, overall commander of communist rebels in the main northern island of Luzon, was taken into custody late Tuesday in Lucena City, 105 kilometers south-east of Manila.

Alcantara was the most senior communist rebel to be arrested in the Philippines in recent years. His capture came a day after the end of an 18-day Yuletide ceasefire between government troops and leftist guerrillas.

Army Colonel Generoso Bolina said Alcantara was shot by police officers and soldiers when he tried to evade arrest at a checkpoint in the village of Ibabang Iyam.

"Tirso Alcantara resisted arrest and attempted to draw his pistol that resulted in a commotion and the wounding of the subject in his buttocks," he said.

The government troops also captured Alcantara's aide who was identified as Apolinario Cuarto.

The arresting team seized weapons including two pistols and two hand grenades from the suspects, Bolina added.

The Philippines and the communist rebels have agreed to resume later in the month peace negotiations which have been stalled since August 2005.

Communist rebels have been fighting the government since the late 1960s, making the movement one of the longest-running leftist insurgencies in Asia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360757,senior-communist-rebel-leader.html.

Ivory Coast military blockade still in place, says Ouattara camp

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Nairobi/Abidjan - Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo has broken his promise to African mediators to lift a military blockade around the hotel where his rival Alassane Ouattara is holed up, a spokesman for Ouattara said Wednesday.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and three West African heads of state met Gbagbo in the economic capital Abidjan on Monday, and said they extracted a promise from the defiant leader to enter into talks and remove the barricades.

"Mr Gbagbo has kept his word on the blockade, which he lifted at around midday yesterday," Odinga said in a statement released Wednesday after his return to Kenya.

However, Patrick Achi, spokesman for Ouattara's alternative government, said the blockade was still there as of Wednesday morning.

"They (the barricades) have not been removed ... and we think they will stay," he told the German Press Agency dpa. "We think this is a maneuver to buy time since the heads of state were there, but I'm sure it wasn't in their minds to move it."

Gbagbo has resisted fierce international pressure to hand over power to Ouattara - the man the world recognizes as Ivory Coast's rightful president - in a standoff the UN says has claimed at least 173 lives.

European Union and United States travel bans, aid freezes from bodies such as the World Bank and the blocking of access to public funds in regional banks have all failed to budge Gbagbo, who has used the military to hold onto power since disputed presidential polls in November.

The presidents of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde have traveled to Abidjan twice on behalf of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - accompanied by African Union envoy Odinga on the second occasion - in failed efforts to persuade him to leave.

ECOWAS has warned Gbagbo it could use force to oust him if he does not step down, although analysts feel this is an unlikely scenario given the negative implications for regional security and upcoming elections in Nigeria, which would be the most likely candidate for providing troops.

November's elections were supposed to open a more positive chapter in Ivory Coast's history eight years after civil war split the West African nation into the mainly Muslim north, which backs Ouattara, and the Christian south, where Gbagbo holds sway.

Instead, the polls only highlighted north-south divisions after a Gbagbo ally on the constitutional council overturned electoral commission results proclaiming Ouattara the winner.

The UN has accused pro-Gbagbo forces of extrajudicial killings and disappearances of Ouattara supporters amid unconfirmed reports of the existence of mass graves.

The military on Wednesday staged an early morning raid on the headquarters of the RHDP - a coalition of parties backing Ouattara - and arrested 20 people, according to witnesses.

Some 22,000 Ivorians have fled to neighboring Liberia fearing a return to civil war, the UN refugee agency said.

US, EU 'regret' Belarus' 'step backwards' on democracy

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Brussels - Belarus took a "step backwards" from democracy in its end-of-year presidential election and the crackdown that followed and must introduce reforms, the European Union and United States said in a rare joint statement.

The election was proclaimed as a sweeping victory by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and was followed by widespread crackdowns against opposition figures. Western observers, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), condemned the December 19 poll as systematically rigged.

"The elections and their aftermath ... represent a step backwards in the development of democratic governance in Belarus," US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said in the statement issued late Tuesday.

After the election, Belarus ordered the closure of the OSCE's offices in Minsk, arguing that the organization had no role to play.

Clinton and Ashton said they "regret" that decision because "the mandate of the mission is not completed as the OSCE's critical assessment of the presidential elections indicates."

The EU has trod a wary path on Belarus in recent years, imposing sanctions on leading regime members but refusing to implement them in the hope of stimulating democratic reforms.

After the election, a number of EU states - including the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden - began pushing for those sanctions to be applied. But Hungary and Italy, a close ally of Russia, opposed the call. EU diplomats are to debate the issue Friday.

Belarus is one of six members of the EU's "Eastern Partnership" with former Soviet states. The partnership offers trade and visa concessions in return for reforms.

"The EU and US remain willing to assist Belarus in meeting its OSCE commitments in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms," the joint statement said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360765,belarus-step-backwards-democracy.html.

Report: China's first stealth fighter revealed

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Tokyo - China has completed a prototype of its first known stealth aircraft, news reports said Wednesday, reinforcing the nation's military buildup ahead of a visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

China is to start test flights of the J-20 this month with an eye to the deployment of the fighter as early as 2017, Japan's Asahi daily reported, citing unnamed Chinese military sources.

The J-20, which is larger than the US Air Force's F-22 Raptor, will be equipped with large missiles and could fly to as far as Guam with aerial refueling, Asahi said. It would still take another 10 to 15 years to develop technology to catch up with that of the US F-22, the article said.

The J-20 was undergoing high-speed taxi tests late last week at Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute's airfield, defense industry publication Aviation Week reported. "It is larger than most observers expected - pointing to a long range and heavy weapon loads."

The completion of the J-20 "has confirmed that the Chinese military is rapidly advancing the modernization of its air force while putting more effort into advancing to the open ocean," Asahi said. "The move could have an impact on the military balance in East Asia."

The report came just days before Gates was due to arrive in Beijing. He was also scheduled to visit Japan.

Neighboring countries are concerned about China's military buildup. To counter China strengthening its military might, Japan wants to expand military ties with South Korea.

Japan's Self Defense Forces aimed to purchase the US F-22, but the production of the fighter came to a halt, Asahi reported.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360767,chinas-stealth-fighter-revealed.html.

Kuwaiti parliament debates no-confidence vote on premier

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Cairo/Kuwait City - Kuwait's parliament began debating a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Sabah on Wednesday over opposition charges of police brutality, Kuwait's state news agency reported.

If the motion is passed, it would be the first time a Kuwaiti premier had lost a no-confidence vote.

Under Kuwait's rules, the motion needs the support of 25 members of the 50-seat house to pass.

After a parliamentary questioning of Sheikh Nasser last week, the opposition said they had 22 parliamentarians lined up to vote against him, indicating a close outcome. Government supporters said they were confident the motion would be defeated.

The 10 members of parliament who filed the motion to oust Sheikh Nasser are looking to unseat him for allegedly authorizing a police crackdown on one of their gatherings last month.

If they succeed, the issue will be referred to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, who is Sheikh Nasser's uncle.

The emir is expected to either dismiss the premier or dissolve parliament, which has been dissolved four times already in the past five years.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360771,debates-no-confidence-vote-premier.html.

China backs Spanish economy despite market distrust

Wed, 05 Jan 2011

Madrid - Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday stressed Beijing's confidence in the solidity of the Spanish economy despite the distrust of financial markets.

Li made the comments to about 100 Spanish and Chinese entrepreneurs on the second day of a key visit to Spain, according to sources present at the meeting.

China and Spain were expected to sign 16 commercial agreements valuing a total 5.65 billion euros (7.5 billion dollars) during the visit.

Prior to the visit, Li said China would continue buying Spanish public debt as a sign of confidence in the country's economy.

Beijing was seen by Spanish analysts as trying to diversify its currency reserves and to stabilize the euro, the currency of one of its most important export markets.

China was also expected to seek Spanish support for an eventual decision by the European Union to lift the arms embargo it imposed after hundreds of people were killed in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.

Later on Wednesday, Li was scheduled to meet with King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez, following meetings with Economy Minister Elena Salgado and Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian on Tuesday.

Spain was Li's first stop on a European tour which will also take him to Germany and Britain.

Spain has adopted austerity and structural measures in an attempt to deal with its economic problems, including a budget deficit of 11.1 per cent. There has been concern that Spain might follow Greece and Ireland in needing an international bailout.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360791,spanish-economy-market-distrust.html.

Renewed anti-government protests in Haiti - Summary

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Port-au-Prince - Critics of the Haitian government were protesting again against President Rene Preval, Radio Metropole reported.

They built barricades on key streets in the Haitian capital Port- au-Prince since late Monday, the radio station said Tuesday. Earlier, Preval said in a televised address that he intended to remain in office until May, instead of leaving in February according to the original schedule.

The country, the poorest in the Americas, is beset by a series of challenges, beginning with the slow recovery from the January 12, 2010 quake, which claimed at least 230,000 lives.

It is immersed in a cholera epidemic that has killed at least 3,300 people in recent weeks. And controversy shrouds the outcome of the November 28 presidential election, for which no official results have been announced amid complaints of fraud.

Experts from the Organization of American States (OAS) are currently overseeing the count.

Preval is accused of having manipulated the election to favor his party's candidate, Jude Celestin. If unofficial results announced so far are eventually confirmed, Celestin would join conservative Mirlande Manigat in the runoff, leaving popular singer Michel Martelly out of the race for the presidency.

The runoff was originally scheduled for January, with the new president to take office in February.

On Tuesday, Sean Penn, the US actor who maintains a camp for the homeless in Port-au-Prince, criticized the international community over delays in aid for Haiti, telling a German magazine much of the pledged aid had still not arrived.

He told Stern magazine that the Caribbean country would not be suffering a cholera epidemic if governments and aid groups had acted faster to ensure that all Haitians had clean water to drink.

Penn accused aid groups of preferring to hand out food instead of helping Haitians to rebuild homes. He said that of 10 billion dollars pledged to Haiti last March, "hardly anything" had arrived.

According to Stern, which published his remarks in German, Penn said that if those nations had sent money as pledged and ensured clean water for every Haitian, installing pipes and filters, the cholera epidemic would not have broken out.

Cholera returned in October to Haiti where it had not been seen for 100 years.

Penn charged that both Germany and the United States were withholding aid. He said the danger of corruption in Haiti was not a valid reason to withhold aid from those in desperate need.

Stern released the remarks to other media a day before the magazine hits the streets. It said the camp run by Penn's JP HRO organization was serving 55,000 people and was exemplary.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360709,protests-haiti-summary.html.

Five Kurds win reduced homicide terms for German killing

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Muenster, Germany - Five Kurdish men had their manslaughter sentences reduced Tuesday after a retrial in Germany for a lynching.

Judges in Muenster rejected a finding by an earlier trial that the stabbing death of a Kurdish man, 31, on a hardware mart carpark was an "honor killing." German courts treat honor killings as especially heinous and they receive the harshest punishment.

The verdict said the motive had in fact been the main offender's "combination of jealousy, hurt pride and disappointment that his former best friend had seduced his wife." He and his relations were jailed for 6 to 11 years for the August 2008 manslaughter.

Previously they had been given terms of 7 to 12 years, but an appeal court found fault with the sentencing.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360696,homicide-terms-german-killing.html.

Latvians get hip to their hippo's secret after 22 years: he's a she

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Riga - It turns out there's a very good reason why Latvian zoo officials haven't been able to get any offspring out of their pair of hippopotamuses for the last 22 years.

Their him was a her.

Officials at Riga Zoo in Latvia confirmed a long-held suspicion Tuesday when they announced that a male hippopotamus they had been hoping to mate for the last 22 years was in fact female, the Baltic News Service reported.

The hippo named Funtiks was given to the zoo in 1990 by the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Despite repeated attempts to interest "him" in the attractions of the zoo's resident female Augustine, Funtiks had never managed to muster the necessary enthusiasm to produce the pitter-patter of little hippo feet.

Zoo workers had always harbored suspicions that Funtiks may not have been all that he seemed, said Riga zoo spokeswoman Laura Lidaka. Determining a hippo's sex is notoriously difficult.

With the help of German experts, it had finally been established that the he-hippo was in fact a she-hippo.

As a result of the discovery, made with the help of German experts, Funtiks has belatedly been renamed Funta.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360695,years-hes-a-she.html.