Countdown begins for China's space station in 2020

Beijing, Apr 26: The China Manned Space Engineering Office has unveiled plans to build a 60-ton space station, made up of three capsules, by the year 2020.

Authorities in charge of the manned space program also revealed it would develop a cargo spaceship, with a diameter of 3.35 meters and a launch weight less than 13 tons, to transport supplies and lab facilities to the space station, The China Daily reports.

According to documents provided by the office, the space station, weighing about 60 tons, is composed of a core module and two others where experiments will be conducted.

The 18.1-meter-long core module, with a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a launch weight of 20 to 22 tons, will be launched first.

The authorities have also urged public to submit suggestions for names and symbols for the space station.

"We feel that the public should be involved in the names and symbols as this major project will enhance national prestige, and strengthen the national sense of cohesion and pride," said Wang Wenbao, director of the office.

China is now in the second phase of its manned space program.

According to the schedule, a space module Tiangong-1 and the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft will be launched in the latter half of this year. Shenzhou IX and Shenzhou X will be launched next year to dock with Tiangong-1.

The manned space program will lay the foundation for possible missions in future, such as sending men to the moon, according to the office''s documents.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-196915.html.

Naoto Kan Expands Fukushima Evacuation Zone

By Helena Zhu
Apr 22, 2011

Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s government has included some towns outside the 12-mile (20-kilometer) evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to also be evacuated.

All residents in Iitate, Katsurao, Namie, and some in Kawamata and Minamisoma must evacuate from their homes by late May, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said at a news conference on Friday. The number of residents affected totals about 10,500.

"If people continue to live in the area, the cumulative radiation level may exceed 20 millisieverts a year," said Edano, according to The Japan Times. "Considering the effect it may have on people's health, we would like those people to evacuate to a different location in an orderly manner."

The announcement came a day after the government declared the 12-mile evacuation zone as a no-go area as Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, continues to struggle with bringing the nuclear crisis under control.

With the area becoming a legally binding no-entry zone, unauthorized entry is subject to a fine of up to 100,000 yen ($1,221) and possible detention for up to 30 days, under a special nuclear emergency law.

Those working to contain the nuclear crisis at the plant are not prevented from entering the zone.

On Friday, Edano also designated areas within the 12- and 19-mile radius as “emergency evacuation preparation zones.”

Cultivation of rice will be prohibited for the 2011 harvest within the emergency evacuation preparation zones, the evacuation zones, and the planned evacuation zones, which will impact local farmers.

Edano promised that the government will ensure “appropriate compensation” is paid to affected farmers.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/naoto-kan-expands-fukushima-evacuation-zone-55181.html.

Fukushima Gov Says Nuclear Plant Can Never Resume Operations

By Helena Zhu
Apr 22, 2011

Fukushima prefecture’s Gov. Yuhui Sato said Friday he will never allow Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, to resume operations at the plant.

“A resumption of plant operations must be impossible," Sato told TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu, Kyodo News reported.

Shimizu apologized for the nuclear crisis during a 15-minute meeting at the prefectural government office with Sato.

As TEPCO struggles to meet its self-declared goal of bringing the nuclear crisis under control within the next six to nine months, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s government declared the 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of evacuation zone as no-go zone on Thursday.

On Friday, the government added several towns outside of the 12-mile radius to the evacuation zone as well.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/fukushima-gov-says-nuclear-can-never-resume-operations-55182.html.

Russia to test 90 new types of weapon in 2011

MOSCOW, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 90 types of new weaponry will be tested in 2011, Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

The weapons include Iskander-M, S-300, S-400, Tor-M2 and Buk missile systems, Panzir-S anti-aircraft missile-and-cannon complex, Smerch missile volley-fire system, as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles, Interfax news agency reported.

According to the ministry, the tests will be held in the Kapustin Yar testing range in Astrakhan region.

Some 350 missile launches have been conducted from Kapustin Yar last year in the interests of Russian, Algerian, Azerbaijani, Belorussian, Vietnamese, Venezuelan and Myanmar armed forces, the ministry said.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/25/c_13845365.htm.

Russia to deliver more S-300 air defense systems to Belarus

20/04/2011

Russia will continue deliveries of S-300 air defense systems to Belarus, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said on Wednesday.

Belarus has several battalions equipped with Russian-made S-300 air defense systems on combat duty as part of the Russian-Belorussian integrated air defense network.

"We have completed the first stage of modernization of the Belorussian S-300 air defense systems and agreed to intensify work on further deliveries of these systems to Belarus," Serdyukov said after a meeting of Russian and Belorussian defense officials in Minsk.

Moscow and Minsk signed an agreement in February 2009 on the joint protection of the Russia-Belarus Union State's airspace and the creation of an integrated regional air defense network.

"We are strengthening this network," Serdyukov said.

Modernized versions of S-300 have a maximum engagement range of up to 150 kilometers (93 miles).

MINSK, April 20 (RIA Novosti)

Source: RIA Novosti.
Link: http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110420/163620533.html.

Russia urges UN to send international mission to Israel, PA

22/04/2011

Russia has reiterated its call for the United Nations to send an international mission to the Middle East to try to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

"In current circumstances, the Russian initiative to send a UN Security Council mission to the Middle East is especially relevant because it aims to bring the sides back to talks," Alexander Pankin, the first deputy of Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, said during a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.

The Quartet of international mediators of the Arab-Israeli conflict was to meet on April 15 to discuss steps to be made to resume direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, but the meeting was postponed at the request of the United States. Russia, which comprises the Quartet together with the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, has expressed its regret over the decision to delay the talks, which had already been postponed from mid-March.

The Israeli-Palestinian talks have been stalled since September over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and the Palestinians' unwillingness to continue dialogue unless the construction is stopped.

Pankin called on Israel on Thursday to stop settlements building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and lift the blockade of Gaza. Pointing to a recent escalation of violence in Gaza, he also called on Palestinian movement Hamas controlling the enclave to make all efforts to assure security there.

Pankin also stressed the importance of inter-Palestinian reconciliation for the creation of an "independent, viable, territorially integral and sovereign Palestinian state."

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 (RIA Novosti)

Source: RIA Novosti.
Link: http://en.rian.ru/world/20110422/163638414.html.

Koran-burner wins N.J. state job back

NEWARK, N.J., April 23 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man fired after burning pages of a Koran during a Sept. 11, 2010, rally has gotten his job restored with back pay, his lawyer says.

Derek Fenton of Bloomingdale, a supervisor for NJ Transit, also will get $25,000 for pain and suffering, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said Thursday.

"In America, we have the right to burn all kinds of things -- letters, flags, books, Bibles and Korans," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-NJ.

Fenton, 40, was fired two days after the demonstration against a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near the World Trade Center site in New York. He was accused of violating NJ Transit's employee code of ethics.

When the ACLU filed the federal suit in February, Gov. Chris Christie said: "That kind of intolerance is something I think is unacceptable. So I don't have any problem with him being fired. You've got to make decisions in this job. I made one."

Christie's office and the state attorney general did not respond to calls from The New York Times for comment on the settlement Friday.

Fenton's lawyers also won a guarantee he would not undergo extra "sensitivity training" when he returns to work.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/04/23/Koran-burner-wins-NJ-state-job-back/UPI-51981303579531/.

Landlines Become Outdated as Americans Go Cellphone-Only

By Helena Zhu
Apr 22, 2011

Landlines, like black-and-white televisions, are becoming symbols of a generation that has gone by in the United States.

A new Center for Disease Control and Prevention study released on Wednesday shows that 27 percent of American households in the first half of 2010 went landline-free as they relied on their mobile phones for communication. The figure is eight times higher than just six years ago.

Young people, renters, and low-income families who want to save money are most likely to go cellphone-only.

“Today, an ever-increasing number of adults have chosen to use wireless telephones rather than landline telephones to make and receive calls,” said the study, which projects that the mobile-only trend will continue to grow.

Based on data collected between January 2007 and June 2010 from the National Health Interview Survey, the study shows that at least 30 percent of adults in 10 states rely entirely on cellphones, with the highest number in Arkansas and Mississippi, where many families cannot afford two separate phone lines.

The prevalence of cellphone-only adults varied substantially across states. About 35 percent of adults in Arkansas and Mississippi have only cellphones, while New Jersey and Rhode Island have the smallest proportion of adults depending just on cellphones at only 13 percent.

Among all 50 states, Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the nation at 21.9 percent in 2009, according to the Census Bureau. Arkansas is at 18.8 percent, while the average national rate is 14.3 percent.

The CDC notes that the increasing prevalence of cellphone-only households can harm telephone surveys.

"Many health surveys, political polls, and other research studies are conducted using random-digit-dial telephone surveys," reads the study. "Until recently, these surveys did not include wireless telephone numbers in their samples."

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/landlines-become-outdated-as-americans-go-cellphone-only-55170.html.

Jordan king creates panel to review constitution

AMMAN — Jordan's King Abdullah II on Tuesday asked a former prime minister to head a committee to review the constitution and consider amendments, in a bid to face growing demands for reforms.

The king asked Ahmad Lawzi and the 10-member committee, which includes other former premiers, to "look into constitutional amendments that would be suitable for Jordan in the present and future," said the state-run Petra news agency.

"The panel should consider recommendations on constitutional amendments related to the electoral and parties' laws," he said in a letter sent to Lawzi.

King Abdullah said the committee "should do its utmost to constitutionally develop political life and help institute balance between state powers.

"Our dear people pin high hopes on the committee to come up with a comprehensive and reformist vision about the constitution," the monarch said.

Jordan has been the scene of protests calling for political and economic reforms as well as the stamping out of corruption.

The powerful Islamist movement and other opposition groups have been demanding sweeping reforms, including a new electoral law that would lead to a parliamentary government and elected prime minister rather than appointed by the king.

Also, leftists and others have called for scrapping of amendments to the 1952 constitution, which was promulgated by King Abdullah's grandfather, King Talal.

The document already has been amended 29 times, giving greater power to the monarch and weakening the legislature, experts say.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Jordan's powerful Islamist group condemns deadly crackdown by Syrian regime on opposition

AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the brutal crackdown by the regime in neighboring Syria, where an army raid on a restive southern city a day earlier killed at least 11 people.

Jordan's biggest political opposition group is denouncing Syrian President Bashar Assad's "violent way" of dealing with the protesters in the city of Daraa and is urging him to respond to his people's demands for political reform.

The group says Syrian security forces should be held accountable for the bloody clampdown that killed scores in recent weeks.

The Muslim Brotherhood statement was posted on its website on Tuesday. Syria has banned its own Muslim Brotherhood group.

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Somalia: Constitutional committee urges presidential elections this year

Shafi'i Abokar
Mogadishu, Somalia
April 26, 2011

The national constitutional committee of the federal parliament of Somalia on Tuesday called on the government to agree to have presidential elections before the mandate of the transitional federal government (TFG) ends in August.

The call was announced at the end of a meeting by the members of the constitutional and federal affairs committee held in Mogadishu.

“It is necessary that the presidential elections are held before the end of the mandate of the transitional federal government—despite difficulties in the country the election must take place at home on time,” the deputy chairman of the constitutional committee, Abdulkader Sheik Ismail, told reporters.

“Somalia will be at risk if elections are not conducted on time and the TFG’s mandate ends, so we call on Somali president and the prime minister to respect the parliament’s decision and accept elections before August,” he added.

On Monday, the electoral commission announced that elections must take place before the end of August and that there would not be any postponement.

However, the Somali president and the prime minister insist that elections are impossible to be held, saying that before August next year Somalia is not fully prepared for presidential or parliamentary elections.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90046436?Somalia%3A%20Constitutional%20committee%20urges%20presidential%20elections%20this%20year.

Egyptians Want to End Israel Peace Treaty

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

CAIRO – As Egyptians continue to celebrate the dramatic political changes their nation has undergone, a new poll has found that the majority of Egyptians are in favor of annulling the three-decade-old peace treaty with Israel, holding negative views about the US.

“There is a difference between the people’s feelings toward Israel and their political assessment,” Sobhi Saleh, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former parliamentary candidate, told the New York Times on Tuesday, April 26.

Being the first major poll since the revolution that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, the poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, was based on face-to-face interviews with 1000 Egyptians.

Asked about the peace treaty, 36 percent favored keeping the treaty, while 54 percent wanted to annul the 1979 treaty.

Saleh said that he supported maintaining the treaty.

“Those who want to maintain the treaty are motivated by Egypt’s interest. It is not because they accept Israel.”

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in Camp David, the US, in 1979, under which Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, which was occupied in the 1967 war.

Since Mubarak’s overthrow, Israel has been worried with the potential scenarios that could take place in post-Mubarak Egypt.

The change of power in Egypt might also alter Israel’s entire strategic outlook, given the fact that thanks to the peace treaty, the Israeli military kept minimal presence on its southern border, freeing it up for actions to the east and north.

In addition to that, Israel imports about 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt, which has also played a big role in stopping the smuggling of weapons and goods into Gaza, and in helping Israel in its blockade policy aimed at pressuring Hamas.

Israel was not the only country Egyptians were disappointed about in post-revolution era.

In the spring of Arab revolutions, a growing dislike of how US President Obama has dealt with calls for political change across the Middle East was hugely minimizing support for the US among Egyptians.

The poll results showed that 52% disapprove President Obama policies during the Middle East revolutions, compared with 45% who approve.

Future Hopes

The poll showed that Egyptians were very much optimistic about the future of heir new democratic country.

“Nearly two-in-three are satisfied with the way things are going in Egypt, and most are optimistic about their country’s future,” the results of the poll were published on Pew’s website on Monday, April 25.

The poll also tried to directly address Islamic and secular groups who led the 18-day revolution all over Egypt, basically the Muslim Brotherhood and April 6 Movement.

Refuting earlier fears by the West that Egyptians would drift to radical extremism, a plea long publicized by Mubarak’s regime, the poll showed a mutual acceptance for the Muslim Brotherhood and the liberal April 6 Movement.

It shows the Muslim Brotherhood is regarded favorably by about three in four Egyptians, receiving very favorable ratings from 37 percent of respondents and somewhat favorable ratings from an additional 38 percent.

These results put the group roughly at a par with the April 6 Movement, receiving very favorable ratings from 38 percent of respondents and somewhat favorable ratings from an additional 32 percent.

Analysts said these results showed that Egyptians have strict commitment to their faith, sharing a favorable view about modern life style as well.

“That’s why people can have a favorable impression of the April 6 Movement and like the Brotherhood at the same time,” Amr El Shobaki, a political analyst in the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said.

“Average people enjoy a high degree of reconciliation between Islam and modern ideas. So they are conservative but not extreme.”

Yet, the results were dismissed by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, long regarded as the best-organized political movement during Mubarak era.

“These findings are wrong, and it’s only a matter of two months until you see that,” Saleh, of the Muslim Brotherhood, said.

But, the coming leader of the country and economic conditions remained a highly important issue for most Egyptians.

Among proposed candidates for presidential elections, the poll showed a huge support for Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League and a former Mubarak foreign minister, as the front-runner.

Seven in 10 had a favorable view for Ayman Nour, the leader of Al-Ghad liberal party, while 57 percent favored Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize winner and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The results showed a big support among Egyptians for stability and improving economic conditions.

“These are the people who are looking for stability,” Shobaki, the political analyst, said.

They “want their economic conditions to be improved and do not necessarily want to see drastic changes.”

Source: OnIslam.
Link: http://www.onislam.net/english/news/africa/452001-egyptians-want-to-end-israel-peace-treaty.html.

Land border between Algeria and Morocco will reopen "sooner or later"

26 April, 2011

RABAT - The land border between Morocco and Algeria closed seventeen years ago, will be reopened "sooner or later", said in Rabat Monday an Algerian minister during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the food safety between the two countries.

"As stated two days ago by our Minister of Foreign Affairs, it will happen (to reopen the land border) sooner or later," said Rachid Benaissa, Algerian Minister of Agriculture during a visit to Morocco.

"We are neighbors and brothers and we work for the strengthening of relations" between the two countries, he added about the Moroccan-Algerian land border, closed since 1994.

A document providing for cooperation in five years "to ensure food security" between Morocco and Algeria was signed in Rabat on the same day by the Algerian minister and his Moroccan counterpart Abdelaziz Akhanouch.

According to this document, the two countries plan to strengthen their cooperation in scientific research, production and plant breeding and the fight against desertification.

"The signing of this memorandum demonstrates our shared desire to develop our cooperation and partnership in agriculture and to improve food security," told reporters Rachid Benaissa.

For three months, Morocco and Algeria have exchanged visits of ministers which augurs well for a gradual warming of political relations in particular because of the frozen conflict in Western Sahara.

Source: Ennahar.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/6377.html.

Bulgarians honor Prophet Mohammad (SAWA)

Tue Apr 26, 2011
Ivaylo Spasov, Press TV, Sofia

Muslims have been living in Bulgaria for about 10 centuries now. And they have always cherished their traditions and beliefs. But this year they have an additional reason to be happy.

The highlight of these festivities is the fact that this year - for the first time ever - the Bulgarian government has decided to recognize the birthday of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as a national holiday.

The festivities themselves aim to celebrate the life and deeds of the holy prophet Muhammad - whom Muslims regard as “the messenger of the final revelation of Allah”.

Sedicah came to the celebrations because the holy prophet Muhammad taught her of honesty and kindness. “These are the virtues I want to pass to my children”, she tells us. Like this young boy, he sings on stage of the “The Chosen One” and shares with us the story of how the holy prophet Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca, and later united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.

Stories of his life and miracles have permeated popular Muslim thought, poetry, music, just like this evening, in Sofia. The event was the climax of nation-wide festivities for the one million Muslims in Bulgaria.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176894.html.

Tajik rebels threaten attacks against govt forces

26 Apr 2011

* Islamist rebels vow to step up attacks in Tajikistan
* Rakhmon says has to be tough in fighting radical Islam

ALMATY, April 26 (Reuters) - Islamist rebels in Tajikistan have threatened to renew attacks on government forces and called on Tajiks to rise against the rule of President Imomali Rakhmon.

The secular, mainly Muslim country of 7.5 million people borders Afghanistan in the north and is the poorest nation in former Soviet Central Asia. Peace remains fragile after a brutal 1992-97 civil war.

Security forces this month tracked down and killed an Islamist warlord known as Mullah Abdullo and accused him of carrying out an attack on a column of troops in September.

"It is time for the Muslims to stand up and throw off the chains of (Imomali Rakhmon) and his wretched inner circle," a group calling itself "The Mujahideen of Tajikistan" said in an English-language statement.

"How long can the Muslims endure injustice and humiliation?" said the statement, dated April 23 and posted on www.kavkazcenter.com, a site sympathetic to an Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus.

It described Mullah Abdullo as "a martyr who had fought against the enemies of Allah for 19 full years" and added: "...(T)here are many more brothers prepared to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Allah".

"Attack the cops and the government employees that fight against Islam!"

Those calling themselves "mujahideen" in Tajikistan represent some of Rakhmon's fiercest opponents in the country. They are not part of the registered opposition which signed the 1997 power-sharing peace deal with his secular government.

"We do not comment on any statements issued by extremists or terrorists," a Rakhmon spokesman said.

The al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) had claimed responsibility for Mullah Abdullo's Sept. 19 attack on government troops in which 28 soldiers were killed.

Rakhmon, a Soviet-era state farm director who has ruled Tajikistan since 1992, says he fights radical Islam in order to build a modern and secular state.

In February, he instructed his security services to tighten control over religious education and mosques, saying they were often used to foment religious radicalism in his country.

A few months before that, he ordered all Tajik students studying religion abroad to return home.

Authorities jailed more than 100 members of banned groups last year, while Rakhmon also criticized what he sees as a growing trend among women to wear religious clothing.

Source: Alertnet.
Link: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/tajik-rebels-threaten-attacks-against-govt-forces.