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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Thousands refused passports in Gaza

Sunday 22/05/2011

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Demonstrators gathered in Gaza City on Saturday to protest the Palestinian Authority's refusal to grant passports to 30,000 Gaza residents.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have have been unable to get passports issued by the Fatah-led PA, residents say, because of factional tensions, despite the recent reconciliation agreement signed between Fatah and Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.

Salim Sharab, organizer of a campaign to demand passports for all residents, blamed the Palestinian Authority Minister of Interior in Ramallah for rejecting applications from Gaza.

He asked: "Are we paying a toll for political affiliation?"

Sharab added that those denied passports had a right to be told if they were considered spies for foreign governments, and deserved explanations as to why they were being prohibited from exiting the coastal enclave.

Patients needing medical care abroad, students and hajj pilgrims are among the rejected applicants.

Osama Fuad Abu Askar, of Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, joined Saturday's protest in Gaza City's Unknown Soldier square. He has been trying to get a passport for four years.

"I lost my legs in 2004 during Israeli shelling and since 2007 I have been trying to get a passport so I can travel abroad and get prosthetic limbs. As a disabled man, how can I be a threat?" he asked.

Askar said reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah was pointless "if Palestinian citizens can't get their basic rights.

"Passports are not exclusive rights for Hamas or Fatah."

Mahmoud Abu Sweirih, another protester, said he had been married for 13 years but he and his wife have not been able to have children.

"Doctors said I needed treatment abroad, but I can't go because I can't get a passport. How come one individual determines my fate? Doesn't the Palestinian constitution give me the right to have a passport?"

Campaign organizer Sharab appealed to human rights groups and the Arab League to help resolve the situation.

Director of the Addamir human rights organization Khalil Abu Shammala said passports were an inalienable right guaranteed by the constitution and international law.

"Our representatives held several meetings with PA officials in the West Bank. We planned to file legal proceedings, but waited because we had promises that the case would be resolved once the reconciliation agreement was signed," Abu Shammala said.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=389935.

Jerusalem police close alleged Hamas office

Sunday 22/05/2011

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Jerusalem police said on Sunday that they had closed an East Jerusalem community center, adding that detentions would likely be made because the organization had violated a closure order.

Police spokeswoman Luba Simmari said detectives closed the premises of the Heritage Committee in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz, which she accused of being affiliated with Hamas, the Islamist political party which controls the government in the Gaza Strip.

The party runs hundreds of community organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.

"It is the intention of the police to arrest suspects responsible for reopening it," she told AFP. "It was run by Hamas... Hamas is forbidden to work in East Jerusalem."

Neighbors said that the two-story building was also used for prayers.

An eyewitness said that police welded its doors shut.

Israel considers Hamas a "terrorist organization" and prohibits any activities run by the party to take place in territory it controls.

The Palestinian Authority is also prohibited from carrying out official activities.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=390064.

Spaniards vow to maintain protests

22 May 2011

Demonstrators defying ban on election-day protests say they will continue mass action for at least a week longer.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Spain are planning to extend their protests against the Spanish government's austerity measures and the political parties that they blame for soaring unemployment.

A show-of-hands vote at a meeting in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, where demonstrators have erected a makeshift camp, saw protesters indicate that they planned to stay at least until May 29.

"We have decided to stay at least until [next] Sunday at 12pm [10:00 GMT]," a protest organizer declared after the vote.

The protests, which have sprung up across Spain, have overshadowed the local and regional elections held on Sunday, with protesters calling on Spaniards to reject both the ruling Socialists and the center-right Popular Party, the two main political options in Spain.

The polls saw the Socialists lose out as voters vented their anger at the highest jobless rate in the industrialized world, but that right's electoral gains are being not attributed to the protesters.

The vote left the Socialists out of power in most of the country's cities and almost all the 17 autonomous regions.

The outcome is a rebuke to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, who has been applauded abroad for his fiscal discipline during the euro zone crisis but is unpopular at home as the economy stagnates.

Thousands protest

An estimated 30,000 people have joined the camp in Puerta del Sol square, which has expanded in the days prior to the election and owes much of its organization to social networking.

Leila Nachawati, a Spanish-Syrian activist and blogger who is attending the protest, told Al Jazeera: "The camp has been growing every day. It was organized in the beginning by a youth group, Democracia Real Ya [Real Democracy Now] but it's actually not only young people who are coming."

Functions inside the camp are carried out by committee.

"We have cleaning committees and food committees ... all leftovers every night are given to shelters and people who sleep on the street," Nachawati said.

By maintaining the camp, the demonstrators were flouting a national ban on political protests held on the eve of elections and the day of the vote.

But while Spain's electoral commission declared that demonstrations illegal, the government did not send in police to enforce the ban, fearing violence after a week of peaceful protest.

More than 34 million people were eligible to vote Sunday, choosing 8,116 mayors, 68,400 town councilors and 824 members of regional parliaments for 13 of the 17 semi-autonomous regions.

The elections were the first major vote since the government passed huge spending cuts and unpopular reforms in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/05/2011522134518589807.html.

16 injured in fights over gasoline

Sun, 22/05/2011

Diesel gas shortages continued in a number of Egyptian governorates on Sunday, as citizens fought over insufficient supplies.

In Daqahlia, six people were injured in a fight with sticks and melee weapons at an oil station on the Mansoura-Damietta highway. Four others were injured in a separate incident when a number of citizens cut in queues.

In Upper Egypt, an Assiut worker was injured on Sunday by gunfire during a fight at a gasoline station. Meanwhile, five were injured and an oil station damaged in a firefight between citizens from the villages of Abshaq and Beni Ali in Minya Governorate. Villagers were contesting fuel.

Security and armed forces intensified their presence in the villages to prevent further scuffles, and initiated investigations in order to apprehend those involved.

In Ismailia, northeast Cairo, citizens said there was a detente in urban areas, but said the crisis continues to linger in some villages.

One of the governorate's officials, Abdel Samie Suweilam, said that the 320 tons of diesel oil currently is being pumped into gas stations daily, and is sufficient for local consumption.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447293.

Visits to Egyptian Museum return to normal

MENA
Sun, 22/05/2011

Tareq al-Awadi, head of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, said Sunday that visiting levels to the museum returned to normal this week with the restoration of calm in Tahrir Square.

Awadi said visits increased to normal levels on Saturday and Sunday.

Visitors on Saturday reached 2766. Foreigners numbered 2082 and Egyptians 684, according to Awadi. On Friday, there were only 570 visitors: 402 foreigners and 168 Egyptians.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447220.

Saudi woman arrested for challenging driving ban

Reuters
Sun, 22/05/2011

Saudi authorities arrested a female activist on Sunday who launched a campaign to challenge a ban on women driving in the conservative kingdom and posted a video on the internet of her driving, activists said.

The YouTube video, posted on Thursday, has attracted more than 500,000 views and shows Manal Alsharif, who learned to drive in the US, driving her car in Khobar in the oil-producing Eastern Province.

"Police arrested her at 3 am this morning," said Maha Taher, another female activist who launched her own campaign for women driving four months ago to spread awareness of the issue.

An Eastern Province police spokesperson declined to comment and an interior ministry spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent and applies an austere version of Sunni Islam in which religious police patrol the streets to ensure public segregation between men and women.

Women in the country are not allowed to drive and must have written approval from a designated guardian -- a father, husband, brother or son - to leave the country, work or travel abroad.

The campaign Alsharif launched is aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licenses.

While there is no written law that specifically bans women from driving, Saudi law requires citizens use a locally issued license while in the country. Such licenses are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.

"When the police stopped her they told her she violated the 'norms'. There is no law that says women can't drive in Saudi Arabia and this arrest is unjust. She is a role model for a lot of people and the arrest will provoke her supporters. Now more women want to drive," Taher said.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447272.

Deal for Yemen's Saleh to depart thrown into doubt

WARNING: Article contains propaganda!

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AP
Sun, 22/05/2011

Sanaa, Yemen - A deal for Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down after 32 years in power was thrown into doubt Sunday after the ruling regime brought hundreds of loyalists into the streets to protest the pact and said he would not sign unless a public ceremony were held that included opposition leaders.

The ruling party statement objecting to a "closed door" signing was the latest in a series of mixed signals from Yemen's embattled president. Saleh has backed away from signing at least twice before, adding to the opposition's deep mistrust of a leader known for adept political maneuvering that has kept him in power for decades.

Yemen's opposition coalition signed the deal Saturday, based on what it said were guarantees the president would sign the next day. Addressing Saleh's call for the opposition to attend Sunday's signing, opposition spokesman Mohammed al-Sabri said, "We are ready to go to the moon if he is really serious. But it is becoming clear that he is backing away."

The U.S.-supported deal, mediated by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, calls for Saleh to step down in 30 days and transfer power to his vice president. It also would give him immunity from prosecution.

Even if Saleh goes ahead with the planned signing, it is far from certain whether that would satisfy the many different groups protesting his rule in the streets.

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis poured into a central square Sunday that has become the center of opposition protests, waving Yemeni flags in rejection of the deal. They held banners that read: "Now now Ali, down with the president," and "Go out Ali."

Women mingled with men, unlike in previous protests when female protesters stood on the edge of the square segregated from men, in keeping with Sharia law that mandates separation of the sexes. Children had their faces painted with Yemeni flags, while youths carried pictures of slain protesters. Young men and women held a 6-foot-long (2-meter) Yemeni flag.

The protesters say the deal falls short of their demands for Saleh's immediate departure and the dismantling of his regime. They also reject any immunity for the Yemeni leader and say the opposition parties don't speak for their demands.

"This initiative is only meant to save Ali not Yemen. We are going to continue our revolution until the end. Like Tunisia and Egypt, we will go against the opposition if they form a government while Saleh is still in power," declared Tawakul Karman, a protest leader and senior member of the opposition Islamic fundamentalist Islah Party.

She said the protesters were escalating their push by calling a nationwide general strike.

On Saturday, Saleh condemned the proposed deal as "a coup" and warned the U.S. and Europe that his departure would open the door for al-Qaida to seize control of the fragile nation on the edge of Arabia.

In what appeared to be a state-orchestrated move to show a security void, pro-Saleh militiamen dressed in traditional Yemeni dress with daggers at their waists or brandishing swords roamed the streets Sunday, especially around embassies. In two incidents, diplomatic convoys came under assault and were harassed.

Eyewitnesses said armed men attacked a convoy of the Gulf Cooperation Council's chief mediator, secretary-general Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, for 10 minutes, barring it from reaching the United Arab Emirates Embassy. Pounding the car, they shouted against Gulf intervention in Yemeni affairs.

An Associated Press reporter saw the convoy of the Chinese ambassador being attacked by armed men. An extra police force was deployed to clear the way for the ambassador's car and disperse the crowd.

Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Saleh loyalists demanding the deal be rejected gathered in front of the Police Academy, where the ruling party general assembly had convened to discuss the deal.

"We are coming under pressure, to reject the initiative," said Mohammed Saad, a general assembly member.

Dozens of other supporters erected a big tent in one of Sanaa's main streets, blocking traffic and raising banners that read: "Don't go, don't sign!"

Saleh has managed to cling to power in the face of near daily protests by Yemenis fed up with corruption and poverty. Like other anti-government movements sweeping the Arab world, they took inspiration from the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

The president has swung between offering concessions, taking them back and executing a violent crackdown that has killed more than 150 people, according to the opposition, which says it compiled the tally from lists of the dead at hospitals around the nation.

The bloodshed triggered a wave of defections by ruling party members, lawmakers, Cabinet ministers and senior diplomats. Saleh's own tribe has joined those demanding his ouster. Several top army commanders, including a longtime confidant who heads a powerful armored division, joined the opposition and deployed their tanks in the streets of Sanaa to protect the protesters.

Saleh has been able to survive thanks to the loyalty of Yemen's most highly trained and best-equipped military units, which are led by close family members.

That has raised concerns the political crisis could turn into an armed clash between the rival military forces if a deal is further delayed.

Seeking to win some support in the West for his continued rule, Saleh has warned several times that without him, al-Qaida would take control of the country.

"To the Americans and Europeans, al-Qaida is coming and it will take control," he said Saturday in his televised address to members of the security forces. "The future will be worse than the present."

The United States, which had supported Saleh with financial aid and military equipment to fight the country's dangerous al-Qaida branch, has backed away from the embattled leader.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has an estimated 300 fighters in Yemen and has been behind several nearly successful attacks on U.S. targets, including one in which they got a would-be suicide bomber on board a Detroit-bound flight in December 2009. The explosive device, sewn into his underwear, failed to detonate properly.

The proposal - first put forward in March by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates - gives a clear timetable for a transfer of power.

One week after Saleh signs, the opposition takes leadership of a national unity government that will include representatives of Saleh's party. Parliament will then pass a law granting him legal immunity and a day later - 30 days after the deal is signed - he is to step down and transfer power to his deputy.

A month after that, presidential elections are to be held.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447281.

Southern Sudan: North's seizure of Abyei is 'war'

AP
Sun, 22/05/2011

Juba, Sudan - Northern Sudan's seizure of a contested border region is an act of war, a spokesman for the Southern Sudanese army said Sunday, raising fears that fighting over the town could re-ignite a civil war between the north and south.

Northern forces with tanks occupied the disputed town of Abyei on Saturday night, scattering southern troops that were there as part of a joint security unit, said southern officials and a UN spokeswoman. Khartoum-based state television cited unnamed military sources who said the army was in full control of the situation in Abyei.

Both north and south claim the fertile region, which lies near several important oil fields. Hollywood actor George Clooney set up a project to monitor the area by satellite, fearing it could be a flash point that could draw the region back into civil war.

The north's seizure of the town follows several days of fighting and bombing and drew immediate condemnation from the US government.

"We didn't declare war," said southern army spokesman Col. Philip Aguer. "The [ruling Sudanese] National Congress Party and the Sudan Armed Forces declared war on us."

Southern Sudan fought the north for more than two decades in a brutal war that claimed more than 2 million lives and forced more than 4 million people to flee their homes. A peace deal in 2005 offered the south the chance for independence and it overwhelmingly voted to secede in a January referendum. It is due to become the world's newest country in less than two months but the Abyei violence threatens to further destabilize an already volatile region.

Aguer said southern troops stationed in Abyei were overrun and scattered after the north conducted two days of aerial bombardments, focusing on a bridge where southern reinforcements would have entered.

The southern army "will maintain the status quo," he said, while it waits for the decision of the southern government on how best to respond.

Aguer called for the United Nations Mission in Sudan "to protect the people of Abyei," saying that the northern government intends to "displace civilians and commit human rights violations as they did in Darfur," Sudan's western region where a civil war broke out in 2003.

Several members of the Abyei government were missing, he said.

"There has been a fighting mood in Khartoum," said Southern Sudanese Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin, referring to the capital of northern Sudan. "We cannot accept this fighting mood to continue ... the event is a long-term plan done by the government of Khartoum to disrupt and carry out an invasion."

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said in a statement the entire population of Abyei fled Saturday morning after the bombing raids, gunfights and mortaring. One mortar exploded in a UN compound but there were no casualties.

There were at least 15 northern tanks in Abyei, UN spokeswoman Hua Jiang said Saturday night.

The massive escalation in the most volatile spot along Sudan's contested north-south border came as the United Nations Security Council began a four-day visit to Sudan. The Council's scheduled visit to Abyei has been canceled because of the violence but they are due to make a public statement in Khartoum later on Sunday.

The US condemned the offensive on Saturday, saying Thursday's attack by southern forces on a UN was deplorable but the north's response "disproportionate and irresponsible."

"The actions being taken by the government of Sudan are blatant violations of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and threaten to undermine the mutual commitment of the CPA parties to avoid a return to war," the White House statement said.

It called on Sudan's military to cease its offensive in Abyei and withdraw its forces. Failure to do so could set back the process of normalizing US-Sudanese relations, the statement warned.

The south is mainly animist and Christian and its people are linguistically and ethnically linked to sub-Saharan Africa. The north is overwhelmingly Muslim and many members of the government consider themselves Arabs. Most of Sudan's oil is in the south but the pipeline needed to export it runs through northern territory to a northern-held port.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/447353.

Recognition of Circassian Genocide Part of Broader Georgian Campaign in North Caucasus

May 21, 2011
Paul Goble

Staunton, May 21 – The Georgian parliament’s adoption yesterday of a resolution declaring the mass killings of Circassians 150 years ago to have been a genocide is part of a broad Tbilisi campaign to extend its influence in the North Caucasus by undermining Russian control there.

That conclusion is suggested both by the debate preceding the adoption of the resolution and by two other recent developments, one in Georgia involving the expansion of broadcasts into the North Caucasus from Georgia and a second in that region itself where demonstrators invoked Georgian support to pressure local officials.

Yesterday, the Georgian parliament passed a government-backed resolution saying that the “pre-planned” mass killing of Circassians in the 1860s constituted “a genocide” and that those forced to leave their homeland and their descendents should be recognized as “refugees”.

Backers of the resolution said that this declaration is “not directed against the Russian people” because “the Russian people should not be permanently living under the burden imposed on them by their leaders in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century and the twenty-first century.”

But many Russians and at least some Georgians are likely to view it otherwise, in part because another deputy from the ruling party, Givi Targamadze, said that the Georgian parliament should also take up “the situation surrounding other peoples” in the North Caucasus, a step he said would “lead us to a powerful and significant Caucasian unity.”

Deputies of the Christian Democratic Movement abstained from voting, arguing that the vote was taken too hastily, but only one parliamentarian spoke against the resolution. Jondi Bagaturia said that while “it is impossible not to show solidarity towards the Circassian people,” Georgians should consider whether that “will not look unfair” to the Armenians.

That is because Armenians have frequently asked Georgia to declare the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire a genocide, something Georgian officials and parliamentarians have refused to do, most recently a month ago.

Another deputy, Nuzgar Tsiklauri, chairman of the diaspora and Caucasian issues committee in the parliament, countered that it was “inappropriate” to link the two issues. Tbilisi could address these questions with “Georgia’s two friendly nations,” Armenia and Turkey, “with “a positive dialogue,’ and “meddling in this process would be ‘unjustified.’”

The second development indicating that this decision was very political and directed against Russian interests in the North Caucasus was the launch earlier this year of a Russian-language television channel in Georgia targeted at that region, PIK television, which can be viewed on the Internet.

Yesterday and today, that channel gave prominent coverage to yesterday’s decision of the Georgian parliament to declare the 1864 killings of the Circassians a genocide and headlined its story, “Georgia has become the first to recognize the genocide of the Circassian people”.

But a third development this week, although it has attracted far less international attention, may prove to be equally consequential. In Daghestan, members of the Dido nationality on Tuesday organized a demonstration in Makhachkala demanding that their nationality be given official status and their own ethno-territorial unit.

The meeting, which attracted some 80 people and adopted a resolution sent to both the Daghestan and Russian Federation governments, took place under a banner declaring in Russian “Daghestan Refuses; Georgia Helps,” a message that, if taken up by other groups in that republic and beyond, could further complicate Moscow’s tasks in the region.

Source: Georgian Daily.
Link: http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21500&Itemid=65.

Demonstration in Jordan in support of Syria's anti-Assad protests

May 21, 2011

Amman - Hundreds of Syrians living in Jordan staged a demonstration outside the United Nations office in Amman on Saturday, in support of protesters in Syria calling for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

They crowd held up placards and chanted slogans against al-Assad, calling for and end to his leadership and security crackdown on protests in Syria.

Meanwhile, Jordanian media reported that the government had asked the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood movement, whose leaders have been given refuge in the country, to stop protests outside the Syrian embassy in Amman.

Jordan's King Abdullah II, who ended a visit to the United States earlier this week, has reportedly asked US President Barack Obama to give al-Assad 'a chance' to implement the reforms that protesters are demanding.

Authorities on Friday prevented hundreds of Jordanians from demonstrating near Ramtha and in support of protesters across the border in the Syrian city of Daraa.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1640590.php/Demonstration-in-Jordan-in-support-of-Syria-s-anti-Assad-protests.

Paramount, CBS and Rubicon to Build Star Trek Resort in Jordan

Ancient Middle Eastern history and culture to mix with Star Trek®
Estimated $1 Billion+ project scheduled for 2014 opening

Amman, Jordan, May 21, 2011 - [ME NewsWire]: Rubicon Group Holding, a diversified global entertainment organization producing innovative digital animated content and location-based attractions, will design and produce The Red Sea Astrarium (TRSA), a 184-acre themed entertainment resort located in Aqaba, Jordan, which, through a license from CBS Consumer Products, will prominently feature an amazing attraction inspired by the 2009 international hit motion picture, Star Trek. The "Star Trek" attraction is being creatively developed by Paramount Recreation.

That announcement was made today by Randa S. Ayoubi, CEO of Rubicon Group Holding at the Jordanian-American Business Forum, under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, in a special signing ceremony attended by business leaders from Jordan and the United States.

TRSA, which will look to the future to celebrate the heritage of the region's past civilizations, will generate employment for more than 500 high-skilled workers in the local community, with Rubicon facilitating the training for these key jobs, as well. The themed entertainment destination will serve as a model for "green energy," incorporating state-of-the-art renewable technologies throughout the facility, and hosting a "future" pavilion where businesses, students and attendees can learn about alternative energy sources ranging from solar and wind energy to greywater harvesting. The project, a milestone in the development of tourism in Jordan, will provide a progressive and entertaining "celebration" of the region's culture and heritage.

From a stunning location in the coastal town of Aqaba, TRSA features classic story telling combined with immersive entertainment experiences to bring about a world-class leisure adventure. Capturing the rich history of the surrounding area, this wondrous attraction draws from Nabatean, Babylonian, British and Roman influences to provide an incomparable adventure. With an impressive array of technologically advanced attractions, five-star accommodations, captivating theatrical productions, nighttime spectacles and unique dining and shopping, The Red Sea Astrarium offers something for everyone.

To complete the chronological spectrum with a futurist perspective, Rubicon has joined with CBS Consumer Products and Paramount Recreation to create a stunning Star Trek-themed center that will deliver a variety of multi-sensory 23rd-century experiences, culminating with a state-of-the art space-flight adventure that takes real-time immersive entertainment experiences to bold new heights. This exciting, world-class attraction will serve as the cornerstone of the TRSA sector's world of tomorrow. This will mark the iconic property's first themed entertainment venue outside the United States.

The Red Sea Astrarium is sure to become a family destination, attracting visitors from the 350 million residents across the Middle East and fun, leisure as well as thrill seekers from all over the world.

Architectural firm Callison has been engaged to work with Rubicon Group Holding and its team of visionaries, including Paramount Recreation and CBS, to master plan and create a world class destination resort.

"TRSA will be a destination showcase in an extraordinary part of Jordan," said Ms. Ayoubi. "The opportunity to lead the design on such a remarkable project and to work with such world class partners as CBS and Paramount is a dream-come-true for the entire Rubicon family. We are honored, elated, and proud to have our Themed Entertainment team in charge of moving this project forward."

"At its core, Star Trek is about bringing worlds together and about a profound hope for the future," said Liz Kalodner, EVP and General Manager of CBS Consumer Products. "We are proud to bring such a unique, interactive Star Trek property to this part of the world to be a part of Jordan's future."

Source: TrekWeb.
Link: http://trekweb.com/articles/2011/05/22/Paramount-CBS-and-Rubicon-to-Build-Star-Trek-Resort-in-Jordan.shtml.

Ancient Qur'an found in Pakistan

Sat May 21, 2011

Archeologists have discovered a manuscript of the holy Qur'an in the Pakistani city of Jhelum, which they believe dates back to 900 years ago.

According to The Siasat Daily Ghulam Akbar Malik found the 12th-century-manuscript during excavations in northeastern Pakistan.

Jhelum has yielded many archeological and historical finds, but Malik came upon the holy manuscript somewhat by chance.

"An old man gave this to me as a gift at a shelter in the hills," Malik said.

The manuscript is written on Papyrus and experts believe it was written by three calligraphers who produced the copy of the Qur'an in just over a year.

The manuscript weighs about five kilograms and consists of 1,200 pages. The handwritten text has faded in some parts due to the passage of time.

"It is the first time that I have seen such an ancient Qur'anic manuscript in such good condition," Malik said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/181059.html.